World Championships’ Spots on the Line Saturday at 2023 Senior National Team Trials

With semifinals now complete, spots on the 2023 U.S. National Team will be on the line Saturday at the 2023 USRowing Senior National Team Trials on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J. Athletes are racing to make the team that will represent the U.S. at the 2023 World Rowing Championships scheduled for September 3-10 in Belgrade, Serbia.

Cambridge Boat Club's Mary Jones Nabel and Michelle Sechser, who were recently selected to represent the U.S. in the lightweight women's double sculls in Belgrade, posted the fastest time of the morning in the women's double sculls. Racing in the first of two semifinals, the Cambridge boat crossed the line more than 14 seconds ahead of the Long Beach Rowing Association/ARION composite crew of Maddy Focht and Veronica Nicacio, who will represent the U.S. in the event at the 2023 Pan American Games. Sechser and Jones Nabel, who were both on the world championships' squad last year, won the race in a 6:47.54, with Focht and Nicacio finishing second in a 7:01.57. Craftsbury Green Racing Project's Sera Busse and Cillian Mullen finished third to also advance to the final. In the second semifinal, the Texas Rowing Center/ARION composite crew of Sophia Vitas and Kristi Wagner won by more than 12 seconds. The duo, which finished fifth in the event at last year's world championships and won a silver medal at this season's second World Rowing Cup regatta, crossed the line in a 6:50.49. ARION's Katherine Horvat and Karina Feitner finished second in a 7:02.67, also advancing to the final.

The men's single sculls' final is shaping up to be a tight race, with five scullers within three seconds of each other coming out of today's semifinals. California Rowing Club's Andrew LeRoux, who won yesterday's time trial, took the first semifinal by 1.58 seconds over New York Athletic Club's Eliot Putnam. LeRoux crossed the finish line in a 6:54.44, with Putnam crossing in a 6:56.02. CRC's Andrew Gaard earned the other spot in tomorrow's final, finishing third in a 6:59.55. CRC's Michael Knippen, who finished third in the time trial and posted the fastest time in yesterday evening's quarterfinals, won the second semifinal in a 6:59.03, holding off a strong challenge from Craftsbury Green Racing Project's Jacob Plihal and Penn AC's Michael Clougher in what was the tightest race of the day. Plihal finished second in a 6:56.91, with Clougher crossing in a 6:57.29. All but Putnam were part of the world championships' team last year.

With three semifinals in the lightweight men's single sculls, only the top two finishers in each race advanced to the final. New York Athletic Club's Sam Melvin, who posted the fastest time in the time trial, clocked the fastest time on Friday as well, winning the third semifinal by more than four seconds in a 7:03.51. Melvin, who won the event at the 2019 World Rowing Under 23 Championships, is seeking to make his first senior national team. Golden State Rowing Club's Christoph Karleskind, who raced the event at the 2023 World Rowing Under 23 Championships, finished second in a 7:07.89. Craftsbury's Cooper Tuckerman won the second semifinal ahead of Penn AC's Tyler Nase. A four-time national team member at the junior and under 23 levels, Tuckerman finished with a time of 7:04.77, with Nase, a Rio 2016 Olympian, taking second in a 7:10.39. Texas Rowing Center's Jasper Liu, a two-time national team member, won the first semifinal by more than seven seconds over Riverside Boat Club's Alex Twist, a three-time national team member. Liu finished in a 7:16.18, with Twist crossing in a 7:23.52.

In addition to the women's double, men's single, and lightweight men's single, national team berths will be on the line tomorrow in the finals of the men's pair, lightweight women's single sculls, lightweight men's and women's pair, lightweight men's and women's quadruple sculls, and PR3 women's pair.

In the men's pair, California Rowing Club's Evan Olson and William Bender won the time trial by less than one second over CRC teammates Nick Rusher and Gus Rodriguez. Andrew Tokarski and William Stavropoulos finished third. The three boats will race in tomorrow's final.

Whitemarsh Boat Club's Sophia Luwis recorded the fastest time in the time trial of the lightweight women's single sculls, finishing nearly six seconds ahead of King's Crow Rowing Association's Liza Ray. Luwis, who won a silver medal in the event earlier this year at World Rowing Cup II and followed that up with a gold medal at World Rowing Cup III, made her first national team last year but was unable to compete due to injury. Riverside Boat Club's Elizabeth Martin, who raced in the lightweight quadruple sculls at last year's world championships, finished third in the time trial. Six women are scheduled to race in tomorrow's final.

The lightweight men's pair has two entries, John Mannion and Christopher Crawley from Riverside Boat Club and the unaffiliated duo of Patrick Rogers and Mark Canniff.

The lightweight men's quadruple sculls also will have two entries. The Penn AC/Riverside Boat Club/San Diego Rowing Club composite crew will include Casey Howshall, Ian Richardson, Bernard Aparicio, and Jamie Copus. Richardson was part of the lightweight quad last year, while Copus is a multiple time British National Team member. Undine Barge Club's entry includes Dylan Hartwick, Matthew Grieshaber, Pascal Evans, and Rodrigo Silva Urbaneja.

Three boats are racing uncontested tomorrow.

The Penn AC lightweight women's pair of Solveig Imsdahl and Elaine Tierney brought home the silver medal in the event from the 2022 World Rowing Championships and will be racing uncontested this year at trials.

Community Rowing's Sarah Menafee and Lauren Fish will be racing uncontested in the PR3 women's pair. Both are looking to make their first national team.

Conshohocken Rowing Center's crew of Aislinn O'Brien, Caroline Burchette, Greta Gilbert, and Katrina Miehlbradt will be racing uncontested in the lightweight women's quadruple sculls. O'Brien and Miehlbradt just raced in the lightweight double sculls at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships this past week, while Burchette was on the 2022 Under 23 National Team.

USRowing already has named 15 boats for the world championships. Click here to see the complete 2023 Senior National Team Selection Procedures.

The 2023 World Rowing Championships are the first opportunity for countries to qualify boats for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

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.