CRAFTSBURY – The Craftsbury Outdoor Center’s Green Racing Project (GRP) headed to West Windsor, N.J., last weekend for the USRowing World Rowing Championships Trial on Mercer Lake, August 1 to 3,
GRP racer, Olympian Jacob Plihal won the men’s single sculls final, crossing the line in 6:49.61, just 1.2 seconds ahead of Sam Melvin of the New York Athletic Club, who had posted the fastest time in the semifinals a day earlier .
photo by Paul Fixx
Eleven GRP rowers were entered in the championships last weekend. The athletes were racing for spots on the team that will represent the U.S. at the 2025 World Rowing Championships taking place September 21-28 in Shanghai, China.
The USRowing race report showed several notable finishes by GRP rowers in addition to Plihal’s in the August 3 finals. In the Men’s pair, GRP’s Kai Hoite teamed up with Seattle’s Olympic bronze medalist Evan Olson to finish third with a time of 6:35.23. They had placed second in the time trial.
The women’s pair was a tight race, with GRP’s Holly Drapp and Olympian Jess Thoennes, who had the fastest time trial, finishing second in 7:11.06 behind Princeton Training Center teammates Etta Carpender and Alexandria Vallancey-Martinson, who took first with a time of 7:07.29.
The lightweight men’s single sculls ended in a photo finish, with Justin Schmidt of Conshohocken edging out GRP’s Cooper Tuckerman by just 0.16 seconds, 7:04.25 to 7:04.41.
USRowing will name the team that will represent the United States at the 2025 World Rowing Championships in Shanghai, China, September 21 to 28 in the next week.
GRP Head Coach Steve Whelpley and rower Caleb Nollenberger left Craftsbury last Wednesday headed for West Windsor, N.J., in a truck pulling a trailer loaded with single, double and four-person racing shells. After yesterday’s finals they were headed to the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, through August 10, in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
