Last Updated: 11.Apr.2014

While the Outdoor Center is still blanketed with snow, the Green Racing Project rowers have been enjoying the sunshine and miles of (liquid) water in Clemson, SC. The team has been down in Clemson since the beginning of March to get ready for the first National Selection Regatta in New Jersey April 23rd to 26th. This past weekend the GRP had a great chance to race, whether at the Clemson Sprints put on by the University’s club program or further afield at the San Diego Crew Classic. Getting race experience can make a huge difference for the team in New Jersey looking to qualify for the men’s or women’s single at the World Cups or the men’s lightweight four selection camp.

First to the water at the Clemson Sprints was the men’s open single, run in two flights without a final to accommodate all of the junior, collegiate, and open races that were to take place in just a day. Steve Whelpley and Josh Konieczny were in the first flight, with the lightweight Konieczny taking the win from Whelpley with a strong closing 750m. Kyle Lafferty was on his own in the second flight where he would win by over a minute. Phil Grisdela and Phil Henson were next to the line for the GRP in the men’s open pair, which they won by over 40 seconds. Sarah Keller raced the women’s lightweight single, winning by 30 seconds. The GRP fielded eight women’s openweight singles in two different flights and took the top four spots in both. Racing was close between the squad as Elizabeth Sonshine and Emily Driessigacker winning their flights with times only a second apart, suggesting some good battles at the National Selection Regatta in two weeks. While there were frequently wide margins back to the rest of the field at the Sprints, there is tremendous value in being able to line up and compete on a buoyed racecourse before the selection races to come. The whole squad is extremely thankful to Clemson’s program for being so welcoming and making this training camp possible.

Ben Dann, John Graves and Peter Graves took the opportunity to race at the San Diego Crew Classic over the weekend as a part of both the alumni eight and the masters B eight. Ben Dann won in Brown’s alumni eight on Saturday with over 30 seconds back to second place. He then hopped in the masters B eight for Cincinnati Rowing Club with the Graves brothers where they narrowly missed the top spot by 0.4 seconds to California Rowing Club.

After the racing of the weekend the GRP is all back together putting the pieces together to have the best possible performance at the upcoming National Selection Regatta April 23rd-26th. The rowers will be racing in the men’s and women’s lightweight and open singles as well as the men’s lightweight pair to begin the 2014 campaign for the World Championships in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.