Five Cavaliers To Compete at 2010 Under 23 World Rowing Championships

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CHARLOTTESVILLE – Five members of the 2010 NCAA Champion Virginia rowing team will compete at the 2010 Under 23 World Rowing Championships in Brest, Belarus, from July 22-25.

Class of 2010 graduates Desiree Burns and Helen Tompkins (open quad), Jennifer Cromwell (women’s eight) and Summers Nelson (lightweight quad) will represent the United States, while rising senior Christine Roper (women’s eight) will row for Canada.

Burns, Tompkins, Nelson and Cromwell were all members of UVa’s 2010 Varsity Eight that finished as the silver medalist at the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif., in May 2010. As a team, the Cavaliers finished first and claimed their first-ever team title at the regatta.

Burns was a 2010 first team All-America selection by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) as well as a first team all-south region selection. It will be Burns’ second-consecutive summer rowing at the Under 23 World Championships, as she competed in the open quad in 2009.

Tompkins was a 2010 second team CRCA All-American and second team all-south region selection. Last summer at the Under 23 World Championships, Tompkins finished second in the ‘B’ final of the women’s single (eighth overall). She also had a sixth-place finish in the single in 2008.

Nelson is also rowing in her second-consecutive Under 23 World Championships, having won the silver medal with the United States last summer in the lightweight quad.

Cromwell, meanwhile, is making her second appearance at the championships, having finished sixth in the pair in 2007. She was a three-time first team All-America selection by the CRCA while at UVa.

Roper is making her debut at the Under 23 World Championships. Roper rowed with the Second Varsity Eight in 2010.

Racing begins on Thursday, July 22, with heats. Finals will be held on Saturday and Sunday, July 24-25.