Successful weekend in Essen for GB Rowing Team

May 17, 2015

A number of wins across the senior and U23 categories provided the icing on a successful 2015 International Huegel Regatta in Essen, Germany, this weekend for the GB Rowing Team.

“We have had a very good regatta”, said Sir David Tanner, Performance Director for the GB Rowing Team. “It has been a fantastic opportunity to race at senior and U23 level and to see our emerging rowers competing well.

“For our U23s it’s been about immersing them in a challenging environment because we can’t get this depth of competition at home”.

2014 World U23 medallists, Angus Groom and Jack Beaumont, took the opportunity to hone their racing skills in the open men’s single on Saturday, their focus event for the weekend.

They produced a great one-two for GB, with Groom getting the victory, before teaming up on Sunday to race to a close second behind Argentina in the open men’s double. GB development rowers Dan Clift and Nick Middleton (from the Isle of Ely and Leander Club) were third in that race.

The GB men’s four of Oli Cook, Tom George, Mat Tarrant and Calum McBrierty were fourth on Saturday but put in a much better performance on Sunday to take second.

Olympian Beth Rodford, from Gloucester RC, was consistent across the two days, with two second places in the open women’s single – she will race in the quadruple scull at the European Championships in Poznan, Poland, imminently and is now well on the recovery track after a disrupted winter’s training.

Rebecca Chin and Karen Bennett (of Agecroft and Leander Clubs) were double winners, taking victory in the women’s pair on both days – albeit from a narrow field. This duo will be GB reserves in Poland later this month.

The GB U23 women’s four won twice in different combinations with Sam Courty, from the University of Bath, and Emily Ford, from Newcastle University, featuring in both victories.

Zak Lee Green led off the lightweights on Saturday with a win in the lightweight men’s single scull. Agecroft RC’s Welsh dentist, Lee Green, took top spot in the lightweight men’s single scull in a time of 8:17,12, over four seconds ahead of Johannes Unsprung of Germany.

On Sunday, Lee Green teamed up with Jamie Copus to take second place in the lightweight double scull.

Sunday also saw a great GB lightweight one-two at U23 level through Flo Pickles and Lucy Cruxton (of Gloucester-Hartpury and Reading University) and Emma McDonald and Maddie Arlett (of Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities) in the double scull.

On Saturday, Wallingford RC’s Brianna Stubbs and Ellie Piggott were third and fourth in the lightweight women’s single. They teamed up with Ruth Walczak and Emily Craig on Sunday in the lightweight women’s quadruple scull and raced to victory.

The U23 lightweight men were also in great form on Sunday taking victory in the double through Sam Mottram and Steven Parsonage and in the four though the efforts of Ben Reeves, Ed Fisher, Jonathan Jackson and Alastair Douglass.

2013 World lightweight single scull bronze medallists, Walczak, racing with Craig, rounded off the Saturday racing for the GB squad with a third place finish in the lightweight women’s double scull.

A number of U23 rowers were looking to impress this weekend ahead of this summer’s World U23 Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

“We’re also looking ahead and this is part of the planning for the Tokyo Olympic cycle, too”, said Sir David.

Peter Sheppard, GB Rowing Team lead on U23s, said: “It’s all about teaching some of the younger rowers who won’t get the chance to race at the senior Europeans to be winners.

“For the U23s, it’s the first time in four years that we have raced at this regatta. They have really moved on a lot over the two days and learnt a lot. It has been the first opportunity many of them have had to measure themselves against an international field”.

RESULTS: http://www.errv.com/pages/races/huegelregatta/registration/live-results.php?lang=EN

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