March 24, 2013

Penrith, AUSTRALIA – In the first international event of the season, the United States won medals in five of the six events it entered at the 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup March 22-24 at the Sydney International Regatta Center in Penrith, Australia.

The U.S. won silver in the women’s pair, women’s quadruple sculls, women’s eight and men’s eight, and bronze in the women’s single sculls.

In the first final of the morning, the women’s quad of Eleanor Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine), Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.), Esther Lofgren (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) edged out New Zealand by 0.24 seconds for silver with a time of 6:26.51. Australia won gold in 6:21.94. Two hours later, Lofgren and Musnicki returned for a fifth-place finish in the final of the women’s double.

Two-time Olympic gold medalists Logan and Francia returned to race in the afternoon final of the women’s single. Francia, who finished third in her heat and won the repechage race Saturday, crossed the line in fourth place (7:46.65). Logan, who won her heat en route to the final, took bronze with a time of 7:41.18. Australia’s Kim Crow won gold in 7:35.80, with China’s Bin Tang in second (7:39.23).

Next up in the women’s pair, the U.S. entry of Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.) and Meghan Musnicki (Naples, N.Y.) won silver with a time of 7:07.77. Coming off a six-second heat win on Friday, the pair finished second to Great Britain’s Polly Swann and Helen Glover, who won gold in a 7:03.55. Australia won bronze in a 7:12.32.

Lind and Musnicki won their second silver medals of the regatta in the stern pair of the U.S. women’s eight. Coxswain Leigh Carroll (Sherborn, Mass.), Lind, Musnicki, Taylor Ritzel (Larkspur, Colo.), Grace Luczak (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Amanda Polk (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Sara Hendershot (West Simsbury, Conn.), Ellen Tomek (Flushing, Mich.) and Adrienne Martelli (University Place, Wash.) finished second in a 6:07.83 to Australia’s 6:06.98. Canada took the bronze medal with a 6:10.47.

In the men’s eight, coxswain Stephen Young (Tampa, Fla.), Michael Gennaro (Havertown, Pa.), Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich.), Tom Dethlefs (Lawrenceville, N.J.), Stephen Kasprzyk (Cinnaminson, N.J.), Brandon Shald (Sausalito, Calif.), Nareg Guregian (North Hills, Calif.), David Banks (Potomac, Md.) and Grant James (DeKalb, Ill.) won the silver medal with a time of 5:31.73 to Great Britain’s winning time of 5:29.90.

The 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup is being run in conjunction with the inaugural Sydney International Rowing Regatta. The ‘Festival of Rowing’ was held March 18-24 at the Sydney International Regatta Center in Penrith. View results here.

Australia is the first stop of the 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup circuit. The second stage will be held June 21-23 in Eton, Great Britain. The final stage will take place July 12-14 in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Links
World Cup I Results
Photo Gallery
Athlete Bios

About the Samsung World Rowing Cup
The Samsung World Rowing Cup is an annual team competition, created in 1997, comprising three international regattas per year. At each regatta, in each event of the Samsung World Rowing Cup, the highest placing boat from a national federation in each boat class is awarded the following points: 1st, 8 points; 2nd, 6 points; 3rd, 5 points; 4th, 4 points; 5th, 3 points; 6th, 2 points; 7th, 1 point. At the first two regattas, the crew with the most points in that event is declared the Samsung World Rowing Cup Leader and receives the ‘World Rowing Cup Leader Bib’. After the third Samsung World Rowing Cup regatta, the crew with the most points in each boat class is declared the World Cup winner and receives the World Rowing Cup for that boat class. The nation with the most points overall from all boat classes is declared winner of the Overall Samsung World Rowing Cup. For more information, visit www.worldrowing.org.

About USRowing
USRowing is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the governing body for the sport of rowing in the United States. USRowing’s official suppliers include Boathouse Sports, Vespoli, WinTech, Filippi, Croker Oars, Rudy Project, Concept2, Nielsen Kellerman, and Ludus Tours. USRowing also receives generous support from the National Rowing Foundation and its corporate sponsors and partners ANXeBusiness Corp, EMCVenues and Connect-A-Dock. For more information, visit www.usrowing.org. The USRowing National Team program relies on strong partnerships to enable continued success. New opportunities exist to support the teams through the next quadrennial, culminating with the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. America Rows, which supports diversity in rowing and the USRowing adaptive programs also benefit from corporate support. For more information, please contact Beth Kohl at beth@usrowing.org.

GO USA!!

http://www.worldrowing.com/news/calm-day-ends-in-upset-at-sydney-world-rowing-cup-heats

Mara Ford has been named Associate Director, the National Rowing Foundation announced on Wednesday. Ford, from Middlebury, Conn., will be responsible for the management of the foundation’s fundraising administration, marketing initiatives and event planning and execution. Ford has previously worked with the NRF as the Director of Operations and an Event Marketing Consultant. “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to increase my responsibilities with the National Rowing Foundation”, said Ford. “It is a true privilege to work each day to support our National Rowing Teams.

With the beginning of the Rio Olympic Quadrennial, the NRF is committed to increasing our support in an effort to put more US crews on the awards dock in Rio.” Ford’s experience in the world of rowing includes her personal rowing career and her professional career. She rowed at the University of Wisconsin, and upon graduation went on to become a member of the US National Rowing Team, a 1988 Olympian and finalist in the Women’s Pair. Ford returned to rowing in a professional role, as the Competition Manager for Rowing at the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Ford’s success in Atlanta earned her the Federation Internationale des Societes d’Aviron (FISA) Medal of Honor for running the best Olympic Rowing Regatta. “The NRF is fortunate to have Mara Ford’s strong abilities and energy helping us achieve our 2013 fundraising goal. Her promotion to Associate Director is well deserved for all her work for the London 2012 Olympics. As an Olympian and former National team member she knows first hand how important the work the NRF is to meeting the needs of our National Team athletes.”, said Co-Chairs Marcia Hooper and Jamie Koven. About the National Rowing Foundation The National Rowing Foundation is a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization dedicated to raising funds to support the U. S. National Rowing Teams. Founded in 1966, the NRF has been supporting Olympic athletes for more than four decades. The funds raised support year round training, development, competition and preservation of rowing history through the Hall of Fame and Rowing Museum. Additional information is available at www.natrowing.org. # # # Contact: Gillian Perry (860) 535-0634 email: info@natrowing.org

March 08, 2013

To make a donation to the Julian Wolf  National Referee College please CLICK HERE

When Julian Wolf saw a need for something, especially when it involved the sport of rowing, he acted.

He believed that the University of Southern California, and collegiate rowing on the west coast, would benefit from having a rowing team. So he helped start a program at the school and then became its first coach in 1948.

Wolf was passionate about women participating in the sport. So he championed the cause and offered his support to the National Women’s Rowing Association and continued his support when USRowing was formed.

And he believed that referees needed a place where they could share ideas and train new officials and that rowing would be better if rules were enforced universally. So he established the USRowing Referee College that today bears his name – the Julian Wolf National Referee Training School, which operates in different cities around the country each year.

Today, the rowing world mourns the loss of Wolf, who died this week in an Australian hospital after a four-week battle with pancreatitis. He was 88.

“There are some people that have made our sport better because of their involvement,” said USRowing Chief Executive Officer Glenn Merry. “Julian Wolf was one of those people.“I was fortunate to know Julian, perhaps not as well as many in the sport, but I benefited from my conversations with him. He was a true gentleman and innovative thinker. Every regatta, every competitor, can be thankful for his leadership and role in creating a nationalized referee education program and the invention of the referee college.

“But that wasn’t the only aspect of the sport he lifted,” Merry said. “He founded programs, he led teams and he brought people together under one sport of rowing. Julian will be missed.”

Wolf rowed and coached at the University of California at Los Angeles. While coaching, he decided the best way to improve his crew was to raise the level of competition in the Los Angeles area and he helped Bob Hillen establish a rowing team at USC.

Wolf went on to encourage and support others who founded crews at many colleges and clubs along the west coast.

He was a founding member of the National Rowing Foundation, a member of the USRowing Board of Directors, a member and chairman of the U.S. Men’s Olympic Rowing Committee from 1971 to 1988, a U.S. national team manager for the 1984 men’s Olympic team and two Pan American teams, and was the Chef d’Mission of the 1978 U.S. team.

He was inducted into the Rowing Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.

Prior to his service in rowing, Wolf served in the United States Army during World War II as an intelligence officer in General George Patton’s command and was cited for his leadership during the Battle of the Bulge. He attended law school at USC, and following graduation formed a successful Los Angeles insurance company that bears his name.

Most significant among his many accomplishments in rowing is the formation of the referee college in 1990. USRowing later recognized his contributions, naming an annual award in his honor, the Julian Wolf Award, which is given to one rowing official in the United States that stood apart in making contributions to the sport in the past year. Selection is based upon outstanding performance, dedication, heroic acts and/or outstanding contributions to officiating.

For many referees, receiving an award named after Wolf made the recognition even more significant.

“Julian leaves a lasting legacy for rowing and, in particular, the referee corps,” said 2012 recipient Lloyd McDonald. “Julian is very rightly recognized as the father of referee education with generations of referees attending the referee colleges. For me, personally, to be associated with Julian Wolf, through the Julian Wolf Award, is the absolute high point of my time as a referee.”

The 2009 Wolf Award recipient, Bob Scurria, was not only a fellow official, but also one of Wolf’s many friends and benefactors. Scurria informed the rowing world of Wolf’s passing in an email on Thursday, March 7.

“Whether you knew Julian or not, if you are a member of the rowing community, you have been touched by his influence. For over seventy years, he had dedicated his life, time and resources to our sport,” Scurria wrote in his email.

According to Scurria, Wolf and his wife, Mary, were visiting friends in Australia when he became ill.

“Julian was an avid sport fisherman and holds several game fish records,” Scurria wrote. “He traveled the world with his beloved Mary and they made friends wherever they went. They often returned to the same places to visit with those friends, as they were doing on this trip to Australia.”

Scurria, who is also a rowing referee, credits Wolf for having the vision to start the referee college.

“Nationally, Julian recognized that local regionalization was hindering the growth of the sport, and the best way to overcome this obstacle was to interpret and enforce the rules universally. He began a nationwide mentorship program for referees and using his own resources, established the USRowing Referee College.

“Every current athlete, coach or referee has somehow benefited from his presence in the sport. While we can all appreciate his contribution to the rowing community, I also had the privilege of knowing him personally. Away from the water, he also stood tall,” Scurria wrote.

Bob Appleyard, Dean of the Julian Wolf School and close friend of Wolf’s said, “In my generation of referees, those of us who have been in it for maybe 20 years, Julian served as a mentor to all of us and the college has served to be the one focus that USRowing now uses to help keep the standards, the very high standards on a national level, that Julian had envisioned.”

Last year, USRowing, under the direction of John Wik, its director of referee programs, secured a grant from the NCAA to support the referee college, which holds sessions in various cities around the country.

This year, sessions are planned for Sarasota, Fla., Chula Vista, Calif., and Oklahoma City, Okla.

“Julian Wolf was an icon in the referee community,” said Wik. “His dedication to our sport, its athletes and to the referee corps was unsurpassed.

“One of the earliest proponents of a comprehensive training program for referees, Julian was a mentor and friend to many referees throughout the country. His dedication, humor, and warmth will be greatly missed and fondly remembered.”

According to Scurria, arrangements are being made to return Wolf to the United States. Plans for a memorial service are pending.

To Make a donation to the Julian Wolf National Referee College please CLICK HERE

Ed Moran, Photos by Allison Frederick