Last Updated: 14.Jul.2018

Hot on the heels of the 4th, 18 Green Racing Project rowers competed to represent the US at U23 Worlds and on the FISA World Cup/Senior World Championships later this season. Three GRP boats took the win and will represent the US internationally:  US M2x Ben Davison and John Graves, U23 US M2x Evan Dwinell and Josh Bilchik, and U23 M1x Ben Davison (doubling up with his Open M2x appearance). 

The winner of US Trials 1 earns the right to represent the United States at either U23 or Senior World Championships (or - SPOILER ALERT - in the case of Ben Davison, both). U23 World Championships run July 25 - 29 in Poznan, Poland. Senior World Championships run September 9 - 16 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

12 GRP U23 athletes raced across eight U23 events, four GRP Senior team athletes fielded two Men’s doubles, and Senior GRPer Frank Horpel formed a composite entry in the Men’s 2x with Oklahoma City High Performance Training Center’s Kevin Cardno (coached by Reilly Dampeer).

Men’s 2x: Ben Davison/John Graves; Wes Vear/Lucas Bellows ; Kevin Cardno (OKC)/ Frank Horpel (GRP)
Davison/Graves were on a tear, winning the TT, heat, semi and final, leaving little doubt they were the US M2x for this summer. Vear/Bellows advanced to semis via the reps, as did Cardno/Horpel. Vear/Bellows qualified for the finals, ending the regatta 3rd.

U23 Men’s 2- : Peter Chatain/Jack Reid
Chatain/Reid placed 4th in the U23 Men’s 2- (6:58.44, 87.9%).

U23 Women’s 2x: Laura Hegemann/Macenzie King
Advanced to the finals via the reps, placing 3rd (7:24.32, 89.3%).

U23 Men’s 2x: Thomas Johnson/Mats Terwiesch ; Evan Dwinell/Josh Bilchik
Dwinell/Bilchik won the U23 Men’s 2x (6:50.86, 87.6%) and the rights to race at U23 Worlds. Johnson/Terwiesch finished behind the other U23 2x with a 2nd (6:53.69, 87.0%).

U23 Women’s Lightweight 1x: Jenny McIlvane
Having gained finals via the reps, Jenny placed 3rd (8:13.86, 89.9%).

U23 Men’s Lightweight 1x: Dom Williams
Williams missed 2nd place by four one-hundredths of a second (a bow ball) in a photo-finish and did not advance to Sunday’s Final.

U23 Women’s 1x: Rhiannon Mulligan
Mulligan placed 3rd in the U23 Women’s 1x (8:11.19, 86%), having advanced via the repechage.

U23 Men’s 1x: Ben Davison
Ben drained much of the drama from this contest as he did with John in the US M2x, winning the rights to race at U23 Worlds (7:04.33, 92.1%).

U23 Men’s 4x: Evan Dwinell/Josh Bilchik/Mats Terwiesch/Dom Williams
Dwinell/Bilchik/Terswiesch/Williams placed (2nd) in their final (6:14.49, 88.7%)

Congratulations to Ben, John, Evan and Josh for punching your tickets to Worlds! We are proud of all our athletes for well-representing the Green Racing Project last week, and are especially excited for the U23 athletes that - before coming to Craftsbury in June - had little to no prior sculling experience.

A full lay out of results is available at HereNow. Race photos available on Row2k.

Upcoming Races…
Ben and John will race this weekend at World Cup III (Luzern, Switzerland) July 13 -15.
Alex Spaulding & Frank Horpel will race this weekend at US Club Nationals. (Camden, NJ)
Ben, Evan, and Josh’s will race at U23 World Championships (Poznan, Poland) July 25 - 29
Ben & John will race at Senior World Championships (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) September 9 - 16

Check back here, Facebook, or Instagram for updates on racing. Go GRP, Go USA!

Thank you to Rob Pungello for providing access to the photos of our GRP athletes competing at Worlds Trials.You can see more of Rob's work on his Instagram, @rpungello or web page