RowFest National Championships Underway in Oklahoma

The 2024 USRowing RowFest National Championships kicked off Saturday with time trials in 16 events, followed by B Finals in U23 and open events. in Oklahoma City, O.K. National Championships were handed out today in 43 events. Night sprints and fireworks begin tonight at 8 p.m. 

In the first event of the day, Penn AC took their first gold of the day in the men’s U23 double. Antonio Sevillano and Ethan Ebizadeh crossed the finish line in a time of 7:23.17, nearly fifteen seconds ahead of Oklahoma City High Performance Center, who clocked a 7:37.97.

The women’s U23 eight saw a one, two, three finish for Ready Set Row. Their A boat took the win by 9.51 seconds over their B boat. The men’s U23 eight was dominated by Mendota Development Camp with a time of 6:23.37. They beat RowBuffalo by just under ten seconds.

Oklahoma City High Performance Center took the win in both the men’s and women’s U23 singles. Ryan Miller took the win over Lake Phalen’s Noah Holst. Miller crossed the finish line in a time of 7:58.13 over 26 seconds ahead of Holst. Ruthie Lacy won her final by 13.60 seconds over Gillian-Anne McLane.

Egyptian rower Nourelhoda Arafa won the women’s open lightweight single. Arafa beat out NYAC’s Jasmin Schons by 15.14 seconds. 

Racing continues tomorrow at 8 a.m. with time trials in the youth and under 17 events. A Finals for those events will be held on Tuesday, July 16. Masters events kick off on Thursday. 

In addition to racing, this year's national championships will host the USRowing College Fair on July 16 from 11 p.m. to 3 p.m  in the Equinox Tent at RiverSport OKC. The college fair will only be open to rising seniors, parents/guardians of rising seniors (panel sessions only), and club coaches.

RowFest features racing in 1,967 boats with 105 clubs going for gold. Nearly 3,000 athletes will make an appearance in 356 events including youth, under 17, under 23, open and masters age groups. 

Click here for heat sheets and results. Gallery of photos can be found here.

Races will be streamed live on Overnght.com and spectators are encouraged to follow @USRowing on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) for event updates and highlights. Be sure to tag @usrowing in your posts for a chance to be featured!

For more RowFest information, click here.