2025 USRowing Youth National Championships Set to Begin on June 12

Trailers are pulling in, and teams are arriving at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida, for the 30th USRowing Youth National Championships. USRowing and Benderson Park Conservancy are hosting the best teams in the country for the sixth year in a row as they race for a chance at a national title.

This year's event is the largest ever, with 886 entries from 231 clubs across the country, bringing in just over 4,000 athletes. The event will feature racing in 38 boat classes, with the men's U17 four with coxswain and women's eight boasting the biggest fields with 34 entries each.

RowAmerica Rye (Rye, N.Y.) has the most entries with 24 boats expected to compete, followed by Maritime Rowing Club (Norwalk, Conn.) with 16, and Los Gatos Rowing Club (Los Gatos, Calif.) with 15.

The hunt for the podium begins on Thursday, June 12, at 7:30 a.m. (EST) with time trials in all boat classes running until 6:00 p.m. Friday will feature semifinals in all boat classes as well as E finals for the men’s youth quad, men’s youth four, women’s youth eight, and men’s U17 four with coxswain. Saturday will feature the B finals in the U17 and U16 boat classes, as well as the C and D finals for all categories. Finally, Sunday's racing will commence with the A finals (medal races) for all boat classes and the B finals for the remaining youth boat classes, with the last race, the open-gender youth double, scheduled to start at 3:16 PM.

In the men’s youth single sculls, George Kapp, from Brunswick School (Greenwich, Conn.), is looking to claim another national title after winning the men’s U17 single sculls and competing in the men’s double sculls at the 2024 U19 World Championships. The women’s double sculls from River City Crew (Richmond, Va.) is another crew to look out for. Sumner Kerr (who competed in the women’s quadruple sculls at U19 Worlds) and Emily Costa are also looking to claim their second national title after winning Mid-Atlantic regionals by over 20 seconds.

In the coxed boats, eyes should be on the men’s youth eight from Marin Rowing Association (Greenbrae, Calif.), which won Southwest regionals by a length and a half of open water. This boat is made up of six athletes who raced at last year's U19 World Championships including Bailey Foster (men’s eight), Ryan Jorgensen (men’s four with coxswain), Taeden Landa (men’s eight), Aemon Morlan (men’s four with coxswain), Ori Radwin (men’s eight), and Hugh Ryan (men’s eight). However, RowAmerica Rye’s men shouldn’t be counted out as they are looking to hold on to their title from last year. In the women’s youth eight, RowAmerica Rye is a top contender as they also look to repeat their win from last year, returning four of their nine athletes. In the women’s four with coxswain, make sure to look out for Inglemoor High School (Kenmore, Wash.), which came third last year, but has returned their entire boat to win Northwest regionals by 11 seconds.

The event will be streamed live on Overnght.com. General admission tickets are still available and can be purchased here. Results will be available here.