London is on the Line for OKC Rowers

Tom Peszek

The final Olympic Trials for rowing will begin tomorrow morning on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J. The event will select the men’s single sculls, men’s pair and women’s pair crews that will represent the United States at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Four scullers are entered in the men’s single including Beijing Olympian Ken Jurkowski, California Rowing Club’s Mike Sivigny, All-American Rowing Camp’s Jim Dietz, II and Seattle Rowing Center’s Jon Greer. Jurkowski, who qualified the boat at the 2011 World Rowing Championships last fall, proved himself as the fastest single sculler in the country at National Selection Regatta #1 in March, but then missed out on a top-four finish at either of the first two 2012 World Rowing Cup stops – placement that would have qualified him for London.

Jurkowski, Sivigny, Dietz and Greer will compete in a race for lanes on Tuesday, with the final scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Thursday. The winner will earn automatic qualification to the 2012 Olympic Rowing Team, pending final United States Olympic Committee approval.

Fourteen crews are set to compete in the men’s pair, including four USRowing Training Center boats. Oklahoma City’s Silas Stafford and Tom Peszek are set to race, as are OKC’s Justin Stangel and Andrew Gallagher. Peszek and Stangel finished ninth in the event at the 2011 World Rowing Championships. Michael Gennaro and Ty Otto are coming off of a win in the pair and the eight at the 2011 Pan American Games, while 2004 Olympic gold medalist Jason Read has teamed up with Nareg Guregian, a four-time national team member.
In addition, nine-time U.S. national team member and two-time Olympian Jamie Koven of New York Athletic Club has paired up with Mike Blomquist, a five-time national team member.

Four heats of the men’s pair are scheduled for Tuesday, beginning at 7:30 a.m., with the winner advancing directly to Wednesday’s semifinals. The final for the men’s pair is set for 7:45 a.m. Thursday. The winner will earn automatic qualification to the 2012 Olympic Rowing Team, pending final United States Olympic Committee approval.

Two USRowing Training Center crews will face off in the women’s pair event with Jamie Redman and Amanda Polk taking on Sara Hendershot and Sarah Zelenka. Redman and Polk, both five-time U.S. national team members, won gold and set a world best time in the heat of the women’s eight at the 2012 Samsung World Rowing Cup in Lucerne last month. Hendershot and Zelenka were members of the four that won gold at the 2011 World Rowing Championships. A race for lanes is scheduled for 8:10 a.m. Tuesday, with the final set for 8:00 a.m. Thursday. The winner will earn automatic qualification to the 2012 Olympic Rowing Team, pending final United States Olympic Committee approval.