Seven Badgers named to 2022 U.S. World Rowing Championships team
August 15, 2022 | Men's Rowing, Women's Rowing, Lightweight Rowing
Pair of Olympians lead the way for Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. – Maddie Wanamaker, a 2020 Olympian, and two-time Olympic alternate Vicky Opitz lead a group of seven Badgers named to Team USA for the 2022 World Rowing Championships. The championships run Sept. 18-25 in Prague, Czech Republic.
Wanamaker, who placed seventh in the women's four at the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan, will race in both the women's eight and women's pair. This will mark her fourth senior national team appearance. She won gold at the 2018 event in the women's four.
Opitz, who currently serves as Wisconsin's women's lightweight assistant coach, is back on the water for her eighth national team, this time racing in the women's four. The Middleton native is a four-time world champion in the women's eight and was USRowing's Female Athlete of the Year in 2018 after competing in the women's eight and women's pair, the same double Wanamaker is competing in during this year's championships.
She was a 2010 Pocock First-Team All-American at Wisconsin, helping the Badgers to the Big Ten title her senior season.
Sophia Vitas, a Franklin, Wisconsin, native, will race in the women's double sculls for her third national team appearance. She placed seventh in the quadruple sculls in 2019 after taking fourth in the women's eight in 2017.
Grace Joyce, a past member of both UW's lightweight and openweight programs, is an alternate for this year's team. She owns a pair of under-23 national team appearances, racing in in the lightweight double sculls in 2018 and 2019.
The fifth 2022 national team member with ties to Wisconsin's women's programs is former lightweight assistant coach Todd Vogt, who will race in the PR3 mixed double sculls in the Czech Republic. He placed fifth in the PR3 pair at the 2019 world championships.
On the men's side, a pair of former Badgers will race with the men's eight.
Germantown, Wisconsin's Michael Knippen will make his third senior national team appearance this year, though his first with the eight after racing in the quadruple sculls at the world championships in both 2018 and 2019.
Coxswain James Catalano makes his first senior national team appearance by leading the men's eight. A Greenwich, Connecticut, native, Catalano coxed the 2021 U.S. Under 23 men's four with coxswain to a bronze medal at the 2021 World Rowing Under 23 Championships.
2022 World Rowing Championships Team Members
Maddie Wanamaker (Neenah, Wis.) – Women's Pair, Women's Eight       Â
Vicky Opitz (Middleton, Wis.) – Women's Four
Sophia Vitas (Franklin, Wis.) – Women's Double Sculls
Todd Vogt (Rochester, N.Y.) – PR3 Mixed Double Sculls
Michael Knippen (Germantown, Wis.) – Men's Eight
Jimmy Catalano (Greenwich, Conn.) – Men's Eight
Grace Joyce (Northfield, Ill.) - Alternate
Wanamaker, who placed seventh in the women's four at the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan, will race in both the women's eight and women's pair. This will mark her fourth senior national team appearance. She won gold at the 2018 event in the women's four.
Opitz, who currently serves as Wisconsin's women's lightweight assistant coach, is back on the water for her eighth national team, this time racing in the women's four. The Middleton native is a four-time world champion in the women's eight and was USRowing's Female Athlete of the Year in 2018 after competing in the women's eight and women's pair, the same double Wanamaker is competing in during this year's championships.
She was a 2010 Pocock First-Team All-American at Wisconsin, helping the Badgers to the Big Ten title her senior season.
Sophia Vitas, a Franklin, Wisconsin, native, will race in the women's double sculls for her third national team appearance. She placed seventh in the quadruple sculls in 2019 after taking fourth in the women's eight in 2017.
Grace Joyce, a past member of both UW's lightweight and openweight programs, is an alternate for this year's team. She owns a pair of under-23 national team appearances, racing in in the lightweight double sculls in 2018 and 2019.
The fifth 2022 national team member with ties to Wisconsin's women's programs is former lightweight assistant coach Todd Vogt, who will race in the PR3 mixed double sculls in the Czech Republic. He placed fifth in the PR3 pair at the 2019 world championships.
On the men's side, a pair of former Badgers will race with the men's eight.
Germantown, Wisconsin's Michael Knippen will make his third senior national team appearance this year, though his first with the eight after racing in the quadruple sculls at the world championships in both 2018 and 2019.
Coxswain James Catalano makes his first senior national team appearance by leading the men's eight. A Greenwich, Connecticut, native, Catalano coxed the 2021 U.S. Under 23 men's four with coxswain to a bronze medal at the 2021 World Rowing Under 23 Championships.
2022 World Rowing Championships Team Members
Maddie Wanamaker (Neenah, Wis.) – Women's Pair, Women's Eight       Â
Vicky Opitz (Middleton, Wis.) – Women's Four
Sophia Vitas (Franklin, Wis.) – Women's Double Sculls
Todd Vogt (Rochester, N.Y.) – PR3 Mixed Double Sculls
Michael Knippen (Germantown, Wis.) – Men's Eight
Jimmy Catalano (Greenwich, Conn.) – Men's Eight
Grace Joyce (Northfield, Ill.) - Alternate
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Rowing
/ Women's Rowing
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