June 29, 2011
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By Sarah Tarasewicz
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Former UCF rower Liz Robinson (Seattle, Wash.) will represent the United States for the second-straight year at the 2011 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Amsterdam, The Netherlands July 21-24 after claiming first-place honors in the lightweight women's quadruple sculls final at the US Under 23 Rowing Trials Wednesday on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.
"Liz has worked extremely hard towards her goals and it is exciting to see her hard work pay off," UCF head rowing coach Becky Cramer said. "She inspires her teammates and they are thrilled for her to race at Worlds. This will be a great experience for her."
A member of the GMS Rowing Center team, Robinson, along with her teammates, defeated the field with a time of 6:38.58. Vesper Boat Club A finished second in a time of 6:44.68, followed by Vesper Boat Club B in 7:04.23 and Boston Rowing Club in 7:06.73.
During her senior campaign at UCF, Robinson rowed in every varsity eight race for the Knights. She led the Black and Gold to a fourth-place finish at the Conference USA Rowing Championships and was also a member of the crew that won C-USA Boat of the Week honors on April 12.
Over the course of the year, Robinson and the Knights defeated Kansas State at the Longhorn Invitational and posted a nearly seven-second victory over league-rival Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Robinson helped lead the varsity eight boat to a first-place finish in the C Group Final at the Lake Natoma Invitational with wins over Oregon State and Sacramento State and also posted a nearly 10-second win vs. Miami in the varsity eight boat at the UCF Regatta.
The World Rowing Under 23 Championships showcase up-and-coming athletes who are too old to compete at the junior level but are still in need of further development to rank among top senior elite rowers. Held for the first time in 1976 in Macon, France, under the title "Seniors Match," it eventually became the "Nations Cup" in 1992. FISA's 2005 Extraordinary Congress in Dubrovnik, Croatia, voted to upgrade the World Rowing Under 23 Regatta to world rowing championship status. The first official World Rowing Under 23 Championships were raced in 2004. Approximately 600 athletes from 40 countries compete annually.