GB athletes selected to race at combined 2024 World Rowing Senior, U23 and U19 Championships in Canada
A full-strength squad of 84 athletes and 27 support staff have been selected to represent Great Britain at the 2024 World Rowing Senior, Under 23 and Under 19 Championships, taking place 18–25 August in St Catharines, Canada
In the year of the Summer Olympic and Summer Paralympic Games, Senior categories are limited to non-Olympic and non-Paralympic boat classes. Therefore, fresh from being a reserve in Paris, Olivia Bates will race in the Lightweight Women’s single sculls (LW1x). Olivia has won several World Rowing Cup medals in this boat class and will be looking to build on those performances in Canada.
Also travelling will be a talented group of U23 and U19 athletes looking to develop their championship racing, many for the first time.
Peter Sheppard, GB Rowing Team Head Coach for the Olympic Pathway said: “With the senior squad now returning from some excellent performances in Paris, our attention switches to our development age group teams of U23 and U19 athletes who will race at the combined Championships in Canada.”
“Inspired by the recent Olympic Team results in Paris many of the U23s will be representing GB for the first time in Canada and will be taking the opportunity to demonstrate their potential to be future Olympians in either 2028 or 2032. There are however a number of experienced returning U23 gold medallists from 2023 in this years U23 M 4- (Jake Wincomb, Harry Geffen and Fergus Woolnough) and U23 M 8+ (Tom Bryce, Louis Nares, Luca Ferraro, Gabriel Obholzer and Toby Lassen) who will be looking to share their knowledge of championship racing throughout the team.”
Commenting on the U19 group, Team Manager, John Layng said: “This is one of the most motivated teams that I have worked with, every crew and coach working with determination to make their boat go as fast as possible. We are lucky to have seven rowers returning with valuable Championships experience from 2023 to pass on to the rest of the team.
“For the majority of the team this is their first opportunity to represent their country on the World stage against other U19s and for everyone it will be a memorable experience being part of the ‘mega-worlds’ with U23 and senior events as well. It is an exciting prospect for the young rowers as they start their journey towards further GB representation in the future.
“It is pleasing to note that we have almost equal numbers of male and female rowers and that out of a team of nine coaches, four of these are female. There are special thanks due to the clubs, schools and coaches that have supported these rowers throughout the season; without their efforts they would not be ready to race in Canada.”
Senior Crews
Lightweight women’s single sculls (LW1x)
Olivia Bates (Nottinghamshire County RA/ University of Nottingham BC)
Coach: Chris Bartley (Reading University BC)
U23 Women’s Squad
Women’s eight (BW8+)
Harriet Drake-Lee (Peterborough City RC/ Yale University)
Julia Hunt-Davis (Thames RC/ University of California, Berkeley)
Alice Baker (Leander Club/ Stanford University)
Amber Harwood (Molesey BC/ University of Texas at Austin)
Abigail Dawson (Leander Club/ University of Texas at Austin)
Rhianna Sumpter (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Ellie-Kate Hutchinson (Bann RC/Leander Club / Syracuse University)
Olivia Hill (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Hermione Hill (cox) (Leander Club)
Coach: Pete Sheppard (GB Rowing Team)
Women’s four (BW4-)
Arianna Forde (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Grace Richards (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Philipa Emery (Leander Club)
Jess Martin (University of London BC)
Coach: Will Fletcher (Durham University BC)
Women’s quadruple sculls (BW4x)
Ellie Cooke (Reading University BC)
Lily Abbott (Molesey BC)
Meg Knight (Leander Club/ Trentham BC)
Finnola Stratton (Reading University BC)
Coach: Chris Bartley (Reading University BC)
Women’s double sculls (BW2x)
Poppy Baker (Nottingham RC)
Rachel Bradley (Newcastle University BC)
Coach: Sam Tuck (Molesey BC)
Women’s pair (BW2-)
Holly Youd (Newcastle University BC)
Anna Grace (Durham University BC)
Coach: Ben Jackson (Gloucester Hartpury)
U23 Men’s Squad
Men’s eight (BM8+)
Toby Lassen (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Zac Day (Oxford Brookes University BC / Yale University)
Cameron Beyki (Leander Club)
Gus John (Cambridge University BC)
Gabriel Obholzer (Tideway Scullers School)
Tyler Horler (Leander Club)
Luca Ferraro (Cambridge University BC)
Louis Nares (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Tom Bryce (cox) (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Coach: Chris Tebb (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Men’s four (BM4-)
Josh Brangan (Leander Club)
Fergus Woolnough (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Harry Geffen (Leander Club)
Jake Wincomb (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Coach: Kieran Clark (GB Rowing Team)
Men’s quadruple sculls (BM4x)
Harry Ruinet (Marlow RC/ Claires Court School)
Josh Matthews (Edinburgh University BC)
Elliott Donovan-Davies (Hartpury University and College BC)
Nat Gauden (Leander Club)
Coach: Tom Young (Scottish Rowing)
Men’s double sculls (BM2x)
Stephen Hughes (Leander Club/ Maidenhead RC)
Matt Long (Reading University BC)
Coach: Chris Bartley (Reading University BC) and Kieran Clark (GB Rowing Team)
Men’s pair (BM2-)
Mack Carr (Leander Club / Thames RC)
Richard Hawes (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Coach: Sam Sheppard (Oxford Brookes University BC)
U19 Men’s Squad
Men’s eight (JM8+)
Harry Oliver (Hampton School)
Oliver Richardson (Eton College)
William Harper (Shiplake College)
Elam Hughes (St Edward’s School)
Edward Bayfield (Abingdon School)
Alec Wild (St Paul’s School)
Leopold Hainlein (Latymer Upper School)
Timothy Gutsev (Westminster School)
Edward Crosthwaite-Eyre (cox) (Eton College)
Coach: Nick Barry Parker (Latymer Upper School)
Men’s four (JM4-)
Gabriel George (Radley College)
Christian Reese (St Paul’s School)
Alp Karadogan (St Paul’s School)
Patrick Wild (St Paul’s School)
Coach: Vicky Spencer (GB Rowing Team)
Men’s quadruple sculls (JM4x)
Jimmy Harlow (The Windsor Boys’ School)
Sal Dunn (Great Marlow School)
Jerry Anderson (Marlow RC)
Joe Wellington (The Windsor Boys’ School)
Coach: Mark Wilkinson (The Windsor Boys’ School)
Men’s pair (JM2-)
Harvey Burford (St Edward’s School)
Fraser Burdett (King’s College School, Wimbledon)
Coach: Matthew Harris (Westminster School)
Men’s sculling reserve
Ruben Taylor (The Windsor Boys’ School)
Coach: Mark Wilkinson (The Windsor Boys’ School)
U19 Women’s Squad
Women’s eight (JW8+)
Abigail Smith (Henley RC)
Ansley Vicars (Tideway Scullers School)
Emily Downing (Shiplake College)
Izabella Habdank-Toczyska (Putney High School)
Sophie Sinclair (Aberdeen Schools RA)
Amelia Westbrook (Shiplake College)
Ava Thurnham (Kew House School)
Sophie Haisman (Headington School, Oxford)
Victor Bocquet (cox) (St Paul’s School)
Coach: Ryan Demaine (Headington School, Oxford)
Women’s four (JW4-)
Emily Nicholas (Sir William Perkins’s School)
Emily Shaw (Surbiton High School)
Martha Shepherd (Hinksey Sculling School)
Acorn Cassidy (Enniskillen Royal BC)
Coach: Bodo Schulenburg (Hinksey Sculling School)
Natasha Philips (Wycliffe College) was originally selected for this crew but was replaced on medical grounds before the Championships.
Women’s quadruple sculls (JW4x)
Eloise Etherington (Wycliffe College)
Amalka Delevante (Tideway Scullers School)
Catherine Gardner (Hartpury University and College BC)
Mia Lawrence (Marlow RC)
Coach: Rhona MacCallum (Tideway Scullers School)
Women’s double sculls (JW2x)
Olivia Cheesmur (Molesey BC)
Violet Holbrow-Brooksbank (Wycliffe College)
Coach: Helen Taylor (Molesey BC)
Women’s pair (JW2-)
Annabelle Thornton (Sir William Perkins’s School)
Penny Irvine (Aberdeen Schools RA)
Coach: Holly Reid (Aberdeen Schools RA)
Team Management, Coaching and Support staff
Peter Sheppard: Head Coach – Olympic Pathway
Vicky Spencer: Olympic Transition Coach – U19s to U23s
Anna Liddell: U23 Team Manager
John Layng: U19 Team Manager
Dan Cooper: U19 Assistant Team Manager
Becky Davison: U23 Physiotherapist
Pete Woollhead: U23 Physiotherapist
Rachel Burr: U19 Physiotherapist
Clodagh Dugdale: U23 Doctor
Andy Ciercierski: U19 Doctor
Jack Brown: Sports Scientist
Four athletes in the Under 23 team (Meg Knight, Olivia Hill, Gabriel Obholzer and Toby Lassen) and three more in the Under 19 Team (Sal Dunn, Amalka Delevante and Olivia Cheesmur) have completed or are working towards British Rowing’s Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE) education programme governed by Sport England. Worth 64 UCAS points, this supports talented young athletes attending state-funded schools or sixth form colleges to combine sport and education so that they have the skills, knowledge and competence to pursue sporting excellence alongside a career.
