University of Washington Athletics

The newest group of freshman UW rowers – the Class of 2022 – makes it debut this Saturday at the 118th Class Day Regatta.
 
UW's newest oarsmen will debut in the men's varsity/freshman challenge – featuring a quartet of fours (two of them comprised of freshmen) – at 10:15 a.m. The George M. Varney Men's Eight, featuring one crew each from all four classes, is scheduled for 10:45.
 
The Class of 2022 has spent the last seven months learning the Washington way, training and developing. All of that work will be put on public display for the first time tomorrow.
 
"This group has been showcasing the ability to change to their surroundings all year whether it being to a new school, training plan, region or even lifestyle. I am eager to watch them put the pieces together tomorrow against their teammates." said Sam Dommer '15, who has been coaching the freshman this year.
 
As is usually the case ­– and has proven to be a solid formula in the past – the new group of oarsman includes a wide variety of athletes from the Seattle area, other U.S. regions and a range of other countries.
 
This year's group includes five international rowers who have participated at the national team level for four different European nations.
 
Two – coxswain Max Schwartzkopff and rower Nils Vorberg – are from Germany. Vorberg has competed at both the Under-23 (sixth in the men's pair in 2018) and Junior (fifth in the straight four in 2017) World Championships, while Schwartzkopff coxed his nation's eight at the last three World Rowing Junior Championships, winning the gold medal in 2017.
 
Vukasin Pivac continues the Serbian influence at UW for four more years as his brother, Viktor, was a senior at Washington last spring. The younger Pivac has represented his country at Junior and Under-23 Worlds and has even appeared in a World Cup event at the senior level.
 
Austrian oarsman Mattijs Holler has also rowed in a World Cup regatta, having previously competed for his country at the 2016 and 2017 World Juniors and at the 2018 Under-23 World Championships. Classmate Jakob Grænge Hansen, from Denmark, competed in the men's eight at the Under-23 European Championships in 2017.
 
The 22 members of the UW men's team freshman class features an additional four coxswains and 13 rowers from the United States, all of whom have club experience.
 
Six freshmen were invited to the USRowing Under-19 Selection Camp last summer: coxswains Zach Calser and Nicole Gooding; and rowers Matt Condrin, Alex Dumitriu Carcoana, Nathan Klaff and Logan McKerlich.
 
The new class includes rowers who have competed for clubs in the Seattle area, as well as around Portland, Newport Beach, Sacramento, San Diego, Cincinnati and in Massachusetts.
 
Tomorrow, they'll get their chance to show what they can do, the first of many such chances to compete on behalf of the W.
 
To check out the full UW roster, including this new group of freshmen, click here.