Wolverine Trio Readies for U-23 World Championships
7/17/2017 11:27:00 AM | Rowing
» Three Wolverines, including two returning athletes, will represent Team USA at the Under-23 World Championships this Wednesday through Sunday (July 19-23) in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
» The trio of U-M athletes competing includes recent graduate and 2016-17 co-captain Tessa Yurko (fours), as well as rising senior Kendall Brewer (pairs) and rising junior Meghan Gutknecht (quad sculls).
» The crews will compete on the Marista River venue, considered to be one of the fastest regatta courses in the world.
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Three representatives from the University of Michigan rowing program will be on Team USA when the Under-23 World Championships begin later this week in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Tessa Yurko, a recent graduate and co-captain of the 2016-17 team, will be joined by rising senior Kendall Brewer and rising junior Meghan Gutknecht rowing on the waters of the Marista River this Wednesday through Sunday (July 19-23).
Yurko is racing fours, Brewer is racing pairs and Gutknecht is racing quad sculls. The trio spent much of the month of June at Princeton's National Training Center but now prepares for international competition at the Marista River venue that hosted the 2015 World Championships and will host the event again in 2018. With its warm waters and fair conditions, it is considered by many to be one of the fastest regatta courses on the planet.
The United States, Italy and Germany are the only three countries to send complete teams of 21 boats each, as the Americans look to build on a fifth-place finish in 2016.
Brewer is no stranger to international competition. This will be her fourth consecutive summer competing for the U.S. National Team, and she earned her roster spot after having been teamed with University of Washington Husky Brooke Pierson in a pairs boat.
Brewer has three gold medals under her belt -- one in the eight and one in the four from 2016, one in quad sculls from 2013) -- from these same World Championships, and she also placed fourth in the quad race in 2015.
For Gutknecht and Yurko, this represents their first crack at the Under-23 roster, though Gutknecht has a bronze medal to her name from the 2015 Junior World Championships.
The race schedule for the opening day of competition (all times ET):
Wednesday, July 19 (Heats)
Event 15 (Fours; BW4-), 9 a.m.
Event 10 (Quad Sculls; BLW4x), 9:25 a.m.
Event 13 (Pairs; BW2-), 9:45 a.m.
• Full Schedule
