During the U23 World Championship trials on Lake Mercer (NJ), Kat Schiro and Jane Imfeld qualified to represent the US in the Lightweight Women's 4x (quadruple sculls) at U23 World Championships that will be held in Amsterdam, July 21-24.
Schiro and Imfeld have been training at the USRowing camp at GMS in Connecticut for the past month and were selected for the priority 4x with Solveig Imsdahl and Elizabeth Robinson. With a understated result in the qualifying time trial, the crew surprised their competitors in the final race from the start. The crew finished in 6:38.58 with Vesper A crossing the line six seconds later at 6:44.68. The Vesper B and Boston Rowing Club entries posted times over seven minutes. The World Record in the Lightweight Women's 4x is 6:23.96.
Edgars Boitmanis will also be competing at U23 World Championships in the Men's 4x representing his home country Latvia. This is Boitmanis third time making the U23 National Team and competing at the regatta.
Finishing up a successful season with a first and third place finish, respectively, in the Women's 1x (single sculls) at the Dad Vail Collegiate Championship, Schiro and Imfeld are the first two female rowers from Oklahoma City University to make the US National Team.
Women's Coach Melanie Borger said, "Having three OCU rowers competing at the U23 World Championships is a historical event for our rowing program. Jane and Kat have worked very hard over their collegiate careers to make the U23 team, and their dedicaation has paid off. I could not be more proud of their efforts and accomplishments. I am looking forward to how they will race at World's."
There were three rowers from OCU's Men's Team who also competed at trials. Drew McNichols and Jimmy vonPeters just missed representing the US in the Men's 2x (double sculls) by .03 seconds. Craftsbury Sculling Center won with a 6:36.02 while the photo finish showed the OCU entry with a time of 6:36.05.
Another Craftsbury Sculling Center entry in the Men's Lightweight 2x nudged out OCU's Matthew Maddamma. Maddamma representing Steel City and his partner's time of 6:40.79 was just 3 seconds shy of the winning 6:37.54.
