19 Feb 2019
Olympic Champion is top indoor rower at C.R.A.S.H-B’s
Olympic Champion for the United States, Caryn Davies won gold and took home the iconic C.R.A.S.H.-B hammer. Davies retired from international competition after winning her third Olympic medal in 2012 (two golds and a silver). Her level of fitness nearly seven years later must still be there as Davies finished the 2000m race in an impressive 6:53.2.
Second place in the women’s open went to Kelsey Barolak (USA) in a time of 7:01.9 and third to Toni Smith in a time of 7:05.9. Both Barolak and Davies have raced in the British Oxford vs Cambridge Boat Race, Barolak for Cambridge and Davies for Oxford.
Wesley Vear took home the hammer in the men’s openweight event finishing in a time of 5:59.2. Vear joined the event from the elite training programme, Craftsbury Sculling Center. It was a close race with second place Connor Corwen finishing in a time of 5:59.7. Third went to Kevin Meador who finished just two seconds back in 6:02.0.
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The lightweight women’s category drew international interest with Juliane Rasmussen from Denmark taking the win in a time of 7:05.3. Rasmussen recently won the European Rowing Indoor Championships and managed to shave 0.4 seconds off her time in Boston. Racing on her 40th birthday, Rasmussen’s time set a new World Record for her age group, breaking a 14-year-old record.
The full-day of racing offered more than 75 categories, including junior, master and para-rowing events. The junior categories were particularly popular with more than 100 entries in each the men and women age 14-18. The times were fiery, with the top finishers only a few seconds outside the senior categories.
On the women’s side, Mia Levy took the top of the podium in a time of 7:08.4. In the junior men’s category, Erik Spinka won gold in a blistering 6:00.1.
The unstoppable 96-year-old Dottie Stewart, who raced in the 95-99 age category, finished 2000m in 15:51.3. This was just over minute outside of the record that she set in this age group last year.
In order to accommodate all of the races, the first athletes took to the ergs at 8:45 in the morning and racing ran straight through to 5 pm. This is the 39th edition of the C.R.A.S.H.-B Indoor Rowing Championships which were started in 1980 by several former US Olympic rowers. Originally the name stood for the Charles River Association of Sculling Has-Beens.
For full results click here.