Day one of racing at thhe 2015 USRowing Youth National Championships was filled photo finishes, new and familiar faces making their way into the semifinals and looming storm clouds that put an early end to the day's racing.
Severe weather rolled into the Sarasota area after 4:00 p.m., and racing was postponed and then ultimately cancelled, with 11 races left uncontested.
Those races have been rescheduled for Saturday at 7:00 a.m., beginning with the lightweight men's eight, followed by the women's youth eight and finally the men's youth eight.
Friday was filled with excitement as seven races came down to a less than two-second margin between first and second place. However, some crews showed their dominance early posting 10+ second leads over the other crews in their heat.
One club that was able to keep the pressure high consistently was Narragansett Rowing Club of Rhode Island. The crew advanced five of six boats to the semifinals, with the women's single sculls and the women's double sculls posting the largest win margins of the day with 21.1 and 20.9 seconds, respectively.
Narragansett senior Emily Kallfelz, a 2014 U.S. Junior National team member, is no stranger to success in the single after finishing third in the event at the 2014 USRowing Youth National Championships.
This year, however, the heat sheet reads Kallfelz twice. Emily's younger sister, Eliza, a junior, joined her in the double this past spring.
"We only just started rowing together this past March," said Emily. "Eliza started rowing in the fall and then only just joined me in the double over the past couple of weeks. We really want to do well in the double because we really haven't had much time in it. It becomes a little hectic, but it all seems to come together so it's a lot of fun."
The Narragansett lightweight men's double sculls crew also posted an impressive 10-second margin in its victory this morning and accredits the team's overall fitness.
"We work well together," said stroke seat Artym Hayda, of his teammate Coby Satterphwaid. "We like to go fast up the middle and our endurance work definitely put us ahead."
One of the most exciting finishes of the day was the first heat of the men's double sculls, as the margin between first and third was only 2.02 seconds. Brookline High School took the first-place spot, and GMS Rowing Center qualified for the semifinals with only a 1.197-second lead over San Diego Rowing Club.
"We knew that it would be a tight race and that we would have to battle," said GMS coach Guenter Beutter. "Today was a great opportunity for us, and we are looking forward to more exciting racing as the weekend progresses."
Click here for full event results and updated schedule. Click here for press coverage of the event and daily photo galleries.
Watch the live broadcast of semifinals beginning at 2 p.m., on Saturday, June 13. Finals will be streamed live beginning at 8 a.m., on Sunday, June 14, on USRowing's YouTube Channel.