Founders Rowing Club send six athletes to Youth National Championships

SOUTHLAKE, Texas. — Founders Rowing Club sent six Dragon athletes to compete at the US Rowing Youth National Championships in Sarasota, Florida. Carroll Sophomores Samantha Rietbroek and Olivia Knight competed in the U17 Double after winning the regional competition. Texas State Champions Ashley Hall, Sophia Rhodes, Camille Egger, and Maile Nelson competed in the U19 quad.

Founders had a short season leading up to Nationals, including only the Texas State Championship and the US Rowing Central Youth Regionals in Oklahoma City. In fact, the team did not have the opportunity to race in any side-by-side sprint races this year, as weather prevented anything beyond time trials to be conducted at either event.

Founders Varsity Quad, rowed by seniors Hall and Egger, along with Juniors Nelson and Rhodes finished 1st in the B final. They are now ranked 7th in the US in the Women’s Youth Quad. This is the best result Founders has had at the US Rowing Nationals. In the U17 Double, Rietbroek and Knight finished 3rd in the B Final, ranking them as number 9 in the US. With 4 underclassmen competing at the highest level this year, Founders looks forward to seeing what they can achieve next year.

Over the past 3 years, Southlake has grown its presence on this elite rowing team; starting with 2 novice rowers (Maile Nelson & Abby Evans) in 2019 and since expanding its presence to 8. These rowers are dedicated athletes, practicing at least 6 times per week at Bachman Lake, next to Love Field. You can follow Founders Rowing at FoundersRowing.org.

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