Four Tigers Claim Medals At U-23 World Championships

Claire Collins claimed silver, while Emily Kallfelz, Matthew Benstead, and David Bewicke-Copley all earned bronze, to wrap up an exciting week for seven Princeton rowers at the 2017 U-23 World Rowing Championships, which were held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Collins, a 2017 All-America honoree with the Ivy League champion Princeton open women, rowed in the 2 seat for the USA W8+ this week; the American crew battled Canada for gold in the A final Sunday morning, with each boat moving to the front over the first 1,000 meters. Canada grabbed control during the third split and finished strong for gold, while the USA held off Russia for silver in a time of 6:16.40, less than a second faster than the Russian boat.

Kallfelz, who has shared the Princeton 1V with Collins over back-to-back Ivy championship victories, didn't share a boat with anybody at the U-23 World Championships. One year after former Ivy and NCAA champion Gevvie Stone '07 won Olympic silver, Kallfelz represented the USA in the single and claimed bronze in Bulgaria. The rising junior was in fifth place after 500 meters, but she started to make her move from there. She passed the French rower before the midway point, and then moved past the German rower over the second half of the race to move into medal contention. She fell just short in a tight showdown with the Swiss rower and finished with bronze in 7:42.68.

Benstead, a 2017 graduate, and rising sophomore David Bewicke-Copley were together in the Princeton heavyweight 1V that topped California and placed fourth at the IRA Championships. They were back together this week as members of the British M8+, and they passed the American eight to win bronze in their grand final. The Netherlands took the win, while Romania held off the British crew for silver; Great Britain grabbed the bronze medal in 5:32.64.

Three other Tigers competed at the U-23 World Championships. Emma Hopkins, a rising sophomore who helped the women's lightweights return to the IRA medal stand last month, was part of the USA LW4x that won the petite final in 6:54.30. Hopkins and her boat overcame the disappointment of missing the grand final by only three seconds and bounced back with a strong effort in the petite final. Rising junior Daniel de Groot followed that with a thrilling petite win of his own; he and the Canadian M4x rallied past France in the second half of their petite final to win in 5:50.01.

Rising senior heavyweight Leo Toch helped the USA M4- claim third in the petite final in 6:07.94. The Americans topped an Italian boat that defeated the USA in the semifinal heat.

You can find complete results here.

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