Racing at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals Gets Underway Friday

Fielding its first-ever Beach Sprint National Team, the U.S. will send eight boats to the start line in Friday's time trials as racing gets underway at 9 a.m. local time (4 a.m. EDT) at the 2021 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Oeiras, Portugal.

The squad, which was selected at the Beach Sprint National Team Trials in June, includes one rower with international race experience in flat-water rowing, Christine Cavallo (Windermere, Fla./Stanford University).

Cavallo, a seven-time national team member at the junior, under 23, senior and now beach sprint levels, will be racing in the mixed coxed quadruple sculls with coxswain Bennett Rossell (Sarasota, Fla./Stetson University), John Olbrys (Arlington, Va./United States Coast Guard Academy), Hannah Huppi (Bellingham, Wash./Tulane University) and John Huppi (Reston, Va./Tulane University). The U.S. crew is one of 11 boats entered in the event.

"It's such an honor competing for the U.S., especially given how the last two years have been for everybody – Covid, the City of New Orleans, where I'm from, was hammered by Hurricane Ida. Just to be out here is a privilege, and I just keep thinking about everyone at home and want to do my best for them."

With the crew members in the quad coming from several locations across the country, practice time has been limited since trials, but Huppi said the boat has been preparing for the unexpected, something that coastal rowing and the Beach Sprint format throws at competitors.

"I think what makes us all similar in preparing for this event is that we expect things to go wrong. That's the mindset," Huppi said. "In every training session, we just go in with that mindset and just let it all play out. We're not searching for perfection because you are not going to get perfection in this race. I think it's going to be high octane. It's going to be a lot of fun. I think there's going to be the same intensity that you'd see at any other world event, but I think you're going to see some smiles on faces, and I think that's what makes this event really special."

In total, nine boat classes are being contested in Portugal, and the U.S. will have entries in eight of the events. Women's events include the women's solo (single sculls), junior women's solo and junior women's double sculls. Men's events include the men's solo, junior men's solo and junior men's double sculls. Mixed events include the open mixed double sculls, open mixed coxed quadruple sculls and the junior mixed double sculls. The U.S. has entries in every category with the exception of the junior women's double. In total, just under 200 athletes from 25 countries are scheduled to race in the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals.

In the women's solo event, Cassidy Norton (Hamilton, Ohio/Ross High School) will take on 14 other competitors in Portugal. Norton won the open women's solo event, finished second in the open mixed quadruple sculls and made the semifinals in the open mixed double sculls at USRowing's Beach Sprint National Team Trials. Norton just started her freshman year at Robert Morris University.

Christopher Bak (Cincinnati, Ohio/University of Cincinnati) won the open men's solo event at the Beach Sprint National Team Trials. A 2019 graduate of the University of Cincinnati, Bak is one of 23 scullers entered in the event. The field includes Norway's Kjetil Borch, the Olympic silver medalist in the men's single sculls, as well as Portugal Olympian Pedro Fraga.

Elizabeth Hinley (McHenry County, Ill./University of North Texas) and Kory Rogers (The Woodlands, Texas/Temple University) will race in the mixed double sculls event. Rogers rows at Temple University, while Hinley, who picked up the sport of rowing through the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee's Next Olympic Hopeful program in 2018, rows out of the Oklahoma City High Performance Center. Hinley and Rogers will take on 13 other crews in Portugal.

In the junior women's solo race, Britt Wotovich (Redington Beach, Fla./Berkeley Preparatory School) will take on six other scullers. The 15-year old, who rows out of The Stewards Foundation in Tampa, finished second in the lightweight single at the 2021 Florida Scholastic Rowing Association Sculling Championships earlier this year before winning USRowing's Beach Sprint National Team Trials.

Brian O'Leary (Port Charlotte, Fla./Jesuit High School) will take on eight other scullers in the junior men's solo event. O'Leary, who began rowing this past year with The Stewards Foundation, finished 12th in the U17 single sculls at the 2021 USRowing Youth National Regatta.

In addition to their solo races, Wotovich and O'Leary also will race in the junior mixed double sculls this weekend. The duo used a strong return trip around the buoy in the finals at USRowing's Beach Sprint National Team Trials to earn their second spots on the squad. Wotovich and O'Leary will take on six other crews in Portugal.

Aidan Ehrismann (Portland, Ore./Leodis V. McDaniel High School) and Joshua Li (Lake Oswego, Ore./Lakeridge High School) will race in the junior men's double sculls. The duo rows out of Rose City Rowing Club and is one of nine crews entered in the event.

Racing gets underway Friday with time trials in all events. Saturday's racing will feature Round Two racing in the two open solo events, as well as finals in the junior men's and women's solo events, open mixed double sculls and mixed coxed quadruple sculls. Sunday's racing will include finals in the junior men's, women's and mixed double sculls, as well as the open men's and women's solo events.

Beach Sprint racing is contested in a run, row, run combination over a 250-meter, out-and-back buoyed course and uses a time trial and knock-out progression system. The format debuted in 2015 at the Mediterranean Beach Games, and the first global event was the 2019 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Shenzhen, China.

Click here for USRowing's 2021 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals coverage page for articles, photos, athlete bios, schedule, results and much more.

Live streaming of all races will be available on www.worldrowing.com and World Rowing's YouTube channel.