- November 22, 2024
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The Division I portion of the NCAA Rowing Championships began Saturday at Nathan Benderson Park.
The action was fast and fierce, as a crowd of approximately 1,500 spectators cheered on the elite athletes on the water. Saturday's races were semifinal races, positioning teams for the finals races on Sunday.
Two former Sarasota Crew rowers will be in action on Sunday. Julia Braz, a Riverview High grad, will be in the No. 7 seat in Stanford University's II 8+ boat, which finished second in its A/B semifinal heat (06:13.27) on Saturday, two seconds behind Texas. Braz and her teammates will be in the event's A final. Like Braz, Riverview High grad Angela Szabo will be in the No. 7 seat in the University of California's II 8+ boat, which finished fourth in its A/B semifinal heat (6:22.80). Szabo and her teammates will be in the B final on Sunday. Both Braz and Szabo are freshmen at their respective schools.
Rebekah Stewart, who grew up in west Bradenton and attended Manatee High, is also in the championships, rowing in the No. 1 seat for the University of Alabama's I 8+ boat. Stewart's boat finished fifth in its Saturday heat (6:28.45) and will compete in the B final Sunday.
Action resumes at 8:12 a.m. Sunday. A full schedule of the day's races, plus heat sheets, can be found at regattatiming.com. Tickets for Sunday can still be purchased at championshiprowing.com. Adult tickets cost $20, while senior and child tickets cost $10.
An interactive digital program for the event can be found here.