Bryn Mawr's Addi Levensten will race for the United States at the 2026 World Rowing Under 19 Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, with competition beginning Thursday, Aug. 6.

Levensten, a recent graduate who rows for Black Sheep Racing and is headed to Duke University this fall, earned her spot in the women's double sculls alongside Katie McClellan of Vancouver, Washington. The pair is the first U.S. women's double to qualify for the U19 World Championships since 2023, according to a JRN team overview.

Both rowers proved themselves at the national level before earning the call. Levensten took bronze in the youth double at the 2026 USRowing Youth National Championships, while McClellan, a 17-year-old rising senior at Columbia River High School and Princeton commit who rows for Vancouver Lake Rowing Club, won bronze in the U17 double at the 2025 Youth Nationals. The two spent the summer training together at USRowing's national selection camp in California, according to The Columbian.

The road to Plovdiv started rough for McClellan.

"I did not stay upright in the boat on my first day ever," she told The Columbian on Aug. 1, recalling her first practice with Vancouver Lake Rowing Club in middle school. "I don't think I even lasted five minutes in the boat before I flipped into the water."

The championships feature 660 athletes from 55 nations competing across 14 boat classes, with 232 entered crews making it one of the largest fields in recent history, according to World Rowing. The women's double sculls alone drew 22 entries. Among the favorites are Individual Neutral Athletes Tatiana Cherkasova and Anastasiia Burovtseva, who won the European U19 title by more than seven seconds.

USRowing announced the U.S. roster on July 22, with American athletes competing in seven boat classes at the Plovdiv regatta.

Racing runs through Sunday, Aug. 9, when finals are scheduled.