Harrison has it at CRASH-B indoor rowing

The winning time in the open women’s category was 6:55.9, belonging to Gabriela Thomas of Vesper Boat Club. Thomas had a nearly 15-second lead ahead of second place Kelsey Barolak from Riverside Boat Club. Fellow clubmate Annalise Routenberg finished in third.

In the open men’s category, Marqus Brown finished in the top time of 6:00.7. Brown had a narrow lead over two more athletes from Riverside Boat Club, Nathan Whitaker and Bill Tomlinson, who finished in second and third respectively.

The event with the largest number of entries was the junior men’s (under-19) category with 152. The large numbers must have helped spur the athletes on as one of the fastest times from the entire day was recorded when Isaiah Harrison claimed gold in 5:53.2. Harrison currently holds under-17 world record and his top finish over the weekend broke the United States’ under-19 record. In second place was Savas Koutsouras with a time of 6:07.2 and in third, Mack Carr with 6:13.3.

The junior women’s race was also well-attended with 88 entries.  Mia Levy won the gold with a time of 7:09.0. Levy raced last year in the United States’ junior women’s eight that finished fourth at the World Rowing Junior Championships. In second was Nina Weeldreyer and in third Olivia Vavasour.

The races were also packed in the masters categories, spanning from the 27-35 year-old category, all the way to the 85+ category. Amongst them was the incredible 98-year-old Dottie Stewart who completed her 2000m race in 15:32.1. Stewart holds the world record for the lightweight women ages 95-99, which she set back in 2018.

Masters World Record holder Andrew Benko competed in the men’s 50-54 year-old category along with 48 other entries. He won the event in a time of 6:05.1, just over three seconds slower than his world record pace.

In the para-rowing races, the on-water Polish PR2 mixed double sculls entered and won their individual races. Jolanta Majka finished in a time of 8:34.6 and Michal Gadowski won with a finishing time of 7:27.3.

The C.R.A.S.H. B-Sprints first began in the 1980s when a group of Olympic athletes decided to host a race to break the monotony of winter training. The first races took place on the earliest model of the Concept2 rowing machine and were 5000 meters. In later editions, the races were shortened to 2,500 meters. In 1996, the first 2000m races were held and the event as we know it today was born.  

For complete 2020 results, click here.

To re-watch the YouTube stream: morning session, afternoon session