Three Cavaliers Named to United States Under-23 Squad

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July 11, 2014

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PRINCETON, N.J.-Three members of the Virginia rowing program have been selected to represent the United States at the World Under-23 Rowing Championships, to be held July 23-27 in Varese, Italy, USRowing announced Friday (July 11). Rising senior Lizzy Youngling (Westport, Conn.) will compete in the women’s eight, while rising junior Sam Casto (Dallas, Pa.) and incoming freshman Shawna Sims (Sarasota, Fla.) will row in the single and lightweight double, respectively.

Youngling represented the U.S. at the 2013 World U23 regatta, finishing seventh in the double, and competed at the World Junior Championships twice (2010 and 2011). She was named to the CRCA All-South Region First Team in 2014 and was part of the ACC Champion Varsity Eight that was named ACC Crew of the Year in 2013 and 2014.

Casto won the single at the USRowing Under-23 World Championship Trials in West Windsor, N.J., in June to qualify for the team. After transferring to UVa mid-year from Georgia Tech, she was part of the Second Varsity Eight that finished third at the NCAA Championships and was ACC Champion.

Sims captured the lightweight double at the U.S. U23 trials to qualify for the squad. She was part of the quadruple sculls crew that earned silver at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Trakai, Lithuania.

In addition to Casto, Sims and Youngling, Virginia head coach Kevin Sauer has been named to the U.S. staff as an assistant team leader.

It the eighth consecutive year Virginia has produced at least one member of the U.S. Under-23 squad and the 10th straight year UVa has had at least one competitor overall. In 2013, Kristine O’Brien (’13) captured gold with the U.S. eight, while Fiona Schlesinger (’14) claimed silver in the same event for Great Britain.