Rower Gevvie Stone clinches her fifth single sculls title at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston on Oct. 18, 2014.
Five For Friday: Paralympic Shooting
The men’s doubles crew of John Graves and Benjamin Dann, and the lightweight women’s doubles crew of Michelle Sechser and Devery Karz, will chase after berths in the 2015 World Rowing Championships this week in Switzerland.
Because they won their events in the US Rowing National Selection Regatta, the crews can qualify for the world championships by finishing among the top seven at the season’s third and final world cup event in Lucerne, Switzerland. The event begins Friday.
While 26 U.S. rowers are in Toronto for the Pan American Games for the rowing competition that begins Friday, five U.S. crews are in Lucerne for the world cup.
Among them is two-time Olympian Ken Jurkowski in the men’s single sculls. This will be Jurkowski’s first world cup competition since 2014, when he finished 11th.
Graves and Dann missed qualifying for the final at the last world cup event, placing 11th. They have been in training leading up to this week’s competition.
“Ben and I have been training in Sarnen, Switzerland, for the last two weeks and we are excited to see how we stack up after some solid work and healthy living in Switzerland,” Graves said. “We felt like we were on the cusp of making the final in Varese (Italy), and we are looking forward to correcting some mistakes and taking another crack at it.”
Joining Graves and Dann in men’s doubles are the team of Derek Johnson and Ian Silveira.
London 2012 Olympian Gevvie Stone, who has already landed a spot on the world championship team following a runner-up finish at World Cup II, will compete in women’s single sculls.
Paul D. Bowker is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.