VARESE, Italy – Stanford former, current, and future student-athletes finished the 2022 U19/U23 World Rowing Championships July 31, bringing home 10 medals and breaking three world records.
Highlighting the Cardinal's time in Italy were Belle Battistoni and Azja Czajkowski as the two members of Stanford's NCAA runner-up varsity eight boat brought home gold in the Women's Eight.
The five newcomers to the Cardinal women's program– Nora Goodwillie, Annika Jeffrey, Heather Schmidt, Alice Baker, and Meg Knight— made their mark on the world stage. Each incoming student-athlete raced in their event's A final while two set world records and four collected medal-winning finishes. The two incoming gold medalists, Jeffrey and Goodwillie, will bring the skills learned from their world record finishes and make an immediate impact on the Farm.
Rising junior Lettie Cabot captured a silver medal for Great Britain in the Women's Four while sophomore Luise Bachmann and her teammates collected a bronze medal in the Women's Eight.
Former coxswain Caroline Ricksen earned the United States' first medal of the championships, placing third in the Women's Coxed Four on Friday morning.
Rounding out the Cardinal's efforts was IRCA First Team All-America honoree James Wright, as the USA Men's Eight boat brought home a silver medal. Lightweight rowing student-athletes Avery Louis earned a fifth-place finish in the double sculls while incoming freshman Brooke Ruszkiewicz placed fourth in the B Final with her teammate Ruthie Lacy in the same event.
Current and former Cardinal athletes and their finishes:
Lightweight Women
Brooke Ruszkiewicz '26 – USA U23 Lightweight Double Sculls, 4th place, B Final
Avery Louis '25 – Great Britain U23 Lightweight Double Sculls, 5th place, A Final
Heavyweight Men
James Wright '22, '23 – USA U23 Men's Eight, 2nd place, A Final
Openweight Women
Luise Bachmann '25 – Germany U23 Women's Eight, 3rd place, A Final
Alice Baker '26 – Great Britain U19 Women's Eight, 2nd place, A Final
Belle Battistoni '24 – USA U23 Women's Eight, 1st place, A Final
Lucy Black '23 – Canada U23 Women's Eight, 5th place, Repechage
Esther Briz Zamorano '22 – Spain U23 Single Sculls, 1st place, B Final
Lettie Cabot '24 – Great Britain U23 Women's Four, 2nd place, A Final
Azja Czajkowski '22, '23 – USA U23 Women's Eight, 1st place, A Final
Katelin Gildersleeve '23 – USA U23 Quadruple Sculls, 6th place, A Final
Nora Goodwillie '26 – USA U19 Women's Eight, 1st place, A Final
Annika Jeffrey '26 – USA U19 Women's Coxed Four, 1st place, A Final
Meg Knight '26 – Great Britain U19 Quadruple Sculls, 3rd place, A Final
Beckie Leigh 23- New Zealand U23 Women's Coxed Four, 6th place, A Final
Caroline Ricksen '22 – USA U23 Women's Coxed Four, 3rd place, A Final
Heather Schmidt '26 – USA U19 Quadruple Sculls, 4th place, A Final
* * *
Stanford's Schedule with Results
Monday, July 25
U23 Women's Single Sculls Heat 4
Esther Briz Zamorano (Spain) - 1st place, 7:41.91
Tuesday, July 26
U23 Women's Four Heat 2
Lettie Cabot (Great Britain)- 2nd place, 6:36.95
U23 Lightweight Women's Double Sculls Heat 1
Avery Louis (Great Britain)- 1st place, ??7:12.58
Brooke Ruszkiewicz (USA)- 5th place, 7:28.90
U23 Women's Coxed Four Preliminary Race
Caroline Ricksen (USA)- 3rd place, 6:58.08
Beckie Leigh (New Zeland)- 6th place, 7:08.23
U23 Women's Quadruple Sculls Heat 2
Katelin Gildersleeve (USA)- 2nd place, 6:27.36
U23 Women's Eight Heat 1
Azja Czajkowski (USA), Belle Battistoni (USA)- 1st place, 6:07.80
Lucy Black (CAN)- 4th place, 6:18.34
U23 Women's Eight Heat 2
Luise Bachmann (USA)- 3rd place, 6:24.13
U23 Men's Eight Heat 2
James Wright (USA)- 2nd place, 5:30.99
Wednesday, July 27
U23 Lightweight Women's Double Sculls Repechage 1
Brooke Ruszkiewicz (USA)- 5th place, 7:25.43
U23 Women's Quadruple Sculls Repechage
Katelin Gildersleeve (USA)- 4th place, 6:28.47
U23 Women's Eight Repechage
Luise Bachmann (Germany)- 2nd place, 6:16.50
Lucy Black (Canada)- 5th place, 6:17.52
Thursday, July 28
U19 Women's Coxed Four Preliminary Race
Annika Jeffrey (USA)- 1st place, 6:54.50*
U19 Women's Quadruple Sculls Heat 1
Meg Knight (Great Britain)- 2nd place, 6:41.06
Heather Schmidt (USA)- 3rd place, 6:43.76
U19 Women's Eight Heat 1
Nora Goodwillie (USA)- 1st place, 6:23.54
U19 Women's Eight Heat 2
Alice Baker (Great Britain)- 1st place, 6:21.93
Friday, July 29
U23 Women's Single Sculls Semifinals A/B
Esther Briz Zamorano (Spain) - 4th place, 7:27.85
U23 Women's Coxed Four Final A
Caroline Ricksen (USA)- 3rd place, 6:48.35
Beckie Leigh (New Zeland)- 6th place, 6:59.22
U23 Women's Quadruple Sculls Final A
Katelin Gildersleeve (USA)- 6th place, 6:28.60
Saturday, July 30
U19 Women's Quadruple Sculls Semifinal A/B 2
Meg Knight (Great Britain)- 1st place, 6:36.64
Heather Schmidt (USA)- 2nd place, 6:38.42
U23 Women's Single Sculls Final B
Esther Briz Zamorano (Spain) - 1st place, 7:47.92
U23 Lightweight Women's Double Sculls Final B
Brooke Ruszkiewicz (USA)- 4th place, 7:26.95
U23 Women's Four Final A
Lettie Cabot (Great Britain) - 2nd place, 6:43.88
U23 Lightweight Women's Double Sculls Final A
Avery Louis (Great Britain)- 5th place, 7:35.97
U23 Women's Eight Final A
Azja Czajkowski (USA), Belle Battistoni (USA)- 1st place, 6:23.03
Luise Bachmann (USA)- 3rd place, 6:31.20
U23 Men's Eight Final A
James Wright (USA)- 2nd place, 5:53.97
Sunday, July 31
U19 Women's Coxed Four Final A
Annika Jeffrey (USA)- 1st place, 6:52.84*
U19 Women's Quadruple Sculls Final A
Meg Knight (Great Britain)- 3rd place, 6:33.54
Heather Schmidt (USA)- 4th place, 6:35.79
U19 Women's Eight Final A
Nora Goodwillie (USA)- 1st place, 6:12.16*
Alice Baker (Great Britain)- 2nd place, 6:14.57
* World Record