Six Boats Earn Spots on 2022 Under 19 National Team

Six boats earned their spots on the 2022 Under 19 National Team on Tuesday by winning their trials events at the 2022 Under 23 and Under 19 National Team Trials at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla.

The six crews will now represent the U.S. at the World Rowing Under 19 Championships this July in Varese, Italy.

In the under 19 men's single sculls, Indianapolis Rowing Center's Charles Boldt raced to a 3.75-second victory over South Orlando Rowing Association's Cooper Hagan. Boldt clocked a 7:38.40, with Hagan finishing in a 7:42.15.

"I got off the start not as fast as I wanted; I was really thinking about that last 1,500 (meters)," Boldt said. "When I got off the start, I was down. I think I was third or fourth, so I was really just doing some high 10s every 250, which got me in the right place. I just needed to trust the process and trust my training out there."

Like most of the athletes competing in the under 19 trials events, Boldt was completing a long week of racing, having rowed at the USRowing Youth National Championships this past weekend. Boldt finished fifth in the single at youth nationals, just behind Hagan, but he used those races as preparation for trials.

"It was hard. It was like, 'what are my long-term goals versus the short-term goals,'" Boldt said of managing the two regattas. "When I set my goals of wanting to go to worlds in the single, it was last (October) at the Head Of The Charles. After having meetings with my trainers and coaches about it, that was my long-term goal, so youth nationals was great because it gave me a lot of great time in the single – just getting out on the course here – and then being able to race here for trials."

In the U19 women's single sculls, Redwood Scullers Olivia Petri, who finished second in the U17 single at youth nationals, won the race by nearly 15 seconds over RowAmerica Rye's Erin Hanrahan. Petri clocked an 8:30.95 to Hanrahan's 8:45.78. North Orlando Rowing's Parker Hurley finished third.

In the U19 men's double sculls, Y Quad Cities Rowing's Nikhil Ramaraju and Tristan Wakefield outlasted Redwood Scullers' Charlie Vaksman and Ashton Perlroth to win by just over three seconds. Ramaraju and Wakefield finished with a time of 6:54.62. This will be Wakefield's second under 19 team, having served as an alternate in 2021.

The Oak Neck Academy composite crew of Catherine Barry and Hannah Peters defeated Community Rowing's Elizabeth Hedeman and Savannah Cogan by more than 15 seconds to win the U19 women's double sculls. Berry and Peters finished with a time of 7:38.63 to win the race. Berry finished second in the women's youth single sculls, while Peters finished 10th overall in the youth single, at the USRowing Youth National Championships this past weekend.

In the U19 men's pair, Los Gatos Rowing Club's Alberto Lasso and Jonas Thieme bested the Maritime composite crew of Ethan Xia and Finn Kiely by just over three seconds. Lasso and Thieme crossed the line in a 7:16.80, with Xia and Kiely finishing in a 7:19.93.

In the U19 women's pair, Marina Aquatic Center's Shannon Kearney and Rachel Lande defeated Indianapolis Rowing Center's Avery Cook and Grace Kaufmann by 11 seconds. Kearney and Lande finished with a time of 8:14.30, with Cook and Kaufmann crossing in an 8:25.64.

"I think it went really well," said Lande about the race. "We had some fun calls in there at each 250. We had a few name calls for motivation and then we added some interesting ones in there. It was really smooth."

For Kearney, who is the daughter of three-time Olympian Amy Fuller Kearney, making the national team for the first time holds special meaning.

"It means so much," Kearney said. "When she called me, she was just so proud, and she was like, 'You're racing for the U.S., and you're representing the U.S.' and that's always something that I wanted her to see me do. So cool."

In Tuesday's under 23 racing, time trials were held in four boat classes. In the U23 women's single sculls, Oklahoma City High Performance Center's Katelin Gildersleeve won the race by over five seconds to earn the top seed in tomorrow's semifinals. Gildersleeve clocked a 7:49.85. Great Bay Rowing's Emmeline Laurence finished second, followed by Crafstbury Green Racing Project's Julia Baston. Gildersleeve, who rows collegiately at Stanford University, is no stranger to the national team. She won the bronze medal in the single sculls at the 2019 World Rowing Junior Championships.

In the U23 women's double sculls, Crafstbury Green Racing Project's Susan Cook and Simone Vorperian finished just over one second ahead of Redwood Scullers' Hailey Mead and Meena Baher. Cook and Vorperian finished with a time of 7:22.31, while Mead and Baher crossed in a 7:23.59. All four crews will face off again in tomorrow afternoon's final.

In the U23 men's pair, Tiger Rowing Development Camp's Floyd Benedikter and Nick Taylor finished nearly four seconds ahead of their nearest competitors. The duo clocked a 6:42.32, with the unaffiliated boat of Brahm Erdmann and Henry Bellew taking second in a 6:46.28.

In the U23 lightweight men's single sculls, Oak Neck Academy's Nicholas Aronow, who finished seventh in the event at the 2021 World Rowing Under 23 Championships, dominated the field, winning the time trial by more than 10 seconds. Aronow finished with a time of 7:09.10. Redwood Scullers' Matthew Willer finished second with a time of 7:19.22.

Racing continues Wednesday with semifinals in the U23 women's single sculls starting at 8 a.m. Finals in all 16 of the U23 events begin at 3 p.m. In total, more than 125 athletes are racing at the regatta for the chance to represent the U.S. later this summer in 22 boat classes. Click here for a complete list of entries.

Click the links for the schedule, heat sheets, and results.

The 2022 World Rowing Under 23 World Championships and 2022 World Rowing Under 19 Championships will take place July 25-31 on Lake Varese in Varese, Italy. The remainder of the boats will be chosen through selection camps and named in early July.