First-Ever Beach Sprints National Team Trials Selects Eight Boats for Portugal

This article first appeared on USRowing.com on June 19, 2021

SARASOTA, Fla. – USRowing selected eight crews to represent the U.S. at the 2021 World Rowing Beach Sprints Finals today at the first-ever Beach Sprints National Team Trials on South Lido Key Beach.

The winners earned the right to race at the World Rowing Beach Sprints Finals scheduled to take place September 24-26 in Oeiras, Portugal.

With four open events and four junior events on the schedule, The Stewards Foundation's Britt Wotovich became the first official team member by winning the final of the junior women's single sculls in a 3:40.8. Each event opened with a time trial, before moving to a bracket-style, head-to-head racing format. Wotovich finished second in the time trial of the junior single but was able to handle the conditions better in the final, coming out on top by over a minute.

Wotovich secured a second spot on the team with a win in the junior mixed double sculls. She teamed up with Brian O'Leary, who won the junior men's single sculls, to win the junior mixed double by a little over five seconds in a 3:17.0 ahead of Great Miami Rowing Club's Annalie Duncomb and Evan Mead.

"It was a lot of racing today, but it was all worthwhile," Wotovich said. "The waves were a little bit large compared to what we are normally used to, which is flat-water rowing, but we managed them well."

In his final of the junior men's single, O'Leary clocked a 3:09.5 for an 18-second victory over The Steward Foundation's Michael Garcia.

"I'm really excited for it," O'Leary said. "It's something I've never done. I've never really excelled in any sports like I have in rowing. I've just started, and I've taken off with it. I really love it, and I want to do it for a long time. I'm excited to go to Portugal."

Great Miami Rowing Club swept the two open single events. On the women's side, Cassidy Norton finished second in the time trial behind Newport Aquatic Center's Hillary Saeger, a seven-time senior national team member in flat-water rowing. Norton then recorded a one-second victory in her semifinal over Oklahoma City High Performance Center's Elizabeth Hinley, before coming back to win the final over OKC HPC's Brooke Downes by just under two seconds in a 3:40.4.

For Norton, it was a bit of a surprise to earn a spot in the single in Portugal, having just finished high school and just raced at the Youth National Championships last weekend in Sarasota.

"This was my first coastal competition, and this was also my first time trying out for anything national or international, so I didn't really expect to get a place (on the team) my first time," Norton said. "I was thinking maybe in the coming years or maybe with a team member or in the quad, but I ended up here, which is really exciting.

"My first thoughts were like, 'Oh my God, that didn't just happen.' I was kind of in disbelief a little bit. I was really thankful that I was given this opportunity."

Great Miami's Christopher Bak won the final of the open men's single sculls, defeating Great Miami teammate Michael Treblicock in the final. Bak finished third in the time trial before defeating Pensacola Coastal's Marc Rounsaville in the heat, top seed Kory Rogers in the semifinal and then Treblicock.

Bak clocked a 2:58.6, seven seconds ahead of Treblicock, to win the final.

"It's been something since 2012 when I first went to the sport of rowing that I've been striving for – to make Team USA," Bak said. "After countless tries, it feels really good to be on the team, and I'm welcoming it with open arms."

In the open mixed quadruple sculls, the New Orleans composite crew of John Olbrys, Christine Cavallo, Hannah Huppi and John Huppi won the final in a 2:32.7, 2.5 seconds ahead of the Great Miami boat that included Rogers, Downes, Norton and Bak. The Great Miami boat won the time trial, but the New Orleans composite boat was able to run a cleaner race in the final to earn the victory.

"It's super cool, so different from any type of rowing that we've ever done before," Olbrys said. "The boat's so much heavier, the chop is what you don't want, but that's what we're here for. It's so strange but so cool at the same time."

For Cavallo, the victory made her a seven-time national team member, having already represented the U.S. on the junior, under 23 and senior national teams in flat-water rowing.

"It's so different," Cavallo said. "My biggest takeaway from the second I got in the boat was realizing how much time I've spent in sprint racing on a 2,000-meter course with a very, very clear time standard to hit, and here, I'm sure there is a time standard somewhere, but it changes by the shoreline, by the wave conditions, by the wind conditions, whether or not you hit the wave.

"I went into it like the time trial means nothing because that wave is not going to be here ever again, so all of those variables are just managing the externalities better than you otherwise could. That's where it is so different and cool."

As with many of today's competitors, Rogers and Hinley were racing multiple boat categories throughout the day and they finally punched their ticket to Portugal with a victory in the last race of the day – the open mixed double sculls.

The duo posted the fastest time in the time trial, bested Newport Aquatic Center in the semifinal, and then won the final over Downes and Treblicock by over 20 seconds.

"With everything being so brand new for all of us, it's really cool to be the first ever," Hinley said. "To have our names be the ones digging the ground for us is really exciting. We're all ecstatic and excited to see where it goes from here, especially for America because it's such a new sport, so we'll see where it goes."

In the final of the junior men's double sculls, Rose City Rowing Club's Aidan Ehrismann and Joshua Li won the final in a 3:05.3. The race was tight through the turn, but Rose City was able to pull it out over the back half of the race.

"It's definitely surreal," Ehrismann said about making the team. "Even with nationals being nationals, it didn't click in my brain how big it was and then this is like a whole other level. No words."

For most, this weekend's racing was their first experience with Beach Sprints racing and a great camaraderie was formed amongst all the athletes, especially the juniors.

"A lot of the coastal rowers who are juniors here have little experience because costal rowing is just a very new thing for juniors," Li said. "We're all in the same boat, we're all on the same level. It's just great getting to know each other and make sure that everyone is comfortable and make sure everyone feels like we're not here by ourselves."

For complete results from today's racing, click here.