California Rowing Club Shines at World Championships

The members of the California Rowing Club had a memorable showing at the 2022 World Rowing Championships in the Czech Republic.

Ben Davison, who won the 2022 US National Selection Regatta earlier this year, finished 8th in the Single Sculls. That was the best finish of any US Single Sculler at a World Championship since 1998.

"I wanted to come out today and just have a race that I was proud of,” Davison told Row2K after his race. “We've made a lot of progress this season. It's my first year really giving the single a go, and I think we've made progress and we can make more progress next year. It was good just to have one race here that I was proud.”

Justin Best and Michael Grady, also had a strong performance, placing 7th in the Men’s Pairs race.

Those finishes would have been good enough to land the CRC trio in the Olympics if this was a qualifying year. The US national team hasn’t placed a representative from the Single Sculls and Pairs disciplines in the Olympics since the 2008 Beijing Games, further putting those results in perspective.

"The pair and the single were the two most competitive events at these world championships and our guys performed admirably,” said CRC Coach Mike Teti. “Ultimately the goal of the club is to get our athletes to the Olympics, and I think these results show that we are on the right track.”

Other highlights include the Men’s Eight squad, comprised of six CRC members—Chris Carlson, Liam Corrigan, Andrew Gaard, Michael Knippen, Pieter Quinton and Nick Rusher—which had the best finish of the US team, finishing 4th overall. The group barely missed a medal, but the US will clearly be a contender in that category for the 2024 Paris Games.

The Men’s Four team, which included CRC members Rhett Burns, Henry Hollingsworth and Gus Rodriguez, finished 4th in the ‘B’ finals.

Coach Teti said the CRC team will regroup over the coming weeks and then return to Oakland, where they will continue their training. He said the CRC coaches will meet with each rower individually to map out a performance plan for the future.

Overall, he said he was proud of the team’s performance on the international stage.

"This is a young group of athletes and for most of them it was their first World Championships,” said Coach Teti. “They were competitive in every race and Skip [Kielt] and I are really proud of how they performed on the international stage. It's been a remarkable year for the CRC. From the success at the Head of the Charles, to winning the single and pair at the trials, to the three bronze medals at the World Cup, to Meg and Jessica's big win at Henley and putting 15 of our athletes on the National team, I'd say great job by everyone at our club! Skip and I would mostly like to thank the Rogers Family for all their guidance and support.”