Help Support OKC Athletes Headed to the World Rowing Championships

Eight Oklahoma City National High Performance Center athletes will be representing the United States at the 2012 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Lightweight Men's Pair: Will Daly and Greg Flood
Men's Pair with Coxswain: Justin Stangel, Blaise Didier, and Stephen Young
Lightweight Women's Quad: Michelle Sechser and Chelsea Smith
Lightweight Men's Eight: Anders Corbett

Please help their fundraising efforts by visiting the pages below:

Lightweight Men's Pair
Men's Pair with Coxswain
Lightweight Women's Quad
Anders Corbett

SAVE THE DATE: Oklahoma Regatta Festival Sept 27-30

Come join us for the Head of the Oklahoma!

KFOR News Coverage: OKC Paralympians overcome disabilities to go for gold

Check out the link for a great story from KFOR News Channel 4, featuring OKCNHPC Paralympians, Emma Preuschl and Andrew Johnson:

OKC Paralympians Overcome...

On to Bulgaria: OKC Rowers Shine at Trials

Eight Oklahoma City National High Performance Center athletes raced their way onto the 2012 Senior World Championships Team this morning in West Windsor, NJ. OKC will be represented in the Lightweight Men's Pair, Men's Pair with Coxswain, Lightweight Women's Quad, and Lightweight Men's Eight when the team competes in Plovdiv, Bulgaria next month.

Stangel, Didier and Young

Will Daly and Greg Flood won the lightweight men’s pair final. Daly, a 2008 Olympian who finished 11th in the lightweight four in Beijing, and his partner Greg Flood won their event in a time of 6:45.377 over training center teammates Christian Klein and Kyle Traub, who finished second in 6:46.713.

This morning’s finals wrapped up the combined trials for both the junior and senior teams that will compete August 14-19 at the 2012 World Rowing Senior and Junior Championships. In all, seven crews earned a place on the senior team.

In addition to the lightweight men’s pair, crews were named in the men’s pair with coxswain, lightweight women’s single, lightweight men’s single, men’s and women’s lightweight quadruple sculls and lightweight men’s eight.

The junior and senior world championship events and trials are combined in an Olympic year to accommodate athletes who compete in boat classes not contested at the Olympic Games.

In the men’s pair with coxswain, two USRowing Training Center – Oklahoma City crews went head-to-head in the finals with Justin Stangel, Blaise Didier and coxswain Stephen Young defeating the trio of Ryan Shelton, Max Goff and coxswain Marcus McElhenney in a time of 7:08.784 to 7:12.066.

In the lightweight women’s quad, the composite entry of Pocock Rowing Center, Riverside Boat Club and the USRowing Training Center – Oklahoma City of Hillary Saeger, Lindsey Hochman, Michelle Sechser and Chelsea Smith won in a time of 6:54.285 over Vesper Boat Club, which finished second in 7:09.630.

The final event of the morning, the lightweight men’s eight, saw the composite crew from Community Rowing, Inc., and Riverside Boat Club of coxswain Sean Fanning, Phil Grisdela, OKC's Anders Corbett, Andrew Hashway, Martin Forde, Nick Dawe, Sean McKenna, Will Robins, and Ryan Fox win in 5:57.839 over the Vesper Boat Club entry that finished second in 6:02.139.

Senior National Team Berths on the Line for OKC Athletes

Will Daly

With the Olympic and Under 23 World Championship teams selected and set for competition, the attention this week shifts to the final two national team squads left to be named.

Beginning Monday morning on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, NJ, racing in the 2012 Non-Olympic Senior World Championship Trial gets underway.

Racing in the senior event will feature competition in the men’s pair with coxswain, lightweight men’s and women’s singles, lightweight men’s pair, lightweight men’s and women’s quadruple sculls and the lightweight men’s eight.

Winners of their respective events will be named to the teams that will compete in the World Rowing Senior and Junior Championships August 14-19, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The combined events are run together during an Olympic year to accommodate senior boat classes not included in the Olympic program.

Hillary Saeger and Lindsey Hochman were in the 2011 World Championship bronze medal quad and will compete in the lightweight quad at senior trials in the composite entry from Pocock Rowing Center, Riverside Boat Club and the USRowing Training Center – Oklahoma City. They will be joined by OKC's Michelle Sechser and Chelsea Smith. Sechser and Smith won two bronze medals at the 2011 Pan American Games in the Lightweight Women's Double and Women's Quad.

Two men’s pairs with coxswain from the Oklahoma City training center will go head-to-head for a spot on the senior team, including the crews of Justin Stangel, Blaise Didier and coxswain Stephen Young and Ryan Shelton, Max Goff and coxswain Marcus McElhenney.

The two boats recently raced in the 2012 USRowing National Championships with Stangel, Didier and Young winning the gold medal. Didier and McElhenney won gold in the eight at the 2011 Pan American Games and Didier finished sixth in the pair with coxswain at the 2011 World Rowing Championships. Stangel finished ninth in the pair in Slovenia. McElhenney is also a 2008 Bejiing Olympic bronze medalist.

Four USRowing Training Center – Oklahoma City athletes will be racing in the lightweight men’s pair including 2008 Olympian Will Daly who will row with Greg Flood. Daly finished 11th in the lightweight four at the 2008 Olympic Games and 13th in the boat at the 2011 World Rowing Championships. Flood finished ninth in the lightweight four at the 2011 World Rowing Under 23 Championships. The second OKC entry will be Christian Klein and Kyle Traub. Klein competed in the Lightweight Men's 8+ at the 2011 World Rowing Championships.

Racing in the combined events will begin Monday morning, with finals scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

For event information and schedule in the 2012 Non-Olympic Senior World Championship Trials, visit: http://www.usrowing.org/NationalTeams/OlympicSeniorNationalTeam/SrNTSelectionEvents/2012SenWCTrials.aspx

Video: OKC's US Olympic Lightweight Men's Four

Check out this great video from the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation showcasing the 2012 US Olympic Lightweight Men's Four:

"We are proud to showcase the US Rowing Lightweight Men's Four entry for the 2012 London Olympics. The team is comprised of Oklahoma City National High Performance Center (OKCNHPC) athletes Robin Prendes, Nick LaCava, Will Newell, and Anthony Fahden lead by head coach Bryan Volpenhein. They are the very first OKCNHPC athletes to represent the US at the Olympic games and we know they will make us proud. Congratulations gentlemen!"