Craftsbury Sculling Center's Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla.) already has quite a few high-profile regattas under his belt this summer.
Davison checked-off the 2016 U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Team Trials and the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta earlier in the year and before heading to Mercer Lake to race at the 2016 U.S. Senior, Under 23 and Junior World Championships Trials in hopes of reclaiming the under 23 men's single seat he has held the past two years.
After narrowly missing his opportunity to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in the men's quadruple sculls, Davison knew that it would take a great deal of willpower to return to competition.
"After Lucerne, I think we all felt like we lost our purpose," said Davison. "Our purpose had been the Olympics for so long and, all of a sudden, it was gone. It has definitely been nice to figure myself out, get back in the single and have something to train for." Wednesday morning's racing proved successful for Davison as he posted the widest margin of the finals, finishing 25.27 seconds ahead of the second-place sculler to secure his spot for the 2016 Senior, Under 23 and Junior World Rowing Championships scheduled for August 21-28 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
In total, six under 23 and four senior senior crews qualified for Rotterdam during Wednesday's racing at trials.
The under 23 men's quadruple sculls will be represented by the Newell Training Center Development Camp's John Kelley (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.), Spencer Haas (Milwaukee, Wis.), Isaac Mocarski (Bristol, R.I.) and Travis Taaffe (Sarasota, Fla.). The crew from Cambridge crossed the line in a time of 6:21.35.
Kelley finished sixth in the junior men's quad at the 2013 World Rowing Junior Championships, while Taaffe finished ninth in the eight at the 2014 World Rowing Junior Championships.
Pushing through a hard-fought third 500 meters in the under 23 men's four with coxswain final, Seattle Area Rowing Club's crew of Rielly Milne (Seattle, Wash.), Ezra Carlson (Eureka, Calif.), Arne Landboe (Shoreline, Wash.), Samuel Pettet (Seattle, Wash.) and Sean Kelley (Princeton, N.J.) officially punched its ticket to Rotterdam. Holding off a fast advancing Newell Training Center Crew, the lineup from Seattle staved off the competition to finish in a time of 6:23.87.
Pettet and Milne are returning to the under 23 team after finishing sixth in the four with coxswain at the 2015 World Rowing Under 23 Championships.
Racing uncontested, Vesper Boat Club's Lou Lombardi (Philadelphia, Pa.), Yohann Rigogne (Besançon, France) and Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich.) logged a time of 7:13.18 to qualify the boat for competition later this summer.
Peszek, a London Olympian, and his pair partner, Rigogne, finished second at the 2016 Olympic Trials in the men's pair, just missing a trip to Rio.
This will be Lombardi's fourth national team after winning a silver medal in the men's eight at the 2015 World Rowing Under 23 Championships.
Representing Conshohocken Rowing Center in the under 23 men's double sculls, Michael Yaron (Wynnewood, Pa.) and Michael Glaude are set for Rotterdam after finishing with a time of 7:01.37.
Crossing the line just under eight seconds in front of the field, Saratoga Rowing Association's under 23 lightweight women's crew of Emma Hopkins (Stillwater, N.Y.) and Olivia Farrar (Pittsford, N.Y.) posted a 7:52.29 to qualify for its first national team.
In the most spectacular finish of the trials so far, Undine Barge Club Development Camp's under 23 lightweight men's quadruple sculls crew will be making its travel plans to Europe this summer after executing a huge comeback over Vesper Boat Club. After trailing a majority of the race, Undine pushed its bow ball in front to finish in a time of 6:29.82, 0.14 seconds ahead of the Vesper crew.
Undine was represented by Reid Cucci (Montclair, N.J.), who finished eighth in the lightweight quadruple sculls at the 2015 World Rowing Under 23 Championship, Casey Howshall (Philadelphia, Pa.), Landis Walsh (Winchester, Pa.) and Andrew Seski (Grosse Pointe, Mich.)
Racing uncontested, Riverside Boat Club's lightweight men's quadruple sculls lineup consisted of three bronze medalists from the 2015 lightweight men's eight. Crossing the line in a time of 6:37.59, the crew of Tobin McGee (Rye, N.Y.), Jacob Georgeson (North Olmsted, Ohio), Peter Schmidt (Providence, R.I.) and Christopher Lambert-Rogers (Weston, Fla.) will head to Rotterdam.
The composite crew from Potomac Boat Club, Riverside Boat Club and Sarasota Crew of Monica Whitehouse (Muskego, Wis.), Ashley Amos (Bennington, Vt.), Morgan McGovern (San Francisco, Calif.) and Emily Schmieg (Philadelphia,Pa.) held off Vesper Boat Club in the lightweight women's quadruple sculls to secure its spot in Rotterdam.
Racing uncontested, Community Rowing, Inc.'s Andy Weiland (Columbus, Ohio) and Peter Gibson (Belmont, Mass.) crossed the line in 7:08.09 to return to the international stage this summer.
In 2015, Gibson finished fifth in the lightweight pair with two-time Olympian Robin Prendes. A silver-medalist in the lightweight four, Weiland competed at the 2015 Pan American Games.