Five names to pick from for Rowing Championships feathered friend

A feathered friend that will be the face of the approaching World Rowing Championships still needs a name, but organizers are one step closer.

The 2017 World Rowing Championships mascot naming challenge took submissions from around the world through social media and officials have narrowed the submissions down to the final five.

Rowan, Scully, Oarson, Paddles and Skylar all made the cut, but now organizers are asking for help to select the final name for the pelican.

Voting for the official name is open now, but will close at 11:59 p.m. Sunday. Once all the votes are in, the winning name selection will be announced in the 2017 World Rowing Championship electronic newsletter at 10 a.m. Jan. 18.

The rowing championships will start on Sept. 23, 2017 — the yet unnamed pelican’s birthday — and run through Oct. 1 at Nathan Benderson Park.

This story was originally published January 10, 2017 at 3:30 PM with the headline "Five names to pick from for Rowing Championships feathered friend."