Most Marin student-athletes can only dream of representing their nation on an international level, but for three Redwood rowers, that dream became a reality when they were chosen to compete in the World Rowing Junior Championship this August in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Rowers Julian Goldman, junior, Peter Woolley, senior, and coxswain Riley Overfield, junior, endured a grueling training camp to earn spots on the mens’ 8+ team that placed fifth overall at the Junior Championship regatta. Italy won first place for the second consecutive year.
Overfield said he was disappointed with the results, but that he felt the United States boat put together a good race.
“If we would have raced in last year’s event, we would have at least medaled, but the competition was much more intense this year,” he said by email. “The other teams were just straight up faster.”
To qualify for the boat, Overfield, Goldman, and Woolley were required to attend an invitation-only two-phase selection camp that spanned over three weeks. Two practices were held each day, with rowers being evaluated based on their performance on the water in one-on-one seat races, as well as on the erg, a simulated rowing experience on land.
Goldman was not originally selected to try out for the team, but his performance at a Junior Development camp that took place before the National Team camp was good enough to merit an invitation, he said.
“Erging was not my strong point,” Goldman wrote in an email from Bulgaria. “I was probably the smallest kid there, and probably only made the team because of my technical skill on the water.”
Once in the selection camp, Goldman distanced himself from other rowers from around the country to earn a coveted spot.
While Goldman said he did not expect a spot on the team, it was actually Woolley who came closest to missing out when he injured his wrist on day three of the selection camp. Severe tendinitis sidelined him until after the final cuts were made.
“Luckily, I got a good seat race in on one of the first days,” Woolley said. “I beat a pretty fast kid who has been in the national team system a pretty long time.”
After cuts were made, the process of melding a group of athletes from across the country into a single team began.
“Everyone has their own little clicks to their stroke that make it unique,” Woolley explained. “The way you get eight kids to mesh together in such a short period of time is that you just take away everything except for the bare essentials of the stroke because it’s all the same basic motion.”
The United States sent four mens’ boats to Bulgaria to compete in what Goldman said is the best racing he has seen outside of the Olympics.
Goldman said he recognizes that the chance to compete for the United States is a big accomplishment.
“I’m proud to say I am representing my country at an international event,” he said. “I know it’s something that a lot of kids my age can’t say they’ve done, and for that I’m just thankful for being given the opportunity.”
