Three crews earned berths on the junior national team on Wednesday at the second set of 2009 Junior World Championships Trials on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J. The selected crews earned the right to represent the United States at the 2009 FISA World Rowing Junior Championships August 5-8 in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France. Long Beach Junior Crew's Mark Reinis and Nick Trojan swept the best two-out-of-three finals of the junior men's double sculls. After posting the fastest time in Tuesday's time trial, Reinis and Trojan came from behind to win Wednesday morning's first race in a 6:50.154. The duo was in fourth place at the 1,000-meter mark but managed to make up a nearly six-second deficit to win by 2.7 seconds. Junior Men's Selection Camp A's James Stafford and Matthew Sobotka followed in a 6:52.815, with Owen Traynor and Max Meyer-Bosse of Saugatuck Rowing Club third in a 6:53.289. In Wednesday afternoon's second final, Reinis and Trojan won in a 6:40.498.
In the junior women's pair, USRowing Junior Women's Selection Camp's Lucy Grinalds and Kristine O'Brien also swept the best two-out-of-three finals. Grinalds was a member of the junior women's four that finished sixth at the 2008 FISA Senior and Junior World Championships. In Wednesday morning's first race, Grinalds and O'Brien rowed to a 15-second victory over teammates Jen Stockwood and Chandler Lally, clocking a 7:53.074. In Wednesday afternoon's second final, Grinalds and O'Brien returned to win by a margin of nearly 18 seconds in a 7:38.316.
In the junior men's pair, Junior Men's Selection Camp's Matthew Clark and Viktor Romanov rowed uncontested to earn a spot on the junior national team. Clark and Romanov clocked a 7:19.014 in the final.
Four crews were named to the junior national team at the first set of trials held June 26 on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J., including Matt Maddamma in the men's single sculls; Nicole Bielawski in the women's single sculls; Katie Burke and Abby Knight in the women's double sculls; and Alan Amico, Ronald Rubino, Sean Johnston and Constantinos Gioukelas in the men's four. The remaining camp boats will be named by July 10.
Finals are set for Thursday at the 2009 Under 23 World Championship Trials, held in conjunction with the junior trials. After dominating yesterday's men's single sculls time trial, Ian Silviera of Vesper Boat Club easily won the first of two morning heats to advance directly to the final. Silviera crossed 19 seconds ahead of Malvern Preparatory School A's Mike Donohue, clocking a 7:25.462. In the second heat, Detroit Boat Club Crew's Stephen Lambers posted a 7:20.470 to cross first in a 16-second victory over Craftsbury Sculling Center's John Hood. Donohue and Hood placed top two the afternoon repechage, or second-chance race, to progress to the final.
The top-two finishers in the afternoon repechages of the lightweight men's single sculls and the men's pair also advanced to the finals. Vesper Boat Club's Peter Smith won the repechage of the lightweight men's single in a 7:29.095, followed by Dan Kenefick of GMS Rowing Center in a 7:34.770. In the men's pair race, Penn A.C. Rowing Association's Vincient Lepeltier and Steffen Haider won in a 6:47.852. Teammates David Weir and Taylor Brown pulled ahead of Cayuga Lake Training Center's Carl Thuman and John Lindeman to grab the second qualifying spot by just 0.18 seconds.
In addition to the men's single sculls, lightweight men's single sculls and men's pair, finals in 13 Under 23 events will be contested Thursday including the women's single sculls, women's pair, men's double sculls, women's double sculls, women's four, men's four with coxswain, lightweight women's single sculls, lightweight women's double sculls, lightweight men's double sculls, lightweight men's pair, lightweight men's quadruple sculls and lightweight women's quadruple sculls. The winners will earn the right to represent the United States at the 2009 FISA World Rowing Under 23 Championships July 23-26 in Racice, Czech Republic.