This weekend marks the first major opportunity of the season for the Southeast’s top youth crews to test their 2000-metre racing speed, as they compete at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida, for the American Youth Cup Series I. The American Youth Cup I is the first instalment of a four-race series held throughout the spring, designed to build towards the USRowing Southeast Youth Championship and eventually the USRowing Youth National Championship. The American Cup Series serves as a key proving ground for crews looking to showcase the progress they’ve made over the winter months and build momentum for later-season qualification races. This year’s edition features more than 650 entries from 30 clubs across the Southeast and Midwest, each aiming to make an early statement as national championship contenders.
Sarasota Crew
Sarasota Crew’s men’s second eight enters the American Youth Cup I regatta with a clear advantage, as they race on their home course. The crew showed promising speed earlier in the fall, with a commanding win at the Benderson Chase, 52 seconds ahead of Miami Rowing Club, and a dominant two-minute and 37-second win at the Halloween Regatta. This builds on their strength from last spring, as the regional powerhouse won top honours in both the second varsity and U17 eights at the USRowing Southeast Youth Championships in 2025. While Sarasota has the pedigree and fall results to enter this race as favourites, this will be the first time this season they have lined up against many of these crews. However, races are not won on paper, and Head Coach Colin Lee will be making sure they are not surprised on home water.
Atlanta Junior Rowing Association
Another of the favourites this weekend, the Atlanta Junior Rowing Association, makes the trip down to Sarasota to open their 2026 campaign at the first round of the American Youth Cup Series. Across the 2025 season, they were very competitive with Sarasota Crew, finishing second to them in both the second varsity and U17 eights at the USRowing Southeast Youth Championships by 1.6 and 0.2 seconds, respectively. Looking to make a step this season, the men from Georgia performed well across the fall head racing as the AJRA second eight finished seventh of 93 entries at the Head of the Hooch, ahead of a number of competitive first eights, plus a similar fourth-place finish at the Music City Head Race in Nashville. As this is the first race of the season, Zach Smarr‘s men will be looking to set the tone and overturning Sarasota Crew on their home water would do just that.
Belen Jesuit Prep School
The men’s second eight of Belen Jesuit enters the American Youth Cup I as one of the more unpredictable crews, considering how hard it is to gauge their true speed. Efforts from the second eight in the fall yielded a 19th-place finish in the men’s U19 eight category at Head of the Hooch, beating many top boats from other programmes but losing to both Atlanta Junior Rowing Association’s and Chicago Rowing Foundation’s second eight. Considering those results are from prior to the winter training months, it’s very possible that the athletes in the second eight have made massive improvements. Belen Jesuit’s rowing programme is one of the most notable and reputable high school programmes in the country, with medals at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America National Championships and top-ten performances at the USRowing Youth National Championships, demonstrating that its coaching staff knows how to develop athletes. Their lack of racing in the fall
Chicago Rowing Foundation
The second eight from the Chicago Rowing Foundation are another potential favourite for this event based on pure results. At Head of the Hooch, they officially placed 15th due to a 30-second penalty, but their raw time would have ranked them sixth overall, making them the fastest second eight in the field, ten seconds ahead of the Atlanta Junior Rowing Association crew. Something to keep in mind this weekend is that Chicago Rowing Foundation hails from the Midwest, where they have faced freezing temperatures for most of the winter. The body of water they row on, the Chicago River, is currently partially frozen in some spots. This undoubtedly has affected their ability to get out on the water, so it will be quite interesting to see whether they can match the fluidity and rhythm of the other crews that have not faced frigid temperatures or limited water time. Regardless of the result they put up this weekend, they will definitely be a crew to watch as we get deeper into the spring season and water temperatures start to warm up in the Midwest.
Predictions
With the visiting midwesterners coming down to challenge the southeastern order, this presents an additional challenge to the usual complication in picking early-season winners. Ultimately, I think the travel and limited water time will limit the visiting forces, with the Atlanta Junior Rowing Association being my pick for the gold medal this weekend, with Sarasota Crew taking silver. The visiting Chicago Rowing Federation will round out the podium with Belen Jesuit Prep just missing out.
