Apr 12, 2021
Team USA
Second 2020 U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Team Trials Underway in New Jersey
WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – Racing at the second set of U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Team Trials – Rowing got underway this morning at Mercer Lake with time trials in the men's quadruple sculls, women's double sculls and PR2 mixed double sculls.
While six boat classes are being contested in New Jersey, just four – the women's double sculls, PR1 men's single sculls, PR1 women's single sculls and PR2 mixed double sculls crews – will lock up their spots for Tokyo, pending USOPC approval. The winners of the men's pair and men's quadruple sculls will earn the right to race at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta May 15-17 to try to claim their spots on the Olympic roster.
In the PR2 mixed double sculls, Bair Island Aquatic Center's Russell Gernaat (Redwood City, Calif) and Laura Goodkind (Los Angeles, Calif./Whittier College), who finished eighth in the event at the 2019 World Rowing Championships, easily won their time trial on Monday. Gernaat and Goodkind crossed the line with a time of 9:08.41, while Community Rowing's Patrick Ward (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Jennifer Fitz-Roy (Brighton, Mass.) finished second in an 11:56.41.
"It was good," Gernaat said. "Obviously, the time trial is a great time to really shake off the dust, so to speak. Traveling out here and getting climatized a little bit coming from California, it was just really good to get on the course and get things up to speed. COVID's been very impactful to everybody…We've worked very hard to get back to good, reasonable numbers. It's been a long time working together out at Chula Vista, and obviously the goal here is to take it to Tokyo and see if we can get into the hunt for a medal."
In the women's double sculls, the Boston Rowing Federation/Cambridge Boat Club composite crew of Maggie Fellows (Warwick, Mass./St. Lawrence University) and Cicely Madden (Weston, Mass./Brown University) posted the top time of the morning, crossing the finish line in a 7:03.50. Madden represented the U.S. in the event at the 2019 World Rowing Championships with Gevvie Stone (Newton, Mass./Princeton University), finishing fifth in Austria, while Fellows reached the finals in the women's single sculls at the first 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Rowing in late February.
"Our goal today was to row the conditions and get familiar with the course again," Fellows said. "It's good to be back on Mercer. It's great to be able to row in team boats again after such a hiatus with pandemic restrictions. We are excited to race the rest of the regatta."
The USRowing Training Center – Princeton crew of Jenifer Forbes (Baltimore, Md./Northeastern University) and Sophia Vitas (Franklin, Wis./University of Wisconsin) recorded the second fastest time in the women's double, finishing in a 7:04.19. Stone and new partner Kristina Wagner (Weston, Mass./Yale University), who finished second and third, respectively, in the women's single sculls at the first trials, clocked the third fastest time, finishing in a 7:05.40. New York Athletic Club's Meghan O'Leary (Baton Rouge, La./University of Virginia) and Ellen Tomek (Flushing, Mich./ University of Michigan), 2016 Olympic finalists in the event, rounded out the top four.
The Penn AC/Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia composite crew of Charles Anderson (Upper Darby, Pa./Temple University), Justin Keen (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn State University), Eliot Putnam (Littleton, Mass./Cornell University) and Sorin Koszyk (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./Cornell University) won the time trial of the men's quadruple sculls, crossing the finish line in a 5:58.29.
"It's a good start," Keen said. "We've been moving really well coming into this race. We had a three-month camp in Florida and a couple of good rows in Philly, so we're feeling good."
The USRowing Training Center-Oakland entry of Andrew Gaard (Madison, Wis./University of Washington), Michael Knippen (Germantown, Wis. /University of Wisconsin), Spencer Furey (Far Hills, N.J./Dartmouth College), and Oliver Bub (Westport, Conn./Dartmouth College) finished second with a time of 5:59.89, while the Green Racing Project composite boat of Matthew O'Leary (Westwood, Mass./Harvard University), Jacob Plihal (Vashon Island, Wash./Northeastern University), Lucas Bellows (Forest Lake, Minn./University of Minnesota) and Travis Taaffe (Sarasota, Fla./Harvard University) finished third.
UPDATE 4/12 at 7:00 p.m. - Due to Thursday's weather forecast, there has been a change in the racing schedule in order to try to ensure that all rounds of racing can be contested. Heats will take place on Tuesday morning as scheduled, with the repechages of the women's double sculls being moved up to Tuesday afternoon starting at 2:30 p.m. Semifinals in the women's double sculls will be moved up and raced with the men's quadruple sculls repechage as part of Wednesday morning's schedule. Paralympic finals have been tentatively moved up to Wednesday morning as well, but will be confirmed shortly. Finals in the Olympic events will take place on Friday morning as scheduled. Morning racing begins at 8 a.m. ET each day.
Semifinals and finals will be streamed live on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.
The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be held July 23-August 9, with rowing events slated to start on the morning of July 23. The Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 are scheduled to take place August 24-September 5, with para rowing events starting August 27.
Click here for the 2020 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Qualification Process Quick Guide.
United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee
Founded in 1894 and headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee serves as both the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the United States. The USOPC is focused on protecting, supporting and empowering America's athletes, and is responsible for fielding U.S. teams for the Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American and Parapan American Games, and serving as the steward of the Olympic and Paralympic movements in the U.S. A federally chartered nonprofit corporation, the USOPC does not receive federal financial support (other than for select Paralympic military veteran programs) and is one of only four NOCs in the world that also manages Paralympic activities. More information is available at TeamUSA.org.
USRowing
USRowing is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for the sport of rowing in the United States. USRowing has 83,000 individual members and 1,350 member organizations, offering rowing programs for all. USRowing receives generous support from the National Rowing Foundation and its corporate sponsors and partners.
About Princeton National Rowing Association
The Princeton National Rowing Association (PNRA), a 501(c)3 organization, operates the Finn M.W. Caspersen Rowing Center located on the shores of Mercer Lake, Mercer County Park in West Windsor, N.J. PNRA is dedicated to providing a venue where athletes of all ages, talents and backgrounds have the opportunity to develop their rowing abilities to their highest potential. As a United States Olympic Training Site, PNRA is home to the USRowing National Team, as well as scholastic and community rowing programs. PNRA runs the Mercer Junior and Masters Rowing Programs and conducts outreach activities seeking to expand the involvement in rowing in the greater Mercer County, N.J., region.
