Semifinals Set at USRowing’s 2024 Winter Speed Order

Semifinals are now set at USRowing's 2024 Winter Speed Order as racing got underway Thursday with morning time trials and afternoon quarterfinals 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 event will receive invitations to the selection camp.

In the women's single sculls, New York Athletic Club's Molly Reckford (Short Hills, N.J./Dartmouth College) posted the fastest time in the morning time trial before repeating that performance in the afternoon quarterfinals. Racing in the third quarterfinal, Reckford, who was part of the women's quadruple sculls at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, crossed the finish line 0.24 seconds ahead of Cambridge Boat Club's Maggie Fellows (Warwick, Mass./St. Lawrence University), finishing with a time of 7:43.49. Sarasota Training Center's Sophia Vitas (Franklin, Wis./University of Wisconsin), who won bronze in the women's double sculls in Belgrade, recorded the second-fastest time of the afternoon, winning the second quarterfinal in a 7:44.55. ARION's Lauren O'Connor (Belleville, Wis./University of Wisconsin) and USRowing Training Center-Princeton's Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif./University of Tulsa) won the other two quarterfinals.

After finishing second in the morning time trials, California Rowing Club's Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla./University of Washington), a 14-time national team member across all levels, came back to clock the fastest time in the quarterfinals, winning the first race in a 6:56.23. CRC teammate Will Legenzowski (Vista, N.Y./Brown University) finished 3.52 seconds behind Davison in the first quarterfinal. Sarasota Training Center's Michael Knippen (Germantown, Wis./University of Wisconsin) won the second quarterfinal in a 6:56.96, finishing a little more and one second ahead of NYAC's Sam Melvin (Huntington Beach, Calif./Columbia University). CRC's Sorin Koszyk (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./Cornell University), who won the time trial, and CRC's Andrew LeRoux (Venice, Fla./Princeton University) won the other two quarterfinals.

CRC's Liam Corrigan (Old Lyme, Conn./Harvard University) and Michael Grady (Pittsburgh, Pa./Cornell University) won the time trial of the men's pair, finishing a little over one second ahead of the New York Athletic Club/CRC composite crew of Nick Mead (Strafford, Pa./Princeton University) and Justin Best (Kennett Square, Pa./Drexel University). Corrigan and Grady crossed the finish line in a 6:07.98, with Mead and Best finishing in a 6:09.02. The four rowers were boatmates at last year's world championships, winning the silver medal in the men's four in Belgrade. CRC's Pieter Quinton (Portland, Ore./Harvard University) and Oliver Bub (Westport, Conn./Dartmouth College) finished third, posting a time of 6:11.74.

"The piece was a solid baseline to build off of," Grady said. "Time trials are often a bit tricky. You have no idea where you are relative to other crews, so it is a good test of internal speed. We are happy with the outcome and look forward to continuing the week. (We) are looking to build through the regatta. Today was a great start, but we know we will need to bring more to the table. The men's sweep team has some good depth and everybody is a formidable crew. If Liam and I can bring the same energy and focus each day, I think it will suit us well."

In the time trial of the women's pair, USTC – Princeton's Claire Collins (McLean, Va./Princeton University) and Madeleine Wanamaker (Neenah, Wis./University of Wisconsin/) took the top spot by a little less than one second over USTC- Princeton teammates Molly Bruggeman (Dayton, Ohio/University of Notre Dame) and Regina Salmons (Methuen, Mass./University of Pennsylvania). Collins and Wanamaker, who won a bronze medal in the event at the 2022 World Rowing Championships and were part of the women's four in 2023, crossed the finish line in a 6:52.92 to earn the top seed in tomorrow's semifinals. Bruggeman and Salmons clocked a 6:53.71 to finish second. Bruggeman raced with Collins and Wanamaker in the four at last year's world championships, while Salmons was part of the silver-medal winning women's eight in Belgrade. USTC-Princeton's Kaitlin Knifton (Austin, Texas/University of Texas) and Emily Kallfelz (Jamestown, R.I./Princeton University) finished third, crossing the line in a 6:53.95.

"It was a good start to the regatta," Wanamaker said. "Claire and I had a few technical focuses that we wanted to execute today, and I think we did a decent job. It's a deep field, so I anticipate competitive, tight racing for the rest of the weekend. Our goal is to improve upon the weaker parts of today's time trial and continue to build upon our stronger points."

Speed order racing continues Friday with semifinals in all four boat classes, with finals taking place Saturday. Racing is scheduled to start at 8:00 a.m. each day. Click 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.