Medals Awarded in 18 Events, 10 Boats Selected to Worlds' Squad on Friday at Summer Nationals

Medals were awarded across 18 events and 10 crews earned the right to represent the U.S. at the 2022 World Rowing Championships on Friday as racing concluded at the 2022 USRowing Summer National Championships on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.

On the team side, Vesper Boat Club earned the overall points trophy with 109 points, finishing six points ahead of Penn AC. Vesper also won the women's points trophy with 77 points, finishing ahead of Greenwich Crew. Miami Rowing Club defeated New York Athletic Club by two points for the men's points trophy, finishing with 79 points.

This week's regatta featured racing in 48 boat classes in the under 23 and open categories, with more than 300 boats and nearly 500 rowers competing. In addition to national titles, spots on the 2022 Senior National Team were up for grabs in 10 events, with the winners of those trials' events earning spots on the 2022 World Championships squad that will race this September in Racice, Czech Republic.

In the closest race of the day, Vesper Boat Club's Elaine Tierney and Solveig Imsdahl won the final of the lightweight women's pair, claiming the national championship and a spot on this year's world championships' team. Tierney and Imsdahl held off a late charge by Ava Sack and Elsa Andrews, who will be represent the U.S. in the event at the 2022 World Rowing Under 23 Championships. The Vesper boat crossed the finish line in a 7:38.61, with Sack and Andrews finishing in a 7:39.41. Sack and Andrews came back later in the morning to win the U23 women's pair by over 10 seconds.

"We were just staying very internal, just focusing on doing what we could do," Imsdahl said. "We had a good base and just held it. I'm very excited to be working with (Elaine) on this. We've only been rowing together for a few weeks, and I feel like we have so much more to learn."

Both Tierney and Imsdahl have previous national team experience, with Tierney racing at last year's under 23 worlds and Imsdahl being part of two under 23 teams and the 2019 Pan American Games squad.

"I feel really excited, and I'm just really happy that we got to find each other and race," Tierney said. "We've been sort of in the same area but not in the same place to row together, so to be able to do this together is really great. For me, it's exciting to go from U23 to senior and for us to make the team together for the first time."

Cambridge Boat Club's Mary Jones Nabel has been outstanding on the world cup circuit in 2022, having won gold in the lightweight women's single sculls at the first two World Rowing Cup regattas earlier this year. Jones Nabel secured her spot on this year's national team with another dominant performance. The now six-time national team member easily defeated Lincoln Park Boat Club's Liza Ray, finishing more than 11 seconds ahead with a time of 7:47.25.

"It always feels good to complete the trials and officially be on the team for the year," Jones Nabel said. "Trials are always hard because it's the last hurdle for getting on the team, and you have to not make any mistakes. You never know who's going to show up with what kind of speed, so you just come out, respect your competitors, and put your best foot forward. It feels really good to get the win and be heading on to the world championships."

In the lightweight men's single sculls, Texas Rowing Center's James McCullough bested New York Athletic Club's Sam Melvin by two seconds to make his first world championships' squad. McCullough, who represented the U.S. at the 2019 Pan American Games, held off a late charge by Melvin, the 2019 World Rowing Under 23 champion in the event, to win with a time of 7:07.52.

"It was a barnburner; it was a really good race," McCullough said. "I knew Sam was going to be fast. He's a really good athlete, but I knew that I could probably be pretty quick off the start. I had a fast start, but Sam set a pretty blistering pace. He ate his way into me pretty quickly throughout it and then it came down to the last 500. I've done a lot of training, and I knew I was really fit. I was able to give it a kick at the end. Really good race, really good performance.

McCullough made the B final at the 2022 World Rowing Cup 2 in Poznan, Poland, in June, and will be looking towards improving that performance in Racice.

"I'll take about six days relaxing and re-setting, and then next Thursday, get back to training hard," McCullough said. "I got to see some of the speed in the lightweight single at World Cup 2. I was just outside the A final there, speed wise, so my goal as I get back to training is eyes set on picking up the next seconds that I need to crack into the A final at world championships."

In the lightweight men's pair, the New York Athletic Club crew of Harrison Tsavaris and Justin Stevens finished just over five seconds ahead of Vesper Boat Club's Noah Pingul and John Reid Swanson. Tsavaris and Stevens crossed the line with a time of 7:30.67 to earn a spot on the national team.

In the lightweight men's quadruple sculls, the Conshohocken Rowing Center crew of Simon Dubiel, Eli Rabinowitz, Justin Schmidt, and Troy Riesenberger, who will be racing the event at the 2022 World Rowing Under 23 Championships, won the gold medal by nearly 10 seconds, finishing in a 6:05.54 ahead of the Riverside Boat Club crew of Mats Terwiesch, Ashton Knight, Ian Richardson, and Sean Richardson. However, the Conshohocken crew declined its spot on the world championships' squad, and the Riverside crew accepted the spot.

In the lightweight women's quadruple sculls event, the Riverside/Whitemarsh composite boat of Sophia Luwis, Elizabeth Martin, Cara Stawicki, and Audrianna Boersen raced uncontested, finishing the course in a 6:44.35. Stawicki is a two-time national team member and a 2019 world champion in the lightweight women's pair. Boersen finished second with Luwis in the open double sculls at the second 2022 National Selection Regatta and was third behind Molly Reckford and Luwis in the lightweight single sculls at the speed order in March. The crew won gold in the open weight quadruple sculls during yesterday's finals.

The four Para rowing trials' events were all raced uncontested.

In the PR3 mixed double sculls, Portland Boat Club's Todd Vogt and Pearl Outlaw dominated their competition at the 2022 Gavirate International Para Rowing Regatta in May. The duo won the national selection regatta earlier this year and secured their spot on this year's world championships' squad today, finishing the course in a 7:48.10.

In the PR2 men's single sculls, Lake Casitas Rowing Club's Russell Gernaat, a Tokyo 2020 Paralympian in the PR2 mixed double sculls, finished the course in a 9:44.44.

In the PR2 women's single sculls, Community Rowing's Jennifer Fitz-Roy qualified for her first national team by crossing the finish line in an 11:26.42.

In the PR1 men's single sculls, West Side Rowing Club's Andrew Mangan also qualified for his first national team, crossing the finish line in a 12:04.95.

In the non-trials' events, Craftsbury Green Racing Project's Taylor English won two national titles on Friday, winning the U23 women's single sculls by just over five seconds and then winning the U23 women's double sculls with Julia Batson by a little over two seconds.

Penn AC's Thomas Phifer defeated teammate Eliot Putnam in the men's single sculls by just under two seconds. Phifer clocked a 7:03.13 to Putnam's 7:05.03. Gregory Davis finished third to win the bronze medal.

ARION's Savannah Brija and Lauren O'Connor won gold in the women's double sculls yesterday and came back to finish one-two in today's women's single sculls final. Brija won with a time of 7:46.59, with O'Connor finishing in a 7:51.77. Tokyo 2020 Olympian Cicely Madden finished third.

Click here for today's complete results.

With the size of the USRowing Summer National Championship Regatta continuing to grow, USRowing made the decision to split the summer championships into two regattas in 2022. The second summer national championship, the USRowing Youth Summer National Championships, will be held July 15-17 on Melton Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and will feature racing in 35 events in the youth, U17, and U16 categories.

While the two regattas will take place separately, clubs will still be able to race for the combined all-points trophies across both regattas. The Colgan Cup Overall Team Points Trophy, Sulgar-Barnes Men's Points Trophy, and Marion D. Ventura Women's Points Trophy will be up for grabs, with opportunities to score points at both events.