July 14, 2011

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford women's rowing will be represented by four current and former rowers on five crews at the 2011 World Rowing Under 23 Championships, set to be held from July 21-24 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Grace Luczak '11 and Erika Roddy '11 will row with the U.S. Eight, while Luczak will also feature on the U.S. Pair. Anna Dawson '13 will compete with the New Zealand Eight and Michelle Vezie '11 will row for the Great Britain Eight.

"It's really been a privilege to work with these four incredible women at Stanford, and all of us here are fired up to see them compete again at the international level and represent their countries," said Stanford women's rowing head coach Yasmin Farooq. "There is no greater honor. I'm so proud of their achievements thus far and hope to see all four on the podium in Amsterdam."

"My parents have been an integral part of my success, as has the support from Stanford University," said Luczak. "I'm really looking forward to representing my country in Amsterdam. This is my last year for U-23's and I'm thrilled that three of my teammates will be there as well. I can't wait to look across at the starting line and see Vezie in her GB "all-in-one," Dawson in her New Zealand "zootie," and Erika behind me in her USA "uni." It is going to be a really great race and I can't wait to see my boat mates."

Luczak, Roddy and Vezie have all previously competed at the Under 23 World Championships. This year's event will be the third in a row for Luczak, and the second time that she pulls double-duty with the U.S. Eight and Pair, having previously done that in 2009.

All three rowers have earned medals in their previous Under 23 experiences. Luczak earned gold with the U.S. Eight at last year's event in Brest Belarus and, along with Roddy, silver with the Eight in Racice, Czech Republic at the 2009 championships. She finished fifth with the U.S. Pair in 2009 as well. Vezie won gold with the British Eight in 2009.

Dawson, Luczak and Roddy were all named CRCA All-Americans after helping lead the Stanford women's I Eight that finished third at the 2011 NCAA Championships, while Vezie was a member of the II Eight crew that captured the double with Pac-10 and NCAA gold medals.