The National Selection Regatta #3 is part of the process for selecting crews for the World Championships in Karapiro, so Tim McLaren was scrutinizing men's results and evaluating performances in different combinations Thursday through Saturday on the shores of Mercer Lake.
"There were new pair combinations in all but three of the 12 semi final crews--the three OKC crews remaining the same as the second NSR," said McLaren. "The aim was the finalize invitations to the big boat camps (note: these include the eight, quad, four, and 2x2--light and heavy).
"There is a positive sea-change in the lightweight category, with a strong showing from the top-three crews who will trial this week," says McLaren. "There were also some encouraging results from our U23 bronze-medal crew coached by Luke Agnini. Charlie Butt's Harvard kids-Will Newell and Austin Meyer--did a great job, as did Navy's Ed King." McLaren also notes that Brian Volpenhein and John Parker have made a big impact at the OKC training center, where the second-place lightweight crew at this NSR 3, Kenny McMahon and Ryan Fox, sweat it out daily. Note that Peszek and Stangel from OKC training center finished 7th at NSR 1 and 2...they are really figuring things out just two months later with their third-place finish today.
"In sculling it was very close racing, with Jamie Koven teaming with Stephen Whelpley to fight it out with the two doubles from this year's quad (Gault/Miller, Hovey/Piermarini)," added McLaren. "So the top 3 crews were very close, and whilst Koven is unavailable for selection this year, he showed that he will be a member of the top sculling group for next year."
McLaren is overall very pleased with how things are coming together. He sees some good improvement from the OKC crews, and also some promising college athletes that will be available next year.
"There are some encouraging long-term signs," concludes McLaren. "The coming weeks will consist of further trialing to finalize crews combinations in the four, quad and eight, while the pair and single will go to open trial at the end of September."
No rest for the weary, onward to trials and Worlds!
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