U.S. Wins Two Golds, One Bronze at 2022 World Rowing Under 19 Championships

The U.S. set World Rowing Under 19 Championships' best times in winning the women's eight and women's four with coxswain, while the men's eight took home a bronze medal to highlight the final day of racing at the 2022 World Rowing Under 19 & Under 23 Championships on Lake Varese in Varese, Italy.

With two gold and three overall medals, the U.S. ranked fourth in the World Rowing medal standings and sixth in the total medal count for the U19 events.

The U19 women's eight made it back-to-back world titles, winning the gold medal by about eight seats in a new World Rowing Under 19 Championships' best time. The crew of coxswain Frances McKenzie (Cos Cob, Ct./Greenwich Crew), Eugenia Rodríguez-Vázquez (A Coruña, Galicia, Spain/Princeton National Rowing Association/Mercer), Lily Pember (Chicago, Ill./Chicago Rowing Foundation), Sarah Bradford (Oconomowoc, Wis./Milwaukee Rowing Club), Quincy Stone (San Francisco, Calif./Marin Rowing Association), Ellie Bijeau (Washington, D.C./Wilson Crew), Phoebe Wise (Greenwich, Ct./Greenwich Crew), Sofia Simone (Miami, Fla./Sarasota Crew), and Nora Goodwillie (Chicago, Ill./Chicago Rowing Foundation) took the lead about 200 meters into the race and held a half-second advantage over Germany at the 500-meter mark. The U.S. extended its advantage over Germany to 1.5 seconds at the midway point before putting more distance on the field during the third quarter of the race.

"We knew we wanted to commit to a really strong middle 1,000 (meter) base rhythm," Pember said. "We knew conditions weren't necessarily in our favor with this crazy tailwind. I won't say it was the cleanest piece we've ever had, but we completely committed to what we planned for and we stuck to our race."

As the crews hit the 1,500-meter mark, Great Britain edged its bow ahead of the Germans for second place, about three-quarters of a boat length behind the Americans. At the line, it was the U.S. crossing in a 6:12.16. Great Britain won the silver medal, 2.41 seconds behind the Americans. Germany claimed the bronze medal. The U.S. broke the Czech Republic's previous best time of 6:13.04 set in 2018.

"We set that world record, which is really, really cool to have," Goodwillie said. "I think that will have a lasting impression on a lot of people, which is super cool. Overall, I think the race went exactly as we planned it to go – got ahead, stayed ahead, and kept moving."

"It's very surreal," Goodwillie said of winning consecutive gold medals. "Last year definitely prepared me a little more. I did not know what to expect, and it feels even better the second time."

The U19 women's four with coxswain set a World Rowing Under 19 Championships' best time in the preliminary race for lanes earlier this week and then bested that time in winning the gold medal in today's final. The U.S. crew of coxswain Ella Casano (Fairfield, Conn./Saugatuck Rowing Club), Ella Wheeler (South Orange, N.J./Northfield Mount Hermon School), Annika Jeffery (Portland, Ore./Rose City Rowing Club), Lindsey Brail (New York, N.Y./ Pelham Community Rowing Association), and Sophia Greco (Norwalk, Conn./Connecticut Boat Club) moved past Italy as the crews hit the 500-meter mark and then took a two-seat lead at the halfway point of the race. The U.S. continued to extend its advantage during the third 500 meters, crossing the 1,500-meter mark about a length ahead of the Italians. Italy was able to close the gap only slightly in the final quarter of the race, with the U.S. crossing in first with a time of 6:52.84. Italy finished 2.25 seconds behind to earn the silver medal, while Romania tracked down Germany to claim the bronze medal.

"We went into it with a lot of confidence from our prelims, but we definitely weren't overconfident," Casano said. "We knew that we had the opportunity to medal and that we had the opportunity to do well, but we knew it would take a lot to be able to medal and be where we are right now. I'm just really happy that we pulled it together and came together as a boat and executed the race the way that we wanted."

The victory gave the U.S. back-to-back gold medals in the event.

"It was awesome," Greco said. "We've all worked really hard for this. It feels really good to have trained really hard for something and get the result."

The U19 men's eight of coxswain Adam Casler (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Aquatic Center), Drew Cavanaugh (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich Crew), Davis Kelly (Vashon Island, Wash./Burton Beach Rowing Club), Luke Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Joseph's Preparatory School), Travis O'Neil (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Aquatic Center), Jordan Dykema (Seattle, Wash.), Owen Finnerty (Ardmore, Pa./St. Joseph's Preparatory School), Kian Aminian (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Aquatic Center), and John Patton (Houston, Texas/Deerfield Academy) capped off the regatta by winning a bronze medal. The U.S. hit the 500-meter mark in third place, less than one second behind the leading boat from Germany, with Great Britain sitting in second. The Germans and the British were able to get some separation from the American and French crews in the second 500 meters. In the third quarter of the race, the U.S. began to move away from France to solidify the bronze-medal position. China tried to chase down the Americans, but the U.S. held off their move and took the bronze by just over one second.

"Our plan was to go out there and just go for it in the first 500," Casler said. "We got jumped by Germany pretty badly in the heat, and we practiced that in the rep, which was pretty good. It's been such a short summer with this eight that we just needed more racing. Germany's just a really quick crew this year. It was a world's best time, so to lose to them – I'm proud of my guys. Winning two medals in a row my first two years on the on the U.S. National Team is huge. I hope to keep going with U23s in the future."

Germany pulled away from Great Britain in the final 500 meters to win the race in a U19 world championships' best time of 5:33.43. GB won silver in a 5:35.36, with the U.S. crossing in a 5:38.17. It was the seventh consecutive year that the U19 men's eight has reached the medal stand.

"Very proud of their efforts," said men's eight coach Eric Gehrke. "We really had to put everything together to make this weekend happen coming through the repechage. In the heat, we had all three medal winners, but the guys stayed really resilient, and they showed the best of themselves. They should be very satisfied with what they did. Going through the reps was probably the best thing to happen to us at this regatta. We were able to unify our race plan, and only having a couple of weeks together before coming out here, it helped us get another chance to come down (2,000 meters) and practice everything we wanted to put in."

The U19 women's four of Samantha Smart (Mill Valley, Calif./Marin Rowing Association), Elsa Hartman (Roseville, Calif./Capital Crew), Imogen Cabot (Cambridge, Mass./The Winsor School), and Kennedy Housley (Sarasota, Fla./Sarasota Crew) finished fourth in the final, just off the medal podium. The U.S. got off the line in good position, taking a deck lead as the crews hit the 500-meter mark. The top four crews began to pull away from the rest of the field in the second 500 meters, with Italy moving into the top position ahead of Romania and France. The U.S. fell back to fourth at the midway point and could not mount a challenge on the top three crews over the back half of the race. Italy held off Romania by just under one second to win the gold medal in a time of 6:32.76. Romania took the silver medal in a 6:33.63, with France winning bronze in a 6:35.64. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:42.23.

The U19 women's quadruple sculls crew of Alice Dommer (San Carlos, Calif./Redwood Scullers/PACJC), Ava Schetlick (Charlottesville, Va./Virginia Rowing Association), Cillian Mullen (Batavia, Ill./Chicago Rowing Foundation), and Heather Schmidt (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna Rowing) also finished fourth in the final, missing the medal stand by a little less than a boat length. Romania grabbed the lead about 300 meters into the race, with Germany, Great Britain, and the U.S. sitting within a second at the first timing point. Romania began to move away from Germany over the second quarter of the race, while the British crew started to gain a little separation on the American boat. As the crews hit 500 to go, the U.S. made a move to try to cut into Great Britain's lead for the bronze medal, but the British upped their stroke rate and pulled away from the U.S. Romania won the race in a 6:29.50, with Germany taking silver in a 6:32.53. Great Britain won the bronze in a 6:33.54, with the U.S. finishing in a 6:35.79.

Eight U19 boats raced in placement finals Sunday morning.

The U19 women's pair of Rachel Lande (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Marina Aquatic Center) and Shannon Kearney (Sherman Oaks, Calif./Marina Aquatic Center) finished third in the B final for a ninth-place overall finish. The U.S. and Brazil were basically even as the crews hit the 500-meter mark, but Romania was able to move into the top spot as the boats reached the midway point. Romania continued to extend its advantage during the third 500 meters, with Brazil pulling ahead of the U.S. boat for second. During the final 500 meters, Brazil tried to chase down Romania, falling short by a deck. Romania won the race in a 7:32.54, 0.55 seconds ahead of Brazil. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:48.42.

The U19 men's four crew of Davis Schroeder (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Aquatic Center), Josh Yin (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis Rowing Club), Oscar Patton (Lincoln, Mass./Deerfield Academy), and Jack Skinner (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier Rowing Club) finished fourth in the B final for a 10th-place finish overall. Spain took the early lead, with the U.S. leading a pack of four just over a second off the pace. At the midway point, Spain still held a slight advantage on Hungary and the Americans. During the third quarter of the race, Hungary began to stretch its lead over Spain and Canada, with the U.S. dropping back to fourth. At the line, Hungary won the race in a 6:06.44, a little over two seconds ahead of Canada. Spain held on for third by 0.25 seconds, with the U.S. finishing fourth with a time of 6:10.29.

The U19 men's quadruple sculls crew of Sam Dowd (Omaha, Neb/Red Dog Rowing), Walid Ghamra (Sarasota, Fla./Sarasota Crew), Timothy Parsons (Eugene, Ore./South Eugene Rowing Club), and Ashton Perlroth (Palo Alto, Calif./Redwood Scullers) finished fourth in the B final for a 10th-place overall finish. Ukraine took the early lead, with the U.S. and Switzerland sitting less than a second behind. Ukraine continued to lead at the halfway point, with Switzerland and the U.S. swapping positions but still less than a second off the pace. In the third 500, Switzerland moved into the top position. As the crews hit the finish line, it was Switzerland taking the victory in a 5:57.20, just 0.17 seconds ahead of Ukraine. Romania finished third, with the U.S. taking fourth in a 6:01.69.

The U19 men's double sculls duo of Tristan Wakefield (Bettendorf, Iowa/Y Quad Cities Rowing) and Nikhil Ramaraju (Bettendorf, Iowa/Y Quad Cities Rowing) finished sixth in the B final for a 12th-place overall finish. Ukraine held the top spot at each of the 500-meter splits, winning with a time of 6:25.48. France finished second. The U.S. got off the line in fourth, just ahead of Canada and Poland, but dropped to sixth in the second quarter of the race. The Americans clocked a 6:36.22.

In the B final of the U19 women's single sculls, Olivia Petri (Brisbane, Calif./Redwood Scullers) finished sixth for a 12th-place overall finish. Petri rowed in sixth the entire way down the course, finishing in an 8:05.29. Slovenia's Jana Dremelj won the race in a 7:50.51, with Brazil's Maria Sousa Nunes finishing second.

The U19 men's pair of Jonas Thieme (San Jose, Calif./Los Gatos Rowing Club) and Alberto Lasso (Los Gatos, Calif./Los Gatos Rowing Club) finished second in the C final for a 14th-place overall finish. Thieme and Lasso led off the start before Kazakhstan moved in front during the second quarter of the race. Kazakhstan won the C final with a time of 6:59.26, with the U.S. crossing second in a 7:03.78.

In the C final of the U19 men's single sculls, Charles Boldt (Zionsville, Ind./Indianapolis Rowing Center) finished third for a 15th-place overall finish. Norway's Ulrik Pharo Lohne led the entire race, winning with a time of 7:09.30. Boldt raced in second through the 1,000-meter mark before Chinese Taipei's Zih-chen Lin was able to move into second position. Boldt tried to catch Lin in the final sprint, coming up just short at the line. Boldt finished with a time of 7:12.56, a quarter-second behind Lin.

The U19 women's double sculls crew of Hannah Peters (Newton, Mass./Noble and Greenough School/Cambridge Boat Club) and Catherine Barry (Oyster Bay Cove, N.Y./Friends Academy) finished fifth in the C final for a 17th-place overall finish. Peters and Barry rowed in fifth position the entire way down the course. Australia overtook Spain with 500 meters to go to win the race in a 7:14.41. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:21.32.

Complete press coverage, athlete bios, and links to event information are available at www.usrowing.org and www.worldrowing.com. Follow along with the U.S. U19 and U23 national teams as they prepare for the championships by using the hashtags #WRU23Champs and #WRU19Champs.

USRowing would like to thank Filippi Lido, the Official Boat Supplier for the U.S. Senior, Under 23, and Para-Rowing National Teams. Under the agreement, Filippi is providing USRowing a fleet of boats for international competitions including the World Rowing Cup regattas, World Rowing Under 23 Championships, World Rowing Championships, Olympic Games, and Paralympic Games, as well as a domestic training fleet for the USRowing Training Center.

USRowing also would like to thank HUDSON, the Official Boat Supplier for the U.S. Under 19 National Team. Through the partnership, HUDSON supplies racing shells for selection and training domestically, with matched shells provided internationally for racing.