Trio of Olympic Champions amongst six title winners at GB Rowing Team Trials
Olympic champions featured in three of the six title-winning crews at the GB Rowing Team Senior Trials at Caversham today in a finals racing session full of exciting finishes.
The much awaited contest between single scullers Charles Cousins and Alan Campbell, though, fell flat when Campbell was disqualified for attracting two yellow cards – one for arriving late at the start and the second for a false start.
Campbell was allowed to race but Agecroft’s Graeme Thomas was the surprise package with an explosive start before leading the race until the final 250m when Cousins, of Leander, surged through. That left Tideway Sculler Campbell in third but last on the score sheet with Peter Lambert elevated to third.
“It was a tough and long race because of the headwind but I’m really pleased with it”, said Cousins.
2012 gold medallist Alex Gregory and his men’s pair partner Moe Sbihi were also quick off the start in their final and seemed set for comfortable victory until Molesey’s Andrew Triggs Hodge, also a 2012 winner, and George Nash edged back to gain an overlap with 500m to go.
For a few seconds, with 250m to go, the Hodge-Nash bow ball seemed to move ahead before Gregory and Sbihi – a Leander-Molesey combination – responded to win. Alan Sinclair and Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell concluded a solid day of racing to take third.
Sbihi said: “We actually had a really good start and we were leading the
field, then coming into the last kilometre ‘Hodgey’ and George really dug deep.
“I was always fairly confident that we would get it, and then they actually started
to come back on us really sharp and I think they even took the lead, from my
perception anyway. That’s when it was just head down, “Greggers” made the call
and we went for it. It was the killer blow”.
Peter Reed, the third men’s 2012 champion on the race-card today, was ruled out of the final with bronchial problems and his seat was taken by Mat Tarrant, of Oxford Brookes, who finished fifth with Reed’s partner Will Satch.
Due to adverse predicted weather conditions tomorrow the rowers all had to race three times today in quick succession.
“We should congratulate all the rowers on such strong performances today and for stepping up to race three times in difficult conditions”, said Sir David Tanner, the GB Rowing Team Performance Director.
“They produced some great racing and we are now in a good place for the next few weeks as we look at refining selections for the European Championships”, he added.
New names emerged to take honours in the lightweight men’s single scull. Jamie Kirkwood, of Leander, seemed to cruise to victory in a strong second-half performance in lane one. Behind him Will Fletcher battled impressively to beat Peter Chambers by an eventually large margin after a close first half.
Kirkwood said: “I’m over the moon to have won. For me it was really important to do well here and to impress the coaches and I’m pleased all the hard work has paid off. I thought a win here might be possible after the [pre-event] training camp in Italy. Things have been going pretty well these last few months”.
Kat Copeland, the 2012 lightweight women’s double scull champion, returned to winning ways in the lightweight women’s single scull event here, having missed the post-Olympic season entirely at international level. She moved out to an early lead over Imogen Walsh in today’s lightweight women’s single final. Walsh, in turn, eased out to a comfortable margin to take second ahead of Putney Town’s Charlotte Taylor after a tight first 500m.
Copeland said: “It’s pretty windy today and it’s pretty slow but it was exciting,
I really enjoyed it. I think what’s really exciting for me is that there’s a group of
really good girls at the top which means that we’re going to have a really strong
double, which is what matters”.
Vicky Thornley, the former model and skilled show-jumper who came into the sport through “Start” and, like Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, learnt to row at the University of Bath, proved her continuing maturity in this sport.
The Leander Club member won the open women’s single scull title by some distance – almost seven seconds ahead of Frances Houghton. Beth Rodford, of Gloucester RC, was third putting in a strong performance form an unfavoured lane. Houghton’s 2013 women’s double scull partner, Vicky Meyer Laker, was fourth.
Thornley said: “I thought I would have a bit more of a race on my hands. I went into it confident in my ability and how I was going, but I was quite surprised at the distance I won by so I’m really pleased with it”.
Helen Glover and Heather Stanning might have resumed their 2012 Olympic gold-medal winning partnership for the first time here since those London Games but they did not have it all their own way in the women’s pair final.
They led early and seemed to have stretched out to an unassailable lead. Polly Swann, 2013 World Champion with Glover, and Olympian Jess Eddie obviously had a different view as they dug deep and cut back the margin with 250m to go. At the end the verdict went to the Cornish-Scottish combination but it was not as comfortable as they might have wished.
“It was really brilliant to be back racing with Helen, it feels like I’m in old shoes again”, said Stanning.
Glover commented on the selection decisions ahead of next month’s European Championships in Belgrade. She said: “All we can do is win the Trials and I’m sure the coaches will be talking, it’s in their hands, which is a nice feeling as you never want to be in a position choosing between friends”.
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================================
RESULTS
FINALS
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
Final A
1. Helen Glover/Heather Stanning (Minerva Bath RC/Army RC) 7:56.08
2. Jessica Eddie/Polly Swann (London RC/Leander Club) 7:57.22
3. Caragh McMurtry/Zoe Lee (Reading Univ BC/Imperial College BC) 8:12.97
4. Ro Bradbury/Olivia Carnegie-Brown (Leander Club/Oxford Brookes Univ BC) 8:29.21
5. Monica Relph/Donna Etiebet (Leander Club/Sport Imperial BC) 8:34.45
6. Georgia Francis/Samantha Courty (Imperial College BC/Bath Univ BC) 8:58.10
Final B
1. Michelle Pearson/Katherine Douglas (Leander Club) 8:37.13
2. Michelle Vezie/Claire McKeown (Imperial College BC/Clydesdale RC) 8:45.45
3. Emily Ford/Nicole Lamb (Newcastle Univ BC) 8:48.45
4. Karen Bennett/Pippa Burnham (Molesey BC/Exeter Univ BC) 9:00.97
5. Georgina Grandfield/Natalie Irvine (Edinburgh Univ BC/Strathclyde Park BC) 9:12.23
6. Amber Anderson/Margery Pepper (Molesey BC/Univ West of England BC) 9:17.60
Single Scull
Final A
1. Victoria Thornley (Leander Club) 8:36.12
2. Frances Houghton (Leander Club) 8:43.39
3. Beth Rodford (Gloucester RC) 8:46.34
4. Victoria Meyer-Laker (Leander Club) 8:50.38
5. Tina Stiller (Tees RC) 8:51.83
6. Jessica Layden (Hollingworth Lake) 9:01.84
Final B
1. Louisa Reeve (Leander Club) 8:39.99
2. Katie Greves (Leander Club) 8:46.18
3. Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne (Gloucester Hartpury) 8:49.77
4. Rachel Gamble-Flint (Leander Club) 8:51.47
5. Lucy Burgess (Northwich RC) 8:57.44
6. Rebecca Chin (Agecroft RC) 9:01.13
OPEN
MEN
Pair
Final A
1. Mohamed Sbihi/Alex Gregory (Molesey BC/Leander Club) 7:02.57
2. George Nash/Andy Triggs Hodge (Molesey BC) 7:03.39
3. Alan Sinclair/Nathaniel Really-O’Donnell (Leander Club/Univ of London BC) 7:18.65
4. Matthew Gotrel/Paul Bennett (Leander Club/Univ of London BC) 7:20.64
5. Matthew Tarrant/Will Satch (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Leander Club) 7:25.42
6. Oliver Cook/James Foad (Univ of London BC/Molesey BC) 7:30.24
Final B
1. Mason Durant/Phil Congdon (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Molesey BC) 7:20.98
2. Edward Grisedale/Richard Hawkins (Oxford Brookes Univ BC) 7:28.17
3. Francis Highton/George Rossiter (Leander Club) 7:31.82
4. Timothy Clarke/Adam Neill (Leander Club) 7:32.69
5. William Warr/Callum McBrierty (Leander Club) 7:34.35
Single Scull
Final A
1. Charles Cousins (Leander Club) 7:40.56
2. Graeme Thomas (Agecroft RC) 7:42.39
3. Peter Lambert (Leander Club) 8:00.27
4. John Collins (Leander Club) 8:08.38
5. Jack Beaumont (Leander Club) 8:09.74
6. Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers School) DSQ
Final B
1. Jonny Walton (Leander Club) 8:05.05
2. Angus Groom (Leander Club) 8:06.71
3. Sholto Carnegie (Leander Club) 8:10.23
4. Stewart Innes (Leander Club) 8:17.48
5. Sam Townsend (Reading Univ BC) 8:24.63
6. Constantine Louloudis (Oxford Univ BC) DNF
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Final A
1. Kat Copeland (Tees RC) 8:24.94
2. Imogen Walsh (London RC) 8:30.47
3. Charlotte Taylor (Putney Town RC) 8:45.54
4. Eleanor Piggott (Wallingford RC) 8:57.09
5. Emily Craig (Univ of London BC) 9:00.13
6. Brianna Stubbs (Wallingford RC) 9:03.33
Final B
1. Ellie Lewis (Agecroft RC) 9:05.14
2. Emma McDonald (Glasgow Univ BC) 9:16.03
3. Hannah Traylen (Exeter Univ BC) 9:19.56
4. Yasmin Marks (Nottingham RC) 9:22.47
5. Suzi Perry (Univ West of England BC) 9:37.55
LIGHTWEIGHT
MEN
Single Scull
Final A
1. Jamie Kirkwood (Leander Club) 7:56.97
2. Will Fletcher (Leander Club) 8:09.51
3. Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes Univ BC) 8:16.26
4. Richard Chambers (Leander Club) 8:19.54
5. Sam Scrimgeour (Imperial College BC) 8:25.97
6. Jonathan Clegg (Leander Club) 8:29.07
Final B
1. Adam Freeman-Pask (Reading Univ BC) 7:58.40
2. Mark Aldred (London RC) 8:06.58
3. Joel Cassells (Oxford Brookes Univ BC) 8:15.98
4. Matthew Bedford (Univ of London BC) 8:23.01
5. Chris Bartley (Leander Club) 8:28.76
6. Chris Boddy (Leander Club) MED
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================================
ENTRY LIST
* denotes U23
OPEN
MEN
SINGLE
Tom Barras (Cardiff Univ BC/Staines/07/01/1994)*
Jack Beaumont (Leander Club/Maidenhead/21.11.93)
Josh Bugajski (Leander Club/Cardiff/05.10.90)
Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers School/Coleraine/09.05.83)
Sholto Carnegie (Leander Club/London/28.02.1995)*
Dan Clift (Isle of Ely RC/Torpoint/15.06.88)
John Collins (Leander Club/Twickenham/24.01.89)
Charles Cousins (Leander Club/Willingham/13.12.88)
Sebastian Devereux (Leander Club/Hillingdon/15.02.1995)*
Harry Glenister (Molesey BC/Hillingdon/02.07.1995)*
Angus Groom (Leander Club/Glasgow/16.06.92)*
Matthew Hnatiw (Oxford Brookes Univ)*
Stewart Innes (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/20.05.91)
Andrew Joel (Reading Univ BC/Slough/08.06.1995)*
Pete Lambert (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/03.12.86)
Matt Langridge (Leander Club/Northwich/20.05.83) – WITHDRAWN (MEDICAL)
Constantine Louloudis (Oxford Univ BC/London/15.09.1991)
Bill Lucas (London RC/Kingswear/13.09.87) – WITHDRAWN (MEDICAL)
Robert Massey (Cardiff Univ BC)*
Dominic Meyrick-Cole (Univ of London BC)
Nick Middleton (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/12.08.88)
Christopher Revell (Caius)
Dan Ritchie (Leander Club/Herne Bay/16.01.87) – NEW ENTRY (transferred from men’s pair after MED withdrawal of Ransley).
Barnaby Stentiford (Leander Club/Torquay/06.02.91)
Graeme Thomas (Agecroft RC/Preston/08.11.88)
Josh Tonnar (Moseley BC)
Dominic Tope (Reading Univ BC)*
Sam Townsend (Reading Univ BC/Reading/26.11.85)
Lance Tredell (Leander Club/Hale/25.10.88)
Tristan Vouilloz (Imperial Coll)*
Jonathan Walton (Leander Club/Leicester/06.10.90)
Samuel Whittaker (Cardiff Univ BC)*
PAIR
Frazier Christie (Bath Univ BC/Watchfield/11.01.93)*/ Lewis McCue (Robert Gordon Univ BC/Aberdeen/26.12.94)*
Richard Clarke (Univ of London BC)*/Alex Wilding (Univ of Bath BC/18.01.1993)
Timothy Clarke (Leander Club/07.04.91)/Adam Neill (Leander Club)
Oliver Cook (Univ of London BC – LSE/Windsor/05.06.90)/James Foad (Molesey BC/Southampton/20.03.97)
James Cook (Univ of London BC – UCL/Windsor/02.07.92)*/ Rory Bufacchi (Univ of London – UCL)
Mason Durant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Lancaster/12.02.88)/Phil Congdon (Molesey BC/East Molesey/06.06.89)
Scott Durant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Lancaster/12.02.88)/Matthew Tarrant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Shepperton/11.07.90)
Matthew Gotrel (Leander Club/Chipping Camden/01.03.89)/ Paul Bennett (Univ of London BC/Leeds/16.12.88)
Edward Grisedale (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Congleton/09.12.93)*/Timothy Grant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Otford/02.07.93)*
Francis Highton (Leander Club/Edinburgh/10.04.91)/George Rossiter (Leander Club/Oxford/09.03.1992)*
Sybren Hoogland (Oxford Brookes Univ)* /Oliver Holt (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Chester/11.01.92)*
Callum Jones (Oxford Brookes Univ)*/Richard Hawkins (Oxford Brookes Univ)*
James Martyn Smith (Oxford Brookes Univ/Altrincham/27.07.91)/Louis Paterson (Oxford Brookes Univ)
Henry Millar (Edinburgh Univ BC)*/ Graham Ord (Edinburgh Univ BC)*
William Moorhouse (Oxford Brookes Univ)/Morgan Bolding (Oxford Brookes Univ/Leeds/13.05.1995)*
George Nash (Molesey BC/Guildford/02.10.89)/Andrew Triggs Hodge (Molesey BC/Hebden/03.03.79)
Tom Ransley (Leander Club/Cambridge/16.09.85)/Dan Ritchie (Leander Club/Herne Bay/16.01.87)- WITHDRAWN – MEDICAL – RANSLEY
Peter Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth/27.07.81)/William Satch (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/09.06.89)
James Rudkin (Newcastle Univ/Litchborough/07.07.94)*/Thomas Ford (Newcastle Univ BC/Holmes Chapel/03.10.92)
Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey BC/Surbiton/27.03.88)/Alex Gregory (Leander Club/Wormington/11.03.84)
Alan Sinclair (Leander Club/Inverness/16.10.85) Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell (Univ of London BC/Durham/13.04.88)
Sam Twine (Reading Univ BC)*/Luke Moon (Molesey BC/Deal, Kent/25.03.93)*
William Warr (Leander Club/Durham/12.03.92)*/Callum McBrierty (Leander Club/Edinburgh/13.08.93)*
WOMEN
SINGLE
Katie Bartlett (Nottingham RC/Nottingham/02.02.94)*
Lucy Burgess (Northwich RC/Swindon/27.04.1994)*
Anastasia Chitty (Oxford Univ Women’s BC/London/07.12.93)*
Rachel Gamble-Flint (Leander Club/Darlington/13.09.1991)
Lucinda Gooderham (Leander Club/09.06.84) – WITHDRAWN – MEDICAL
Katie Greves (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.82)
Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne (Gloucester Hartpury)*
Frances Houghton (Leander Club/Oxford/19.09.80)
Jessica Leyden (Hollingworth Lake/Burnley/22.02.1995)
Victoria Meyer-Laker (Leander Club/Premnay/18.03.88)
Holly Nixon (Leander Club/Enniskillen/07.12.1993)* – WITHDRAWN MEDICAL
Louisa Reeve (Leander Club/London/16.05.84)
Beth Rodford (Gloucester RC/Burton-upon-Trent/28.12.1982)
Kristina Stiller (Tees RC/Yarm/23.06.87)
Victoria Thornley (Leander Club/Wrexham/30.11.87)
Yasmin Tredell (Oxford Brookes Univ/Chester/18.11.1992)
Pippa Whittaker (Leander)
Helen Wood (Imperial College BC/Maidenhead/16.03.87)
PAIR
Amber Anderson (Molesey BC)*/Margery Pepper (Univ West of England BC)*
Karen Bennett (Molesey BC/Perth/05.02.1989)/Pippa Burnham (Exeter Univ BC)
Rosamund Bradbury (Leander Club/Banstead/17.12.88)/Olivia Carnegie-Brown (Oxford
Brookes Univ BC/Oxford/28.13.91)
Stella D’Arch Smith (Agecroft RC/Uttoxeter/13.06.90)/Rebecca Chin (Agecroft RC/Salford/11.12.91)
Charlotte Drury (Durham Univ BC)*/Isabel Currie (Durham Univ BC)*
Jessica Eddie (London RC/Durham/07.10.84)/Polly Swann (Leander Club/Edinburgh/15.06.88)
Emily Ford (Newcastle Univ BC/08.11.94)*/ Nicole Lamb (Newcastle Univ BC/Hexham/20.01.93)
Georgina Francis (Sport Imperial BC)*/ Samantha Courty (Bath Univ BC)*
Holly Game (Cambridge Univ Women’s BC/Woodbridge/09.03.92)*/ Isabella Vyvyan (Cambridge Univ Women)
Helen Glover (Minerva Bath/Penzance/17.06.86)/ Heather Stanning (Army RC/Lossiemouth/26.01.1985)
Georgina Grandfield (Edinburgh Univ BC)/ Natalie Irvine (Strathclyde Univ BC)*
Lauren Kedar (Oxford Univ Women’s BC/Akrotiri/13.08.1995)*/TBC
Caragh McMurtry (Reading Univ BC/Southampton/22.08.91)/ Zoe Lee (Sport Imperial BC/Richmond/15.12.85)
Michelle Pearson (Leander Club)/ Katherine Douglas (Leander Club/Midlothian/03.08.89)
Monica Relph (Leander Club/Cambridge/15.01.88)/ Donna Etiebet (Sports Imperial BC)
Joanna Thom (Durham Univ BC)*/ Camilla Hadland (Durham Univ BC)*
Michelle Vezie (Sports Imperial BC/10.07.1989)/ Claire McKeown (Clydesdale ARC/Glasgow/16.07.90)
Claire Watkins (Cambridge Univ Women’s BC)*/ Melissa Wilson (Cambridge Univ Women’s BC)*
LIGHTWEIGHT
MEN
SINGLE
Mark Aldred (London RC/London/18.04.87)
Chris Bartley (Leander Club/Chester/02.02.84)
Matthew Bedford (Univ of London BC/Maidenhead/21.01.91)
Benjamin Board (Leander Club/West Sussex/09.03.93)*
Chris Boddy (Leander Club/Thornaby-on-Tees/16.11.87)
Kieran Brown (Edinburgh Univ BC)*
Nicholas Buckle (Leander Club/24.05.92)*
Joel Cassells (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/15.06.1994)*
Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/14.03.90)
Richard Chambers (Leander Club/Coleraine/10.06.85)
Tom Claxton (Edinburgh Univ BC)*
Jonathan Clegg (Leander Club/Maidenhead/14.07.89)
Jamie Copus (Oxford Brookes/30.01.93)*
William Davey (Nott m & Union)*
Donald Evans (Leander Club/Aryshire/28.09.88)
William Fletcher (Leander Club/Chester-le-Street/24.12.89)
Adam Freeman-Pask (Reading Univ BC/Windsor/19.06.85)
Hugh Gallie (Agecroft)
John Hale (Isle of Ely RC/Girton/28.02.88)
Stuart Heap (Tideway Scullers/10.04.87)
Andrzej Hunt (Granta)*
Wilf Kimberley (Imperial College BC/London/15.07.92)*
Jamie Kirkwood (Leander Club/Cresswell/30.08.89)
Zak Lee-Green (Agecroft)
Iain Mandale (Isis)*
George McKirdy (Nott m & Union/Univ of Nottingham)
Samuel Mottram (Leander Club)*
George Patrick (Newcastle Univ)*
Timothy Richards (Imperial College BC/London/12.05.92)*
Sam Scrimgeour (Imperial College BC/Fofar/28.01.88)
Jack Taylor (Univ of London BC-UCL)*
Sam Tuck (Durham Univ BC)*
Charles Waite-Roberts (W. of England Univ BC/Bristol/06.11.92)
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
SINGLE
Rosa Atkinson (Univ of London BC-Kings College/16.11.92)*
Katherine Copeland (Tees RC/Ashington/1.12.1990)
Emily Craig (Univ of London BC-Courtauld/East Sussex/30.11.92)*
Lucy Cruxton (Reading Univ BC/Stoke-on-Trent/22.12.93)*
Christie Duff (Robert Gordon Univ)* – WITHDRAWN (Medical)
Charlotte Dexter (Exeter Univ BC/Roxston/06.07.1991)
Jess Elkington (Exeter Univ)*
Gemma Hall (Newcastle Univ BC/Wargrave/10.04.92)*
Ellie Lewis (Sir William Borlase/Marlow/14.04.1994)*
Yasmin Marks (Nottingham RC)*
Emma McDonald (Glasgow Univ BC)*
Suzi Perry (Univ of West of England BC)*
Georgina Phillips (Imperial Coll)
Kate Parrish (Bristol Univ BC/Bedford/20.02.92)
Eleanor Piggott (Wallingford RC/Olney/16.05.91)
Elizabeth Polgreen (Wallingford RC/19.10.88) – WITHDRAWN
Francesca Rawlins (Mortlake A&A RC/Uckfield, East Sussex/08.07.1986)
Nicola Spencer (Nottingham RC/Nottingham/04.12.1986)
Brianna Stubbs (Wallingford RC/Headington/13.07.91)
Charlotte Taylor (Putney Town RC/London/14.08.85)
Hannah Traylen (Exeter Univ)*
Ruth Walczak (Molesey BC/Rochdale/15.09.88) – WITHDRAWN – MEDICAL
Imogen Walsh (London RC/Inverness/17.01.84)
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=================================================
CONTACT DETAILS
For media enquiries about the GB Rowing Team please contact:
The GB Rowing Team Press office at Matchtight Ltd on (01225) 384211 or [email protected]
For pictures please e-mail [email protected] or [email protected]
GB Rowing Team website, including full rower biogs: www.gbrowingteam.org.uk
Follow us on:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/gbrowingteam
Twitter: www.twitter.com/gbrowingteam
Youtube: www.youtube.com/gbrowingteam
==================================================
THE GB ROWING TEAM is supported by the Lottery through UK Sport and has Science in Sport as a supplier.
