WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – Just last summer, Benjamin Davison was rowing at the World Rowing Junior Championships in Trakai, Lithuania. Racing in the men’s quad that made the final, a first for the U.S., the 17-year-old from Inverness, Fla., left Lithuania disappointed after a sixth-place finish.
He was not disappointed this morning. Davison not only competed in the men’s single at the 2014 National Selection Regatta 1 on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J., taking on Olympians and seasoned national team athletes, but advanced to the Saturday morning final.
“I’m happy to be here,” Davison said. “I was a little bit disappointed after junior worlds and a great summer. But I’m glad I’m moving forward and I’m happy to be here.”
Davison will be rowing in one of three selection regatta finals that were determined in semifinal racing Friday morning. NSR 1 is the first step toward making the 2014 U.S. National Team. The winners of the men’s and women’s single sculls and women’s pair here will earn the right to compete at one or both of the scheduled 2014 World Rowing Cup events.
For the singles, if he or she finishes in the top six at a 2014 World Cup, or top half if there are fewer than 12 entries in the event, they will earn a berth on the team that will compete August 24-31 at the 2014 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
For the women’s pair, the crew will need to finish in the top four at a 2014 World Rowing Cup, or top half if there are fewer than eight entries, to earn a national team berth.
Rowing on flat water and in calm conditions, unlike the windy weather that ripped up the course and forced some of Thursday morning’s events to be cancelled, Davison, of Seattle Rowing Center, finished third in his semifinal in a time of 7:17.87. Craftsbury Sculling Center’s Peter Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio) won the race in a time of 7:16.50, followed by Vesper Rowing Club’s Yohann Rigogne (Besançon, France) in 7:17.18.
“It was a little easier to exert yourself after the wind yesterday,” said Graves, who rowed in the men’s quad at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. “It feels good. It’s nice when you can feel the training pay off in the middle of the race.”
The three will be joined Saturday by Craftsbury’s 2013 U.S. single sculler Stephen Whelpley (Mequon, Wis.), who won the second semifinal in 7:20.18, two-time Olympian men’s single sculler Ken Jurkowski, (New Fairfield, Conn.), who was second in 7:24.05, and 2008 Olympian in the men’s quad, Potomac Boat Club’s Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.), who was third in 7:25.73.
In the women’s single sculls event, 2012 Olympic single sculler Gevvie Stone (Newton, Mass.) of the Cambridge Boat Club won her race to advance in a time of 7:50.67. Kate Bertko (Oakland, Calif.), rowing for the California Rowing Club, was second in 7:53.43 and 2008 Olympian Lindsay Meyer (Seattle, Wash.) of the Seattle Rowing Center was third in 7:55.13.
Two-time Olympic champion in the women’s eight, Eleanor Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine), racing for Lake Samish Training Center, won the second semifinal in 7:53.54. Stesha Carle (Long Beach, Calif.) from the Southern California Scullers Club was second in 7:57.59 and Beijing Olympian Ellen Tomek (Flushing, Mich.) from the USRowing Training Center – Oklahoma was third in 8:06.80.
In the third NSR event, 11 women’s pairs from the USRowing Training Center – Princeton competed for a spot in the Saturday final with the crew of Heidi Robbins (Hanover, N.H.) and Vicky Opitz (Middleton, Wis.) winning the first race in 7:26.44. Taylor Goetzinger (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.) and Felice Mueller (Cleveland, Ohio) were second in 7:26.68, followed by two-time Olympic gold medalist Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.) and Olivia Coffey (Watkins Glen, N.Y.) in 7:26.81.
Kerry Simmonds (San Diego, Calif.) and two-time Olympian and London bronze medalist Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) won the second semifinal in 7:27.32. Tessa Gobbo (Chesterfield, N.H.) and Tracy Eisser (Fair Lawn, N.J.) were second in 7:28.44, followed in third by two-time Olympic gold medalist Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.) and Grace Luczak (Ann Arbor, Mich.) in 7:28.86.
Speed order finals in the men’s pair and lightweight men’s pair followed the NSR events.
In the men’s pair, the crew of Glenn Ochal (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Charlie Cole (New Canaan, Conn.) won in a time of 6:51.40. Matthew Miller (West Springfield, Va.) and Rob Munn (Redmond, Wash.) were second in 6:53.24 and Seth Weil (Menlo Park, Calif.) and Henrik Rummel (Pittsford, N.Y.) were third in 6:54.27.
In the lightweight men’s pair, the crew of Will Daly (Vail, Colo.) and Anthony Fahden (Lafayette, Calif.) won its five-boat final in 6:57.90. Robin Prendes (Miami, Fla.) and Ed King (Ironton, Mo.) were second in 7:00.98. Tyler Nase (Phoenixville, Pa.) and Robert Duff (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.) were third in 7:17.09.
Speed order racing is used to help determine placement in the selection camps and to gage how the men’s team is processing.
“We were very excited about the racing,” men’s coach Bryan Volpenhein said. “I thought it was very competitive. Our goal was have a two percent spread between all of our pairs and I think we had just over one percent, so that’s encouraging. We know that Charlie and Glenn are pretty quick, and so to have all these pairs be that close just shows we have a competitive group.”
Following the finals racing, speed order time trials were run in the lightweight men’s and lightweight women’s single sculls.
Of the 19 entries in the lightweight men’s single, Nick Trojan (Los Alamitos, Calif.) of the Lake Samish Training Center had the best time, finishing in 7:07.67. In the lightweight women’s single, Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif.) of the USRowing Training Center – Oklahoma City finished with the best time in 7:54.86.
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