Blood Street Alum Wins World Rowing Gold

Guilford rower Charlotte Wiley, who trained at Blood Street Sculls in Old Lyme, won gold as part of the U.S. crew at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Qingdao, China.

Blood Street Sculls member Candace Fuchs, who said Blood Street has had an athlete on every U.S. Olympic team since 2008, hopes the organization will be able to say the same thing in 2028.

“We are counting on Charlotte to keep up the streak,” Fuchs said following the U.S. team’s Oct. 20 beach sprint win.

Wiley rowed with Blood Street Sculls from 2017 to 2019, according to Fuchs. The athlete now trains at Craftsbury Green Racing Project in Vermont.

Rowing beach sprints will make their Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The International Olympic Committee said competition begins on land, with an athlete running down the sand into the water before entering the boat with teammates. The crew rows a short distance as fast as possible, with an athlete exiting the boat for a sprint back up the beach to the finish line.

Fuchs said only one male and one female from the United States will be guaranteed a spot in the Olympic beach sprint competition.

“She’s got her work cut out for her,” Fuchs said.

A USRowing recap showed the U.S. open mixed coxed quadruple sculls crew defeated host nation China by just over seven seconds. The team finished seventh in its first time trial and missed automatic qualification for the quarterfinals, but rallied to beat Brazil, Great Britain and Australia before defending its world championship title.

Wiley, a graduate of Guilford High School and the University of Central Florida, was competing in her first national team appearance. She was joined by Malachi Anderson of Ohio, Chris Bak of Ohio, Audrey Boersen of Michigan and coxswain Coral Kasden of California. The other four crew members had previously won gold in the event.