VARESE, Italy - Nine United States crews will begin their quest for medals Wednesday in the opening races of the 2014 World Rowing Under 23 Championships, July 23-27 in Varese, Italy. The event, which draws the top rowers in the world under the age of 23, features more than 800 athletes from 51 nations racing in 21 events.
Fifty-nine athletes will represent the U.S. in 20 events this week. Competition kicks off Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. local time with heats in the women’s four.
The U.S. crew of Erin Reelick (Tauranga, New Zealand), Molly Bruggeman (Dayton, Ohio), Erin Boxberger (Overland Park, Kan.) and Kendall Chase (Evergreen, Colo.) is scheduled to race in the second of two heats with Germany, France, New Zealand and host country Italy. The top two crews will advance to the final, while the remaining crews will have an opportunity to race in the repechage, or second-chance race.
The four U.S. athletes are doubling into the women’s eight that will compete in Thursday’s heats. Boxberger returns from the eight that won gold at the 2013 World Rowing Under 23 Championships. Chase won silver in the event at the junior level in 2012.
Next up, in the first heat of the men’s four with coxswain, is the U.S. crew of Parker Ksidakis (Sacramento, Calif.), Michael Evans (Portland, Ore.), Eric Ledbetter (Seattle, Wash.), Jacob Morton (Seattle, Wash.) and Matthew Milner (San Francisco, Calif.). The U.S. will take on Germany, New Zealand and Canada, with the winner advancing to the final.
In the lightweight women’s quadruple sculls, Brittany Presten (Orinda, Calif.), Alia Shafi (Lafayette, Calif.), Emma Betuel (East Hampton, N.Y.) and Christine Cavallo (Windermere, Fla.) are scheduled to race Austria, Italy, Great Britain and Switzerland in the first of two heats. The U.S. will need a top two finish to advance to the final.
August Wherry (Chatanooga, Tenn.) and Robert McNamara (Lexington, Mass.) are up next in the lightweight men’s pair. The U.S. crew will take on Turkey, France, Australia and Germany in the first of three heats, with the top three crews advancing to the semifinals.
In the women’s pair, Jessica Eiffert (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) and Agatha Nowinski (Sacramento, Calif.), who are also slated to race in the women’s eight, drew the second of two heats. Nowinski and Eiffert will race Australia, Italy, Belarus, Croatia and Romania. The winning crew of the heats will advance to the final.
Nowinski was a member of the women’s quad the finished sixth at last year’s under 23 championships. She raced in the pair at the 2014 World Rowing Cup I earlier this year.
The U.S. will send 2013 under 23 women’s eight gold medalist Coco Schoeller (Palm Beach, Fla.), Daphne Martschenko (Fairfax, Va.), Ashley Bauer (New Albany, Ohio) and Meghan Wheeler (McLean, Va.) to the line in the second heat of two in the women’s quadruple sculls event. Joining them is Germany, Poland and Russia. A top-two finish in the heat will grant the U.S. crew a spot in the final.
In the men's four, Justin Murphy (Montclair, N.J.), Joseph Simon (West Bloomfield, Mich.), Kyle Peabody (LaGrange, N.Y.) and Chase Buchholz (Norfolk, Mass.) race Belarus, Croatia, Ireland, Brazil and Great Britain in the first of three heats. The top three crews in the event advance to the semifinals.
Andrew Campbell (New Canaan, Conn.), the defending gold medalist in the lightweight men's single sculls, returns to competition in the event.
“I am very excited to be back racing,” said Campbell. “There is nothing quite like the energy and character of this level of racing. I'm doing my best to ignore last year's result and attack this regatta like I have something to prove. I'm fitter than ever and looking forward to giving it a good go out there.”
In a large field of 25, Campbell is scheduled to race in the third heat of five, with scullers from Belgium, Hungary, Slovenia and Russia. The top four finishers advance to the quarterfinals.
The men’s single sculls event boasts the largest number of entries with 30. U.S. men's single sculler Benjamin Davison (Inverness, Fla.) will race in the second of five heats against crews from Hungary, Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania and Austria. As with the lightweight men’s single, the top four finishers in the event advance to the quarterfinals.
Formerly known as the Nation's Cup and the Match des Seniors, 2014 marks the tenth year that the Under 23 regatta has held “World Rowing Championship” status. The event, which started in 1976, acts as a stepping stone for elite athletes in the U.S. This year, a record number of 298 female competitors are scheduled to race at the 2014 World Rowing Under 23 Championships.
Varese hosted the 2012 European Rowing Championships and is used by a number of international crews as a training base. The venue is slated to host stages of the 2015 and 2016 World Rowing Cup series as well.
Live streaming of the 2014 World Rowing Under 23 Championships will be available during the finals July 26-27 at www.worldrowing.com.
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