Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Crew

    You've read the e-mails, you've heard the news, and you may have even made a donation, so now the time has come to see the results. TJ alumni Christian Klein and Ty Otto from 2007 have secured their place among the rowing elite by landing in the finals of the U23 (Under age 23) World Championships. Their fate is decided tomorrow.

    Christian Klien currently rows for Princeton University's Lightweight Men's Crew. Based on his performance at U23 selection camps, he was selected to race with Michael Kerrigan from the Naval Academy on the Men's Lightweight Pair. Ty Otto is rowing for Washington University in Seattle, and is a captain on the undefeated men's team. Ty will be racing on the US Men's Eight.

    The World Rowing U23 Championships began in Brest, Belarus on Thursday, July 22. During the semifinals yesterday, July 23, Christian Klein and Michael Kerrigan finished 3rd in the Men's Lightweight Pair event to advance to the finals. Ty Otto and the Men's Eight won their semifinal and will also be racing the finals.

    When are these finals, you ask? Tomorrow. Christian Klein's pair will be rowing at 11:06AM Brest time, 4:06AM Eastern Time. Ty Otto's eight will be racing at 2:12PM Brest time, 7:12AM Eastern Time. You can get live updates here and you should definitely check out the results here. Extra cool points for watching the pair race live at 4AM.

Make sure you're cheering on our alumni! Go TJ Crew!

Official results: Christian Klein's pair finished 6th, Ty Otto's eight finished 2nd to Germany. TJ Crew can now claim an alumnus as a world silver medalist, and two as world finalists. Congratulations to both! 

This weekend, all TJ boats raced on the Occoquan in the Darrel Winslow regatta.

The Men's first VIII raced in the heat against Yorktown with TJ gaining an early length lead. TJ won the heat by 9.7s, advancing to the finals. In the final, TJ's first VIII asserted itself again on the Occoquan, gaining a length lead on Yorktown 500m in and continuing to push forward down the course. TJ rowed across the line 10.2s before Yorktown and 15.3s before Woodson in a solid victory.

The Men's second VIII won their heat by a margin of 23.3s. In the finals, they bested visitor BCC to win their race by 15.3s.

The Men's third VIII put on a good show racing in the Men's Junior 8 category against other schools' second VIIIs. TJ placed second by 4.8s behind Yorktown and edged out West Springfield by 0.3s.

The Men's freshman VIII rowed well. They competed against McLean, BCC, and Oakton, as well as West Springfield and Triangle. With one of their valuable rowers returning from a week off the water over Spring Break, they rapidly pulled away from all other boats except McLean, who stayed neck and neck until the last 250m. TJ began a sprint that, as Coach Sieke said, made them "insurmountable,” to win by 2.7s.

The Men's sixth (novice) eight raced for the first time this weekend placing second against other schools' fourth eights by 1.4s. The fifth eight also raced for the first time placing second as well behind Oakton. The fourth eight had a rough start in their first race due to the wind and hit a buoy off the start, ejecting the 5 seat, but they admirably finished the race against other schools' third eights.

The Women's first VIII rowed well in their heat, placing second ahead of Oakton by 8s, who had beat them in the Polar Bear two weeks ago, and advancing to the final. They rowed a solid piece for the final holding on to visiting boat BCC, but finishing in sixth behind them.

The Women's second VIII placed second in their heat behind eventual winner Yorktown. In the final, they rowed a solid race, kicking it up in the second half to walk through another boat to place third.

The Women's third and fourth VIIIs both raced for the first time and each placed third against some tough competition.

The Women's freshman VIII also raced for the first time this weekend. Their hard work so far payed off with them crossing the line 25.7s ahead of the nearest competitor, Mercyhurst Prep.

A special thanks to all the TJ food moms for putting together a hugely successful food tent, the first time it has appeared on the Occoquan.

Full results can be found here.

Go TJ Crew!