Eight GB universities to race at EUSA Rowing Championship

13 crews drawn from eight British universities will race at the European Universities Sports Association (EUSA) Rowing Championship in Bydgoszcz, Poland from 7-10 September

Following qualification at the BUCS Regatta, the crews will race against some of the best university crews from around Europe. The British boats feature athletes including U23 internationals, Boat Race winners and, for many, it will be their first step on the international stage.

Imperial College London will send a total of seventeen students, racing across four boat classes (Men’s eight and pair and Women’s four and pair). Meanwhile, representing Royal Holloway, London, in the lightweight women’s single scull, is Annabelle Ruinet, who just a few weeks ago raced in the Lightweight women’s double scull at the World Rowing U23 Championships.

Leonie and Sacha Kennedy, University of Surrey

Also represented across the single sculls events will be Birmingham (Women’s single scull), Derby (Lightweight men’s single scull), and Strathclyde (Lightweight men’s single scull). Surrey will field a Men’s single scull and also a Lightweight women’s double scull of the formidable Kennedy twins, Leonie and Sacha, who are well known on the lightweight sculling scene.

Nottingham takes two crews to Poland, a women’s quad and a lightweight men’s double scull. The crews will be coached by Pete Boyes, who himself has previously raced at the EUSA Regatta. Speaking about the experience, Pete said: “The EUSA Rowing Championships are a great event for the whole delegation each year. As an athlete you get to take a solid result at BUCS Regatta and try and convert it into another against some of the best student rowers from around Europe. It’s also one of the first chances to measure up to other athletes on an international stage. For a coach, it’s a continuation of this, giving an opportunity to experience how other top programmes manage their crews in this environment while testing out your own system.”

Lightweight Boat Race winners from Cambridge, Olivia Alliott and Madeline Jackson will race in the women’s pair at EUSA, but in the openweight category, hoping to follow in the footsteps of GB Olympian Imogen Grant who represented Cambridge in the same boat class at EUSA Regatta in 2016.

The regatta is often a stepping-stone for rowers towards representing Great Britain at a higher level. Indeed, many of the senior GB Rowing Team racing at the World Rowing Championships this week have previously represented their university at a EUSA Regatta, including: Tom Barras (Cardiff), Annie Campbell-Orde (Loughborough), John Collins (East London), Emily Craig (London), Emily Ford (Newcastle), Tom Ford (Newcastle), Imogen Grant (Cambridge) and James Rudkin (Newcastle).

Commenting on what racing at EUSA meant to her, Emily Ford said: “It was great to race at EUSA and take our University crews on to an International stage. It gave me good international experience for further on in my rowing career.”

Speaking ahead of the Championships, Team Manager James Lee said: “After several years of disruption, it’s great to have the EUSA Regatta firmly back in the calendar and a good number of British crews racing. It has been inspiring seeing rowers move on from racing at EUSA and progressing towards World Championships and Olympic Games. I’m excited to see this year’s team race, but also what they do in the future.”

GB Universities Team 2023

Kathryn Mole, University of Birmingham

University of Birmingham

W1x: Kathryn Mole

University of Cambridge

W2-: Olivia Alliott, Madeline Jackson

Derby

LM1x: Ollie Hanks

Ollie Hanks, Derby

Imperial College London

M8+: Cassian Cockings, Kit Gordon-Brown, Danny Shaw, Josh Bateman, Ben James, Matt Gummow, Dan Kirwan, Finn Bannister, (cox) Zahir Ala

W4-: Y Khalife, O Johnson, L Boles, L Kapcos

M2-: Aksel Cauki, Riley Horrix

W2-: Evelyn Lees, Bonnie Price

University of Nottingham

W4x: Izzy Blake Hurworth, Emmie Kirkhope, Holly Burke, Sinead Turner-Frick

LM2x: James Lawn, Lucas Salmon Hernandez

Royal Holloway, University of London

LW1x: Annabelle Ruinet

Ben Parsonage, University of Strathclyde

University of Strathclyde

LM1x: Ben Parsonage

University of Surrey

LW2x: Sacha Kennedy, Leonie Kennedy

M1x: Tom Fortnum

Coaching and Support Team

James Lee – Team Manager

Jamie Wilton – University of Birmingham

Sam Clark – University of Cambridge

Tessa Millar – Imperial College London

Pete Boyes – University of Nottingham

Maks Orzel – Royal Holloway, University of London

Christopher Parsonage – University of Strathclyde

Sam Tuck – University of Surrey

Photos: BUCS.