RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - One year from tomorrow, the 2016 Olympic Games will get underway with the Opening Ceremony at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
But for U.S. single sculler Andrew Morley (Seattle, Wash.), Wednesday marks his first race as a junior national team member and the first chance for him to test his speed against the world's best junior rowers at the 2015 World Rowing Junior Championships at Lagoa Stadium.
Morley, who earned his spot on the team by winning the 2015 Junior World Championships Trials, will race at 9:51 local time in the fourth of five heats of the men's single sculls.
"I'm really just looking to go into the race and do as well, or hopefully, better than the single sculler from last year's team, Ben Davison," Morley said. "He had a lot of potential last year and came in sixth (making the A final). I'm looking to make it out of the heats and, hopefully, set myself up for a medal spot in the A final."
Morley, who will face scullers from Hungary, Croatia, Zimbabwe and Venezuela in the heat, is looking forward to racing as part of the junior national team for the first time.
"It's really an extraordinary opportunity (to race on the Olympic venue)," Morley said. "The course is beautiful, the surroundings are beautiful and the past week has been a really wonderful experience coming into a new country and racing for the first time. This is my first time on the junior national team. Obviously, all the Olympic team members next year are quite experienced and have done this before, but I think for anyone, this venue is a really special place to row. It's a great opportunity for the Brazilian Rowing Federation to show off what they have here."
As the only event with more than 24 entries, the men's single sculls was the only boat class to require quarterfinals and a Wednesday start. The remaining U.S. boats will hit the water on Thursday beginning at 8:30 a.m.
In the women's single sculls, Eliza Kallfelz (Jamestown, R.I.) will take on scullers from Greece, Croatia, Germany and Switzerland in the fourth of four heats.
The women's pair of Ashlyn Dawson (Annapolis, Md.) and Arianna Lee (Folsom, Calif.) will be the next boat on the course, racing crews from France, Chile, Italy and Germany in the second of two heats.
The men's pair of Oliver Bub (Westport, Conn.) and Lucas Manning (Westport, Conn.) will follow the women's pair to the line. The duo will take on France, South Africa and China in the second of three heats.
Joe Sterner (St. Charles, Ill.) and Jack Luby (Barrington, R.I.) will take on Estonia, Hungary, The Netherlands, Germany and Chile in the third of three heats of the men's double sculls, while the women's double sculls duo of Elise Beuke (Sequim, Wash.) and Isabella Strickler (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) will race against crews from Norway, Japan, Germany, Great Britain and Denmark in the second of two heats.
Last year, the women's four won a silver medal at the junior world championships. This year, returnees Dana Moffat (Manlius, N.Y.) and Marlee Blue (Seattle, Wash.) will be joined by Kaitlyn Kynast (Ridgefield, Conn.) and Katy Gillingham (Seattle, Wash.) in their quest to get back to the medal stand. The crew will race Russia, Germany and New Zealand in the second of two heats on Thursday.
In the men's four with coxswain, Wyatt Harrell (Tallahassee, Fla.), Michael Cuellar (Alameda, Calif.), Pau Turina (Portland, Ore.), Pieter Quinton (Portland, Ore.) and Piers Deeth-Stehlin (Ross, Calif.) will race Great Britain, Italy and Ukraine in the second of two heats.
Junior national team veterans Daniel Hogan (Lafayette, Calif.), Liam Corrigan (Old Lyme, Conn.) and Benjamin Cohen (Allentown, Pa.) have been joined by newcomer Brock Bozzani (Long Beach, Calif.) in the men's four. The crew will race China, Germany, Denmark, Bulgaria and Spain in the first of three heats.
Likewise, the women's quadruple sculls crew has three junior national team veterans in Emily Kallfelz (Jamestown, R.I.), Elizabeth Sharis (Bettendorf, Iowa) and Emily Delleman (Davenport, Iowa). Along with newcomer Meghan Gutknecht (Guilderland, N.Y.), the crew will take on Switzerland, Great Britain, France and Denmark in the first of three heats.
The men's quadruple sculls of David Orner (Darien, Conn.), Andrew LeRoux (Venice, Fla.), Kris Petreski (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) and Phoenix Susak (Lake Oswego, Ore.) will race in the second of four heats against Denmark, Mexico, Russia and Brazil.
Coxswain Hannah Malzahn (Edmond, Okla.), Shayla Lamb (Kent, Conn.), Sarah Ondak (Denver, Colo.), Julia Cornacchia (Darien, Conn.), India Robinson (Berkeley, Calif.), Kailani Marchak (Long Beach, Calif.), Abigail Tarquinio (Nashville, Tenn.), Mariko Kelly (San Diego, Calif.) and Lindsay Noah (San Francisco, Calif.) will race Italy, Australia and The Netherlands in the first of two heats of the women's eight, while the men's eight of coxswain Ethan Ruiz (Newport Beach, Calif.), Mark Levinson (San Francisco, Calif.), Hunter Johnson (Winnetka, Ill.), Cameron Chater (Berkeley, Calif.), Ethan Seder (Berkeley, Calif.), Andrew Gaard (Madison, Wis.), Charles Watt (Acton, Mass.), James Palmer (Rye, N.Y.) and Justin Best (Kennett Square, Pa.) will race Italy and Russia in the second of two heats.
Racing continues on Friday with the repechages and quarterfinals. Saturday's racing features semifinals in eight events and the C through E finals, which determine overall placements 13-25. The A finals (places 1-6) and B finals (places 7-12) take place on Sunday starting at 8:30 a.m.
At the 2014 World Rowing Junior Championships in Hamburg, Germany, the U.S. won a silver medal in the women's four and a bronze medal in the women's pair. Fourteen athletes return from the 2014 squad.