NEW MILFORD, Conn. — Elise Beuke will row for the United States in Brazil next month.
“Elise is officially going to Rio de Janeiro for the Worlds,” Beuke’s coach, Rodrigo Rodrigues wrote in a text message to Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association president John Halberg.
Beuke, a 2015 Sequim High School graduate a future University of Washington rower, will compete in the double with Isabella Strickler.
Beuke placed second and Strickler was third at the U.S. Rowing Youth National Championships in Florida last month.
Strickler belongs to the Detroit Boat Club in Michigan, one of the oldest rowing clubs in the nation.
“It feels good, but it also feels like . . . we really, really, really want to medal,” Bueke said in a phone interview Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s a relief to have the spot locked down, but it’s also kind of intense because we know what we want and we know how much time we have to do it.”
The World Rowing Junior Championships will be in Rio de Janeiro from Aug. 5-9.
Along with being the coach of the Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association, of which Beuke is a member, Rodrigues is one of the coaches for the U.S. Junior National Team.
Nearly made quad
The top four rowers out of 28 girls at the U.S. selection camp were chosen for the quad, which is the fastest boat.
Rodrigues said Beuke narrowly missed being a member of that boat. He said another rower had more experience in the quad.
“She just fit better on the boat than Elise,” Rodrigues said.
“That was one of my concerns before [the selection camp]: she has never had experience with the quad before.
“But she did quite well.”
The rower who beat Beuke for that final spot was in a similar situation last year as Beuke. She had limited quad experience, barely missed out on making the quad and rowed in the double.
Beuke has happily accepted rowing the double.
“I was a little bit bummed because everybody knows that the quad is the first priority boat,” she said.
“But I’m glad that I’m in the double. If I could have chosen a boat to row, without the stigma, I would have chosen the double.
“It’s nice just to have another person to bond with. It’s a lot more similar to the single, as well.”
So far, the bonding is going well between Beuke and Strickler.
“She’s really cool,” Beuke said.
“She has a really good sense of humor, and she’s a hard worker.
“She’s really quirky in the best way possible.”
Beuke and Strickler earned a spot at the World Championships this early in the process because no other double team registered for next week’s World Championships Trials on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.
“We have no other doubles going to trials,” Rodrigues said.
“It’s OK. I really think we would beat everyone. There is no other double in the county that could beat them.”
That being said, Beuke and Strickler will still row at the trials.
“To go to the World Championships for the U.S., you have to go to trials, even if you have no one to race against,” Rodrigues said.
“You have to show you can row.”
Rodrigues is a native of Brazil. He grew up 750 miles south of Rio de Janeiro, but before moving to the United States in 2012, he lived and coached in Rio.
He said his knowledge could come in handy for the United States’ boats.
“Now, I’m not promising, but I think we can go for a medal in Rio,” he said of Beuke’s doubles boat.
“The first goal is to reach the final, which is top six. My personal goal is to get top three.
“I know where we are going to race. I think I can make them ahead of everyone.”
But he won’t just be helping Beuke. He also is coaching the quad and the five rowers vying to be the United States’ single entry.
“As a national coach, I cannot be her coach anymore. I have to coach everyone,” Rodrigues said.
He added that the transition from focusing on Beuke to being the national team coach has been awkward at times.
Beuke said she doesn’t want it to seem like she’s receiving special attention, and Rodrigues said he doesn’t want the other rowers to feel like he’s devoting more time to Beuke.
Beuke said that she and Rodrigues have increased their interaction as the selection camp has gone on.
Rodrigues said that he knows he is doing a good job coaching all of the rowers because of the compliments he has received.
He said some parents have called and told the head coach that “they like this Brazilian.”
Learn to row
Because of his duties with the Junior National Team, Rodrigues isn’t able to spend much time on the North Olympic Peninsula this summer.
But the Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association is still offering learn-to-row clinics this summer.
“João Borges, a friend of Rodrigo, is here as a volunteer coach while Rodrigo is away,” Halberg said.
Borges, also of Brazil, won the silver medal in the double at the 2011 Pan American games.
Incidentally, the gold medal was won by the United States, which featured former University of Washington rower Ty Otto, whose parents, Bob and Chris, are both graduates of Port Angeles High School.
Rodrigues will actually return to Port Angeles next week to accompany 12 Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association members to the B.C. Championships in Victoria.
It is the association’s first regatta with that many rowers.
“I wish I could take her,” Rodrigues said of Beuke.
“It’s going to be a different regatta with more people.
“And she’s our famous girl.
“But the goal here is a little bit bigger.”
For more information about the Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association or the learn-to-row clinics, visit www.oprarowing.org.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
