Gladstone, New Jersey—June 25, 2001—Five-time USET Pairs Driving Champion Larry Poulin of Gray, ME won the USET’s final Pairs Driving selection trial held at the Bayer/USET Festival of Champions to secure a spot on the USET squad for the Pairs Driving World Championship in Riesenbeck, Germany, August 15-19. Poulin, who has represented the U.S. in five previous Pairs World Championships, finished the three-phase final trial with a score of 124.03 penalties.

Lisa Singer of Chadds Ford, PA was second in the final trial with 127.10 penalties to join Poulin on the squad. This will be Singer’s third showing at a Pairs Driving World Championship. At the 1997 Pairs Driving World Championship, Singer finished eleventh place individually. The U.S. squad also finished sixth place as a team. In 1995, Singer was a member of the USET World Pairs Championship Team that finished eighth. David Saunders of Ocala, FL secured the third spot on the U.S. team after placing second at the 2001 Live Oak CDE and first in Advanced Pairs and Overall Show Champion at the Georgia International. James O’Rourke III of Unionville, PA, was named the Alternate to the Pairs World Championship team, following his fourth-place finish with 136.44 penalties in the final selection trial.

Chef d’Equipe will be Hardy Zantke, who served as Chef d’Equipe for the USET squad at the World Equestrian Festival four-in-hand competition in Aachen, Germany, where Saunders also competed June 12-17, 2001.

The selection of the squad is subject to approval by the USET Executive Committee. The United States Equestrian Team is a non-profit organization that selects, trains, equips and finances equestrians of the highest possible standard to represent our country in major international competition, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships. To accomplish this the USET seeks out and nurtures the development of talented athletes - riders, drivers and horses - and provides the support and guidance they need to help them attain their fullest potential. For more information on the USET, please call (908) 234-1251, or visit USET ONLINE at www.uset.org.