Racing got underway Wednesday with heats at the 2010 USRowing Club National Championships on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The five-day regatta features more than 1,460 athletes competing for titles in 68 junior, intermediate and senior classification events.
Philadelphia's Vesper Boat Club has crews entered in 24 events including three in the women's intermediate double sculls. Kristine O'Brien and Vikki Opitz clocked the fastest time in the fourth heat, finishing more than 12 seconds ahead of the competition in a 7:48.65. Canada's CanAmMex crew crossed the finish line second in an 8:01.04.
"The race went really well; we felt really solid in our first race together," said O'Brien, a member of the women's pair that finished sixth at the 2009 World Rowing Junior Championships. "We just wanted to go out there and do our thing and stay pretty internal." Vesper Boat Club's also won the first and fifth heats of the women's intermediate double sculls.
"It was a tough race, but you pull hard," said Zach Petronic of RowPittsburgh, who competed in heat four of the men's junior A quadruple sculls. RowPittsburgh's crew of Andre Kleijn, Alex Keiser, Petronic and Steven Genise finished 2.9 seconds ahead of Potomac Boat Club with a winning time of 6:49.94. USRowing Development Camp - Atlanta Rowing Club followed in a 6:53.18. Petronic and his teammates hope to make the final and expect big competition from rival Philadelphia Sculling Club that won the third heat of the event in a 6:43.66. "We've raced the two guys in that quad for the last four races we've been to, and we've been neck-and-neck with them every single time. It goes back and forth who beats who," said Kleijn.
In the women's junior A eight event, the top four boats of each heat advanced to the semifinal. Thompson Boat Center won the first heat by 4.94 seconds in a 7:08.68. "We had a great start, got out pretty quickly and just held everyone off," said Kelly O'Conor of Thompson. Community Rowing, Inc finished second in a 7:13.62, followed by Southeast Junior Crew in a 7:25.01 and Southeast Junior Crew B in a 7:31.45.
Racing continues Thursday at 9 a.m. with heats and semifinals. For complete race results, visit http://www.racetrak.com/.
Watch a live stream broadcast of finals on Saturday, July 17 from 1-5 p.m., and Sunday, July 18 from 9-1 p.m. on the Team USA Rowing Channel at http://rowing.teamusa.org/live.To purchase video clips after the event, visit http://www.usrowing.org/News_Media/DownloadVideo/index.aspx.
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