USRowing Midwest Speed Order Preview

Oklahoma City National High Performance athletes will have the chance to go head to head this weekend at the USRowing Midwest Speed Order. The event will consist of a 6 kilometer erg test on Saturday, November 17th at the Devon Boathouse beginning at 1:15 PM. The results of the 6K will determine the starting order for the 4000 meter head race down the Oklahoma River on Sunday November 18th with the first flight sent off at 8:00 AM. The speed order will feature several Olympians and US National Team members along with local college teams in the six events: Men's Pair, Lightweight Men's Pair, Men's Single, Women's Single, Lightweight Men's Single, and Lightweight Women's Single.

Peszek

2012 London Olympian, Tom Peszek, will team up with Olympic alternate and 2011 Pan American Games gold medalist Mike Gennaro in the Men's Pair. They'll take on training center teammates, Max Goff and Ryan Monaghan. OKC rookies, Jameson Harper and Peter Dwyer will also race the pair in their first speed order.

Two OKC entries will go head to head in the Lightweight Men's Pair with Christian Klein and Dan Kirrane taking on Frank Petrucci and Kyle Traub. Klein competed in the 2011 World Rowing Championships in the Lightweight Eight while Kirrane stroked the Lightweight Four at the 2012 Under 23 World Rowing Championships. Petrucci represented the United States in the Lightweight Four at the 2011 Pan American Games.

Didier

Blaise Dider raced in the Men's Coxed Pair at the 2012 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. This weekend he'll go solo in the Men's Single event. He'll be up against teammates Henry Cole, Greg Ansolabehere, and Ryan Shelton. This event will also feature athletes from Oklahoma City University and OKC Riversport.

In the women's single, OKC's Kate Bertko and Jen Forbes will take on entries from Oklahoma City University and the University of Tulsa. Bertko competed in the Women's Double at the 2011 World Rowing Championships and won a silver medal in the Women's Quad at the 2009 World Rowing Championships. Forbes won a bronze medal in the Women's Eight at the 2011 Under 23 World Rowing Championships and will look to close the gap on Bertko since their last race at the Head of the Oklahoma.

Smith and Sechser

The Lightweight Men's single will consist of some fresh faces mixed with experienced competitors. Greg Flood competed in the Lightweight Men's Pair at the 2012 World Rowing Championships and will represent OKC as the lone training center entry. He will have a good chance to measure he's speed against two time Olympian, Greg Ruckman from Colorado Rowing Club. Ruckman just competed at the USRowing East Coast Speed Order finishing first in the 6K test and 2nd in the head race on Carnegie Lake in Princeton, NJ. Former Junior National Team member, Matt Maddamma, will race for Oklahoma City University.

Two members of the 4th place Lightweight Women's Quad at the 2012 World Rowing Championships, Michelle Sechser and Chelsea Smith, will headline the Lightweight Women's Single event this weekend. They'll get a challenge from teammate Kat Schiro who competed in the 2011 Under 23 World Championship Lightweight Quad and recently finished first at the 2012 Head of the Hooch. They'll be join by entries from Colorado Rowing Club and the University of Tulsa.

Minute by minute results will be available on twitter: @RowOKC_HP