Racing at the 2023 World Rowing Under 23 Championships Gets Underway Wednesday

Racing in 11 of the 22 events at the 2023 World Rowing Under 23 Championships is scheduled to get underway Wednesday morning in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

The U.S. will have eight crews hitting the water tomorrow in the women's four with coxswain, men's four with coxswain, lightweight men's pair, men's pair, lightweight men's quadruple sculls, women's quadruple sculls, lightweight men's single sculls, and men's single sculls.

With only five entries, the women's four with coxswain of Camille Arnold-Mages (Waltham, Mass./Northeastern University), Eva Frohnhofer (New York, N.Y./University of Virginia), Quincy Stone (San Francisco, Calif./Stanford University), Natalie Hoefer (Midland, Mich./University of Notre Dame), and Julietta Camahort (San Francisco, Calif./Stanford University) will row in a race for lanes Wednesday against Australia, Germany, Italy, and New Zealand to determine lane assignments for this Saturday's final. The U.S. won bronze in the event last year.

The men's four with coxswain of Sammy Houdaigui (McLean, Va./Dartmouth College), Keith Ryan (Sausalito, Calif./University of California, Berkeley), Braden Porterfield (Alexandria, Va./Northeastern University), Bret Holt (Folsom, Calif./University of California, Berkeley), and Blake Vogel (Pittsburgh, Pa./University of Washington) will race in the heats on Wednesday. The U.S. is one of nine crews entered in the event, having won a silver medal last year. The U.S. will race Australia, France, and Germany in the second of two heats.

The lightweight men's pair also will compete in Wednesday's race for lanes. Jackson Fuller (Winter Park, Fla./United States Naval Academy) and Mason Banks (Westport, Conn./United States Naval Academy) will take on crews from Germany, Italy, and Serbia to determine seeding for Saturday's final. The U.S. won gold in the event last year. Both Fuller and Banks are new to the lineup this season.

The U.S. men's pair of August Altucher (Sellwood, Ore./University of Washington) and Caleb Cowles (Newport Beach, Calif./University of Washington) is one of 17 crews entered in the event and will race in the third of three heats against Australia, China, Germany, and New Zealand. The U.S. finished ninth in the event last year.

The U.S. lightweight men's quadruple sculls crew finished fourth at last year's World Rowing Under 23 Championships. Simon Dubiel (Seattle, Wash./University of Pennsylvania), Eli Rabinowitz (Rye, N.Y./Georgetown University), and Troy Riesenberger (Sarasota, Fla./University of Pennsylvania) return from that crew and are joined by Ruben Luthra (Seattle, Wash./Georgetown University). The American crew is one of six boats entered in the event. On Wednesday, the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Serbia will race for lane assignments for this Saturday's final.

The women's quadruple sculls crew of Meena Baher (Mountain View, Calif./Harvard University), Lauren Benedict (Reston, Va./University of Virginia), Catie Castle (Vero Beach, Fla./University of Rhode Island), and Rosemary Varney (Ojai, Calif./University of California, Los Angeles) is one of 12 scheduled to race in Plovdiv. The U.S. boat returns just Benedict from last year's sixth-place crew. The U.S. will take on Poland, Netherlands, Great Britain, Romania, and Czech Republic in the first of two heats.

Lightweight men's single sculler Christoph Karleskind (Alamo, Calif./Golden State Rowing Club) is one of 21 entries in the event. Last year, the U.S. finished eighth. Karleskind will race scullers from Japan, Spain, Argentina, and Denmark in the first of four heats.

Men's single sculler Isaiah Harrison (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho/Coeur d'Alene Rowing Association) returns to the World Rowing Under 23 Championships, having won the silver medal last year in Varese, Italy. Harrison is one of 25 scullers entered in the event this year. He will take on scullers from Slovenia, Portugal, Poland, Germany, and Turkey in the first of four heats.

This year's World Rowing Under 23 Championships will feature more than 750 athletes from 51 nations. The U.S. has 16 athletes returning from last year's team.

Racing gets underway Wednesday at 11 a.m. local time with heats. The rest of the heats and repechages will take place Thursday, with the remaining repechages and the start of semifinals taking place Friday. Medal races highlight Saturday and Sunday's racing.

The live race tracker and live audio will be available for all races on www.worldrowing.com. Live video streaming will be available on the World Rowing website on Saturday for the A/B semifinals and A finals and Sunday for the A finals. The video streaming will start five minutes before the first race.

Complete press coverage, athlete bios, and links to event information will be available at www.usrowing.org and www.worldrowing.com. Follow along by using the hashtags #WRU23Champs and #WRU23CHPlovdiv.

USRowing would like to thank Filippi Lido, the Official Boat Supplier for the U.S. Senior, Under 23, and Para-Rowing National Teams. Under the agreement, Filippi is providing USRowing a fleet of boats for international competitions including the World Rowing Cup regattas, World Rowing Under 23 Championships, World Rowing Championships, Olympic Games, and Paralympic Games, as well as a domestic training fleet for the USRowing Training Center.

Photo provided by row2k.com