GB Rowing Team sizzle into final of mixed para-rowing coxed four with world best time

The GB Rowing Team para-rowing mixed coxed four set the opening evening of racing alive at the World Cup in Varese, Italy, today with a sizzling new world best time of 3:15.47 to win their heat and blast into Saturday’s final.

Pamela Relph, Grace Clough, Dan Brown, James Fox and cox Oliver James were drawn in heat two with Israel and Brazil and took an early and storming lead. By halfway they had almost 10 seconds over the chasers and were comfortable winners in 3:15.47, a new world best time, to progress to the final along with Italy, winners of the first of two heats.

A few weeks ago Rachel Morris was still recovering from shoulder surgery. Today the 2008 Paralympic hand-cycling gold medalist, who turned to rowing less than two years ago, made her first foray back to competitive racing this season in the heats of the arms-shoulders women’s single scull at the world cup in Varese, Italy.

Moran Samuel of Israel won the heat and and Morris was pipped to the second qualifying spot for Saturday’s final by Claudia Santos of Brazil. The Guildford RC rower, who comes from Farnham, now races a repechage tomorrow as does the World Champion, Russia’s Marila Varianova, who came home fifth.

2014 World silver medallist Tom Aggar produced a good start in the equivalent men’s heat. He was led only by Brazil’s Rene Pereira, making his international debut here. Home hope Fabrizio Caselli was in third. Three places were on offer from the heat to move on to the semi-finals.

Aggar made doubly sure of his progression. A good push with 250m to go moved him though Pereira and into top spot in 4:46.59. Pereira took second and Caselli third.

The other two heats were won by 2014 World bronze medallist Alexey Chuvashev of Russia and 2014 World Champion Eric Horrie from Australia.

The GB Rowing Team para-rowing squad is supported by the National Lottery and Guide Dogss.

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====================================================================PREVIEW OF FRIDAY’S RACING

Re-focussed after an exciting European Championships, the GB Rowing Team has arrived in Varese, Italy, with a big squad for the World Cup starting this evening and finishing on Sunday 21st.

The lake is very still this evening with sultry conditions blocking out a view of the normally stunning mountain backdrop. Tomorrow’s forecast is also good.

Some adjustments have been made to the crews for this event from those announced on 8 June. James Foad, carrying a slight niggle, and Matt Langridge, European Champions in the men’s pair, have been withdrawn. Mat Tarrant and Calum McBrierty will be the lone GB pair in this event now.

Melanie Wilson, Kristina Stiller, Beth Rodford and Jessica Leyden have secured the four seats from five potential contenders, inducing Frances Houghton, in the women’s quadruple scull.

Many of the European gold-medal winning crews from Poznan 10 days ago remain unchanged, however, including the Olympic, World and European Champion women’s pair of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning and the men’s men’s four of Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell, Alan Sinclair, Tom Ransley and Scott Durant. as well as to Charlotte Taylor and Olympic Champion Kat Copeland in the lightweight women’s double scull.

New Zealand, China, Australia, the USA and Argentina will be fresh, non-European opposition here for the women’s pair who have drawn Italy, Croatia, Argentina and France in their heat which they will contest from an outside lane. Copeland and Taylor in the lightweight double have Japan as a newcomer in their heat.

The men’s four will race the USA, Cuba and New Zealand in their heat as well as Belarus and Poland.

Imogen Walsh, winner of lightweight women’s single scull gold, moves into a second lightweight women’s double scull with World U23 medallist Eleanor Piggott.

The European Champion lightweight men’s pair of Joel Cassells, an U23 silver medallist, and Peter Chambers, with all the experience of a 2012 silver medal to bring to the boat, make the switch into the lightweight men’s four to race with Mark Aldred and Chris Bartley, also a 2012 silver medallist.

Denmark, winners of European bronze in Poznan a few weeks ago, are absent here. GB start their campaign in this event by racing Japan, Canada, two Italian crews and France.

Sam Scrimgeour and Jono Clegg therefore return to the lightweight men’s pair – a boat in which they were 2014 World bronze medallists.

“We were delighted with the team’s performance at the European Championships but we are not getting carried away and we know that the tempo will rise in Varese with many big-hitting, non-European nations likely to enter”, said Sir David Tanner, GB Rowing Team Performance Director.

2012 light men’s four silver medallist Richard Chambers, older brother to Peter, and Will Fletcher remain the GB lightweight men’s double for Varese having impressed on their first international outing together to take silver. They are drawn alongside the experienced Peter Taylor and Hayden Cohen of New Zealand in tomorrow’s heats.

Henry Fieldman takes his turn in the cox’s seat instead of Phelan Hill for the GB mens’ eight, brimming with Olympic and World medallists and unchanged since winning silver in Poznan. The British crew are in heat two tomorrow with Poland, China, and a second German eight. Germany’s top boat, the Olympic Champions, are in the opposing heat.

Olympic Champion Katherine Grainger and Vicky Thornley have swapped seats, with Grainger moving to the bow, since their women’s double scull bronze in Poland. They have avoided Poland, the European Champions, in the heats and will race in the middle lane between France and Denmark.

Charles Cousins continues to be ruled out of racing in the GB men’s quad after breaking a bone in his hand. Jack Beaumont raced in the bronze medal winning boat as a substitute at the Europeans. On Lake Varese, his World U23 medal partner Angus Groom gets a run-out.

Groom impressed hugely by making the final in Poland on his debut as a senior single sculler which is the event Jack Beaumont will now contest in Italy alongside the returning 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Alan Campbell. who returns after time out with an injury. This will be Campbell’s first competitive race of 2015 having also sat out the GB Rowing Team Trials in April.

The quad have drawn Canada, Italy, China and Switzerland as well as a second-ranked German boat in their heat.

Jonny Walton and John Collins are the GB mens’ double once more in Italy and have Poland, Germany, Denmark and Austria in their heat.

Vicky Meyer-Laker makes a return to competitive racing after injury in the women’s eight which is stroked by Zoe Lee and coxed by Zoe de Toledo. The eight have New Zealand, Canada and Australia in their heat – all unknown quantities so far this season for the GB boat.

Rebecca Chin and Lucinda Gooderham are racing in the no.2 women’s pair, and there will be a second lightweight men’s double of European single scull finalist Zak Lee Green and Sam Mottram who moves up into the senior squad from the U23s.

TIMETABLE

Friday’s heats start at 08.00 UK time with the two women’s pairs first up in a session that runs through to the men’s eight heat at 13.25.

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RESULTS
(Events featuring GB Rowing Team crews only. For full results – www.worldrowing.com)

HEATS

WOMEN

Arms-shoulders single scull – Heat 1

1. Moran Samuel (Israel) 5:17.78
2. Claudia Santos (Brazil) 5:38.20
3. Rachel Morris (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:55.82
4. Krisztina Lorincz (Hungary) 6:31.30
5. Mariia Varlamova (Russia) 6:32.98

MEN

Arms-shoulder single scull – Heat 2

1. Tom Aggar (GREAT BRITAIN) 4:46.59
2. Rene Pereira (Brazil) 4:49.93
3. Fabrizio Caselli (Italy) 5:06.89
4. Jan Klener (Czech Republic) 5:31.46
5. Zsolt Peto (Hungary) 5:43.57

MIXED

Leg-trunk-arms mixed coxed four – Heat 2

1. Grace Clough/Daniel Brown/Pamela Relph/James Fox/Oliver James (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 3:15.47
2. Brazil 3:36.74
3. Israel 3:49.28

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CREW LISTS (Includes club, home town, date of birth)
GB Rowing Team for World Cup 11,
Varese, Italy 19-21 June, 2015

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair – two boats

Helen Glover (Minerva Bath RC/Penzance/17.06.86)
Heather Stanning (Army RC/Lossiemouth/26.01.85)
Coach: Robin Williams

Rebecca Chin ( (Agecroft RC/Deganwy/11.12.91))
Lucinda Gooderham ((Leander Club/Garboldisham/09.06.84)
Caoach: Robin Williams

Eight

Katie Greves (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.82)
Olivia Carnegie-Brown (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Oxford/28.03.91)
Jessica Eddie (London RC/Durham/07.10.84)
Donna Etiebet (Sport Imperial/London/29.04.86)
Victoria Meyer-Laker (Leander Club/Premnay/18.03.88)
Louise Reeve (Leander Club/London/16.05.84)
Rosamund Bradbury (Leander Club/Banstead/17.12.88)
Zoe Lee (Imperial College BC/Richmond/15.12.85)
Zoe de Toledo (Cox) (Leander Club/London/17.07.87)
Coach: James Harris

Double Scull

Katherine Grainger (St Andrew BC/Glasgow/12.11.75)
Victoria Thornley (Leander Club/Wrexham/30.11.87)
Coach: Paul Thompson

Quadruple Scull

Jessica Leyden (Leander Club/Todmorden/22.02.95)
Beth Rodford (Gloucester RC/Gloucester/28.12.82)
Kristina Stiller (Tees RC/Yarm/23.06.87)
Melanie Wilson (Imperial College BC/London/25.06.84)
Coach: Nick Strange

Women’s Spare

Karen Bennett (Leander Club/Edinburgh/05.02.89)

OPEN

MEN

Pair

Mat Tarrant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Shepperton/11.07.90)
Calum McBrierty (Leander Club/Edinburgh/13.08.92)
Coach: Rob Dauncey

Four

Alan Sinclair (Leander Club/Munlochy/16.10.85)
Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell (Univ of London BC/Durham/13.04.88)
Tom Ransley (Leander Club/Ashford/06.09.85)
Scott Durant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Lancaster/12.02.88)
Coach: Christian Felkel

Eight

Matt Gotrel (Leander Club/Chipping Campden/01.03.89)
Stewart Innes (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/20.05.91)
Pete Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth/27.07.81)
Paul Bennett (Univ of London BC/Leeds/16.12.88)
Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey BC/Surbiton/27.03.88)
Alex Gregory (Leander Club/Wormington/11.03.84)
George Nash (Molesey BC/Guildford/02.10.89)
Will Satch (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/09.06.89)
Henry Fieldman (cox) (Molesey BC?Barnes/25.11.88)
Coach: Jurgen Grobler

Single Scull – two boats

Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers School/Coleraine/09.05.83)

Jack Beaumont (Leander Club/Maidenhead/21.11.93)
Coach: John West

Double Scull

Jonny Walton (Leander Club/Leicester/06.10.90)
John Collins (Leander Club/Twickenham/24.01.89)
Coach: Mark Banks

Quadruple Scull

Angus Groom (Leander Club/Glasgow/16.06.92)
Sam Townsend (Reading Univ BC/Reading/26.11.85)
Graeme Thomas (Agecroft RC/Preston/08.11.88)
Peter Lambert (Leander Club/Maidenhead/03.12.86)
Coach: Paul Stannard

Men’s Spare

Oliver Cook (Univ of London/Windsor/05.06.90)

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Double Scull – two boats

Kat Copeland (Tees RC/Ingleby Barwick/01.12.90)
Charlotte Taylor (Putney Town RC/Bedford/14.08.85)
Coach: Paul Reedy

Eleanor Piggott (Wallingford RC/Olney/16.05.91)
Imogen Walsh (London RC/Inverness/17.01.84)
Coach: Paul Reedy

LIGHTWEIGHT

MEN

Pair

Sam Scrimgeour (Imperial College BC/Kirriemuir/28.01.88)
Jonathan Clegg (Leander Club/Maidenhead/14.07.89)

Coach: Rob Morgan

Four

Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/14.03.90)
Joel Cassells (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/15.06.94)
Mark Aldred (London RC/Birmingham/18.04.87)
Chris Bartley (Leander Club/Chester/02.02.84)
Coach: Rob Morgan

Double Scull – two boats

Richard Chambers (Leander Club/Coleraine/10.06.85)
Will Fletcher (Leander Club/Chester-le-Street/24.12.89)
Coach: Darren Whiter

Zak Lee-Green (Agecroft RC/Cardiff/05.02.91)
Sam Mottram (Leander Club/Stoke Mandeville/14.11.94)*
Coach: Darren Whiter

PARA-ROWING

MIXED

Coxed four (LTA 4+)

Grace Clough (Nottingham RC/Sheffield/21.06.91)
Daniel Brown (Upper Thames BC/Reading/29.11.82)
Pamela Relph (Leander Club/Aylesbury/14.11.89)
James Fox (Univ of London/Peterborough/02.05.92)
Oliver James (cox) (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/05.10.90)

Coach: Tom Dyson

MEN

Arms-shoulders single scull (ASM 1x)

Tom Aggar (Marlow RC/Maidenhead/24.05.84)
Coach: Nick Baker

WOMEN

Arms-shoulders single scull (ASW 1x)

Rachel Morris (Guildford RC/Farnham/25.04.79)
Coach: Tom Dyson

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