Groom springs GB Rowing Team trials surprise

Angus Groom underlined his credentials for a seat in one of GB’s top Olympic boats by winning the GB Rowing Team winter assessment.

Angus Groom underlined his credentials for a seat in one of GB’s top Olympic boats by winning the GB Rowing Team winter assessment, raced today in blustery conditions, in the open men’s single scull.

The 23 year-old former Durham University student saw off the challenge of Olympic bronze medallist Alan Campbell in the final 500m of today’s race.
His victory was all the more remarkable coming just weeks after intensive treatment for a disc problem and after enduring, like all today’s finalists, two back-to-back time trials before the finals.

“I feel more satisfied than surprised”,  he said. “I feel that I had a good training camp up in the Sierra Nevada recently and set a personal best on the ergo, so I knew that I was back to my best physically.

“I was slightly ahead at halfway and thought I would give it my best shot and I knew that Alan has a devastating sprint finish so I wanted to row that out of him early in that second half”.

“Like everyone here, I have big ambitions for this year”, he added.

Twickenham’s John Collins put in another big trials performance to finish third overall with Jonny Walton, of Leicester, in fourth.

Wrexham’s Vicky Thornley won the equivalent women’s event which was raced as two time trials from which the accumulated time counted.

Penzance’s Helen Glover, despite not being a habitual sculler, came second.   She and Heather Stanning are Olympic, World and European Champions but are normally more focussed on the women’s pair.

Londoner Melanie Wilson, recently qualified as a doctor, was third and Durham’s Jess Eddie put in a strong performance also as a non-specialist sculler to take fourth.

Thornley said:  “I won the last trial so I didn’t want to go one worse than that.  Everything has been going well in training and I knew that all I needed to do was to execute it on the day.  I won by a decent margin, so I’ve got to be happy with that”.

Gloucestershire’s Pete Reed turned round a showing at last weekend’s British Rowing Indoor Championships which he described as “embarrassing, such a poor result” to win the open men’s pair final with Constantine Louloudis.
“It was quite a turn-round.  I don’t know what happened last weekend but I’d like to say thanks to the physios, especially Sally Brown, who work with the team. They have helped loosen off the whole area around my rib cage and diaphragm. Before that I felt really restricted.

“So I am pleased with the result today which was achieved in good fashion against top opposition. Stan has a big engine and he is great to row with”.

Louloudis, nicknamed “Stan” said:  “I think what we do really well is that we know when to bring out our ‘A’ game. We paced the time trials really well to get into the final.  We have faith in each other and we row well together”.

The ding-dong battle at the top of the lightweight women’s sculling group continued today with Tees’ Olympic Champion Kat Copeland emerging to win the single scull time trials from Imogen Walsh, reversing the result of six weeks ago.  2013 World bronze medallist Ruth Walczak was third.

Copeland revealed after the race that she had sought out advice from sculling Olympian Sam Townsend to help her tackle the back-to-back time trials.

“The men have done two time trials like that before.  So it helped speaking to him.  He talked about putting a lot into the first trial and trusting in yourself to recover during the row back to the start.  So I was able to put in a really good middle section of the first trial and still had enough to do well in the second one.

“It was pretty hairy out there at times. I caught a crab in the first race and almost ended up finishing in the wrong lane as it’s quite “crossy” [a cross wind] at the finish”.

“I’m pleased with that. It helps that it was with a tailwind and not into a headwind.

Will Fletcher was, like Groom, another jubilant first-time winner, taking the honours in the lightweight men’s single.  “It’s exciting, I’ve never won a trial before”, he said.

“It was a question of just going out and trying to reproduce what I’ve done in training but they were pretty tricky conditions to be honest so I just kept thinking, “don’t fall in, don’t fall in”.

Coleraine brothers Richard and Peter Chambers were second and third respectively.

For further information contact:  The GB Rowing Team Press Office via [email protected] or 07831 755351
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RESULTS

FINALS

OPEN MEN

Pair

1.  Peter Reed/Constantine Louloudis 6:28.2

2.  George Nash/Will Satch 6:31.2

3.  Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell/Mat Tarrant 6:34.8

4.  Andrew Triggs Hodge/Matt Langridge 6:36.9

Race for places 5-8

1.  Matt Rossiter/William Warr 6:35.4

2.  Tom Ransley/Stewart Innes 6:39.0

3.  Oli Cook/Callum McBrierty 6:44.1

4.  George Rossiter/Barnaby Stentiford 6:47.2

Single scull

1.  Angus Groom 6:57.8

2.  Alan Campbell 7:00.7

3.  John Collins 7:03.9

4.  Jonny Walton 7:10.6

Race for places 5-8

1.  Graeme Thomas 7:04.3

2.  Peter Lambert 7:06.1

3.  Sam Townsend 7:07.7

4.  Nick Middleton 7:09.3

TIME TRIALS WHICH WERE FINALS

(Names and accumulated time across 2 x 1900m time trials)

OPEN WOMEN

Single

Vicky Thornley  14:28.4

Helen Glover 14;39.7

Melanie Wilson 14:43.9

Jess Eddie 14:47.4

Jess Leyden 14:52.5

Holly Nixon 14:52.5

Debbie Flood 14:53.9

Frances Houghton 14:54.4

Louisa Reeve 14:55.4

Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne 14:56.2

Polly Swann 14:57.4

Olivia Carnegie-Brown 14:59.5

Rosamund Bradbury 14:59.9

Heather Stanning 15:01.2

Zoe Lee 15:02.4

Vicky Meyer-Laker 15:04.5

Lucinda Gooderham 15:08.0

Melissa Wilson 15:13.0

Georgia Francis 15:13.9

Karen Bennett 15:15.0

Josephine Wratten 15:17.2

Holly Hill 15:19.4

Emily Burgess 15:19.9

Bethany Bryan 15:27.5

Sam Courty 15:31.5

Alice Bowyer 15:33.7

Emily Carmichael 15:35.7

Katherine Douglas 15:37.4

Holly Norton 15:40.6

Emily Ford 15:48.9

Nicole Lamb 15:57.7

Aimee Jonckers 16:12.6

Rebecca Girling DNF

LIGHTWEIGHT

MEN

Will Fletcher 13.24.7

Richard Chambers 13:25.4

Peter Chambers 13:29.3

Zak Lee-Green 13:33.8

Charles Waite-Roberts 13:43.1

Jonathan Clegg 13:43.6

Sam Scrimgeour 13:45.4

Sam Mottram 13:47.6

Jamie Copus 13:49.3

Mark Aldred 13:49.7

Joel Cassells 13:55.5

Chris Bartley 13:56.8

Jonathan Jackson 13:57.6

Hugh Gallie 13:58.2

Sam Tuck 13:58.5

Alastair Douglass 13:59.4

John Hale 14:00.5

Edward Fisher 14:09.6

Gavin Horsburgh 14:17.1

Thomas Marshall 14:19.8

Matthew Curtis 14:29.9
WOMEN

Kat Copeland 14:50.3

Imogen Walsh  14:58.6

Ruth Walczak 15:03.4

Brianna Stubbs 15:04.7

Emily Craig 15:12.5

Gemma Hall 15:16.2

Francesca Rawlins 15:36.0

Robyn Hart Winks 15:40.2

TIME TRIALS USED TO QUALIFY INTO FINALS

(Names and accumulated time across 2 x 1900m time trials)

OPEN MEN
Pair

Pete Reed/Constantine Louloudis  12:30.3

George Nash/Will Satch  12:31.6

Andrew T Hodge/Matt Langridge 12:34.4

Matt Tarrant/Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell 12:36.7

Tom Ransley/Stewart Innes 12:48.4

William Warr/Matt Rossiter 12:48.9

George Rossiter/Barnaby Stentiford 12;50.0

Oliver Cook/Callum McBrierty 12:56.0

Chris Boddy/Phil Congdon 13:02.1

Timothy Clarke/Thomas Ford 13:06.0

Richard Clarke/Samuel Whittaker 13:18.3

Cameron Buchan/Adam Neill 13:20.5

Single scull

Alan Campbell 13:19.0

Angus Groom 13:26.8

John Collins 13:30.0

Jonny Walton 13:31.7

Sam Townsend  13:32.6

Graeme Thomas 13:34.9

Peter Lambert 13;42.2

Nick Middleton 13:49.1

Mohamed Sbihi 13:51.5

Harry Leask 13;55.0

Jonathan Stimpson 13:57.0

George Stewart 13:58.8

Alan Sinclair 13:59.2

Chris Lawrie 14:00.9

Andrew Joel 14:04.8

Sam Twine 14:07.9

Frazier Christie 14:18.7

Callum Johnson 14:18.9

Matt Gotrel 14:30.2

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ENTRY LIST (* denotes U23):  GB ROWING TEAM DECEMBER ASSESSMENT

(Name/club/home town/date of birth)
OPEN
MEN
Single scull
*Tom Barras (Leander Club/Staines/07.01.94)

Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers School/Coleraine/09.05.83)

Frazier Christie (Leander Club/Bath/11.01.93)

John Collins (Leander Club/Whitton/24.01.89)

Matt Gotrel (Leander Club/ Chipping Campden/01.03.89)/

Angus Groom (Leander Club/Glasgow/16.06.92)

*Andrew Joel (Leander Club/Windsor/08.06.95)

*Callum Johnson (Tees RC/Truro/31.01.94)

Peter Lambert (Leander Club/Maidenhead/03.12.86)

*Chris Lawrie (Sir William Borlase GS BC/Bourne End/21.04.97)

*Harry Leask (Leander Club/Edinburgh/19.10.95)

Nick Middleton (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/12.08.88)

Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey BC/Surbiton/27.03.88)

Alan Sinclair (Leander Club/Inverness/16.10.85)

*George Stewart (Molesey BC/Esher/14.04.95)

Jonathan Stimpson (Nottingham RC/Gex/18.07.90)

Graeme Thomas (Agecroft RC/Preston/08.11.88)

Sam Townsend (Reading Univ BC/Reading/26.11.85)

*Sam Twine (Reading Univ BC/Tavistock/06.01.94)

Jonny Walton (Leander Club/Leicester/06.10.90)

Pair (from bow to stroke)

Adam Neill (Leander Club/Peterborough/29.05.90)/

Cameron Buchan (Leander Club/Dunipace/03.12.92)
Chris Boddy (Leander Club/Thornaby-on-Tees/16.11.87)/

Phil Congdon (Leander Club/Bury St. Edmmunds/06.06.89)
Timothy Clarke (Leander Club/Henley on Thames/07.04.91)/

Tom Ford (Leander Club/Holmes Chapel/08.11.94)
Tom Ransley (Leander Club/Ashford/06.09.85)/

Stewart Innes (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/20.05.91)
Andy T Hodge (Molesey BC/Hebden/03.03.79)/

Matt Langridge (Leander Club/Northwich/20.05.83)
Pete Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth/27.07.81)/

Constantine Louloudis (Oxford Univ BC/London/15.09.91)
Oliver Cook (Univ of London BC/Windsor/05.06.90)/

Callum McBrierty (Leander Club/Edinburgh/13.08.92)
William Warr (Leander Club/Tunbridge Wells/12.03.92)/

Matt Rossiter (Leander Club/Newbury/25.09.89)
Barnaby Stentiford/ (Leander Club/Ipplepen/06.02.91)

George Rossiter (Leander Club/Newbury/09.03.92)
George Nash (Molesey BC/Guildford/02.10.89)/

Will Satch (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/09.06.89)
Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell (Univ of London BC/Durham/13.04.88)/

Matthew Tarrant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Shepperton/11.07.90)
Richard Clarke/(Univ of London BC – Brunel/Kingston-upon-Thames/06.11.93)/

Sam Whittaker (Molesey BC/Shrewsbury/04.03.92)

OPEN WOMEN

Single scull

Karen Bennett (Leander Club/Edingburgh/05.02.89)

*Alice Bowyer (Reading RC/Hilldale/26.02.97)

Rosamund Bradbury (Leander Club/Banstead/17.12.88)

Beth Bryan (Tees RC/Stockton on Tees/23.04.93)

*Lucy Burgess (Agecroft/Swindon/27.04.94)

Emily Carmichael (Leander Club/Cheltenham/29.05.92)

Olivia Carnegie-Brown (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Oxford/28.03.91)

Sam Courty (Reading RC/Alnwick/07.01.93)

Katherine Douglas (Leander Club/Edingburgh/03.08.89)

Jessica Eddie (London RC/Durham/07.10.84)

Debbie Flood (Leander Club/Henley on Thames/27.02.80)

*Emily Ford (Newcastle Univ BC/Holmes Chapel/08.11.94)

*Georgia Francis (Imperial College BC/Newbury/18.08.94)

Rebecca Girling (Molesey BC/Fareham/03.12.89)

Helen Glover (Minerva Bath RC/Penzance/17.06.86)

Lucinda Gooderham (Leander Club/ Garboldisham/09.06.84)

*Holly Hill (Isle of Ely RC/Gossington/23.01.94)

*Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne (Reading Univ BC/ Hereford/01.10.94)

Frances Houghton (Univ of London – Tyrian Club/Oxford/19.09.80)

Aimee Jonckers (Molesey BC/Maidenhead/07.07.90)

Nicole Lamb (Newcastle Univ BC/Hexham/20.01.93)

Zoe Lee (Imperial College BC/Richmond, N. Yorkshire/15.12.85)

*Jessica Leyden (Leander Club/Todmorden/22.02.95)

Vicky Meyer-Laker (Leander Club/Premnay/18.03.88)

Holly Nixon (Leander Club/Enniskillen/07.12.93)

Holly Norton (Leander Club/Johannesburgh/01.01.93)

Louisa Reeve (Leander Club/London/16.05.84)

Heather Stanning (Army RC/Lossiemouth/26.01.85)

Polly Swann (Leander Club/Edinburgh/05.06.88)

Victoria Thornley (Leander Club/Wrexham/30.11.87)

Melanie Wilson (Imperial College BC/London/25.06.84)

Melissa Wilson (Cambridge Univ Women’s BC/Guernsey/10.06.93)

Jo Wratten (Tees RC/Middlesbrough/23.03.92)

LIGHTWEIGHT

MEN

Single Scull

Mark Aldred (London RC/Birmingham/18.04.87)

Chris Bartley (Leander Club/Wrexham/02.02.84)

*Joel Cassells (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/15.06.94)

Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/14.03.90)

Richard Chambers (Leander Club/Coleraine/10.06.85)

Jono Clegg (Leander Club/Maidenhead/14.07.89)

Jamie Copus (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Watlington/30.01.93)

*Matthew Curtis (Edinburgh University BC/Durham/14.10.95)

*Alastair Douglass (Molesey BC/Shepperton/22.06.95)

*Edward Fisher (Leander Club/Nottingham/16.04.94)

Will Fletcher (Leander Club/Chester-le-Street/24.12.89)

Hugh Gallie (Agecroft/Barcelos, Portugal/06.09.89)

John Hale (Imperial College/Cambridge/28.02.88)

*Gavin Horsburgh (Edinburgh Univ BC/Lochwinnoh/26.08.97)

*Jonathan Jackson (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/02/06/95)

Zak Lee-Green (Agecroft RC/Cardiff/05.02.91)

Thomas Marshall (Molesey BC/Mold/12.03.94)

Samuel Mottram (Leander Club/Stoke Mandeville/14.11.94)

Steven Parsonage (Leander Club/Norwich/16.01.96)

Timothy Richards (Imperial College BC/Goring-on-Thames/17.05.92)

Sam Scrimgeour (Imperial College BC/Kirriemuir/28.01.88)

Sam Tuck (Molesey BC/Peterborough/26.07.93)

Charles Waite-Roberts (Leander Club/Basingstoke/06.11.92)

WOMEN

Single scull

Kat Copeland (Tees RC/Stokesley/01.12.90)

Emily Craig (University of London BC/Mark Cross/30.11.92)

Gemma Hall (Wallingford RC/Wargrave/10.04.92)

Robyn Hart-Winks (Edinburgh Univ BC/Kirriemuir/17.10.93)

Francesca Rawlins (Leander Club/Uckfield/08.07.86)

Brianna Stubbs (Wallingford RC/Poole/13.07.91)

Ruth Walzcak (Molesey BC/Rochdale/15.09.88)

Imogen Walsh (London RC/Inverness/17.01.84)