Texas heads to NSR 2 to race for World Cup invitations
Kara and Sophia training in March, photo courtesy David Judah
TRC HP is back on the road for the second National Selection Regatta this week, with racing starting on Tuesday, May 3 and finishing on Friday, May 6.
After a strong showing at NSR 1 at the end of March, we hope to build on those results and take home the top spots across the board.
About NSR 2
NSR 2 is the second and final national racing opportunity for American high performance athletes this spring. Held on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, NJ (near Princeton), the men’s and women’s pairs (2-), doubles (2x), and lightweight doubles (LM2x/LW2x) will be contested.
The winners of NSR 2 earn the right to race for the USA 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 this summer, can also be earned from a good result.
TRC HP Preview:
Women’s 2x
Kara Kohler and Sophia Vitas make up TRC HP’s entry in the women’s event. Kara has been the top single sculler in the US since 2018 and retained that spot this year, winning NSR 1 in the W1x. Sophia, though, didn’t let her have that win without a fight, besting Kara in the time trial and finishing a close second in the final.
Throughout the year, Kara and Sophia have been able to hop in team boats — the double and mixed quads — as we mix up training to keep things fresh and keep learning. Whenever they were in the double, the boat was moving well, and the decision to race the double this week was an easy one to make after NSR 1. Both of our women want the best chance at winning a gold medal, and this week will give them the first glimpse of their chances of that in the double.
Men’s 2x
Kevin Cardno and JP Kirkegaard moved to Austin last year to step up their training, focusing especially the double. Winners of Olympic trials last spring, they went to Lucerne to race the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta but fell short of qualifying. Rather than disappointment, that trip left them hungry to build on the experience and the progress that they had made all spring.
Kevin and JP. Photo courtesy David Judah.
This week, they have their first shot to reclaim those seats as the USA M2x. However, there will be some stiff competition at Mercer. The top performers from NSR 1 are here: from California, Ben Davidson finished first in Sarasota and will be racing with Chris Carlson; and Jacob Plihal (Craftsbury) is teaming up with Dominique Williams (Vesper), the second and third place finishers in the 1x, respectively.
Jimmy McCullough will also be racing in the open Men’s 2x with Alex Twist from Riverside Boat Club in Boston. Jimmy and Alex are both lightweights, finishing fourth and fifth in the LM1x at NSR 1, but they decided to race in the open weight event due to the low number of projected lightweight entries.
This way, with twelve boats entered, they will get a full week of racing — much more fun than just racing a straight final with one or two other boats. Zach and Jasper (see below) will also be racing. For those keeping track, there is one other lightweight boat that chose to do the same, racing as Sarasota/Unaffiliated composite.
Jimmy training with Alex Twist in Boston last week
Lightweight Men’s 2x
Zach Heese and Jasper Liu will be representing TRC HP in the LM2x this week. Zach and Jasper won US Trials together as a part of the lightweight quad in 2019 and the lightweight double in 2021, and they are returning in the double this year.
Zach and Jasper entered the LM2x event uncontested, so they will also be racing in the M2x event to test themselves against the best heavyweight crews in the country. This will give us a great opportunity to race some boats that are faster than us, similar to what we’ll face as we head to the World Cup this June.
Jasper and Zach racing in Lucerne in 2021.
We know that the world record times for the heavyweight and lightweight doubles are 5.6 seconds apart, so heavyweight times are about 1.5% faster. Throughout the year in training, this allows us to compare results within the team — did the lightweights finish inside or outside of that margin? Our goal this week is to be inside of that margin compared to the fastest men’s doubles in the country.
How to Follow Along:
Again, 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.
Tentative schedule is as follows:
Tuesday, 5/3
8:15a - W2x, M2x time trials (women: top 6 advance straight to semifinals; men: all advance)
9:00a - LM2x final
Wednesday, 5/4
8:00a - W2x repechages (top 3 to semifinals, rest to C final)
Thursday, 5/5
8:32a - 8:56a - W2x, M2x semifinals
Friday, 5/6
8:16a - W2x A final
8:24a - M2 A final
8:48a - W2x B final
8:56a - M2x B final
