Racing Wraps Up at USRowing’s 2024 Winter Speed Order

*Updated 2/17/24 at 5:30 p.m.

Racing wrapped up on Saturday at USRowing's 2024 Winter Speed Order at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla., with 18 athletes earning automatic invitations to the upcoming Olympic Selection Camp.

With racing taking place in the men's and women's single sculls and pairs, this week's speed order not only served as an opportunity for rowers to test their speed ahead of April's U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Team Trials – Rowing but also gave them a chance to earn automatic invitations to the Olympic Selection Camp scheduled for March 3-24 in Sarasota. The top three finishers in each of Saturday's A finals received automatic invitations to the selection camp.

In the women's single sculls, Cambridge Boat Club/Long Beach Rowing Association's Maggie Fellows (Warwick, Mass./St. Lawrence University) crossed the line first, finishing 2.65 seconds ahead of Sarasota Training Center's Sophia Vitas (Franklin, Wis./University of Wisconsin). Fellows, a three-time national team member who raced in the women's quadruple sculls at the 2022 World Rowing Championships, finished with a time of 7:28.86. Vitas, a four-time national team member and 2023 World Championships' bronze medalist in the women's double sculls, crossed second in a 7:31.51, with New York Athletic Club's Molly Reckford (Short Hills, N.J./Dartmouth College), who raced in the women's quadruple sculls at last year's world championships, taking third in a 7:34.12.

"I focused on taking everything one day at a time," Fellows said. "It is all a process, so it is important to stay focused on consistency. Today is another step in the process, and I will be looking to build on my base throughout Olympic selection."

California Rowing Club's Sorin Koszyk (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./Cornell University) won the final of the men's single sculls, besting CRC teammate Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla./University of Washington) by 2.57 seconds. Koszyk, who rowed with Davison in the men's double sculls at last year's world championships, continued his winning ways this week, following up victories in the time trial, quarterfinals, and semifinals with another win today. Koszyk crossed the line in a 6:47.21, with Davison finishing in a 6:49.78. CRC's Will Legenzowski (Vista, N.Y./Brown University), who raced in the men's quadruple sculls at last year's world championships, took third in a 6:54.30.

"Today was a solid effort," Koszyk said. "I need to continue to work on loose power and consistency moving forward. The takeaway for the double is to be able to identify what fast feels like and consistently reproduce it in all conditions."

In the women's pair, USRowing Training Center - Princeton's Molly Bruggeman (Dayton, Ohio/University of Notre Dame) and Regina Salmons (Methuen, Mass./University of Pennsylvania) took the top spot over USTC – Princeton's Claire Collins (McLean, Va./Princeton University) and Madeleine Wanamaker (Neenah, Wis./University of Wisconsin/). Bruggeman was part of the women's four at last year's world championships, while Salmons won a silver medal as part of the women's eight. The duo won the race in a 7:00.04, finishing 3.67 seconds ahead of Collins and Wanamaker, the bronze medalists in the event at the 2022 World Rowing Championships. Collins and Wanamaker finished with a time of 7:03.71. CRC's Meghan Musnicki (Naples, N.Y./Ithaca College) and Alie Rusher (West Bend, Wis./Stanford University), who finished sixth in the pair at last year's world championships, took third in a 7:06.73, finishing just 0.07 seconds ahead of USTC-Princeton's Kaitlin Knifton (Austin, Texas/University of Texas) and Emily Kallfelz (Jamestown, R.I./Princeton University).

In the men's pair, CRC's Liam Corrigan (Old Lyme, Conn./Harvard University) and Michael Grady (Pittsburgh, Pa./Cornell University) edged out teammates Pieter Quinton (Portland, Ore./Harvard University) and Oliver Bub (Westport, Conn./Dartmouth College) by 0.55 seconds to earn the victory. Corrigan and Grady, who won silver as part of the men's four at last year's world championships, crossed the finish line in a 6:22.32. Quinton and Bub, who were part of the men's eight in 2023, clocked a 6:22.87. The New York Athletic Club/CRC composite crew of Nick Mead (Strafford, Pa./Princeton University) and Justin Best (Kennett Square, Pa./Drexel University), who won silver in the four with Corrigan and Grady in 2023, finished third with a time of 6:27.14 ahead of CRC's Peter Chatain (Winnetka, Ill./Stanford University) and Henry Hollingsworth (Dover, Mass./Brown University).

"We knew we had a pretty good start. Given that the conditions were pretty fast with the tailwind – margins can be pretty tight in those kinds of conditions – we wanted to get a little bit of a lead, especially in the beginning of the race where the water is a little bit calmer and maybe you can separate yourself before the wind really picks up," Corrigan said. "I think we did a pretty good job of that. We were maybe about a length up at the 1,000, and we sort of held it there. Pieter and Oliver pushed back in the end, but we had enough of a margin to hold them off. The focus was just really internal and trying to go fast in what were really fast conditions."

"I think going into Olympic selection, we are in a good spot," Corrigan continued. "We're confident. There probably are only a few spots for the guys getting evaluated for the four. Hopefully, we'll just find the fastest boat. We had a good result last year, and I'm excited about hopefully having another good result. We'll just keep training. Now, we're just trying to have another really good block of hard training."

For complete results, click here.

Rowing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will take place July 27-August 4. The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Team Trials – Rowing will take place April 2-7 in Sarasota. Click here to see a quick guide to Olympic and Paralympic qualification.

USRowing would like to thank our national team sponsors including our Official Boat Supplier for the U.S. Senior, Under 23, and Para Rowing National Teams, Filippi Lido; our Official Apparel Provider, 776BC; our Official Partner, Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., our Official Boat Supplier for the U.S. Under 19 National Team, Hudson; our Exclusive Supplement Supplier, Thorne HealthTech; our Official Performance Electronics Outfitter, Nielsen-Kellerman; the National Rowing Foundation; and TrainingPeaks, the Official Training and Coaching Software of USRowing's High Performance Team.

* This article was updated on 2/17/24 at 5:30 p.m. with corrected women's single sculls results.