PRINCETON, N.J. - The United States Rowing Association recently announced ts roster for the Under-23 National Team that will compete at the 2019 World Rowing Under-23 Championships in Sarasota, Fla., July 24-28. Rising senior Andrew Knoll of the Navy heavyweight program was selected to the team for the second straight year after competing in 2018 with the United States' men's four crew at the championships in Poznan, Poland. Knoll will stay state-side for this year's World Rowing Under-23 Championships, while suiting up with the men's eight entry next week.

The United States Men's Eight crew is made of athletes from six different colleges, coast-to-coast. Knoll will be rowing from the seven seat in-between the stroke Andrew Gaard (Univ. of Washington) and Sam Halbert (Univ. of Washington) in the six seat. The rest of the boat lineup consists of Alex Miklasevich (Brown Univ.) in the five seat, William Creedon (Univ. of California) in the four seat, Chris Carlson (Univ. of Washington) in the three seat, Justin Best (Drexel) in the two seat and Madison Molitor (Univ. of Washington) in the bow seat. Yale's Woods Connell will be serving as the crew's coxswain. Michael Callahan, the head coach at the University of Washington, is the coach of the men's eight.

The schedule of racing for Knoll and the U.S. Men's Eight crew kicks off on Thursday, July 25 in one of two heats, 9:45 or 9:50 a.m. Just a little over 24 hours later on Friday, July 26 the repechages for the men's eight field go off at 10:05 and 10:10 a.m., respectively. After setting the grand and petite finals, the competition will close on Sunday, July 28 with the petite B-final scheduled for 9:05 a.m. and the grand A-final at 11:35 a.m. (All dates and times are subject to change.)

The eight-team international field for the men's eight event consists of Australia, Canada, France, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania and the United States.

Knoll and his boat saw action earlier in July at the World Rowing Cup III in Amsterdam, July 12-14. Over the three days of competition, the American crew turned in a heat time of 5:56.120, a repechage time of 5:46.330 and B-Final result of 6:01.700. That effort in the B-Final won the individual race and placed seventh overall. The United States was the only U-23 entry in the field as the rest of the competitors were full-fledged national teams.

The United States will have 22 crews competing at the 2019 World Rowing Under-23 Championships. Events include the men's and women's single sculls, lightweight single sculls, double sculls, lightweight double sculls, quadruple sculls, lightweight quadruple sculls, pair, lightweight pair, four, four with coxswain, and eight.

The Sarasota roster includes 26 athletes returning from the 2018 Under 23 National Team including Justin Best, Chris Carlson, Woods Connell, William Creedon, Alexandar Damjanovic, Olivia Farrar, Andrew Gaard, Sam Halbert, Hadley Irwin, Sarah Johanek, Grace Joyce, Emily Kallfelz, Brigid Kennedy, Andrew Knoll, Kaitlyn Kynast, Arianna Lee, Eli Maesner, Sarah Maietta, Sam Melvin, Alex Miklasevich, Madison Molitor, Caroline O'Brien, Elizabeth Ray, Chase Shepley, Luke Smith, and Isabel Weiss.

The U.S. roster includes athletes from 25 states, plus the District of Columbia and Switzerland. California leads the way with eight athletes. Thirty-three colleges and universities are represented on the roster.

Last year in Poznan, Poland, Knoll and the United States' M4- team barely missed making the podium as the Americans came in fourth place in the championship final. New Zealand edged the United States, 5:52.810 to 5:54.910 to earn the bronze medal. Knoll rowed in the third seat at the 2018 competition. Romania won the event with a time of 5:50.610.

About the Championships
The World Rowing Under 23 Championships is raced in 22 boat classes and is open to all World Rowing Federation (FISA) member nations. Rowers must be under the age of 23. The under-23s began in 1976 and was called the 'Seniors Match'. The name was then changed to the 'Nations Cup' before becoming the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in 2005.

For entries, timetable, full race reports, live race tracker and commentary, live blog and live video streaming for some of the races please go to www.worldrowing.com