POZNAN, Poland – It was a Golden day for Stanford junior Brennan Wertz and the United States men's eight on Sunday at the 2018 Under 23 World Rowing Championships.
Wertz, in the bow seat of the U.S. eight, helped guide USRowing to victory in Sunday's A Final. They completed the Lake Malta course in 5:22.480, ahead of second-place Great Britain (5:24.930). The U.S. eight pulled ahead of the field in the first 500 meters and never looked back, en-route to the gold-medal finish.
A Mill Valley, California, native, Wertz collected his second career Under 23 World Rowing Championships medal. He captured the bronze in the U.S. pair at the 2016 event in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Wertz is a two-time All-Pac-12 selection as a member of the Cardinal, earning Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year honors in 2017. He has also been named to the conference's all-academic team each of the last two years.
Last season, Jovanni Stefani stroked the U.S. men's eight to a fourth-place finish at the Under 23 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Wertz was the 24th Cardinal to compete as a member of the Under 23 USRowing national team since 2002. Stanford has had a representative at the international competition in each of the last 14 years.