2022 USRowing Youth National Championships Underway at Nathan Benderson Park

Racing got underway with time trials in all 33 events on Thursday at the 2022 USRowing Youth National Championships at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla.

Presented by Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., this year's event is the largest ever, featuring nearly 3,500 high school and junior athletes from 210 programs.

The tightest race of the morning came in a new event to the regatta, the women's youth second varsity eight, where Marin Rowing Association edged out Greenwich Crew's boat by 0.09 seconds to earn the top seed in the semifinals. The men's youth pair also was decided by fractions of a second, with the Los Gatos Rowing Club boat of Ethan Stubbs and Oliver Powell finishing just 0.2 seconds ahead of Triangle Rowing Club's Cole Nordby and Aidan Humbert.

In the women's youth single sculls, Los Gatos' Meena Baher put in a dominant performance, clocking a 7:28.74 to finish more than eight seconds ahead of Oak Neck Academy's Catherine Barry. Baher, who was a member of the women's quadruple sculls at last year's World Rowing Junior Championships, finished fifth in the single at last year's youth nationals.

In the men's youth single, Gainesville Area Rowing's Andrew Furlow finished just ahead of South Orlando Rowing Association's Cooper Hagan to post the fastest time in the time trial. Furlow finished the 1,900-meter row in a 6:59.73 ahead of Hagan's 7:01.26. Long Island Rowing Club's Nicholas Gilligan and The Woodlands' Devan Godfrey both finished just 0.2 seconds back of Hagan, setting up some tight semifinal racing.

In the women's youth eight, RowAmerica Rye, the defending silver medalists, posted the best time by just under a second, winning the time trial in a 6:17.76. Chicago Rowing Foundation finished second in a 6:18.56, with three more crews finishing within 1.5 seconds of the Chicago boat. On the men's side, Greenwich Crew took the top spot by nearly five seconds ahead of Newport Aquatic Center. Marin Rowing Association finished third.

Click here for today's complete results.

Racing continues Friday with semifinals in all boat classes and the D finals in the U17, U16, and U15 races. Saturday will feature the C and D finals in the youth boat classes, as well as the B and C finals in the U17, U16, and U15 races. Sunday's racing will feature the A finals (medal races) for all boat classes and the B finals for the youth boat classes. Click here for a complete schedule and here for the heat sheet.

Starting Friday, semifinals and finals will be streamed live on USRowing's YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/usrowingorg. In addition, USRowing has partnered with Rowers Choice to provide a daily preview and recap show, USRowing Race Day Coverage powered by Rowers Choice.

Click here for complete coverage of the 2022 USRowing Youth National Championships and check out today's video feature on San Miguel Academy, which raced at its first youth nationals earlier today in the U15 quadruple sculls with coxswain.

Follow USRowing on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for full coverage of the event. Be sure to tag #YouthNats22 and @usrowing in your posts for a chance to be featured.