With preliminary racing to sort out the field of athletes hoping to be named to three sculling crews that will represent the US at this summer's World Championships completed Saturday morning, there is only the final left to run on Mercer Lake.
What began as a trials event with 27 crews racing to win a spot on the 2019 US National Team in the women's open double, and the men's and women's lightweight double, is now down to just four crews in each event.
The winner of each race will be named to the US team and compete at the 2019 World Rowing Championships this summer, and have the responsibility of not just representing the US for this year, but qualifying their individual boat class for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Contenders for the women's double will feature two crews that seat three 2016 Olympians, including Ellen Tomek and Meghan O'Leary, and Gevvie Stone and Cicely Madden.
Both crews won their semifinal races Saturday morning and will be the top seeds on the line Sunday morning. "There has been some great racing from all the crews this week," said O'Leary.
"Ellen and I have just been focusing on making improvements in every round, coming together to find a little bit more speed with each race. It's going to be a fast one tomorrow and we're looking forward to seeing what we can do," she said.
Stone, who won silver in Rio but lost her bid to return to the women's single at the first of the US National Team Trials in April, said she and Madden are pleased with their races so far, but are now focusing on the morning.
"We have had a solid regatta thus far," Stone said. "On to the final".
In the men's lightweight double, the top seeds in the four-boat field are Jasper Liu and Daniel Madden, and 2016 Olympian Andrew Campbell, Jr. and Nicholas Trojan. Those two crews posted the fastest times in the Thursday evening heats.
"We're using the tournament to raise our game as the week goes on," Campbell said. "We're off to a good start and hope to execute on an even higher level in the final."
In the women's lightweight event, Christine Cavallo and Michelle Sechser are looking to upend last summer's silver medal winning crew of Mary Jones Nabel and Emily Schmieg. Cavallo and Sechser have been posting the best times of the week so far.
"We went into this race expecting a lot of speed, and I very much stand by that statement still," Cavallo said. "It's been awesome to see every event play out across the weekend so far.
"All you ever can do is focus on the variables within your control, which has been a really productive mindset for us since getting into this lineup. I'm excited to keep that positive energy moving forward," she said.
In addition to the three selection finals, A and B finals will also be run with 12 crews racing in the men's double speed order.
See full results and schedule here.
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