Finals Set at 2022 National Selection Regatta 1 and Speed Order

Finals are now set at the 2022 National Selection Regatta 1 and Senior/Para Speed Order at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla. Thursday's racing featured semifinals in the men's and women's single sculls and the men's and women's lightweight single sculls.

World cup berths are on the line this week in the two open weight single sculls events. While the regatta features racing across seven boat classes, the men's and women's singles are the only two with world cup implications. The winners of those two events will earn the right to race at World Rowing Cup 2 in Poznan, Poland, where a top-six finish, or top 50 percent finish if there are fewer than 12 entries, would earn the athletes the opportunity to represent the U.S. in the event at the 2022 World Rowing Championships in Racice, Czech Republic.

In the women's single sculls, Texas Rowing Center's Kara Kohler (Clayton, Calif./University of California, Berkeley), a nine-time national team member, two-time Olympian, and 2019 World Rowing Championships bronze medalist in the event, recorded the fastest time of the semifinals. Racing in the second of two semis, Kohler crossed the finish line in a time of 7:25.78, finishing more than seven seconds ahead of ARION's Kristi Wagner (Weston, Mass./Yale University), a fellow Tokyo 2020 Olympian. Wagner crossed the line in a 7:34.26, a little less than five seconds ahead of Craftsbury Green Racing Project's Grace Joyce (Northfield, Ill./University of Wisconsin). Joyce finished with a time of 7:38.01 to claim the last qualification spot in the final by one second ahead of Cambridge Boat Club's Emily Kallfelz (Jamestown, R.I./Princeton University).

In the first semifinal, Kohler's Texas Rowing Center teammate, Sophia Vitas (Franklin, Wis./University of Wisconsin), took the top spot ahead of Boston Rowing Federation's Maggie Fellows (Warwick, Mass./St. Lawrence University). Vitas, a two-time national team member who rowed in the women's quadruple sculls at the 2019 World Rowing Championships, crossed the finish line in a 7:28.59, more than five seconds ahead of Fellows. Fellows, who reached the final in the single sculls at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Rowing, edged out Craftsbury Green Racing Project's Emily Delleman (Davenport, Iowa/Stanford University) by 0.05 seconds to take second. Delleman finished nearly three seconds ahead of ARION's Savannah Brija (Lemont, Ill./Ithaca College) to grab a spot in the final.

In the men's single sculls, California Rowing Club's Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla./University of Washington) clocked the fastest time of the day in winning the first semifinal. Davison, a Tokyo 2020 Olympian in the men's eight, returned to the single this week, having previously raced the event at four World Rowing Under 23 Championships. Davison crossed the finish line in a 6:51.29, comfortably ahead of CRC teammate Sorin Koszyk (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./Cornell University). Koszyk clocked a 6:55.16 to finish just 0.23 seconds ahead of another CRC sculler, Michael Knippen (Germantown, Wis./University of Wisconsin), who came home in a 6:55.39.

In the second semifinal, Craftsbury Green Racing Project's Jacob Plihal (Vashon Island, Wash./Northeastern University) earned the top spot, crossing the finish in a 6:53.64, less than one second ahead of Texas Rowing Center's Jonathan Kirkegaard (DeForest, Wis./Purdue University). Kirkegaard finished with a time of 6:54.42, with Vesper Boat Club's Dominique Williams (Madison, Conn./University of Pennsylvania) taking the final qualification spot in a 6:55.21 ahead of Texas Rowing Center's Kevin Cardno (Huntsville, Ala./ University of Alabama, Huntsville). Cardno was in contention to advance in the final 100 meters before he took a bad stroke and dropped back to fourth.

While world cup selection is taking place in the two NSR events, speed order racing in the men's and women's lightweight singles provides an opportunity for the athletes to test their speed early in the season.

In the lightweight women's single sculls, Tokyo 2020 Olympian Molly Reckford (Short Hills, N.J./Dartmouth College) put down the fastest time of the two semifinals. Racing in the second semi, Reckford clocked a 7:39.43 to finish more than 18 seconds ahead of Potomac Boat Club's Audrianna Boersen (Grand Valley State University). Oklahoma City High Performance Center's Brooke Ruszkiewicz (Madison, Wis.) edged out Vesper Boat Club's Eva Harris (Sarasota, Fla.) to take the third qualifying spot.

Sophia Luwis (College of William and Mary) won the first semifinal of the lightweight women's single sculls in a time of 7:42.90. Luwis finished more than 17 seconds ahead of Riverside Boat Club's Elizabeth Martin (Lexington, Mass./Massachusetts Institute of Technology), who finished in an 8:00.40. Vesper Boat Club's Solveig Imsdahl (Scheelholz 15, Germany/Cornell University) finished third to also advance to the final.

Texas Rowing Center's Zachary Heese (Pelham, N.Y./University of Virginia) recorded the fastest time in the semifinals of the lightweight men's single sculls. Heese won the second semifinal by more than five seconds over New York Athletic Club's Sam Melvin (Huntington Beach, Calif./Columbia University). Heese finished with a time of 7:05.84, with Melvin crossing the line in a 7:10.91. Riverside Boat Club's Ian Richardson (University of Connecticut) took third ahead of Hugh McAdam (Hollis, N.H./Washington College).

In the first semifinal, TRC's Jasper Liu (Phoenix, Ariz./University of Pennsylvania), who won the lightweight men's double sculls with Heese at last year's U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Rowing, took the top spot in a 7:06.07, finishing 3.53 seconds ahead of TRC teammate James McCullough (Philadelphia, Pa./University of Delaware). Riverside's Alex Twist (Boston, Mass./University of Puget Sound) finished third in a 7:09.75 to also move on to the final.

In addition to the semifinals, C, D, E, and F-level finals in the men's and women's single sculls were held on Thursday. Click here for Thursday's complete results.

Racing will conclude Friday starting at 8:30 a.m. with the A and B finals in the open weight and lightweight single sculls. Click here for the race schedule and heat sheet.

Click here for today's photo gallery.

The 2022 World Rowing Championships are scheduled for September 18-25 in Racice, Czech Republic.