Standards high at GB Rowing Team 3rd Winter Assessment despite challenging conditions
The 3rd Winter Assessment for the GB Rowing Team went off without a hitch in Boston, Lincolnshire
The cold, wind and rain didn’t deter the 282 competitors who travelled to Boston for the GB Rowing Team 3rd Winter Assessment, hoping to catch the eye of the national team coaches ahead of the 2018 international season.
Athletes who represented GB at September’s World Rowing Championships dominated proceedings in the 5km time trial, with World silver medallist Vicky Thornley (Leander) and Angus Groom (Leander Club) finishing top of the single sculls standings.
Groom, who returned from injury at the World Championships in Sarasota, recorded the fastest time by over 20 seconds in the men’s event, finishing in 18:54.45, ahead of John Collins (Leander) and Jonny Walton (Leander).
Thornley continued her form from 2017, edging Mathilda Hodgekins-Byrne (Reading Univ. BC) by five seconds in 20:05.02. Zoe Lee, who missed the 2017 racing season after knee surgery, finished third.
Holly Hill and Holly Norton (Cambridge Univ. Women’s BC/Leander) took the win in the women’s pair by six seconds from Karen Bennett and Rebecca Shorten (Leander/Imperial) and a further three seconds ahead of Anastasia Chitty and Beccy Girling (Leander/Molesey).
In the men’s pair, British Rowing Indoor Championships gold and silver medal winners Adam Neill and Tom Jeffery (Leander) took the win from Alan Sinclair and Moe Sbihi (Leander/Molesey) and George Rossiter and Harry Glenister (Leander) in 18:11.14.
Wallingford RC scored three rowers in the top five of the lightweight women’s single, with Gemma Hall top of the leaderboard in 20:44.94, Ellie Piggott in third and Ellie Lewis in fifth. European Championships bronze medallist Emily Craig (Univ. of London BC) took second and Amelia Carlton of Tideway Sculler School fourth.
Oxford Brookes’ Jamie Copus and Leander’s Sam Mottram could barely be separated on the timekeeper’s stopwatch, with Copus stopping the clock just two tenths of a second quicker in 19:32.41. Copus’s Brookes teammate Benjamin Reeves took third.
The final step on the 2018 season assessment process is the Senior, U23 and FISU Trials at Caversham on 14/15 April.
Results
W2-
1. Holly Hill & Holly Norton (Cambridge Univ. Women’s BC/Leander) 19:21.53
2. Karen Bennett & Rebecca Shorten (Leander Club/Imperial College BC) 19:27.68
3. Anastasia Chitty & Rebecca Girling (Leander Club/Molesey BC) 19:30.63
W1x
1. Vicky Thornley (Leander Club) 20:05.02
2. Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne (Reading Univ. BC) 20:10.68
3. Zoe Lee (Imperial College BC) 20:48.00
LW1x
1. Gemma Hall (Wallingford RC) 20:44.94
2. Emily Craig (Univ. of London BC) 21:01.11
3. Ellie Piggott (Wallingford RC) 21:06.81
M2-
1. Adam Neill & Tom Jeffery (Leander Club) 18:11.14
2. Alan Sinclair & Moe Sbihi (Leander Club/Molesey) 18:11.47
3. George Rossiter & Harry Glenister (Leander Club) 18:14.56
M1x
1. Angus Groom (Leander Club) 18:54.45
2. John Collins (Leander Club) 19:18.66
3. Jonny Walton (Leander Club) 19:20.94
LM1x
1. Jamie Copus (Oxford Brookes Univ. BC) 19:32.21
2. Sam Mottram (Leander Club) 19:32.41
3. Benjamin Reeves (Oxford Brookes Univ. BC) 19:57.14
