Four Badgers invited to USRowing national team selection camp
January 29, 2026 | Women's Rowing
Camp running Jan. 25- Feb. 4 in Sarasota, Florida
MADISON, Wis. – Four former Badgers – Isa Darvin, and Olympians Grace Joyce, Lauren O'Connor and Sophia Vitas – were invited and are taking part in the USRowing 2026 Selection Camp I, which runs Jan. 25-Feb. 4 at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida, the organization announced.
The selection camp will help choose the women's senior national team.
Darvin, who was a Badger from 2017-21, began her career as a walk-on before racing with the novice eight crew that placed fifth at the 2018 Big Ten Championships. She also rowed with the varsity eight boat that placed second at the 2019 Cardinal Invite and first at the 2021 event. The Madison native is now a two-time senior national team member, also representing the United States at the 2023 Pan American Games, where she won gold in the pair and mixed eight events and finished second in the women's four and eight competitions. She most recently rowed for Team USA, alongside fellow Badger Grace Joyce, in the women's double sculls event at the 2025 World Rowing Championships in Shanghai, China, finishing eighth overall.
Joyce, a Paris 2024 Olympian who competed with Lauren O'Connor in the women's quadruple sculls, rowed for both Wisconsin's openweight and lightweight crews during her time as a Badger from 2016-20. Her racing career ended early due to COVID-19, but she helped the second varsity eight to a 12th-place finish at the 2019 NCAA Rowing Championships. She also rowed with the UW lightweight eight that finished fourth at the 2018 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships and the lightweight eight crew that finished seventh at the 2018 IRA Nationals. The Northfield, Illinois, native is a six-time U.S. national team member, including owning a pair of under-23 national team appearances and racing in the lightweight double sculls in 2018 and 2019. She earned her first senior national team bid after making the world championships roster as an alternate in 2022, before racing for the U.S. at the 2023 Pan American Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics. Joyce, alongside O'Connor, won the quadruple sculls at the 2024 World Rowing Final Olympic & Paralympic Qualification Regatta. She also owns a gold medal in the event from the 2023 Pan American Games.
Olympian O'Connor rowed for the Badgers from 2016-20, helping the varsity eight to a 16th-place finish at the 2019 NCAA Championships and a third-place finish at that year's Big Ten championships. She concluded her UW racing career at the 2019 Head of the Charles, where she helped the championship eighth crew place 12th, before COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the spring season. The Belleville, Wisconsin, native also rowed for Team USA at the 2025 World Rowing Championships, placing 10th overall in the women's single sculls after winning the event at the U.S. Senior and Para World Rowing Championships Trials with a time of 7:31.29.
Vitas, a current graduate coaching assistant with the Badgers' first-year/novice openweights, competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she finished ninth in the double sculls. A Badger rower from 2013 through 2016 after transferring from UW-Milwaukee, she helped her second novice eight to a Big Ten title in 2014, while rowing for the varsity eight that placed 13th at the 2015 NCAA Rowing Championships and the second varsity eight that finished 10th at the 2016 NCAA Rowing Championships. Since her time at UW, the Franklin, Wisconsin, native claimed fourth in the women's eight at the 2017 World Rowing Championships, seventh in the women's quadruple sculls at the 2019 World Rowing Championships, fifth in the double sculls at the 2022 World Rowing Championships and third in the double sculls at the 2023 World Rowing Championships. Most recently, Vitas won the double sculls at the 2024 World Rowing Cup II and joined the Badger coaching staff that summer.
View the full USRowing Selection Camp I roster here.
