Eleven A Finals and silver medal for U23s in Varese
Great Britain’s rowers produced strong performances in their semi-final and final races today at the U23 World Championships in Varese, adding 3 more ‘A’ finals qualifications to the eight achieved yesterday. This means that eleven of GB’s thirteen boats have got through to ‘A’ finals, the World Top Six. GB also finished the day with a silver medal in the lightweight men’s pair, with Wilf Kimberley and Charles Waite-Roberts producing a superb performance in their ‘A’ final.
In a hotly contested race the Czech pairing of Jan Hajek and Michael Humpolec held a lead of two lengths over the first half of the race, with Kimberley and Waite-Roberts vying for second with Canada and Germany. All the challenging crews came back strongly in the second 1000m and the GB pair held off the Canadians, Grayson Gray and James Myers, to win a silver medal in a time of 6:44.47, just half a second behind the Czech Republic.
Following the race, Waite-Roberts said: “We didn’t leave anything out there, we gave everything we had”.
Kimberley added: “That was our best, a great race and so close”.
The men’s coxed four of Sybren Hoogland, Tim Grant, Will Warr, Callum McBrierty and cox Harry Brightmore were just a third of a second away from getting themselves on the medal podium, as they finished fourth in today’s ‘A’ final.
In another tight race Canada’s crew managed to maintain their lead from 1000m to the finish to win gold, and New Zealand’s four came from last place at the halfway mark to finish second. France’s crew sat in third for the majority of the race and just managed to hold off a final surge from the GB boat in the closing stages, as they made up nigh on three seconds on the French crew of the final 500m. They finished in a time of 6:19.63.
Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne, Holly Nixon, Jo Wratten and Lucy Burgess raced in the ‘A’ final of the women’s quadruple scull against some tough opposition this afternoon. They produced a solid race over the first 1500m as they stayed within touching distance of the medal positions. They couldn’t quite force their way passed New Zealand’s crew though, which sat in third place for the duration. They were pipped on the line to fourth place by Germany, with Russia and Poland taking gold and silver respectively.
GB women’s lightweight quad of Ellie Lewis, Jess Elkington, Gemma Hall and Lucy Cruxton also finished just outside the medal places in their ‘A’ final today.
Germany produced a solid race as they held the lead throughout, with Italy taking a silver medal on home waters. The GB crew were just unable to find a way of getting to a bronze medal ahead of Switzerland, finishing in 6:46.89.
The men’s four of James Cook, George Rossiter, James Rudkin and Lewis McCue competed in the final race of the day in Varese, finishing in fifth place in their ‘A’ final. Italy’s crew led the race throughout, winning a gold medal. Germany and Romania proved too strong as they battled it out for second and third, Germany winning silver and Romania bronze.
Earlier in the day in the semifinal races, GB produced some strong racing to ensure six more crews will race in the ‘A’ finals tomorrow.
Jess Leyden came through her women’s single scull semifinal in a fantastic race, where the lead changed hands three times between the 19-year old Hollingworth Lake sculler, Latvia’s Elza Gulbe, who won a bronze in this event last year, and Jovana Arsic of Serbia.
Arsic got a fast start to open up a two second lead at the 500m mark, and remained in pole position at the halfway point. Leyden though, began to shift through the gears and took the lead at 1500m. Gulbe also upped the pace to move ahead of Arsic and eventually nudged into the lead to finish first, with Leyden second in a time of 7:51.15. Tomorrow’s ‘A’ final promises to be another exciting race.
Angus Groom and Jack Beaumont produced a strong comeback in their semifinal of the men’s double scull in an exciting contest this afternoon, after a slow start to the race. The German double of Florian Eidam and Timo Pointek tore out of the blocks to lead the field after the first 500m, with Groom and Beaumont sitting in fourth. The GB double had plenty left in the tank though and moved up into second place behind Lithuania, as the Germans were not able to maintain their pace from the start.
Lithuania produced a strong race to finish first, Groom and Beaumont progressed through to tomorrow’s ‘A’ final in 2nd place in a time of 6:32.09 – over four seconds ahead of the Germans in third, who appeared to suffer from going so hard off the start line. It was an encouraging race for the GB double as they came through the field having been slightly off the pace at the start.
GB women’s lightweight single sculler Emily Craig progressed through to tomorrow’s ‘A’ final after a hard fought race where the 22-year old jostled with Cyprus’s Anna Ioannou for 2nd place as Aikaterini Nikolaidou of Greece led the field throughout. With barely a second separating the two for the majority of the race, the Cypriot managed to secure second place over the last 500m with Craig eventually finishing third in 7:57.87, doing extremely well to hold off a strong challenge from Sonata Petrikaite of Lithuania.
Sam Mottram was Craig’s male counterpart in the squad, racing in the men’s lightweight single in today’s semifinal. Mottram did not manage to emulate Craig’s efforts however, as he finished just outside the qualifying spots for the ‘A’ final. In spite of a late surge which meant he finished six seconds ahead of fifth place, he couldn’t quite find the yards to move into third ahead of Belgium’s Tim Bryce. Mottram will race in the ‘B’ final tomorrow.
After finishing fourth in their repechage yesterday, the GB men’s quad of Tom Barras, Seb Devereux, Robbie Massey and Sholto Carnegie raced in the ‘C’ final this morning. They came up against the American and Belarusian quads, winning the race in a time of 6:04.73.
Following the day’s racing, GB Lead U23 Coach Peter Sheppard said: “Well done to Wilf and Charles for coming so close to gold in the lightweight men’s pair. Our other boats were just short of the medals but gave a good account of themselves at this top class international competition”.
Tomorrow is the final day of the competition, with GB’s lightweight women’s single, lightweight men’s four, women’s single, men’s double and the men’s and women’s eights all racing in ‘A’ finals.
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RESULTS
(Events featuring GB Rowing Team crews only. For full results visit: http://www.worldrowing.com/events/2014-world-rowing-u23-championships/schedule-results)
A FINAL RESULTS
OPEN
WOMEN
Quadruple scull – Final A
1. Russia 6:25.20
2. Poland 6:26.52
3. New Zealand 6:30.19
4. Germany 6:30.83
5. Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne/Holly Nixon/Josephine Wratten/Lucy Burgess (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:31.99
6. Romania 6:39.48
OPEN
MEN
Four – Final A
1. Italy 5:55.37
2. Germany 5:56.28
3. Romania 5:57.19
4. Spain 5:59.63
5. James Cook/George Rossiter/James Rudkin/Lewis McCue (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:00.03
6. USA 6:00.42
Coxed Four – Final A
1. Canada 6:13.85
2. New Zealand 6:14.49
3. France 6:19.32
4. Sybren Hoogland/Timothy Grant/William Warr/Callum McBrierty/Harry Brightmore (cox)
(GREAT BRITAIN) 6:19.63
5. USA 6:20.02
6. Italy 6:22.86
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Quadruple scull – Final A
1. Germany 6:39.67
2. Italy 6:40.80
3. Switzerland 6:43.55
4. Elisha Lewis/Jessica Elkington/Gemma Hall/Lucy Cruxton (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:46.89
5. USA 6:47.59
6. Hungary 6:55.74
LIGHTWEIGHT
MEN
Pair – Final A
1. Jan Hajek/Michael Humpolec (Czech Republic) 6:43.97
2. Wilf Kimberley/Charles Waite-Roberts (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:44.47
3. Grayson Gray/James Myers (Canada) 6:44.96
4. Felix Brummel/Sven Ditzel (Germany) 6:45.05
5. Etienne Girerd/Alexis Guerinot (France) 6:51.95
6. John Armitage/Hamish Parry (Australia) 6:52.14
SEMIFINAL AND C FINAL RESULTS
OPEN
WOMEN
Single scull – Semifinal A/B 1
1. Elza Gulbe (Latvia) 7:49.65
2. Jess Leyden (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:51.15
3. Jovana Arsic (Serbia) 7:55.37
4. Krisztina Gyimes (Hungary) 7:55.64
5. Tatsiana Klimovich (Belarus) 8:05.84
6. Samantha Casto (USA) 8:07.92
OPEN
MEN
Double scull – Semifinal A/B 2
1. Aurimas Adomavicius/Rolandas Mascinskas (Lithuania) 6:31.33
2. Angus Groom/Jack Beaumont (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:32.09
3. Florian Eidam/Timo Pointek (Germany) 6:36.86
4. Erik Solbakken/Kris Cato Tohn (Norway) 6:40.54
5. Jacopo Mancini/Antonio Vicino (Italy) 6:48.81
6. Denis Yarov/Maxim Kuzub (Russia) 6:58.13
Quadruple scull – Final C
1. Thomas Barras/Sebastian Devereux/Robert Massey/Sholto Carnegie (GREAT BRITAIN)
2. Belarus 6:05.09
3. USA 6:17.91
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull – Semifinal A/B 2
1. Aikaterini Nikolaidou (Greece) 7:52.51
2. Anna Ioannou (Cyprus) 7:56.31
3. Emily Craig (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:57.87
4. Sonata Petrikaite (Lithuania) 8:02.43
5. Kathrin Morbe (Germany) 8:19.85
6. Anna Berger (Austria) 8:27.26
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull – Semifinal A/B 2
1. Andrew Campbell Jr (USA) 7:07.53
2. Daniel Matyasovszki (Hungary) 7:13.36
3. Tim Brys (Belgium) 7:16.84
4. Samuel Mottram (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:19.59
5. Uncas Batista (Brazil) 7:25.92
6. Luka Radonic (Croatia) 8:16.44
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GB SQUAD FOR WORLD U23 ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS, VARESE, ITALY
OPEN
WOMEN
Eight
Katie Bartlett (Nottingham RC/Nottingham/02.02.1994)
Anastasia Chitty (Oxford Univ Women’s BC/London/07.12.1993)
Melissa Wilson (Cambridge Univ Women’s BC/Edinburgh/10.06.1993)
Georgia Francis (Imperial College BC/Newbury/18.08.1994)
Sam Courty (Bath Univ BC/Alnwick/07.01.1993)
Ruth Whyman (Gloucester RC/Tewkesbury/07.03.1992)
Fiona Gammond (Headington School Oxford BC/Bicester/19.10.1992)
Nicole Lamb (Newcastle Univ BC/Hexham/20.01.1993)
Morgan Baynham-Williams (cox) (Leander Club/Ross-On-Wye/28.06.1994)
Coach: Jesse Burgoine
Single Scull
Jess Leyden (Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club/Burnley/22.02.1995)
Coach: Ian John
Quadruple scull
Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne (Gloucester Hartpury/Hereford/01.10.1994)
Holly Nixon (Leander Club/Enniskillen/07.12.1993)
Jo Wratten (Tees RC/Middlesbrough/23.03.1992)
Lucy Burgess (Northwich RC/Northwich/27.04.1994)
Coach: Pete Sheppard
OPEN
MEN
Four
Jamie Cook (Univ of London BC/Windsor/02.07.1992)
George Rossiter (Leander Club/Newbury/09.03.1992)
James Rudkin (Newcastle Univ BC/Litchborough/07.07.1994)
Lewis McCue (Robert Gordon Univ BC/Aberdeen/26.12.1994)
Coach: Brian Young
Eight
James Johnston (Leander/Henley-On-Thames/26.08.1994)
Tom Ford (Newcastle Univ BC/Holmes Chapel/03.10.1992)
Cameron Buchan (Leander/Dunipace/03.12.1992)
Tom Pagel (Griffen BC/Oxford/28.05.1994)
Morgan Hellen (Molesey BC/Maidstone/19.10.1992)
Tom George (Leander/Oxford/22.09.1994)
Ed Grisedale (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Congleton/09.12.1993)
Ollie Wynne-Griffiths (Molesey BC/Guildford/29.05.1994)
Ian Middleton (cox) (Cambridge Univ BC/Oxford/27.06.1995)
Coach: Steve Trapmore
Double scull
Angus Groom (Leander Club/Glasgow/16.06.1992)
Jack Beaumont (Leander Club/Maidenhead/21.11.1993)
Coach: Matt Beechey
Quadruple scull
Tom Barras (Cardiff Univ BC/Staines/07.01.1994)
Seb Devereux (Leander Club/Chalfont Saint Giles/15.02.1995)
Robbie Massey (Cardiff Univ BC /Shrewsbury/14.12.1992)
Sholto Carnegie (Leander Club/Oxford/28.02.1995)
Coach: Ian Shore
Coxed Four
Sybren Hoogland (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Norwich/03.11.93)
Tim Grant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Sevenoaks/02.07.1993)
Will Warr (Leander Club/Tunbridge Wells/12.03.1992)
Callum McBrierty (Leander Club/Edinburgh/13.08.1992)
Harry Brightmore (cox) (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Chester/01.07.1994)
Coach: Angelo Savarino
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull
Emily Craig (Univ of London BC/Mark Cross/30.11.1992)
Coach: Phil Gray
Quadruple scull
Ellie Lewis (Agecroft RC/Marlow/14.04.1994)
Jess Elkington (Exeter Univ BC/Exeter/29.08.1992)
Gemma Hall (Newcastle Univ BC/Wargrave/10.04.1992)
Lucy Cruxton (Reading Univ BC/Stoke-On-Trent/22.12.1993)
Coach: Phil Gray
LIGHTWEIGHT
MEN
Pair
Wilf Kimberley (Imperial College BC/London/15.07.1992)
Charles Waite-Roberts (Univ of West England BC/Basingstoke/06.11.1992)
Coach: Stuart Whitelaw
Four
Jamie Copus (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Chicago/30.01.1993)
Iain Mandale (Isis BC/Surbiton/27.01.1993)
Tim Richards (Imperial College BC/Goring-On-Thames/17.05.1992)
Joel Cassells (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/15.06.1994)
Coach: Henry Bailhache-Webb
Single Scull
Sam Mottram (Leander Club/Stoke Mandeville/14.11.1994)
Coach: Clive Cooper
