Saratoga Rowers Star at the U19 World Rowing Championships
Olivia Lill and Parker Mansfield at the Olympic training center in Chula Vista, California (Courtesy of Christy Lill)
Plovdiv, Bulgaria— Two local Saratoga rowing athletes, Olivia Lill and Parker Mansfield, won silverware at the under 19 World Rowing Championship this past weekend for team USA. Both rowers train with Saratoga Rowing Association.
Olivia Lill won the bronze medal in the inaugural mixed 8 competition. Her boat completed the 2,000 meters race in 6 minutes and 02.64 seconds, earning them a spot on the podium.
This new competition combined the men’s and women’s four teams.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to compete with my crew against the best in the world. It is so cool to line up against other crews who speak different languages and come from different countries, but we all have one thing in common, a passion for rowing and racing,” said Lill.
Lill will be attending the University of Central Florida in the fall.
“I couldn’t have gotten here without the support of my friends and family, especially my home program, SRA, for always pushing me to be the best version of myself. I also want to give a shoutout to our phenomenal coach, Caitlin McClain at USRowing, who developed our four this summer. Hard work truly pays off!”
Mansfield participated in the Men’s 8 A Final and helped team USA win second place with a final time of 5 minutes and 36.46 seconds.
It was an exhilarating race as after 1,500 meters, team USA’s boat was down over half a second to eventual third place Germany with 500 meter to go.
Mansfield attributes their final sprint to the adjustment the team made after the heat the day prior.
“We worked a lot on our timing, we shortened our stroke,” Mansfield said.
Program director for Saratoga Rowing Association, Mike MacMinn underscored the feat.
“In the 8s it’s very difficult to overcome a deficit like that,” MacMinn said. But “that matches up with our race plan and the way we train. We stress the concept that we are a second half team; we close really well when other teams often have emptied the tank too early.”
Mansfield is entering his senior year at Saratoga Springs High School and is excited to see where Rowing will take him in the future.
“It was truly amazing representing the country,” Mansfield said.