National Team Hopefuls Scheduled to Race at 2021 USRowing Fall Speed Order

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – National team hopefuls will be back on the water this weekend, as 87 rowers will take part in the 2021 USRowing Fall Speed Order at the Caspersen Rowing Center on Mercer Lake.

The speed order consists of two days of racing, with competitors rowing a 6k on the ergometer on Friday before racing on the water on Saturday. On Saturday morning, athletes will race consecutive 1,900-meter time trials. Then on Saturday afternoon, 2,000-meter racing will be contested in flights.

The top finishers in the morning races of the men's and women's single sculls will have the opportunity to race in doubles in the afternoon. In addition, the top male and female scullers from those events who indicate that they will be contesting a lightweight seat in 2022 also will have the opportunity to race in doubles. Those athletes who choose not to race the double or are not eligible to race will have the opportunity to compete in singles. Doubles availability is as follows:

Men's Double - 8 Doubles

Women's Double - 8 Doubles

Lightweight Men's Double - 3 Doubles

Lightweight Women's Double - 3 Doubles

Saturday morning's racing will start at 8:30 a.m. with the women's single. Afternoon racing is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.

While this weekend's results will not have an official impact on the 2022 selection process, the event allows athletes to see where they stand heading into winter training.

The men's single event has the most entries with 45 scullers scheduled to race. The field features several past national team members including Riverside Boat Club's Kevin Meador, who represented the U.S. in the event at both the 2018 and 2019 World Rowing Championships. Now rowing out of the Texas Rowing Center, Kevin Cardno and Jonathan Kirkegaard, who represented the U.S. in the double sculls at the 2021 Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland, and Zachary Heese and Jasper Liu, who raced the lightweight double at the FOQR, also are scheduled to race.

The women's single features 34 entries including ARION's Kristi Wagner, who finished fifth in the double sculls at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games earlier this year. Boston Rowing Federation's Maggie Fellows, who finished fourth in the event at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Rowing in February, is also scheduled to race. ARION has seven scullers entered in the event including Wagner, while Craftsbury Green Racing Project, Vesper Boat Club and Oklahoma City High Performance Center have five entries each. Oklahoma City's Elizabeth Hinley was part of the first-ever U.S. Beach Sprint National Team that competed in Portugal in September. Community Rowing's Molly Moore, who won a gold medal in the PR3 women's pair in 2019, also will be racing in the event.

Three crews are entered in the women's pair, while one boat is entered in the men's pair. There also are single entries in the men's PR3 single sculls and women's PR2 single sculls. Community Rowing's Andrew Wigren, who was a member of the 2019 World Rowing Championships squad, will race in the men's PR3 single.

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