Courtesy: Princeton Athletic CommunicationsFourteen past, present or future Princeton rowers, representing all four Tiger crews, will be heading to either Brive-La-Gaillarde, France, or Racice, Czech Republic, this summer to compete at either the U19 or U23 World Rowing Championships.
Seven of the rowers will head to Racice for the U23 World Championships, held July 23-26. The American squad will include 2009 lightweight women captain Madeline Davis, whose inclusion was profiled here. Nick Donald, a rising junior for the men's lightweights, will join fellow Seattle native Thomas Davidson to form the U.S. lightweight men's pair. The U.S. women's 8+ will have the leadership of rising open women senior Ariel Frost, who will serve as the coxswain for the crew.
"Making the team meant a lot to me, to say the least," Frost said. "It has been a goal of mine and I would like to thank all the coaches that have helped me along the way — Derek Byrnes with Oakland Strokes, the entire coaching staff at Princeton, and, of course, Steve Perry and Anne Kakela, the U23 National Team coaches. I am relieved to have made it past selection, but I am also eager and excited about this next stage of training and racing."
The Canadian U23 squad includes five Princeton rowers. Leading the way for the men are Matt Evans, a recent heavyweight graduate, and Blake Parsons, a rising heavyweight junior, who both earned a spot on the Canadian 8+. The open women are equally well-represented; rising juniors Ashton Brown and Lauren Wilkinson will be part of the women's 8+. Emma Bedard, a lightweight rising junior, will row for the lightweight 4x.
Two weeks after the U23 championships, six incoming Princeton freshmen will compete for Team USA in the U19 World Championships. Brian Wettach (Wakefield, Mass.) and Alex Taaffe (Sarasota, Fla.), both of whom will row for the heavyweights next year, are part of the men's 8+, while fellow heavyweight recruit Allan Amico (Orchard Park, N.Y.) will row for the men's 4-.
Two incoming open recruits will also compete. Molly Hamrick (Tampa, Fla.) is going to row on the women's 8+, while Nicole Bielawski (Old Westbury, N.Y.) will row in the single sculls competition. Incoming lightweight freshman Kimberly Hopewell (Ridgefield, Conn.) is part of the quadruple sculls boat.
"Kim is the first recruit in our program's history to experience international caliber rowing prior to attending Princeton," head coach Paul Rassam said. "We are fortunate to have such a talented rower joining our team next year. She thinks big, and trains hard to acheive her lofty goals, which is just the type of athlete we are always looking for. I believe she will have an immediate impact on our squad this fall."
