Row to Paris Ramps Up with 2024 Winter Speed Order

With Olympic selection just around the corner, the road towards making the Paris 2024 Olympic Games ramps up Thursday as 149 of the United States' top rowers hit the waters at the 2024 Winter Speed Order at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla.

With racing taking place in the men's and women's single sculls and pairs, the speed order not only serves as an opportunity for rowers to test their speed ahead of April's U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Team Trials – Rowing but also gives 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 boat category will receive invitations to the selection camp.

Forty-seven athletes have entered the men's single sculls including New York Athletic Club's Eliot Putnam (Littleton, Mass./Cornell University), who finished 19th in the event at the 2023 World Rowing Championships In Belgrade, Serbia. California Rowing Club's Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla./University of Washington) and Sorin Koszyk (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./Cornell University), who finished 13th in the men's double sculls at last year's world championships, will be racing the single in Sarasota as well. A 2023 Pan American Games silver medalist in the event, Craftsbury Green Racing Project's Jacob Plihal (Vashon Island, Wash./Northeastern University) is one of several other national team veterans scheduled to race this week including all four members of the men's quadruple sculls crew from Belgrade – Penn AC's Dominique Williams (Madison, Conn./University of Pennsylvania), CRC's Will Legenzowski (Vista, N.Y./Brown University), NYAC's Liam Galloway (Ridgefield, Conn./Yale University), and CRC's Kevin Cardno (Huntsville, Ala./University of Alabama, Huntsville).

CRC's Kara Kohler (Clayton, Calif./University of California, Berkeley), a 10-time national team member and two-time Olympian, headlines a 44-person field in the women's single sculls. Kohler finished fourth in the event at last year's world championships, just missing the medal stand. Sarasota Training Center's Sophia Vitas (Franklin, Wis./University of Wisconsin) and ARION's Kristi Wagner (Weston, Mass./Yale University), who took home the bronze medal in the women's double sculls at the 2023 World Championships, are scheduled to race, as are three members of the Belgrade women's quadruple sculls crew including Craftsbury Green Racing Project's Grace Joyce (Northfield, Ill./University of Wisconsin), Sarasota TC's Molly Reckford (Short Hills, N.J./Dartmouth College), and ARION's Lauren O'Connor (Belleville, Wis./University of Wisconsin). In addition, 2023 lightweight double sculls world silver medalists Mary Jones Nabel (Huntsville, Ala./University of Tennessee/Cambridge Boat Club) and Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif./University of Tulsa/USRowing Training Center-Princeton) are entered in the race, as is 2023 lightweight women's single sculls world bronze medalist, Whitemarsh Boat Club's Sophia Luwis (McLean, Va./The College of William & Mary).

Sixteen crews are entered in the women's pair including 10 with ties to USRowing Training Center – Princeton. All eight rowers from the 2023 World Championships' silver-medal winning eight are scheduled to race including Charlotte Buck (Nyack, N.Y./Columbia University/USRowing Training Center-Princeton), who will race with Jessica Thoennes (Highlands Ranch, Colo./University of Washington/USRowing Training Center-Princeton). Brooke Mooney (Keene Valley, N.Y./University of Washington/USRowing Training Center-Princeton) and Alina Hagstrom (Seattle, Wash./Oregon State University/USRowing Training Center-Princeton) will pair up in Sarasota, while Margaret Hedeman (Concord, Mass./Yale University/USRowing Training Center-Princeton) and Emily Froehlich (Fishers, Ind./University of Texas/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) will race together. Regina Salmons (Methuen, Mass./University of Pennsylvania/USRowing Training Center-Princeton) will row with Molly Bruggeman (Dayton, Ohio/University of Notre Dame/USRowing Training Center-Princeton), who finished fourth in the women's four at last year's world championships, while Mary Mazzio-Manson (Wellesley, Mass./Yale University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) will race with Kelsey Reelick (Brookfield, Conn./Princeton University/USRowing Training Center-Princeton), who also was part of the four in Belgrade. Claire Collins (McLean, Va./Princeton University/USRowing Training Center-Princeton) and Madeleine Wanamaker (Neenah, Wis./University of Wisconsin/USRowing Training Center-Princeton), who rounded out the four last year and won a bronze medal in the pair at the 2022 World Rowing Championships, also are scheduled to race, as are California Rowing Club's Meghan Musnicki (Naples, N.Y./Ithaca College) and Alie Rusher (West Bend, Wis./Stanford University), who finished sixth in event at last year's world championships.

The men's pair will feature 13 crews including the CRC/Penn AC composite crew of Evan Olson (Bothell, Wash./University of Washington/) and William Bender (Norwich, Vt./Dartmouth College), who finished fifth in the event at last year's world championships. All four members of last year's silver-medal winning men's four will be racing in Sarasota. CRC's Liam Corrigan (Old Lyme, Conn./Harvard University) will race with CRC teammate Michael Grady (Pittsburgh, Pa./Cornell University), while NYAC's Nick Mead (Strafford, Pa./Princeton University) will race with CRC's Justin Best (Kennett Square, Pa./Drexel University). The eight rowers from the 2023 men's eight also are entered in the event. Craftsbury Green Racing Project's Ezra Carlson (Eureka, Calif./University of Washington) and Alexander Hedge (Morristown, N.J./Columbia University), who won gold in the event at the 2023 Pan American Games in addition to being part of the eight at the world championships, will race together, as will the Boston Rowing Federation/NYAC composite crew of Clark Dean (Sarasota, Fla./Harvard University) and Chris Carlson (Bedford, N.H./University of Washington). Representing California Rowing Club, Pieter Quinton (Portland, Ore./Harvard University) will race with Oliver Bub (Westport, Conn./Dartmouth College, while Peter Chatain (Winnetka, Ill./Stanford University) will row with Henry Hollingsworth (Dover, Mass./Brown University).

Speed order racing runs Thursday through Saturday. Time trials and quarterfinals will be held Thursday, with semifinals taking place Friday. Finals will take place Saturday. Racing is scheduled to start at 8:00 a.m. each day. Click here for heat sheets and results throughout the competition.

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.