SARASOTA ― The American rowing quintet of Kara Kohler, Jessica Thoennes, Azja Czajkowski, Oliver Bub and Bill Bender will get to discover the beauty of a Paris fall.
The five earned spots on the U.S. Olympic Rowing Team after winning their respective finals on Sunday during the final day of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Team Trials at Nathan Benderson Park.
Kohler, who finished fourth in the women’s single sculls at the 2023 World Rowing Championships and made the 2020 Tokyo Games, took first in the event on Sunday, covering the 2-kilometer course in a time of 8:04.01, six seconds ahead of second-place finisher Margaret Fellows. Competing in the women’s pair, the team of Jessica Thoennes and Azja Czajkowski finished first in 7:37.62, eight seconds in front of Hannah Paynter and Hannah Heideveld. In the men’s pair, the team of Oliver Bub and Bill Bender punched their ticket to Paris by winning in 6:54.64.
Previously:Pine View grad Andrew LeRoux hoping for Olympic shot at this week’s U.S. Rowing Trials