Hi, I am Christoph Karleskind and I am fundraising for my fees to compete at the Rowing World Championships this year in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

From end of the fall last year, I decided to dedicated a gap year towards qualifying to represent the United States of America at the world championship. This is only my third year rowing, and definitely one of the biggest challenges of my life so far. I knew going in that we would have to beat some incumbents, who had lots of experience training on the national team, racing and winning at nationals, who had at least double my experience so far. I trained 7-9 times a week, often twice a day, to prepare myself for US Trials in Sarasota, Florida. Trials is a high pressure race - where only the winner comes away with a spot on the US team. Up to this race, I had never won a major race in my life.

I’m happy to say my hard work payed off. At trails, I won the time trial, the heat and then finished with a 12 second win in the final, securing a spot on Team USA. I finished the day with the highest percentage of championship time, which makes me very excited for the upcoming world championships.

However, to make this happen will require quite a stretch - both in terms of the ongoing training, and the cost to even prepare and get to the event. That is why I am asking you to help me live this dream by representing the US in July. Up to now, my coach and I have funded ourselves to get to where we are. I am asking for your help to get us to Plovdiv, and hopefully onto the medal stands at the world championships.

here are some of the costs that we need your help with: