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Jun 04, 2024
USRowing and Benderson Park Conservancy will host the 29th USRowing Youth National Championships on June 6-9 at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla. Last year's Championships - also at Nathan Benderson Park - won the 2023 Sports Travel Award for Best Amateur Sports Event.
Presented by Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., this year's event is the largest ever with 854 entries from 224 clubs across the country bringing in just over 4,000 athletes. The event will feature racing in 41 boat classes, with the women's youth eight and women's youth quad being the most popular with 31 entries each.
RowAmerica Rye (Rye, N.Y.) has the most entries with 19 boats expected to compete, followed by Maritime Rowing Club (Norwalk, Conn.) with 15. Greenwich Crew (Greenwich, Conn.), Los Gatos Rowing Club (Los Gatos, Calif.), and Sarasota Crew (Sarasota, Fla.) each entered 14 boats.
Racing will start on Thursday, June 6, with time trials in all boat classes. Friday will feature semifinals in all boat classes. Saturday will feature the B finals in the U17, U16, and U15 boat classes, as well as the C and D finals. Sunday's racing will feature the A finals (medal races) for all boat classes and the B finals for the youth boat classes.
There are multiple returning crews looking to return to the podium. Ian O'Reilly from Brophy College Preparatory Crew (Phoenix, Ariz.) placed third in the men's single sculls last year, he won Southwest Regionals by over 25 seconds. In the women's single sculls, multiple athletes from last year's final return including silver medalist, Ana Holtey from Waterford Crew (Sandy, Utah), and bronze medalist, Annelise Hahl from Triangle Rowing Club (Raleigh, N.C.). Annelise Hahl represented the U.S at the U19 World Championships and won silver at the 2023 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in the single sculls. The winners of last year's women's youth pair, Caroline Krantz and Annika Nelson from Connecticut Boat Club (Norwalk, Conn.), will attempt to take the top step once again. They represented the U.S at the 2023 U19 World Championships.
In the larger boat classes, Maritime's men's quadruple scull, last year's winners, dominated Northeast Regionals, winning by over 14 seconds. On the women's side, Oregon Rowing Unlimited (Portland, Ore.) took gold at Northwest Regionals by over 20 seconds. The youth four with coxswain event will have a different top three this year since not all teams are returning to the event but look out for the women's crew from Greenwich and the men's crew from Newport Sea Base (Newport Beach, Calif.) who took decisive wins at their regionals by open water. The women's and men's youth eights is expected to be one of the most competitive categories, as the regional championship results have been close across the country.
The event will be streamed live for free on Overnght.com. General admission tickets are still available and can be purchased here.
Located in Sarasota, Fla., Nathan Benderson Park is a unique 600-acre community park that includes North America's premier 2,000-meter sprint rowing course and a regatta center.
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