USRowing Announces Site of Paralympic, Olympic Team Trials

Nathan Benderson Park has been selected as the site for the 2020 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team Trials – Rowing to be held in April 2020. Located in Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla., the venue also hosted 2016 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team Trials.

“We are excited to bring the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team Trials - Rowing back to Sarasota-Bradenton,” said USRowing Chief Executive Officer Patrick McNerney. “Nathan Benderson Park is a world-class facility that will provide our Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls everything they need in their quest to make the 2020 team. Hosting the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Team Trials - Rowing in Sarasota is the next building block, as we continue to develop our long-term relationship. We’d like to thank Visit Sarasota and all of our partners in Sarasota-Bradenton for supporting this event.”

In 2016, the trials featured racing in nine boat classes, including the women’s single sculls, where Gevvie Stone made the Olympic team before eventually winning the silver medal at the Rio Olympic Games.

The nation’s premier rowing venue, Nathan Benderson Park has hosted numerous international and national rowing events including the 2017 World Rowing Championships and 2018 World Rowing Masters Regatta, in addition to the 2016 trials. In July, the venue will host the 2019 World Rowing Under 23 Championships. Nathan Benderson Park also has hosted several USRowing national championship events and is slated to host the USRowing Youth National Championships for the next three years, beginning this June.

“We are thrilled that Sarasota and Nathan Benderson Park will continue our support of the sport of rowing and the Olympic and Paralympic movements in the United States by hosting the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Team Trials,” said Stephen V. Rodriguez, president and CEO of Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates, which operates Nathan Benderson Park. “This is part of a larger, long-term vision for our partnership with USRowing, to be at the center of rowing in the U.S. We look forward to hosting these amazing athletes and to providing an outstanding stage on which to perform.”

The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will run July 24-August 9 in Tokyo, Japan. The 2020 Paralympic Games are scheduled for August 25-September 6.

“We are honored to host this prestigious event for the second time in Sarasota,” said Shelby Connett, sports director of Visit Sarasota County. “Visit Sarasota County stands ready to assist SANCA and USRowing in welcoming our nation’s top rowers and celebrate future Olympians and Paralympians.”

United States Olympic Committee: Founded in 1894 and headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the United States Olympic Committee serves as both the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the United States. The USOC is focused on protecting, supporting and empowering America’s athletes, and is responsible for fielding U.S. teams for the Olympic, Paralympic, Youth Olympic, Pan American and Parapan American Games, and serving as the steward of the Olympic and Paralympic movements in the U.S. For more information, visit TeamUSA.org.

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 83,000 individual members and 1,350 member organizations, offering rowing programs for all. USRowing receives generous support from the National Rowing Foundation and its corporate sponsors and partners.

Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates Inc.: Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates Inc. (SANCA) is a not-for-profit 501c3 business created to manage Nathan Benderson Park (NBP), a community/public asset and world-class, multi-use sports venue. Our mission is to improve the quality of life for our community and be an economic generator for our region. SANCA’s primary purpose is to develop and promote NBP 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, go to nathanbendersonpark.org/about-us/sanca-mission.