The second set of U.S. Olympic Team Trials for rowing begin Sunday at Lake Mercer in West Windsor, N.J.
Four boat classes - the men's pair, women's pair, men's double sculls, and lightweight women's double sculls - will be contested at the second set of trials. The winners will earn berths on the 2004 Olympic Team that will compete from August 14-22 in Athens, Greece.
The men's double sculls leads the way in terms of entries with 15. The Princeton Training Center/US Navy duo of Aquil Abdullah (Washington, D.C.) and Henry Nuzum (Chapel Hill, N.C.) won the National Selection Regatta in April and then went on to finish eighth at the 2004 BearingPoint World Cup stop in Munich, Germany, in late May. They head a field that includes 16 former national team members and three past Olympians. In additional to Nuzum, 1996 Olympian Adam Holland (Philadelphia, Pa.) and two-time Olympian and 1996 silver medalist Eric Mueller (Cedarburg, Wis.) are both scheduled to race.
In the men's pair, 12 crews are competing to earn the right to represent the U.S. in Athens. The Harvard University Boat Club duo of Artour Samsonov (Stoneham, Mass.) and Luke Walton (Poway, Calif.) finished 11th at the 2003 World Championships and both rowers are looking to make their first Olympic team. USRowing's Princeton Training Center has six entries. The field includes 18 past national team members and two, three-time Olympians in Bob Kaehler (Huntington, N.Y.) and Jeff Klepacki (Kearny, N.J.).
Five crews are entered in the women's pair and all 10 rowers in the event are past national team members. Sarah Jones (Stanwood, Wash.) is the lone past Olympian racing in the event. Jones raced in the women's eight at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
In the lightweight women's double sculls, three crews are fighting for a spot on the Olympic team. All six individual rowers have past national team experience. The crew of Stacey Borgman (Homer, Alaska) and Lisa Schlenker (Lake Oswego, Ore.) enter racing as the favorites.
The trials begin Sunday morning at 6:30 a.m. with heats. Repechages, or second-chance races, for events with more than eight entries will be held Sunday afternoon beginning at 6:30 p.m. Racing continues on Thursday at 7:30 a.m. with repechages in events with eight or fewer entries and semifinals for events with more than eight entries. Finals, which are a best two-out-of-three format, begin Tuesday at 7 a.m. with the first final. Second finals will be held Wednesday beginning at 7 a.m., with the third finals being held Thursday at 7 a.m. if necessary.