Scullers shine at EUSA Rowing Championship

The GB Universities Team enjoyed much success in Bydgoszcz, Poland at the European Universities Rowing Championships last weekend

From the 13 boats, six made A finals with four of those converting into medals – a total of two gold, one silver and one bronze across the small team.

Royal Holloway’s Annabelle Ruinet was the first to claim a medal for the British delegation when she won the Lightweight women’s single sculls in style. Whilst Annabelle had raced in the GB lightweight double at the World Rowing U23 Championships earlier this year, she found herself up against many competitors who had raced in the single scull there. Annabelle said: “I had a fantastic experience at my first EUSA regatta with some great competition it made for a great weekend packed with tight racing. With this being the last regatta of my 2023 season, it was a great way to round off all of this year’s hard work before the next season starts. Coming away with a win in the Lightweight women’s single was an amazing achievement and I am so lucky to have been able to share the celebrations with such a supportive team.”

Birmingham’s Kathryn Mole won the next medal, racing in the Women’s single sculls. Despite leading for the majority of the race, Katie faced a final sprint from 2023 U23 Internationals from Hungary and Lithuania and took bronze, finishing just 0.41 seconds behind the gold medalist. After the race, Katie’s coach, Jamie Wilton reflected: “EUSA has been a great regatta to attend as a stepping stone for both athletes and coaches who have lots of domestic racing experience but relatively new to international racing. It was great fun, with hard fought rounds and really close competition. EUSA
and the organising committee did a really great job of making the teams feel welcome and looking after them throughout. It’s definitely an event that the University of Birmingham will continue looking to attend in future.”

The afternoon session of racing saw another gold, in the Lightweight men’s single sculls this time. Strathclyde’s Ben Parsonage had won his heat and semifinal comfortably earlier in the regatta so hopes were high, and he was impressive once again in the final, crossing the line first, over two seconds ahead of a field of seasoned internationals.

The final medal for the British team came in the women’s quad sculls, one of the closest races of the day, so close that the photo finish had to be consulted to confirm the result. Great celebrations ensued when it was announced that Nottingham had won silver, just 0.06 seconds ahead of University of Mainz, Germany, who had beaten them in the preliminary race.

There were several other notable performances across the team. In the Lightweight men’s single, Derby’s Ollie Hanks had missed out on a place in the semifinal by 0.23 seconds. However, in Final C, he finished over 15 seconds ahead of the second placed sculler, in a time that would have won Final B. Surrey’s Sacha and Leoni Kennedy improved their time every race and despite having to go through the repechage, narrowly missed out on a medal in the Lightweight women’s double scull. Meanwhile, the photo finish camera was also in action for the Women’s four with Imperial missing out on bronze by just 0.16 seconds.

Commenting on the performance of the GB Universities, Team Manager James Lee said: “I’m very proud of this team. Although a much smaller team than previous years, they punched high and every crew stepped on throughout the regatta. I remain hugely passionate about this event and the springboard that it provides to students.”

Results Summary

University	Crew	Result
University of Birmingham	W1x Kathryn Mole
University of Cambridge	W2- Olivia Alliott, Madeline Jackson	7th
Derby	LM1x Ollie Hanks	13th
Imperial College, London	M8+ Cassian Cockings, Kit Gordon-Brown, Danny Shaw, Josh Bateman, Ben James, Matt Gummow, Dan Kirwan, Finn Bannister, (cox) Zahir Ala	9th
Imperial College, London	W4- Y Khalife, O Johnson, L Boles, L Kapcos	4th
Imperial College, London	M2- Aksel Cauki, Riley Horrix	10th
Imperial College, London	W2- Evelyn Lees, Bonnie Price	10th
University of Nottingham	W4x Izzy Blake Hurworth, Emmie Kirkhope, Holly Burke, Sinead Turner-Frick
University of Nottingham	LM2x James Lawn, Lucas Salmon Hernandez	8th
Royal Holloway, University of London	LW1x Annabelle Ruinet
University of Strathclyde	LM1x Ben Parsonage
University of Surrey	LW2x Sacha Kennedy, Leonie Kennedy	4th
University of Surrey	M1x Tom Fortnum	16th

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