PLOVDIV, Bulgaria – Kaess Smit ’15 earned a silver medal in the USA varsity eight at the Under-23 World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria on Sunday.
Stanford men’s rowing had two representatives with Team USA as Smit led the eight to a medal and rising sophomore Will Spencer placed sixth with the coxed four on Saturday.
Smit sat two seat for the U.S. eight. Team USA never led in the race as Germany controlled from start to finish. The U.S. took over second place in the second 500 and held on for the silver medal with a time of 5:36.49. The time was three seconds back of Germany and two seconds ahead of the bronze medalist Russia boat.
After the race Smit told USRowing, ““I wish we had the gold, but it’s motivation to keep working and stay hungry. We’re all out here, and all we wanted to do was win. I love these guys, and it was a hell of a summer. I wouldn’t be happier doing anything else.”
The silver medal gave Smit three career medals at the U-23 Championships. He helped Team USA to a bronze medal in the eight last year in Varese, Italy. In 2013, he raced with the coxless four and claimed a bronze medal in Linz, Austria.
Spencer got his first taste of the U-23 World Championships. He helped the U.S. coxed four advance through the reps to the A Final on Saturday. The USA came in sixth overall with a time of 6:38.77.
