Thirty-three National Champions were crowneed as racing came to a close at the 2015 USRowing National Championships on Lake Mercer on Friday morning.
Medals were earned in 15 events including the men's pair, the men's and women's single sculls, the lightweight men's and women's single sculls, the lightweight men's pair, the men's and women's double sculls, the lightweight men's and women's double sculls, the men's four, the men's and women's quadruple sculls, the lightweight men's quadruple sculls and the women's arms and shoulders single sculls.
Seven-time national team member, Southern California Scullers Club's Stesha Carle (Long Beach, Calif.) trailed London Training Center's Emily Cameron (Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada) 750 meters into the race but had an open water lead after passing the thousand meter mark in one of the most impressive moves of the week.
"Emily was really quick for the first thousand with a really strong start, which pushed me to try to go with her,"? said Carle. "At the 1,000 meter I just kept to my plan and fortunately it worked out for me."
Carle would go on to win gold in the women's single sculls with a time of 7:45.128, followed by Kelly Pierce (Oakton,Va.) who moved past Cameron in the sprint to finish in 7:52.227.
In the women's double sculls race, silver and gold from the women's single would pair up as Pierce and Carle would take the first place finish with a time of 7:15.650. The pair would enjoy a short break on land before entering the lightweight women's quadruple sculls race with Natalie King (Weston, Conn.) and Jamie Chapman (Traverse City, Mich.) where they would claim gold again after crossing the finish line in 6:43.654.
"I am happy to come away with three wins. I am so happy I have great teammates to row with and some nice water today."?
In a battle of brother versus brother, the men's single sculls final was full of drama as 2012 Olympian and Craftsbury Sculling Center's Peter Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio) grabbed gold from his brother, three-time national team member, Tom Graves' (Cincinnati, Ohio) grasp, taking the lead in the last five strokes of his sprint.
Peter and Tom would take gold and silver, finishing with times of 7:02.038 and 7:02.814, respectively.
The Graves brothers would later join Craftsbury teammates Erik Frid (Madbury, N.H.) and Andrew Reed (Wayland, Mass.) as the line up would post a time of 6:02.293 for a gold medal finish in the men's quadruple sculls.
After winning gold in the women's lightweight single with a time of 7:52.475, Potomac Boat Club's Morgan McGovern (San Francisco, Calif.) would go on to pair with bronze medalist from the earlier race, GMS Rowing Center's Michaela Copenhaver (New Milford, Conn.) to ultimately win gold in the lightweight women's double sculls with a time of 7:18.837.
Racing for gold in the lightweight men's double sculls at the 2015 Under 23 World Championship Trials on Wednesday, Conshohocken's Jim Sincavage (Malvern, Penn.) claimed his second victory of the week as he crossed the finish line with pair partner Austin Velte (Phoenix, Ariz.) in 6:44.698.
"It has been a really good week of racing,"? said Sincavage. "Our main goal in the coming weeks is just continue gaining speed."?
The men's four and the lightweight four representing the U.S. at the 2015 Pan American Games competed head-to-head as the USRowing Training Center in Oklahoma City's lineup of 2012 Olympian Robin Prendes (Miami, Fla.), Peter Gibson (Belmont, Mass.),Andrew Weiland (Upper Arlington, Ohio) and Matthew O'Donoghue (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) won gold with a time of 6:03.391.
Earlier in the week, the OKC four divided into two pairs for the 2015 World Rowing Senior
Trials where Prendes and Gibson won gold in the lightweight pair.
"After racing earlier in the week in the pairs, it was good for us to get a full week of racing and get back into the four,"? said O'Donoghue. "This morning there was good racing, good competition and great conditions. It was a good chance for us to test our speed and get a little baseline as we finalize our preparations for Pan Ams."
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