Eight provide final flourish as juniors make strong start
The GB Rowing Team made a confident start to the 2016 Junior World Championships on Wednesday morning as six crews made good progress through their heats in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The GB junior men's eight © Peter Spurrier/Intersport Images
They continued this week’s excellent work by the GB Seniors and U23s at the combined championships by recording five impressive victories in perfect conditions on the Willem-Alexander Baan course.
The men’s eight of Charlie Pearson, Oskar Arzt-Jones, Dom Jackson, Oliver Ayres, Patrick Adams, Benedict Aldous, Seb Benzecry, Felix Drinkall and cox Vlad Saigau dominated their heat to progress directly to Sunday’s final.
The women’s four of India Somerside, Bryony Lawrence, Frances Russell and Alex Rankin paced their race well to push through in the third 500m for a clear-water victory, as did the men’s double scull of Rory Harris and George Lawton.
The junior men's four
The junior women's fourOscar Lindsay, James Plaut, Oswald Stocker and Freddie Davidson controlled their men’s four heat in fine style, while the women’s quadruple scull of Annabel Stevens, Lola Anderson, Sheyi Blackett and Lucy Glover were cool and composed as they led from start to finish.
GB are defending champions in the men’s quadruple scull, with James Mawby, Tom Digby, Nick Plaut and Josh Armstrong easing into the quarter-finals as runners-up to Germany in the fastest heat of the day.
Robin Dowell, Lead Coach for the GBRT Junior Team, said: “It’s been a good morning with lots of learning and the rowers are all feeling very positive.
“A number of them are experiencing the World Juniors for the first time, so it is good for them to get that first race under their belt.”
Three more junior crews – the men’s pair, women’s pair and men’s coxed four – will have another chance to progress through the repechages on Thursday morning.
The focus will then switch back to the Senior World Championships in mid-afternoon on Thursday with three GB crews contesting the semi-finals.
The men’s coxed pair of Ollie Cook, Callum McBrierty and cox Henry Fieldman – the latter a gold-medallist in the boat last year – race at 2.15pm BST, followed by senior debutant Gemma Hall in the lightweight women’s single scull at 2.30pm BST. Joel Cassells and Sam Scrimgeour then continue their lightweight men’s pair title defence at 2.45pm BST.
The first medals of the week will then be handed out in the U23 World Championships, with five GB crews competing in finals.
Lauren Kedar, Saska Budgett, Harriet Taylor and Rowan McKellar race in the women’s four final at 3pm BST and Rory Gibbs, Matthew Aldridge, Michael Glover, Christopher Heywood and Harry Brightmore contest the men’s coxed four at 3.15pm.
Both the GB women’s and men’s lightweight quadruple sculls are racing in finals – Mary Wilson, Susannah Duncan, Madeleine Arlett and Ellie Lewis race at 3.30pm BST, followed by Hugo Coussens, Oliver Varley, Matthew Curtis and Gavin Horsburgh at 4.15pm BST.
A busy day will conclude with the men’s four final featuring James Johnston, Tom George, James Rudkin and Lewis McCue at 4.45pm BST.
Click on the expander boxes below for full reports and results from the Junior heats.
Race Report
It’s been a good month to say the least for GB men’s eights, with the seniors winning Olympic gold in Rio and the U23s looking strong as they reached their World Championships final this week.
The junior eight of Charlie Pearson, Oskar Arzt-Jones, Dom Jackson, Oliver Ayres, Patrick Adams, Benedict Aldous, Seb Benzecry, Felix Drinkall and cox Vlad Saigau also caught the eye as they dominated their heat from start to finish.
Just one crew progressed directly to the final and GB quickly laid claim to that place during a blistering start that put them a length clear at the halfway mark.
Italy tried to respond but the British crew were in control, looking smooth as they kept the chasing pack at bay to take top spot.
The GB women’s four of India Somerside, Bryony Lawrence, Frances Russell and Alex Rankin had set the tone for a good morning of racing as they claimed a well-judged win in the first heat of the day.
There were three semi-final places up for grabs and they were effectively secured in the first 500m as Italy, GB and China moved clear of the field.
The Italians were about a length up at halfway but that lead was overturned in the third 500m after GB stroke Rankin – who helped the four reach the final in Rio last year – called for a push. The British boat continued to pull away as they progressed to Saturday’s semi-finals in fine style.
The men’s four of Oscar Lindsay, James Plaut, Oswald Stocker and Freddie Davidson were equally impressive as they also won their heat by clear water.
All four of the GB crew raced at last year’s Junior Worlds in Rio and that experience showed as they got off to a quick start. Canada were the only crew to respond and held on until halfway but the Brits stepped on the gas again in the third 500m to secure a comfortable victory.
The women’s quadruple scull of Annabel Stevens, Lola Anderson, Sheyi Blackett and Lucy Glover produced a clean, confident performance to dominate their heat and ease into the semi-finals.
They needed just a handful of strokes to get their noses in front and by 500m they were half-a-length up on the Czech Republic and well clear of the chasing pack.
One of the two qualification places was in the bag but the British crew wanted the win and kept up a high stroke rate to see off the Czech challenge, eventually crossing the line with a comfortable advantage.
Rory Harris and George Lawton rowed in the men’s double scull at the Coupe de la Jeunesse in 2015 and took the step up to the World Juniors in their stride with a well-paced heat win.
Spain and Greece both got flying starts but Harris and Lawton soon settled into their rhythm and began to reel in the front two, hitting the front with 500m to go before continuing to surge clear as they progressed to the quarter-finals in impressive fashion.
GB are defending champions in the men’s quadruple scull, with Josh Armstrong providing the link between last year’s history-making boat and this year’s crew which also features James Mawby, Nick Plaut and Tom Digby – the latter a silver-medallist at the past two World Juniors.
They booked their place in the quarter-finals by finishing runners-up to Germany in comfortably the fastest of the five heats. Both crews finished well clear of the field, with Germany just doing enough to hold off a late GB challenge for top spot.
Adam Teece was joined in the men’s pair by Alexander Wythe, who was fresh from being part of GB’s highly-successful junior team at last month’s Coupe de la Jeunesse.
There was only one semi-final place to be won in their heat and that went to Austria, who led from the front and just managed to hold off a late sprint from Bulgaria. That charge was enough to take Bulgaria past the British duo, who looked to have earned second place after pushing past Chile in the third 500m.
They will have another chance to reach the semi-finals through the repechages, as will the women’s pair of Hope Cessford and Lauren Irwin who were fifth in a fast heat won in a new World Junior best time by the United States.
The men’s coxed four of Matthew Rowe, Alex Green, Seb Newman, Bertie Woodward-Fisher and cox George Cozens also had to settle for fifth place in their heat. Their repechage will take place on Thursday morning.
Race Results
(Events featuring GB Rowing Team crews only. For full results – www.worldrowing.com)
JUNIOR WOMEN
Pair – H1
1. Kallani Marchak/Kaitlyn Kynast (USA) 7:16.82
2.Margarita Georgoudi/Christina Bourmpou (Greece) 7:23.19
3. Frida Sanggaard Nielsen/Ida Petersen (Denmark) 7:27.18
4. Maya Cornut/Adele Brosse (France) 7:32.71
5. Hope Cessford/Lauren Irwin (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:42.65
6. Berre Baltaoglu/Didem Surer (Turkey) 7:45.00
Four – H1
1. India Somerside/Bryony Lawrence/Frances Russell/Alex Rankin (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:51.79
2. Laura Meriano/Benedetta Faravelli/Ludovica Braglia/Lara Maule (Italy) 6:53.74
3. Quiying Yang/Dan Li/Yuxiu Zhou/Xiangyu Song (China) 6:58.10
4. Aria Cvitanovic/Izabela Krakic/Bruna Milinovic/Julia McCullough (Croatia) 7:03.98
5. Ninna Pedersen/Emilie Jersild/Mathilde Norking/Astrid Laustsen (Denmark) 7:20.64
Quadruple scull – H3
1. Annabel Stevens/Lola Anderson/Sheyi Blackett/Lucy Glover (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:41.07
2. Magadelena Juzikova/Anna Santruckova/Pavlina Flamikova/Veronika Uhlova (Czech Republic) 6:44.45
3. Stine Eilert Mathiasen/Emma Sophie Hammer/Mette Koechs Nielsen/Liane Vestergaard (Denmark) 6:51.76
4. Ieva Medelinskaite/Aiste Andriuleviciute/Vareikaite Viktorija/Egle Bezzubovaite (Lithuania) 6:53.58
5. Dali Chivadze/Tamar Mikadze/Miriami Purtskhvanidze/Tamar Rukhadze (Georgia) 8:06.59
JUNIOR MEN
Pair – H1
1. Rudolph Querfeld/Mattijs Holler (Austria) 6:49.83
2. Nikolay Zhelyazkov/Stanimir Haladzhov (Bulgaria) 6:50.39
3. Alexander Wythe/Adam Teece (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:52.70
4. Christian Christiansen/Magnus Rathenborg (Denmark) 6:54.96
5. Christopher Kalleg Andrate/Selim Echeverria (Chile) 6:56.58
6. Matas Jakubauskas/Arnas Kazlauskas (Lithuania) 6:58.55
Four – H2
1. Oscar Lindsay/James Plaut/Oswald Stocker/Freddie Davidson (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:06.81
2. Niklas Junkes/Leon Muench/Simon Klose/Benjamin Leibelt (Germany) 6:10.39
3.Vasileios Koukoutis/Athanasios Palaiopanos/Apostolos Giannatzis/Georgios Stamos (Greece) 6:13.76
4. Ivan Rybkin/Peter Lancashire/Dylan Rupnow/Brett Vilk (Canada) 6:16.33
5. Hengze Wang/Liuyang Shi/Binghui Cui/Haotian Yang (China) 6:33.51
Coxed four – H1
1. Italy 6:21.58
2. USA 6:22.91
3. Serbia 6:24.84
4. South Africa 6:35.15
5. Matthew Rowe/Alex Green/Seb Newman/Bertie Woodward-Fisher/George Cozens (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:39.85
Eight – H1
1. Charlie Pearson/Oskar Arzt-Jones/Dom Jackson/Oliver Ayres/Patrick Adams/Benedict Aldous/Seb Benzecry/Felix Drinkall/Vlad Saigau (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:45.01
2. Italy 5:47.26
3. New Zealand 5:52.60
4. Spain 5:56.42
5. Croatia 5:59.55
6. Russia 5:59.76
Double scull – H1
1. Rory Harris/George Lawton (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:35.13
2. Ivan Rico Castro/Jordi Rodriguez (Spain) 6:39.21
3. Panagiotis Psarros/Aristeidis Grammeniatis (Greece) 6:39.64
4. Armands Celmins/Janis Timbors (Latvia) 6:41.82
5. Junya Seto/Hideo Toyama (Japan) 6:42.59
6. Jongmin Lee/Seonggwan Lee (Korea) 6:54.47
Quadruple scull – H2
1. Malte Engelbracht/Matthias Fischer/Jan Berend/Simon Schlott (Germany) 5:58.63
2. James Mawby/Thomas Digby/Josh Armstrong/Nick Plaut (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:00.93
3. Willem Buist/Lodewijk Tilanus/Charles De Monchy/Thomas Hogeboom (Netherlands) 6:12.31
4. Emiliano Soria/Joel Romero/Tobias Olay/Federico Pachecho (Argentina) 6:15.02
5. Ander Koppel/Tristan Lasn/Martin Rahuoja/Margus Kodasma (Estonia) 6:20.47
Crew List
GB Rowing Team for Junior World Rowing Championships, Rotterdam, Netherlands, August 21-28, 2016
JUNIOR WOMEN
Pair
Hope Cessford (Durham ARC)
Lauren Irwin (Chester-le-Street ARC)
Coach: Tom Pattichis (GBRT/Gloucester Hartpury)
Four
India Somerside (Glasgow Schools RC)
Bryony Lawrence (Gloucester RC)
Frances Russell (Gloucester RC)
Alex Rankin (Glasgow Schools RC)
Coach: Iain Somerside
Quadruple scull
Annabel Stevens (Reading RC)
Sheyi Blackett (Reading RC)
Lola Anderson (Surbiton High School BC)
Lucy Glover (Warrington RC)
Coach: Ade Roberts (GBRT)
JUNIOR MEN
Pair
Alexander Wythe (Winchester College BC)
Adam Teece (Abingdon School BC)
Coach: James Loveday (Thames RC)
Four
Oscar Lindsay (Eton College BC)
James Plaut (Westminster School BC)
Oswald Stocker (Westminster School BC)
Freddie Davidson (St Paul’s School BC)
Coaches: Dave Currie (Shiplake College BC) & Robin Dowell (GBRT)
Coxed four
Matthew Rowe (Royal Shrewsbury School BC)
Alex Green (Westminster School BC)
Seb Newman (Shiplake College BC)
Bertie Woodward-Fisher (St Paul’s School BC)
George Cozens (cox) (Eton College BC)
Coach: Mark Woodcock (Pangbourne College BC)
Eight
Charlie Pearson (Eton College BC)
Oskar Arzt-Jones (Westminster School BC)
Dom Jackson (Hampton School BC)
Oliver Ayres (Molesey BC)
Patrick Adams (Eton College BC)
Benedict Aldous (Eton College BC)
Seb Benzecry (St Paul’s School BC)
Felix Drinkall (Eton College BC)
Vlad Saigau (cox) (St Paul’s School BC)
Coach: Patrick Duggan (King’s College School BC)
Double scull
Rory Harris (Pangbourne College BC)
George Lawton (Northwich RC)
Coach: Tom Jost (Claires Court School BC)
Quadruple scull
James Mawby (Nottingham RC)
Tom Digby (Abingdon School BC)
Josh Armstrong (Glasgow Schools RC)
Nick Plaut (Westminster School BC)
Coaches: Robin Dowell (GBRT) & Dave Currie (Shiplake College BC)
Contact Info
For background information about the The GB Rowing Team contact the Press office via comms@gbrowingteam.org.uk or 07831 755351
For picture requests please contact: GBRTpressoffice@gbrowingteam.org.uk
GB Rowing Team website, including full rower biogs: www.gbrowingteam.org.uk
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