Sarasota Crew rowers race at the 2025 US Rowing Youth Nationals. Photo credit Joe Meischke Jr, 19 Shots Photography.

The biggest weekend in youth rowing is upon us. From June 11-14, Nathan Benderson Park will play host to the USRowing Youth National Championships, with races occurring from 8am to 5pm each day. The event’s ninth year in Sarasota County, the Youth National Championships will bring over 4,000 athletes and 1,000 coaches from around the country, totalling 6,000 spectators on the weekend.

“This championship is the biggest youth rowing event in the country,” says Sarah McAuliffe, Chief Program Officer for USRowing. “This is the culmination of all of these athletes’ high school careers. They qualify for the National Championships through 12 different regional championships—the fastest youth rowers in the country are competing here.”

Age classification is divided into three categories—U20,U17 and U16—with the U20 being the most elite. A high school underclassmen, could for instance, compete in the U20 division if they are on a fast enough boat. Competition ranges across every boat class that competitive rowing has to offer.

“Many of the athletes competing here will move on and row for collegiate teams as well as be on future high performance teams. We’ll see a lot of these athletes, maybe not at the 2028 Olympics, but the 2032 Brisbane Olympics,” says McAuliffe. “There are a couple of missions here—one, crowning national champions in the top 41 events throughout the country—but on top of that, setting these athletes up for future success within the sport of rowing, whether it’s rowing in college or even becoming a coach or referee post college.”

Since opening to the public in 2014, Nathan Benderson Park has stamped itself as arguably the top rowing venue in the United States. “Not only does Sarasota have the premier rowing venue in the country, Nathan Benderson Park is a top three destination in the world. This island was built for rowing, there’s a large amount of area to house athletes, trailers, equipment and a beautiful finish tower to watch the race from,” says McAuliffe. “Not only is this the best rowing event that you should come to annually, it’s also the best youth sporting event you should attend annually.”

USRowing Youth National Championships, June 11-14, Nathan Benderson Park, 5851 Nathan Benderson Cir., Sarasota.

Sarasota Crew rowers race at the 2025 US Rowing Youth Nationals. Photo credit Joe Meischke Jr, 19 Shots Photography.

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