During an Olympic year, it is common practice for the World Rowing Junior Championships be combined with its senior counterpart. However, 2016 will be unique in that the senior, junior and under 23 events will be held simultaneously for the first time.
Before the Willem-Alexanderbaan Rowing Regatta Venue in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, plays host to the combined championship, USRowing will host the 2016 Junior, Under 23, Senior and World Championship Trials at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.
The five-day regatta begins on Monday, July 18, and ends with finals on Friday, July 22. Winning crews earn the opportunity to race at the 2016 World Rowing Senior, Under 23 and Junior Championships scheduled for August 21-28 in Rotterdam.
With 140 entries from 40 clubs competing in 27 boat classes, the event is one of the largest trials in USRowing history.
Junior Trials
Six junior events will be contested including the men's double sculls, women's double sculls, men's pair, women's pair, men's single sculls and women's single sculls.
With more than 14 clubs represented, 39 athletes will compete for bids in the six events. The field includes three 2015 Junior National Team athletes.
After claiming gold medals earlier in the year at the 2016 USRowing Youth National Championships, Narragansett Boat Club's Jack Luby (Barrington, R.I.) and Eliza Kallfelz (Jamestown, R.I.) will compete to represent the U.S. in the men's and women's single sculls, respectively.
Kallfelz finished 10th in the women's single sculls at the 2015 World Rowing Junior Championships in Rio de Janeiro, while Luby finished 15th in the men's double sculls.
Attempting to make her third junior national team, Emily Delleman (Davenport, Iowa) will compete in the women's double sculls trials after racing in the women's quadruple sculls the past two years.
Under 23 Trials
In the largest of the categories, 180 athletes will compete for spots on the under 23 team in one of the 15 boat classes including the men's and women's single sculls, the lightweight men's and women's single sculls, men's and women's double sculls, lightweight men's and women's double sculls, lightweight men's and women's double sculls, men's and women's pair, lightweight men's pair, men's quadruple sculls, lightweight men's and women's quadruple sculls and men's four with coxswain.
After just missing an opportunity to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games after finishing fourth in the quadruple sculls at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta, Craftsbury Sculling Center's Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla.) will compete to reclaim his seat in the under 23 men's single sculls. Davison has held the spot for the past two years, finishing seventh in 2015.
Cambridge Boat Club's Helena Randle (Brookline, Mass.) also will be trying to reclaim her spot in the lightweight single sculls after finishing 13th in 2015.
With 11 crews a piece, the lightweight women's single sculls and women's double sculls lead the way in terms of entries.
Senior Trials
Six senior events will be contested, with trials running for the lightweight men's and women's quadruple sculls, men's pair with coxswain, lightweight men's pair and lightweight men's and women's single sculls. The lightweight men's and women's single sculls have the largest fields with seven and eight entries, respectively.
Of the 31 athletes competing in the senior events, 16 of them have national team experience including Vesper Boat Club's Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich.), a 2008 Olympian, and his pair partner Yohann Rigogne (Besançon, France). The duo will compete with Lou Lombardi (Huntington Valley, Pa.) in the men's pair with coxswain.
Racing begins Monday evening with a time trial. Finals are scheduled for Friday at 8:00 a.m. EDT.
Friday's final will be live streamed on USRowing's YouTube channel. To watch, click here.
Join the trials conversation with @USRowing on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat with #JrU23SrTrials and #MegaWorlds.