U19 Women’s Eight Wins Gold, Silver for the U19 Men’s Eight

The 2024 World Rowing Senior, Under 23 and Under 19 Championships concluded today with U19 events. Team USA won one gold, one silver, and two bronze in the women’s U19 eight, men’s U19 eight, and the men’s and women’s U19 four with coxswain, respectively. 

On Friday and Saturday, the U23 men’s four with coxswain was victorious, while the U23 women’s four with coxswain and the U23 men’s and women’s eight took silver. The lightweight men’s quadruple sculls also won their first ever silver in the event. In total, the U.S. won two gold, six silver, and two bronze medals this week in St. Catharines, Canada.

The U.S. U19 women’s eight dominated their final, winning by open water in a time of 6:39.57, 5.63 seconds over second-place finisher Great Britain. The Americans were not the first off the line but within the first 300 meters, had moved their bow into first place. They only opened their lead from there. Carly Brown, Lauren Dubois, Charlotte Jett, Claire Van Praagh, Cecily Shaber, Lia Nathan, Emily Tierney, Delaney Lundberg, and Lucy Herrick pushed their boat to open water on the field by the halfway mark. The last 1000 meters continued without challenge from the other crews. The crew crossed the finish line with one of the largest margins of the regatta to chants of USA from the grandstands. 

Stroke Brown beamed as she spoke about her race: “The race was so good. I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else. This team is amazing.”

Coxswain Herrick said, “Our coach, Caitlin McClain, told us it would come to who wanted it more, and I’ve never felt more hunger or urgency. There was just always another gear. We were for the moment. We’ve practiced so much, and this was the moment. I’m so proud of everyone and I really want to thank Caitlin McClain. I’ve never been believed in more.”

The U19 men’s eight had a ferocious fight to the finish between themselves and Great Britain. The British eight made themselves known in the first 500 meters, pushing to open water. The crew of Keenan Heinz, Taeden Landa, Bailey Foster, Ori Radwin, Tyler Murphy, Kyle Fox, Fran McGrath, Hugh Ryan, and Michael Kain kept calm and in rhythm, focused on pushing Germany away. In the closing 600 meters, the U.S. worked to pull the British eight back in, stealing inches from the leader. In the closing strokes, they had closed the margin to overlap on Great Britain, finishing second in a time of 5:57.92 and ahead of third place Germany. 

“We wanted to go fast off the line, because that is what we needed to do to improve on Thursday. We did that well,” said Murphy, four seat of the eight. “It was a tough race; we tried to press Great Britain the whole way down. I saw we were creeping in on the British in the last few strokes and thought ‘hell ya, that’s the stuff.’”

“We’re pretty happy with our finish, especially myself, being the only returner from last year’s eight that didn’t even qualify for the A final. It’s a pretty good finish,” Murphy added.

The men’s four with coxswain won bronze after a tough fight for third with South Africa. Australia jumped off the line, taking the lead of the race and never relenting. Couper Carpenter, Ryan Jorgensen, Aidan Montanaro, Aemon Morlan, and coxswain Jack Mershon maintained their composure in the middle 1,000 meters waiting for their opportunity to strike. The U.S. crew crossed the third 500 meters in fourth, but as they entered the red buoys, their sprint surged their bow ball ahead of the crew from South Africa in a time of 6:43.57, 1.10 seconds ahead. Stroke Thomas Carpenter was so taxed from the race, he had to sit out part of the award ceremony to recover. 

“It was definitely different from our first race. It was pretty gritty, pretty tough,” said three seat Jorgensen. Two seat Montanaro, added, “Everyone went out really hard, us included. We didn’t have as good of a race, but we stayed internal, and we got it done when we needed to, sprinting onto the podium.” This was the best finish for the men’s four with coxswain since 2018. 

The women's four with coxswain won bronze after a dynamic race led by winners from Italy. The Italian crew got out to a fast first 500 meters, taking two seats on the rest of the field. The U.S. fell into fourth place behind Australia and France. Kathryn Dahl, Chloe Frushtick, Alexis Gormley, Eden Alfi, and coxswain Avery Harries-Jones stayed in close range of Australia before a strong move in the third 500 meters put their bow just ahead of the Aussies. They continued to open up their gap on the fourth place crew in the final stroke, crossing the finish line in a time of 7:28.40, less than .35 off of second place France.

Avery Harries-Jones spoke of her crew with high esteem, saying, “It’s all a blur. I’m so proud of this crew and what we accomplished today. It was a really tough race, and I’m happy that I got to compete with my incredible teammates.”

Donovan Moses and George Kapp placed second in the C Final in the U19 men’s double sculls in a time of 6:39.90. The winners from Spain got out to a quick start, taking over two seconds on the field in the first 500 meters. The U.S. crew settled into fourth place before moving through Latvia and South Africa in the second 500 meters to secure second. They set their sights on Spain, attempting to close the gap and finishing within 1.47 seconds from the winners. Moses and Kapp finished 14th overall. 

Lucas Liow and George Dolce won their B Final in the U19 men’s pair in dramatic fashion, just .07 seconds ahead of Serbia. The U.S. and the Serbian crew controlled the race at the front, but never separated by more than half a second over the 2000-meter course. Both crews attempted to move their bow ball ahead but were unable to gain many inches on each other. It was in the closing strokes that the U.S. was able to surge a bow ball ahead and take the victory from Serbia’s Milan Stevanovic and Sergej Cipak. Liow and Dolce finished seventh overall. 

The U19 women’s quadruple sculls placed third in the B Final in a time of 7:04.02. China won the race, leading from wire to wire. The U.S. crew took a slight lead on Switzerland in the first 500 meters before a strong move from New Zealand found them in fourth going into the last 500 meters. Undeterred, the Americans sprinted to the line in spectacular fashion and beat the New Zealand crew by .04 to take third place, one of the closest margins of the regatta. The crew of Teagan Farley, Sumner Kerr, Claire Sopko, and Avery Douglas finished ninth overall. 

Cyrus Rosenberg, Cormac Rooney, Randolph Eddy, and Nikola Antich finished sixth in the B Final of the U19 men’s quadruple sculls. Switzerland and China got off to an early lead while the U.S. crew found their rhythm in the early half of the race. The field proved to be out of reach of the Americans in the second half of the race. The U.S. crossed the finish line in a time of 6:28.91 to finish 12th overall. 

Ian O’Riley finished 10th in the U19 men’s single sculls B Final. Poland’s Dominik Syposz took the lead early, while O’Riley settled into fourth. He battled with China’s Shiyan Zhao in the middle of the race as O’Riley tried to push through but was unable to make a dent in the Chinese rower’s lead. Belgium’s Lukas Depla won in a great last 500 meters to overtake second place finisher, Poland. O’Riley crossed the line in a time of 7:46.71, finishing 16th overall at the regatta. 

To be considered for the 2025 U19 or U23 National Team, be sure to keep your USRowing profile up to date, and get involved with U19 and U23 Pathways. 

Check out recaps and pictures from this week here.