Racing set to begin for TRC HP
Gooood morning campers! Time to dust off those pom-poms, because it is racing season again!
The athletes of TRC High Performance are racing at their first regatta of the season this week: National Selection Regatta 1 (NSR 1), from Tuesday the 22nd through Friday the 25th.
About NSR 1
NSR 1 features athletes from every high performance club around the country, with everyone racing in singles. It is the first chance of the year to see how our TRC athletes stack up to the rest of the elite rowers in the US.
For the open weights, the winners of NSR 1 earn the chance to race as the USA 1x at World Cup II, held this year in Poznan, Poland in June. Invitations to USRowing Selection Camps, where the fours, quads, and eights will be chosen, can also be earned from a good result at NSR 1, so competition will be fierce. For the lightweights, this is a Speed Order event, which means that there are no national team selection implications.
TRC HP Preview:
Women’s 1x
Kara Kohler is looking to defend her spot as the top USA women’s 1x, a spot that she has held since the 2018 season. Kara joined TRC HP this past fall after returning from the Tokyo Olympics. With three other 2020 Olympians entered in the W1x, she will have some fierce competition.
For Sophia Vitas, this is a first chance to shine in the 1x. In her first national-level regatta in the single, she’ll look to lay down some good pieces in the opening rounds and prepare herself for the final on Friday. Last on the national team in 2019, Sophia aims to prove herself as a top-7 sculler in the country — a good sign for a seat at a selection camp later this spring.
Men’s 1x
Snce our heavyweight men won the M2x at Olympic trials last spring, the focus has remained on the double for Kevin and JP. Nonetheless, we have seen some good speed in the singles this winter and are optimistic about turning that into good results this week.
Kevin Cardno finished off the 2021 season with a 3rd place finish in the single at USRowing Fall Speed Order in November. After a long winter of training and lowering his 2k personal best on the erg, he’ll look to climb up those last few spots.
After trading wins in training all winter with Kevin, JP Kirkegaard also aims to stand on top of the podium at the end of the week. He also saw a PR on his 2k this winter and will look to put down a solid regatta, putting the TRC HP name on map.
Training remotely from Baltimore, Mark Couwenhoven is also racing under the Texas flag. Mark was on the U23 national team in 2019, and will be joining TRC HP full time this summer after he finishes a post-baccalaureate program in Maryland. A top-7 showing will put Mark in contention for a men’s sculling seat out of a selection camp as well.
For the men, competition will be tough. California Rowing Club and San Diego Rowing Club are sending past Olympians, and the Craftsbury and Vesper teams have been working hard on training camps in Florida for the past month.
Lightweight Men’s 1x
Jimmy McCullough, Jasper Liu, and Zach Heese will be representing TRC HP in the LM1x this week.
Zach Heese is the favorite going into this week. After returning from the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta last May, he used that result as fuel to get right back to work. His dedication paid off with a dominant win at Head of the Charles, where he won the lightweight 1 handily and came in with a time slower than only one heavyweight. He hasn’t slowed down since, and will be looking to take his first Speed Order win.
Jasper Liu will draw on his experience to try to upset Zach. Jasper won the Spring Speed Order in the LM1x in 2018 and 2019, and was the fastest lightweight on the water at the Fall Speed Order this past fall. At the very least, he aims to bring home a 1-2 finish for TRC HP.
Jimmy McCullough will look to make it a clean podium sweep for TRC HP. After racing as the USA LM1x at World Cup II in Lucerne, Switzerland last year, he had an incredible opportunity to go on training camp to Avis, Portugal, with the Swiss W1x, Jeanine Gmelin, as she prepared for the Tokyo Games. Since then, he’s been logging endless meters on Lady Bird Lake, which paid off with a nice 2k PR this winter.
The main competition for TRC in the LM1x will come from Sam Melvin of NYAC. Sam won the Under 23 World Championship in the LM1x in 2019 and finished 2nd at USRowing’s summer national championships last year.
How to Follow Along:
Unfortunately, there will be no video streaming of the racing this week. We will be posting updates after races on the TRC HP Instagram and Facebook pages, and official results can be found on HereNow.com (unconfirmed).
Tentative schedule is as follows:
Tuesday, 3/22
8:45a - M1x, W1x time trials (top 4 to semifinals, 5-26 to repechage, 27+ to E, F final)
10:00a - LM1x time trial (all boats to semifinals)
Wednesday, 3/23
8:30a - 9:30a - M1x, W1x repechages (top 2 to semifinals, rest to C thru E finals)
Thursday, 3/24
8:30a - 9:30a - M1x, W1x, LM1x semifinals
9:30a - 10:30a - M1x, W1x C thru F finals
Friday, 3/25
8:30a - 9:30a - M1x, W1x, LM1x A and B finals
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