Sarasota to Host 2017 USRowing Youth National Championships

Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla., will be the site for the 2017 USRowing Youth National Championships.

The championships, which serve as the premier junior rowing event in the United States, will be held between June 9-11, 2016. The event sees approximately 1,500 athletes competing in more than 350 crews, representing some 150 teams from across the country – all vying for national titles in 18 boat classes.

"USRowing is thrilled to bring this prestigious event back to Nathan Benderson Park for 2017," said USRowing Events Manager AJ Dominique. "The amenities and experience that Nathan Benderson Park can provide for athletes, competitors, and spectators, both on and off of the water, are exactly what those audiences have grown accustomed to at this event."

In 2015, Nathan Benderson Park (NBP) hosted the USRowing Youth Nationals. This event brought in 1,993 participants and 4,991 spectators to the Sarasota-Bradenton area. These numbers resulted in nearly 4,000 hotel room nights being booked and resulted in $6,026,246.68 in economic impact for the area. Hosting Youth Nationals in 2017 is sure to bring an even higher economic impact to Sarasota-Bradenton.

“We are excited to partner once again with USRowing and happy to host the another Youth Nationals Championship," said Sarah Kupiec, Event & Volunteer Manager, SANCA (Suncoast Aquatic and Nature Center Associates), the non-profit that manages the park. Sarasota -Bradenton is a wonderful destination for all to enjoy and this is a great event to help us usher in the 2017 World Rowing Championships taking place at Nathan Benderson park later in the fall.

Located in Sarasota, Fla., Nathan Benderson Park is a unique 600-acre community park slated to become North America’s premier 2,000-meter sprint rowing course and Regatta Center. One of a handful of sites in the United States identified as having all of the natural attributes that make up a premier rowing and recreational facility, Nathan Benderson Park began hosting organized regatta competitions in 2009.

More than $40 million has been committed to the facility’s development, including 2,000-meter racing lanes and straight shorelines, coaching lanes, wave attenuation, a multi-function boathouse and athlete training center, starting huts and finish towers, grandstands and a state-of-the-art-boat maintenance and testing facility. As a result, the community park offers the perfect destination for a range of championship and recreational events, vendor opportunities, team training and development trips, and so much more.

In September, 2013, it was announced with great fanfare all the way from Chungju, South Korea, where local Sarasota officials were on hand, that the International Federation of Rowing Association’s Congress selected the park to be the site of the 2017 World Rowing Championships, the biggest rowing event outside of the Olympics and most prestigious rowing competition in the world for 2017.

The event, slated to be held Sept. 24-Oct. 1, 2017 will bring top competitors to the park; with the event will come approximately 42,000 athletes, supporters, fans and tourists over the 10 days of competition.

Also on the park’s future schedule of world events: the World Rowing Masters Regatta and the World Rowing Coastal Championships, both scheduled for 2018.

About USRowing: USRowing is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the governing body for the sport of rowing in the United States. USRowing has 85,000 individual members and 1,300 member organizations, offering rowing programs for all. USRowing receives generous support from the National Rowing Foundation and its corporate sponsors and partners.

About SANCA: The Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center, Inc. (SANCA), is a not-for-profit business created to manage Nathan Benderson Park, a community/public asset and world class, multi-use sports venue. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for our community and be an economic generator for the Sarasota-Bradenton area. SANCA’s primary purpose is to develop and promote Nathan Benderson Park as a world class event center, team training site and Sarasota County Park, while providing outreach programs through recreation, safety training, education and volunteering as a service to our community. For more information, contact: Amy Grossman with C-Suite Communications, (215) 805-0299, Agrossman@c-suitecomms.com