OSU release – CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State women’s rowers Giulia Clerici (Team Italy) and Evan Park (Team USA) both brought home gold for their respective boats over the weekend at the Under 23 World Rowing Championships held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. After taking bronze in the lightweight single sculls a year ago, Clerici captured gold in the lightweight quadruple sculls, racing in stroke seat for Team Italy. “During the year, I made some big improvements especially in my mindset and I was able to use those during selection for training camp in Italy,” Clerici added. “It was a different process for me since I was in the United States for the whole season. I was able to make the team once again and I’m proud of my boat mates and myself taking gold! I am heading to the FISU games in Chengdu and then I am excited to start my second year at OSU, while being hungry for more. I’m ready to bring back more experience, an open mindset and see how much I can grow.” Team Italy finished second in the preliminary race for lanes with a time of 6:40.51 to place them in lane 3 for the finals. Knocking off two seconds from their preliminary time in the finals, Clerici and Team Italy crossed the line in 6:38.11 to defeat Germany’s time of 6:40.55 and take back-to-back golds in the boat class. Recently named a CRCA Second-Team All-American, Evan Park sat in the five seat for Team USA in the women’s eight. Park and Team USA solidified their spot in the Grand final with a time of 6:17.90, the fastest in the heats. Team USA went on to shave nearly nine seconds off their original time in the final, crossing the line in 6:09.14 to take gold. Park and Team USA finished four seconds ahead of Team Germany to take first and defend Team USA’s title in the women’s eight for the third year in a row. “Going into selection, I was in the mindset of just trying my best and learning as much as possible,” Park concluded. “As someone who walked-on to the Oregon State team almost 2 years ago, I never would have imagined winning worlds in the 8+. I can’t wait to bring my experiences and all that I’ve learned back to the team in Corvallis, but I will cherish the memories I made with my U23 teammates forever.” With the addition of the gold medals won by Clerici and Park, Oregon State women’s rowing has won 4 gold medals at the U23 World Championships since 2018. This includes a win in the 2- in 2018 by Alina Hagstrom (’18) and the 8+ in 2021 by Sierra Bishop (’22 and ’23). Clerici and Park both return to the Beavs for the 2023-2024 season looking to lead an experienced group of returners and newcomers.
