Eighteen athletes have been selected for the Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA) USRowing International Rowing Challenge in Michigan from July 15th to 16th.
Canada will be represented by two teams, a Red Team and a White Team, creating opportunities for a larger group of Junior athletes. These teams will compete against top-tier talent from New Zealand, Mexico, and the United States, providing invaluable international racing experience.
Each participating nation will field teams of nine athletes: four women, four men, and one coxswain. The competition will open with the Mixed 8+ event, followed by a series of races in smaller boats, including Men’s 4+, Women’s 4+, Men’s 4x, Women’s 4x, Men’s 2x, Men’s 2-, Men’s 1x, Women’s 2x, Women’s 2-, and Women’s 1x.
Chuck McDiarmid, RCA NextGen Program Lead, spoke about this new initiative starting between Canada, USA, and Mexico. “The goal is to create a multi-disciplinary rowing event, where all athletes need to sweep and scull, performing over multiple races. This will develop well-rounded, robust athletes, giving them multiple racing opportunities while challenging their ability to adapt. We are excited to see Year 1 take shape and look forward to it becoming an important entry point to the RCA High Performance Pathway.”
To kick off their international circuit, the team travelled to Michigan to train for 6-8 days, leading up to their races next week.
This event is the start of an action-packed season for the eighteen selected athletes, who will use this as an opportunity to prepare for the other international competitions approaching this season.
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