Three Badgers make U.S. team for 2018 World Rowing Championships
August 01, 2018 | Men's Rowing, Women's Rowing
Former Badgers among first group named who will race in Bulgaria this September
MADISON, Wis. – Former Wisconsin rowers Dariush Aghai, Vicky Opitz and Maddie Wanamaker are among the first athletes named by USRowing to the 2018 U.S. Senior National Team for the 2018 World Rowing Championships. The trio will travel to Plovdiv, Bulgaria, for the Sept. 8-16 event.
For the fifth time in his life, including the second consecutive year, Aghai will represent the United States at a world championship.
The Skokie, Illinois, native will compete with the men's four after winning a silver medal with the men's eight in 2017.
Aghai, who spent time as a graduate assistant coach with the Wisconsin women's program after rowing for the men's team, placed ninth in the men's pair at the 2015 World Rowing Championships. He took fourth in the men's eight at the 2012 World Rowing Under 23 Championships, and won gold at the 2011 World Rowing Under 23 Championships.
As a Badger, Aghai helped the 2011 varsity eight take fourth at the IRA national championships, and the 2012 varsity eight place eighth. He was also part of the UW championship four that captured the 2009 Head of the Charles, and a Badger alumni crew in 2014 that also took home the championship four crown.
Opitz, a 2016 Olympian who went to Brazil as an alternate, will race with the women's eight for the fourth time at a world championship. On each of the previous three trips – in 2013, 2014 and 2015 – she came home with a gold medal.
The Middleton native was part of the world record-setting women's eight at the 2013 World Rowing Cup III. She recently raced at the 2018 World Rowing Cup III, pulling double duty with third-place finishes as bow seat of women's eight and women's four crews.
A 2011 graduate of UW, the 2010 First-Team All-American was key in UW's 2010 Big Ten Rowing Championship and the program's record seventh-place NCAA finish that same season.
Wanamaker, a Neenah native, will compete on her first senior national team in 2018. A veteran of two World Rowing Under 23 Championships, the 2017 CRCA Second-Team All-Region rower will compete with the women's four.
Earlier this summer, Wanamaker sat bow seat of the fourth-place women's four entry at the 2018 World Cup III.
Last summer, she won silver with the U.S. women's eight at the 2017 World Rowing Under 23 Championships. She also placed 11th at the 2016 event in the women's quadruple sculls.
Before graduating from Wisconsin in 2017, Wanamaker raced with the Badgers' varsity eight for two years, leading the crew to an 11th-place showing at the 2017 NCAA Rowing Championships her senior season. Her 2016 crew took ninth to match the program's top all-time NCAA finish in the varsity eight.
For the fifth time in his life, including the second consecutive year, Aghai will represent the United States at a world championship.
The Skokie, Illinois, native will compete with the men's four after winning a silver medal with the men's eight in 2017.
Aghai, who spent time as a graduate assistant coach with the Wisconsin women's program after rowing for the men's team, placed ninth in the men's pair at the 2015 World Rowing Championships. He took fourth in the men's eight at the 2012 World Rowing Under 23 Championships, and won gold at the 2011 World Rowing Under 23 Championships.
As a Badger, Aghai helped the 2011 varsity eight take fourth at the IRA national championships, and the 2012 varsity eight place eighth. He was also part of the UW championship four that captured the 2009 Head of the Charles, and a Badger alumni crew in 2014 that also took home the championship four crown.
Opitz, a 2016 Olympian who went to Brazil as an alternate, will race with the women's eight for the fourth time at a world championship. On each of the previous three trips – in 2013, 2014 and 2015 – she came home with a gold medal.
The Middleton native was part of the world record-setting women's eight at the 2013 World Rowing Cup III. She recently raced at the 2018 World Rowing Cup III, pulling double duty with third-place finishes as bow seat of women's eight and women's four crews.
A 2011 graduate of UW, the 2010 First-Team All-American was key in UW's 2010 Big Ten Rowing Championship and the program's record seventh-place NCAA finish that same season.
Wanamaker, a Neenah native, will compete on her first senior national team in 2018. A veteran of two World Rowing Under 23 Championships, the 2017 CRCA Second-Team All-Region rower will compete with the women's four.
Earlier this summer, Wanamaker sat bow seat of the fourth-place women's four entry at the 2018 World Cup III.
Last summer, she won silver with the U.S. women's eight at the 2017 World Rowing Under 23 Championships. She also placed 11th at the 2016 event in the women's quadruple sculls.
Before graduating from Wisconsin in 2017, Wanamaker raced with the Badgers' varsity eight for two years, leading the crew to an 11th-place showing at the 2017 NCAA Rowing Championships her senior season. Her 2016 crew took ninth to match the program's top all-time NCAA finish in the varsity eight.
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/ Women's Rowing
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