May 7, 2018
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State sophomore rowers Phoebe Dammersmith and Alana Grollo received invitations to the Under-23 trials for Rowing Australia's 2018 National Under-23 Team. Dammersmith and Grollo are two of 13 athletes invited to participate in the U-23 tryout.
Trials for the U-23 are scheduled for June 15-23, 2018 in Canberra, Australia. If selected for Rowing Australia's U-23 crew, Dammersmith and Grollo will continue on to compete on behalf of Australia at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships, scheduled for July 25-29, 2018, in Poznan, Poland.
Dammersmith, a native of Melbourne, Australia, has competed as a starboard rower for both the Aztec second varsity eight and varsity eight crews in her two years on the Mesa. Dammersmith was part of the SDSU 2V8 crew for both the 2017 and 2018 WIRA Championships, winning the final her freshman year and claiming third in her sophomore season. The sophomore has also claimed wins with the V8 in three events (two in the Hornet Invitational, one vs. Loyola Marymount/UCSD) and one with the 2V8 (vs. UCSD) this spring.
Grollo, who is also a Melbourne native and attended Ruyton Girls' School with Dammersmith, has been a 2V8 an V8 port rower for her two years at SDSU. Her notable finishes with the Aztecs include the 2V8's win at the 2017 WIRA Championships, a second place finish with the V8 at the 2018 WIRA Championships, a first place finish with the 2V8 at the Hornet Invitational and two wins in V8 events vs. LMU and UCSD.
Later this week, the Aztecs head to the Camden, N.J., area where they will compete in The American's Women's Rowing Championship at 8 a.m. ET on Saturday, May 12, at Cooper River Park.