NSR III will include races in five boat classes – the men’s and women’s double sculls, men’s and women’s pair, and the lightweight men’s double sculls. At NSR III, the winners of the three men’s events have the opportunity to automatically qualify for the national team without further selection if they meet a minimum performance standard during the regatta or at a subsequent event held before July 17. If a crew does not meet the standard or does not accept its berth on the team, the boat category will be opened up to all competitors at the 2007 World Championships Team Trials scheduled for July 20-August 3.

The men’s pair event leads the way in numbers of entries with 17. In total, 26 of the 34 rowers entered in the pair have national team experience. Caspersen Training Center’s Daniel Beery and Patrick O’Dunne won the pair at the second NSR in late April and repeated that performance at last week’s 2007 Pan American Games Trials. Beery is one of seven Olympic medalists competing in the event. The others include Wyatt Allen, Sebastian Bea, Matt Deakin, Beau Hoopman, Jason Read and Bryan Volpenhein.

Thirteen crews are entered in the women’s double sculls. The field contains 11 rowers with national team experience including three that competed at the 2006 FISA World Championships in Eton, England. Caspersen Training Center’s Lia Pernell and Liane Malcos, who raced in the women’s quadruple sculls at last year’s world championships, finished second in the double at the second NSR, while Caspersen’s Erin Cafaro, who won a bronze medal in the four at last year’s worlds, is the other 2006 National Team member competing in the event. Other notable duos include Vesper Boat Club’s Wendy Campanella and Jana Heere, Vesper Boat Club’s Hannah Moore and Carey Brezler, and Potomac Boat Club’s Sarah Trowbridge and Margaret Matia. Campanella and Heere have already made the 2007 National Team by virtue of winning the lightweight double sculls and meeting the performance standard at the second NSR. Trowbridge and Matia won the double at the Pan Am Trials last week, while Moore and Brezler won the lightweight double at the same regatta.

The men’s double sculls has nine entries, consisting of 13 rowers with national team accolades. Caspersen Training Center’s Sam Stitt and Matt Hughes, who rowed in the men’s quadruple sculls at the 2006 World Championships, won the event at NSR II. Francis Cuddy, J. Sloan DuRoss, Shane O’Mara, and Jamie Schroeder also raced at last year’s world championships. Cuddy and partner Deaglan McEachern won the double at the Pan Am Trials last week, while DuRoss and Schroeder join Ian McGowan and Nick Peterson as the four Olympians entered in the event.

Seven crews are scheduled to race in the lightweight men’s double sculls. Nine rowers have national team experience including two-time Olympian Greg Ruckman, who will be racing with national team veteran Tim Larson. Undine Barge Club’s Cody Lowery and Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg, who represented the U.S. in the event at last year’s world championships, are scheduled to race, as is the Malta Boat Club/Penn AC entry of Richard Montgomery and Andrew Liverman, who won the event at last week’s Pan American Games Trials.

Four boats are entered in the women’s pair event. Caspersen Training Center’s Brett Sickler and Portia McGee are the lone members of last year’s world championships team competing this weekend. Sickler won gold in the eight, while McGee won bronze in the four in Eton. Megan Dirkmaat and Sam Magee, members of the silver-medal winning Olympic eight in 2004, continue their comeback after taking last year off from competition. Potomac Boat Club’s Jennifer Reck and Ruth Stiver, who earned spots on the 2007 Pan American Games Team by winning the Pan Am Trials last week, also are entered in the event.

NSR III racing begins on Friday, June 1, with morning time trials and afternoon heats. Heats and semifinals will be held on Saturday, with the finals being held on Sunday morning.

The NSR’s and the World Championships Trials are sponsored by the National Rowing Foundation as part of its support of the U.S. National Team.

USRowing is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the governing body for the sport of rowing in the United States. USRowing’s Official Sponsor is Johnson & Johnson; its Official Suppliers are Hudson Boat Works and NIKE, Inc.; its Official Patron is Concept2; its Official Electronics Outfitter is Nielsen Kellerman; its Official Timer is Powerhouse Timing; and its Preferred Printer is Sport Graphics Printing. USRowing also receives generous support from the National Rowing Foundation.