Kendall Chase (Evergreen, Colo.) and Georgia Ratcliff (Falls Church, Va.) know their way around the medal podium at a World Rowing Championship. The duo holds eight world championship medals between the two of them including two gold medals apiece from the 2015 Under 23 World Rowing Championships.
With experience like that, Chase and Ratcliff know how high the competition is stacked against them.
"After you compete at a world championship and perform well, it gives you more fire underneath you to come back the next year and do it all over again," said Chase, a 2016 NCAA National Champion. "You know that people are out to get you, and you have a huge target on your back, so there are no off days. Everyone's out for blood."
Heats concluded on Tuesday morning as 29 races came down the lanes of Lake Mercer at the 2016 U.S. Senior, Under 23 and Junior World Championships Trials, one of the largest trials events in USRowing history.
Winning crews this week in junior, under 23 and senior-level events earn the opportunity to represent the United States at the 2016 World Rowing Senior, Under 23 and Junior Championships, scheduled for August 21-28 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Chase and Ratcliff, among 140 entries from 40 clubs competing in 27 boat classes, are just a few of the athletes racing with national team experience under their belt.
Narragansett Boat Club's Jack Luby (Barrington, R.I.) is looking to qualify in the junior men's single sculls after finishing 15th in the double sculls at the 2016 World Rowing Junior Championships. Luby needs only to win this evening's second final to qualify for the boat after posting the fastest time of the morning, a 7:25.22.
"The experience that one gains when they go to worlds is irreplaceable," said Luby. "You can go out there and you can look to your right and see the German double and just know that you're about to take on those guys."
Claiming gold in the junior men's single at the 2016 USRowing Youth National Championships, Luby is looking forward to the opportunity to compete in the single on the international level.
"Throughout high school, the single has really been my boat," he said. "I've done a quad and a double at youth nationals, but I would absolutely love the opportunity to go over and race the best juniors in the world in my favorite boat, in a boat where you are responsible for yourself."