Ben Davison and Kara Kohler took big steps towards making the 2022 US Team today, with both of them winning their finals at Sarasota to stake their claims to provisional team berths.
Both athletes have several weeks to make their decision, as a final decision is not required until after the doubles trials at NSR II, May 3-5.
Davison posted a clear win in the Men's Single ahead of Jacob Plihal. As Davison pointed out yesterday, he wasn't putting any specific pressure on himself with respect to which boat class he will ultimately compete in this year.
"My goal, as soon as I finished in Tokyo, was to just get fast enough to win a medal and I don't know what what boat that's going to be. But all I can do is just try to develop and go faster, and I'm going to continue to do that. There are people more experienced than myself that will help me make that decision with what's going to be fast."
"The date to decide is right after the doubles trials, so I have some time to think about that. I'll just sit down with my coaches and set it aside and see whether it's whether it's faster, try some double combinations, all those types of things."
All of that said, Davison was happy with his overall performance here this week. "I think I've definitely developed quite a bit. This is the first time I've actually tried to train in the single properly and taking it seriously, really committing to it. In high school and college, I'd race the sweep season all year round, and then hop in the single for two weeks, and then try to race at the world level. I'm pretty happy that things are starting to connect."
Finishing third in the Men's final was Vesper's Dominique Williams, a relative newcomer to men's heavyweight sculling. Racing out of lane 1, Williams is no stranger to strong performances from outside lanes, having stroked the Penn Varsity Lightweight Eight to a huge win at Eastern Sprints out of lane 6 on Worcester's Lake Quinsigamond in 2019.
William's nosed out California's Sorin Koszyk in a three boat photo-finish for 2nd through 4th.
Kara Kohler also picked up in 2022 where she left off in '21, as the fastest women's single in the US. After winning the US Olympic trials and representing the US in the women's single in Tokyo, Kohler is still at the head of the field in the US.
Kohler's Texas training partner Sophia Vitas and ARION's Kristi Wagner finished in 2nd & 3rd, and are likely to figure strongly in the women's sculling picture this year.
If either Kohler or Davison were to decline the opportunity to race at the World Cup in June, that spot would roll down to Vitas and Plihal, respectively. Both Kohler and Davison have time to make the decision, and then Vitas and Plihal have until May 7th (the day after double sculls trials) to petition for the World Cup singles spots if Davison or Kohler decline.
For wonks, the full National Team selection procedures for this year are posted here.
LIGHTWEIGHTS
Molly Reckford also won her final in the Lightweight Women's single today, in the tightest final of the day, just over half a second ahead of Sophia Luwis. For Reckford, it was her first regatta win in the single since the 2018 Masters Nationals in Oakland.
"There is good speed in the ranks!" said Reckford. " It was so exciting getting out there and really having a dogfight to the line. Not to mention how close the field was to gold medal standard. It is awesome to see how young and quick the field is right now. I think there is a lot of good to come from the USA light women."
For Reckford, the NSR has been more of a training week than a specific goal, as she made clear. "From here it's a day of recovery and then right back to work. It's time to rig up the double and get back into bow seat mode for me. We have about five or six weeks to get back in our groove before Trials, so there isn't a moment to spare."
In the men's lightweight single, Zach Heese turned the tables on his training (and doubles) partner Jasper Liu. NYAC's Sam Melvin, 2019 U23 World Champion in the men's lightweight single was third, and Texas' Jimmy McCullough was fourth, reinforcing the Texas squad's depth.
Both the lightweight men and women will now be turning their attention to the National Selection Regatta II, to be held May 3-5 in Mercer County, New Jersey, with national team spots in the men's and women's lightweight doubles on the line.
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