U23 Men’s Four with Coxswain Wins Gold and Two Crews Win Silver

The U23 men’s four with coxswain walked away with gold, while the U23 men’s lightweight pair and U23 women’s four with coxswain won silver. The U23 men’s pair set a new American record today to close out a great day of racing in St. Catharines, Canada, at the 2024 World Rowing Senior, Under 23 and Under 19 Championships.

The U23 men’s four with coxswain won their race by open water on the field, the best finish in the event since 2018. The U.S. crew battled with Italy in the first 500 meters before getting a seat on open water in the second 500. Josh Diggons, Miles Hudgins, Braden Porterfield, Leo Bessler, and coxswain Iliad Izadi maintained their composure and the lead to finish in a time of 6:15.55, over four seconds ahead of second-place Italy. The shell they crossed the finish line in is, fittingly, named Paris Gold after the victorious men’s four at the Paris Olympic Games. 

Harvard University’s Leo Bessler said “We’ve got some dogs in this boat, you put your trust in each other and go as far as you can and churn away.” Northeastern University’s Braden Porterfield jumped in to say “Hats off to our coach, Trevor Michelson, a legend.” 

The crew said they weren’t looking at their open water lead and never felt safe. Dartmouth’s Miles Hudgins said, “We had to go. We smelled blood in the water and just needed to keep going, keep going. Once we got to the last 500 meters, it was smooth sailing from there. It was awesome.”

The U23 women’s four with coxswain won silver after a battle with winners New Zealand in the final, the best finish for the U.S. since 2018. The U.S. crew took an early lead in the first half, trying to move away from New Zealand, but the New Zealand crew was able to attack in the third 500, inching their bow ahead of the Americans. The crew of Anna Garrison, Jordan Freer, Olivia Meskan, Olivia Bachert, and coxswain Carly Legenzowski tried to pull them back in the sprint but were unable to close the gap, finishing in a time of 7:04.83, less than two seconds back from the winners. 

Stroke Anna Garrison from the University of Texas said, “We got off to a really good start, much better than our start on Tuesday. We set a good pace in the first half. Then, we had a little bobble, New Zealand was able to take advantage, and we just never fully recovered from that. But we fought really hard, and I think it’s a race we can be really proud of.” 

The U23 lightweight men’s pair won silver, narrowly missing gold by 1.54 seconds over the winning crew from Chile. University of Pennsylvania’s George Drago and Harrison Azrak traded blows with the Chilean crew through the entire race, never separated by more than a second. The U.S. pair was unable to hold off the strong sprint from Chile’s Felipe Guerra and Manuel Fernandez Antri, finishing in a time of 6:53.64.. 

Still out of breath from the race, George Drago said, “After the preliminary race, we had the race plan of going out swinging in the first 1k, and I think that we did that, they had a better sprint though. It really came down to the line, and that's just lightweight racing. We had our fair share of close racing in the main season, and this wasn’t any different.”

The U23 men’s pair broke the American Record by 2.56 seconds in their final with a time of 6:22.17. The previous record was held by the 2022 U23 pair. The U.S. pair fought hard throughout an incredibly tight race, with only 1.55 second separating second and fifth place. The race was won by New Zealand, who led the field wire to wire. Columbia’s Colton Millar and Adam Pushner tried to break back into the leaders in the second half of the race, drawing them to within a few inches, but were unable to push their bow ball ahead in the final strokes of the race. The U.S. crew finished fifth, the best finish in the event since 2017. 

The U19 women’s eight dominated their preliminary race for lanes, winning by just under 6 seconds over second place finishers Great Britain. The U.S. crew took an early lead on the field and continued to increase the margin over the course of the race, finishing in a time of 6:26.14. 

Head Coach Caitlin McClain said, “I thought the race went well from the shore. Our goal was to execute the race plan well; we hadn’t done a full race since we left Chula Vista. We really wanted to make sure we were able to practice that today and perform at a high level and, ultimately, have a little more on Sunday. They looked like they took some good strokes out there, but I was very pleased with the good start.”

The Final for the U19 women’s eight is on Sunday at 2:06 p.m. ET. 

The U19 men’s eight started their race week off strong with a second-place finish behind Great Britain. Great Britain led the field throughout the race with the U.S. crew, battling with New Zealand for second place. At the 1300-meter mark, they were able to push their bow ball ahead of the New Zealand crew and walk away in the closing 500 meters to finish in a time of 5:48.41. 

The Final for the U19 men’s eight is on Sunday at 2:55 p.m. ET. 

The U19 women’s four with coxswain finished second in their preliminary race for lanes. They crossed the 500 meter mark in fourth place before having a strong surge in the second half of the race, moving through Australia before pushing their bow ball ahead of France at the 700-meter mark. They closed the gap on winner Italy in the last 500 meters but were unable to get their bow ball ahead before crossing the finish line in a time of 7:18.61. 

The crew said, “We trusted each other through the entire race. It’s never over till it’s over.” Their final is on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET. 

The U19 men’s four with coxswain won their preliminary race for lanes. The crew started in the middle of the pack in the first 500 meters before hunting down South Africa by the halfway mark. A strong charge in the last 600 meters moved the crew through the Australians who had led the race throughout. The U.S. crew finished in a time of 6:27.89, followed by Australia and Italy. 

Coxswain Jack Mershon said, “We trusted our base and each other. We maintained our confidence throughout the third 500 meters, which allowed us to have a complete last 500 meters and lead wire to wire.” They will race in the final on Sunday at 11:41 a.m. ET. 

The U23 men’s double finished 14th overall after finishing second in the C Final. John and James Patton fell behind the Hungarian crew in the first 500 meters. The brothers were able to close the lead the Hungerians built in the middle of the race to a three second margin by the finish line. The U.S. crew finished in a time of 6:45.74.

The U23 men’s four from the University of Wisconsin won the C Final, leading from the first strokes of the race. They continued to increase their lead through the 2,000-meter course, crossing the finish line in a time of 6:14.90, over five seconds ahead of second place finisher Ireland. They finished the regatta 13th overall. 

In the B Final of the U23 women’s quadruple sculls, the U.S. crew finished second, just .91 seconds behind first place finishers from the Czech Republic. The Czech crew got out to an early lead and opened their margin to three seconds by the halfway mark. The U.S. crew worked to close that gap in the final 600 meters but ran out of time to catch the Czech crew before the finish line. The U.S. crew finished with a time of 6:44.09 and ended the regatta 14th overall. 

The U19 women’s quadruple sculls finished sixth in their heat in a time of 7:08.45. Italy won the race after moving into first in the second 500 meters. The U.S. crew started in fifth place but was unable to hold off the charging Australians. They will race in the repechage tomorrow at 10:52 a.m. ET. 

George Dolce and Lucas Liow narrowly missed the A Final in the U19 men’s pair. The U.S. pair battled with Italy and kept their bow ahead for the first half of the race. In the last 500 meters, Italy and Spain began to move up on the crew, and the qualifying spot came down to inches in favor of Italy and Spain. Dolce and Liow finished in a time of 6:51.85, just .79 seconds outside of qualifying. They will race in the B Final on Sunday. 

The U19 men’s quadruple sculls finished third in their repechage in a nail biting race that came down to .58 seconds between the U.S. crew and Japan for the final spot in the A/B Semifinals. The U.S. crew held onto China, the second place finishers, throughout the first 1500 meters before China walked away in the final strokes. The U.S. crew's sprint to the finish was enough to hold off the surging Japanese crew to finish in a time of 6:16.58, with the Japanese finishing in a time of 6:17.02. The race was won by France. The A/B semifinals take place on Saturday. 

Donovan Moses and George Kapp finished fifth in the U19 men’s double repechage. The crew from Switzerland led the race throughout while the U.S. crew sat in third for the first half of the race before South Africa’s third 500 moved their bow ahead. The U.S. crew was able to move back through them before the finish but could not keep the crews from Latvia and Canada at bay. They finished in a time of 6:48.56 and will race in the C/D Semifinals on Saturday. 

Ian O’Riley advanced to the A/B Semifinals after finishing third in the U19 men’s single repechage. O’Riley quickly settled into second place in the first half of the race behind winner William Mcclean from Switzerland. Hungary moved in the third 500 meters of the race, and O’Riley was unable to counter, finishing in a time of 7:29.16. He will race in the A/B Semifinals on Saturday. 

Tomorrow, Audrey Boersen and Sam Melvin race in the A/B lightweight single sculls Semifinals and the U23 men’s and women’s eight compete for gold. 

Schedule and results can be found here.