MARIETTA, Ohio — Two members of the Marietta College Men's Rowing team, one incoming and one returning, arrived late to campus for the fall semester, but with good reason. Sophomore
Nicolas Invernizzi (Lambare, Paraguay/Colegio Cristo Rey) participated in the 2024 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in late August. Transfer student
Gary Rought (Mason, Ohio/William Mason) represented the U.S. National team in the 2024 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals is early September.
"Sending athletes to national teams is not a direct focus of what we do at Marietta, but it's part of the full experience," said Marietta Head Men's Rowing coach
Greg Myhr. "It's huge for Gary's and Nico's teammates to see this, and we will certainly continue to encourage more Pioneers to follow in their footsteps."
Back in June, Invernizzi raced in the U23 World Cup Trials in his home country of Paraguay, competing in the pairs (-2) division. He and his rowing partner, Nicolas Villalba, secured a time of 6:52. That performance gave Invernizzi a spot on the Paraguayan National team and sent him to St. Catharines, Canada to compete at the 2024 World Rowing U23 Championships last month.
Invernizzi and his partner finished sixth in the C final, which placed them 17th of 19 teams overall. His time is Canada was still fruitful, though. His other training partners, who competed in the Senior World Championships that same week, finished 2nd in the world in the senior lightweight pairs, giving Paraguay their first ever World Championship medal in rowing. Inverzizzi definitely helped play a role in that outcome.
"As it was my first World Cup, I was a little scared, but I will admit that the months of preparation, particularly those at Marietta with Coach Myhr, gave me confidence for the largest regatta I've ever attended," said Invernizzi. "We gave it our all and I believe we can do better in the upcoming regattas. This has prepared me for the upcoming regattas with Marietta."
"We're really thrilled for Nico," said Coach Myhr. "He's been a big part of our team here at Marietta, and I know he worked really hard this summer. We were excited to root for Paraguay at the U23 Worlds, but even more so to get Nico back here on the squad."
Rought, who competed last year for Stetson University, took part in the 2024 Beach Sprint Trials this last June in Sarasota, Florida, racing in the PR3 Mixed Double event. In this particular event, one member has to be certified with a disability. His race partner, Danielle Hansen, is a two-time Paralympic Medalist.
Rought describes a "Beach sprint" race as a "10-50 meter run on the beach, then quickly hopping in the boat for a 250-meter slalom out around three buoys, then a 180° turn and coming straight back with the waves." Experts agree that this event takes a mixture of pure physical power and the ability to figure out what the waves are doing.
Hansen and Rought won the US trials by a time of 2:46.9, nine seconds over their closest opponent. This team was the first inclusion PR3 mixed double sculls to represent the U.S. at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals, which recently took place (September 13-15) in Genoa, Italy.
At the Championships in Italy, Rought and his partner defeated teams from Germany and Italy to race for the gold medal against Great Britain. The British team bested them by 12 seconds to claim gold, but Rought and Hansen received a well-deserved silver medal. At the end of the day, the importance of the event was not lost on the athletes. Hansen said: "Any time that we can have more inclusion in any sport it's going to be very impactful in a positive way, so having this event here this year is meaningful in a lot of different ways."
"Coming off the water knowing I gave it all I could, but still coming up short, is honestly a good moment to have," said Rought. "It just makes me hungry to go back at it next year, but this time, I'll have a full year of rowing under Coach Myhr, so I know I'll be well prepared. I just wanted to thank my amazing partner Dani Hansen for helping me out and being an amazing teammate! Also wanted to thank Marc Oria for pushing me to come to trials! Now it's time to win some medals for Marietta this year!"
"We knew fortune was smiling on us when Gary committed to Marietta this summer," said Coach Myhr of his incoming rower. "We've followed his career for a long time, and it doesn't surprise me a bit that he was back on the US Coastal Team. Our whole team watched Gary and Dani compete live in the Worlds finals this past Saturday – it was awesome."
The Pioneers open their fall racing season this Saturday (Oct. 5) at the Head of the Ohio in Pittsburgh.
Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on X and Instagram.
