Four Orange rowers competed at the 2016 World Rowing Championships, which took place August 21st - August 28th in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. During the Olympic year, the Junior, U23, and Senior (non-Olympic) World Rowing Championships were combined into one massive regatta. Hattie Taylor, Mike Glaude, Nick Tavares, and Pieter Kerpestein competed in the U23 and Junior Championships, each representing a different country and racing different events. They are all returning and incoming athletes who have gained invaluable insight into the sport by racing at such an elite level. The race course at the World Championships covers the sprint distance of 2,000 meters, but in the fall season, the training will shift towards preparation for longer head race distances. With classes starting on the 29th, these four certainly had a quick turnaround and little time to rest before their opening assessments! The results were as follows:
HATTIE TAYLOR
4th place | U23 W4- (great britain)
Rising senior Hattie Taylor sat in three seat of the GB crew that placed fourth in the A-Final of the Under 23 Women's straight Four, narrowly missing out on the medal stand with a time of 6:34.76. Her performance marked the best showing for Syracuse at the regatta. She and her teammates were in contention for the silver or the bronze with the Romanians and the Dutch, but in the end got inched out with overlapping hulls by a margin of less than 2 seconds on Romania and less than one second behind the Netherlands. The U.S. won the event with a convincing open water lead in a time of 6:27.28. Taylor also competed at U23 Worlds in 2015, earning a bronze medal in the Women's 8+.
nick tavares
9th place | u23 M4+ (Canada)
Rising sophomore Nick Tavares sat in three seat of the Canadian crew that placed third in the B-Final of the Under 23 Men's Four with coxswain for a ninth place finish overall in a time of 6:18.99. The gold went to the crew from New Zealand who won the A-final in 6:08.50. Tavares can add yet another international race to his rowing resume, this time in a sweep event and as U-23. In 2014, he placed 18th in the Junior Men's Double and in 2015, he placed 7th in the Junior Men's Quad.
mike glaude
15th place | u23 M2x (usa)
Rising junior Mike Glaude made his international rowing debut as the stroke of the American duo that placed third in the C-Final of the Under 23 Men's Double Sculls for a fifteenth place finish overall in a time of 6:45.60.
pieter kerpestein
6th place | junior m8+ (netherlands)
Incoming freshman Pieter Kerpestein had the opportunity to race in his home country, sitting in the three seat of the Dutch crew that placed sixth in the A-Final of the Junior Men's Coxed Eight in a time of 5:59.59. Germany took home the gold, crossing the line in 5:38.58. This was Kerpestein's first appearance at the World Championships, but he already had some international racing experience under his belt after placing second in the JM8+ earlier in the year at the 2016 European Junior Rowing Championships in Lithuania.