The second National Selection Regatta got underway with a time trial for all seven events this morning, including the men's, women's and lightweight men's pairs, men's and women's open doubles, and men's and women's lightweight doubles. For all but the light men's pairs, the winner of this NSR earns the right to compete at a World Cup race of their choosing. Subsequently if the crew finishes in the top four (or top half if there are fewer than eight entries) at the World Cup, then the crew will be named to the US Worlds team for 2010.
This morning's time trials were batched into two flights, one of four events starting at 7am, and the remaining three events at 8:15am. The first four events - the men's and women's pairs and doubles - enjoyed a very light following wind, and almost perfect water. However, in the final seconds (I'm not kidding) of the 45 minute gap before the lightweights got underway, the wind not only increased, but came around to a crosshead with a distinct bite, one of those winds that not only slows you down and loads things up, but bounces you around as well - ugh.
With 13 doubles and 14 pairs, the heavy men's events were nicely subscribed, the open women's events had seven each, all but four doubles coming from the Training Center. This was not so much the case with the lightweights, with only nine doubles and five pairs for the men, and seven doubles for the women, but hopefully with fewer Olympic-class seats to fill, this is just a numbers game, not a reason for concern.
Most of the time trial winners bested the field by a length or less, although a few events were near blowouts, with the women's pair of Erin Cafaro and Susan Francia topping the field by 10 seconds, the light men's double of Brian De Regt and Jonathan Winter winning by nine seconds, and the light women's double of Ursula Grobler and Abby Broughton winning by 11. The NSR resumes tonight with much more telling side-by-side racing with a batch of heats, continues tomorrow morning with semis and some finals, and concludes Saturday morning with a pile of finals.
The morning was not without some color; in particular, the Graves brothers both wore Cincinnati Reds caps in honor of the Reds matchup with St. Louis tonight. During the women's doubles, a group of National Guard or ROTC trainees ran up and down the course-side path singing drill songs at full throat.
USRowing's full release follows:
Racing got underway with time trials in all seven events at the 2010 USRowing National Selection Regatta #2 and Speed Order May 13-15 at the Finn M.W. Caspersen Rowing Center on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J. The regatta features competition in the women's double sculls, men's double sculls, lightweight women's double sculls, lightweight men's double sculls, women's pair, men's pair and lightweight men's pair.
In the men's pair, USRowing Training Center - Princeton's Brett Newlin (Riverton, Wyo.) and David Banks (Potomac, Md.) clocked the fastest time of the morning time trial. Newlin and Banks, both members of the 2009 World Rowing Championship team, clocked a 6:32.128 for the top seed in this afternoon's heats. USRowing Training Center - Chula Vista's Dan Walsh (Norwalk, Conn.) and Henrik Rummel (Pittsford, N.Y.) crossed in 6:34.663, followed by teammates Silas Stafford (Santa Rosa, Calif.) and Steven Coppola (Buffalo, N.Y.) in third with a time of 6:36.757.
USRowing Training Center - Princeton took the top three spots in the time trial of the women's pair. Erin Cafaro (Modesto, Calif.) and Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.) clocked the fastest time for the win. Cafaro and Francia, Beijing gold medalists and the defending world champions in the event, posted a 7:05.990. USTC - P's Esther Lofgren (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Sarah Zelenka (Itasca, Ill.) crossed second in a 7:15.236, followed by Kady Glessner (Seattle, Wash.) and Meghan Musnicki (Ithaca, N.Y.) in a 7:15.613.
In the men's double sculls, USRowing Training Center - Princeton's Warren Anderson (Paso Robles, Calif.) and Glenn Ochal (Philadelphia, Pa.) clocked a 6:13.751 to win the time trial. USRowing Training Center - Chula Vista's Scott Gault (Piedmont, Calif.) and Will Miller (Duxbury, Mass.) crossed with a time of 6:18.072, followed by the NYAC/GMS duo of Jamie Koven (Green Village, N.J.) and Michael Sivigny (Hudson, N.H.) in a 6:18.829.
USRowing Training Center - Princeton's Kate Bertko (Oakland, Calif.) and Stesha Carle (Long Beach, Calif.) won the time trial of the women's double by 4.3 seconds. Members of the 2009 World Championship silver-medalist women's quadruple sculls crew, Bertko and Carle clocked a 6:55.721. USTC - P's Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) and Jessi Reel (Atlanta, Ga.) posted a time of 6:59.048, followed by teammates Megan Walsh (Charlotte, N.C.) and Sarah Trowbridge (Guilford, Conn.) in a 6:59.122.
In the lightweight men's single sculls, the USTC - P/GMS duo of Brian de Regt (Rowayton, Conn.) and Jon Winter (New Haven, Conn.) recorded the fastest time of the time trial, clocking a 6:38.939 for the win. Jon D'Alba (Berwyn, Pa.) and Cody Lowry (Bristow, Okla.) of the Bachelor's Barge Club crossed in a 6:47.708, followed by USTC - P/Pocock Rowing Center's Kenny McMahon (Ladysmith, Wis.) and Shane Madden (Ambler, Pa.) in third with a time of 6:48.471.
USRowing Training Center - Princeton's Abby Broughton (Tetonia, Idaho) and Ursula Grobler (Pretoria, South Africa) won the lightweight women's single sculls time trial by more than ten seconds. Broughton, a silver-medalist in last year's world championship lightweight women's quadruple sculls, and Grobler, who won the lightweight single sculls at NSR #1, clocked a 7:13.840. The USTC - P/Pocock duo of Katherine Robinson (Everett, Wash.) and Lindsey Hochman (Seattle, Wash.) crossed in a 7:24.371, followed by USTC - P/Undine/Riverside's Meghan Sarbanis (Hampstead, N.H.) and Hillary Saeger (Dedham, Mass.) in a 7:25.420.
USRowing Training Center - Princeton/Pocock Rowing Center's Will Daly (Vail, Colo.) and Jimmy Sopko (Mathews, Va.) clocked the fastest time of the lightweight men's pair time trial. The duo posted a 6:53.145 and will be the top seed in Friday morning's final. USTC - P/Pocock's Nick LaCava (Weston, Conn.) and Anthony Fahden (Lafayette, Calif.) posted a 7:00.961, followed by Riverside Boat Club's Skip Dise (Beverly Hills, Mich.) and Dorian Weber in a 7:01.522.
Racing continues Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. with heats in the men's pair. Semifinals in the lightweight men's double sculls, men's double sculls and men's pair, as well as the final of the lightweight men's pair, will be held Friday starting at 7 a.m. Finals in the remaining events will be held Saturday starting at 7 a.m. Watch the finals of the open weight pairs, doubles and lightweight doubles live on the Team USA Rowing Channel beginning at 7 a.m. EST Saturday at http://rowing.teamusa.org/live.
For all four double sculls and the open weight pairs, the regatta serves as the first step towards making the 2010 Senior National Team that will represent the United States at the 2010 World Rowing Championships in Lake Karapiro, New Zealand. The winner of each event will earn the right to compete at a world cup race of their choosing. If the NSR #2 winner finishes in the top four (or top half if there are fewer than eight entries) at the world cup, then the crew will be nominated to the team. For the lightweight men's pair, NSR #2 serves as an opportunity for athletes to test their speed in preparation for selection camps and trials.
Comments | Log in to comment |
There are no Comments yet
|
row2k's Worlds coverage is brought to you in part by:
row2k's Worlds coverage is brought to you in part by: