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One year from the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games, two local rowers have made an important step and been named to the USRowing 2011 National Team. Charlie Cole from New Canaan and Dan Walsh from Norwalk have been named to the Men's Four and Men's Eight respectively.
Cole and Walsh will also be part of a large contingent, including three boats competing in the adaptive races, representing the U.S. at the World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia, beginning Aug. 28.
According to www.usrowing.org, competing with Cole in the men's four will be Scott Gault (Piedmont, Calif.), Brett Newlin (Riverton, Wyo.) and Giuseppe Lanzone (Annandale, Va.). The crew won bronze last month in Lucerne at the 2011 Samsung World Cup III. Cole was a member of the 2010 men's world championship eight
Competing in the men's eight alongside Walsh will be coxswain Ned DelGuercio (Media, Pa.), Nareg Guregian (North Hills, Calif.), Josh Inman (Hillsboro, Ore.), Steven Coppola (Buffalo, N.Y.), Henrik Rummel (Pittsford, N.Y.), Alex Osborne (Sherman Oaks, Calif.), Grant James (DeKalb, Ill.) and Ross James (DeKalb, Ill.).
Walsh, who also competed on last year's world championship squad, won bronze in the eight at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
One year from now, USRowing will send 48 athletes to Eton Dorney, the Olympic Rowing venue, to compete in 14 events. Prospects for the team are very strong.
On the men's side, according to www.usrowing.org, the eight and the four had exciting performances already this year at Henley and World Cup III. With head coach Tim McLaren at the helm, crews are already posting impressive results in the 2011 racing season. The crew capped off its world cup series in Lucerne, Switzerland, with a bronze medal on July 10. The men's eight, having missed the podium by 0.2 seconds at its world cup debut, is fueled up for a world championship rematch.
For all racing results, go to www.row2k.com/results. For more information on the World Championship teams and racing ,visit www.usrowing.org.
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