World Rowing Dream Team Adds Simon van Dorp for Lenny Peters Cup
High Point, North Carolina - Dutch Olympic medalist Simon van Dorp has been selected to the World Dream Team to race Team USA for the Lenny Peters Cup in North Carolina on April 12, the LPC Race Committee has announced.
"I’m excited to get back to racing again," says Simon. "This will be my first proper race in the single since the Paris Olympics. Getting to race a 1500m course is also a good opportunity when looking at the 2028 LA Olympics. Although they are still far away it will be good to get an early feel for the race distance. I’m excited to compete again."
The Lenny Peters Cup sees 8 rowers (4 men & 4 women) from around the world compete against 8 rowers from the United States in a match race format played out in three boat classes: Single Sculls, Quadruple Sculls, and Mixed Quadruple Sculls.
Simon started rowing in 2011 at Willem III in Amsterdam. Ten years later he made his first Olympic Games appearance in Tokyo in the Dutch men's eight. In Paris, Simon won the Olympic bronze medal in the Single Sculls event.
Simon holds the world record on the RP3 rowing machine for 2,000 meters with a time of 5:25.16, just .33 seconds ahead of Olympic gold medalist Ollie Zeidler.
A graduate of the University of Washington in 2022 with a degree in political science, Simon won three PAC 12 Championships with the Huskies. He now works with New Sky Energy, an American company that works in clean chemistry.
Race director Gene Kininmonth said he is overjoyed to have Simon van Dorp join the world team. “Simon was one of the first elite rowers to show interest in the Lenny Peters Cup late last year. He recognized early on the value to the sport in this opportunity to showcase elite level rowing in the United States. As one of the top three single scullers in the world he was an easy choice for the world team,” said Kininmonth.
Follow on Instagram @LennyPetersCup
Simon van Dorp made his Olympic debut in Tokyo. He went on to win the bronze medal in the men's Single Sculls event at the Paris Olympics.
Team USA is selected by USRowing’s High Performance Director following US selection Trials. The World Team is selected following acceptance of invitations by athletes selected on Olympic results, world rankings, and recent racing results.
What is the format of racing? Scullers will compete in head-to-head competition for points. There are 24 points on offer over the three rounds of racing.
Round One will see each USA athlete race an overseas athlete in the single sculls over the Olympic distance of 1,500 meters with each winner earning one point for their team. The draw for the single sculls races will be randomly assigned.
Round Two: USA will race the World Team in Quadruple Sculls over 1,500m, with the winning male and female crew each winning 4 points.
Round Three: each team races in Mixed Quad Sculls. The winning crews each earn 4 points for their team. In the case of a tie, the winning crew in the final Mixed Quad race will win the Lenny Peters Cup.
The event is held in conjunction with the Bethany Medical North Carolina Rowing Championships, presented by the Lenny Peters Foundation. RP3 Ergometers will sponsor a warm up area - the RP3 ROW ZONE - for rowers on race day.
Simon van Dorp racing with the University of Washington.
