PRINCETON, N.J. - The United States Rowing Association announced late Wednesday its roster for the 2021 Under-23 Men's and Women's National Teams that will compete at the upcoming Under-23 World Rowing Championships in Racice, Czech Republic. After participating in month-long selection camps,
Alexandria Vallancey-Martinson (USNA '21),
Griffin Dunne ('22) and
Will Geib ('22) have been chosen to represent the United States in four separate racing events in Racice, July 7 through 11.
A May 2021 graduate and four-year member of the women's rowing team at Navy, Vallancey-Martinson will be rowing from the third seat in the four-women boat without a coxswain. Fran Raggi from the University of Texas will sit in the stroke seat, while Washington's Teal Cohen will row in the second seat. Stanford's Kelsey McGinley rounds out the lineup as she'll compete from the bow. Vallancey-Martinson (Corvallis, Ore.) will stay busy in Racice as she was also selected to race in the women's eight crew. The four members of that W4 boat will occupy the fifth (McGinley), sixth (Cohen), seventh (Vallancey-Martinson) and stroke (Raggi) seats in the W8+. Additional members of the women's eight include Oregon State's Sierra Bishop, Texas' Anna Jensen, Yale's Sophia Hahn, Washington's McKenna Bryant and Brown's Izzy Aronin, who'll serve as the coxswain.
Navy's heavyweight program will be represented by the rising senior pairing of Dunne and Geib. Dunne will be suiting up with the United States' men's eight crew and rowing from the sixth seat. The Northfield, Illinois be joined in the M8 boat by Brown's Gus Rodriguez, Northeastern's Rhett Burns, Stanford's Peter Chatain, Harvard's Kenny Coplan, Yale's Nick Rusher, Dartmouth's Jacob Hudgins and William Bender and coxswain Sydney Edwards from Princeton. Meanwhile, Geib is one of five athletes selected to race with the United States' men's four with coxswain entry. The Portland, Oregon native is slated to row from the second seat behind Yale's Liam Galloway, who will be in the bow of the shell and ahead of Harvard's Christian Tabash, who will be in the third seat. Stroke Erik Spinka from Princeton and coxswain Jimmy Catalano of Wisconsin completes the M4+ lineup that'll be in competition in two weeks.
Vallancey-Martinson and Dunne are experienced in international competition as they raced with the mixed-gender United States' Armed Forces team in the King's Cup event as part of the 2019 Henley Royal Regatta.
The women's selection camp took place at the University of Iowa under the direction of Andrew Carter, while the men's camp was held at Northeastern University under the direction of Jesse Foglia.
The Under-23 World Rowing Championship regatta is the premier international event for rowers under the age of 23 and offers a total of 22 events. At the 2019 World Rowing Under-23 Championships held in Sarasota, Florida, the U.S. won medals in seven events including gold in the lightweight men's single sculls; silver in the women's single sculls, men's eight and lightweight women's pair; and bronze in the women's eight, women's four, and lightweight women's quadruple sculls.
Andrew Knoll, a 2019 Naval Academy graduate and four-year heavyweight rower, competed at the 2019 Under-23 World Rowing Championship and captured a silver medal with the men's eight crew.
