Gainesville Area Rowing qualifies 3 boats for USRowing Youth National Championships

May 12, 2026

Men’s Youth 4-: Eli Wells, Mason Turek, Branan Andreau, Beckett Kallman

Press release from Gainesville Area Rowing

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Gainesville Area Rowing delivered another milestone performance this weekend at the 2026 USRowing Southeast Youth Championships, qualifying three boats for the 2026 USRowing Youth National Championships to be held June 11–14 at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota.

Leading the way for GAR was the Men’s Youth 4-, which captured a Southeast Regional Championship with a first-place finish and automatic qualification to Nationals.

The Women’s Youth 4x earned a fourth-place finish to secure its spot at Nationals, while the Men’s U17 4+ also finished fourth to advance to the national stage.

Women’s Youth 4x: Annie Massini, Brooklyn Hilman, Sadie Parker, Eva Bailey

Men’s U17 4+: Owen Poynor, Ben Jones, Wesley Loyd, Parker Krzykowski. Coxswain: Emma Jones

“This weekend was a tremendous reflection of the commitment and resilience of our athletes,” said Garrett Bauer. “To qualify three boats for Youth Nationals out of one of the toughest regions in the country is an incredible accomplishment for our program.”

The performance continues the rapid rise of Gainesville Area Rowing on the regional and national stage. In 2025, GAR recorded one of its strongest-ever showings at the USRowing Youth National Championships, highlighted by a silver medal finish for the women’s pair and multiple national placements.

Earlier this spring, GAR also captured two Florida State Championships at the FRSA Sweep State Championships in the Men’s Varsity 4+ and Women’s 2nd Varsity 4+, earning five total medals across seven competing boats.

This season’s success has come despite significant challenges, including relocating training operations to Lake Santa Fe in Melrose due to ongoing drought conditions impacting local waterways.

Founded in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville Area Rowing continues to grow as one of the Southeast’s emerging youth rowing programs, developing middle school and high school athletes while competing at the highest levels of the sport. Join us this summer for our “Learn to Row” Camp here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/summer-camp-26

For more information about Gainesville Area Rowing, visit Gainesville Area Rowing.