Three golds for GB in Poznan
All bar two crews are through to Sunday’s finals at the world cup in Poznan. Rachel Morris won gold and set a world best time today.
Unbeaten this season - Sam Scrimgeour and Joel Cassells in the LM2- Pic: Copyright Pete Spurrier
All bar two of the GB crews in semi-final or repechage action at the world cup in Poznan today moved into tomorrow’s finals from a session which began with gold in the women’s para-rowing single scull for Rachel Morris and was bookended by two further golds.
Oliver Cook, Callum McBrierty and cox Henry Fieldman took the title in the coxed pair whilst World Champions Sam Scrimgeour and Joel Cassells maintained their unbeaten record in the lightweight men’s pair.
Morris paced her final perfectly to secure gold ahead of Norway’s Birgit Skarstein. Tom Aggar, in the equivalent men’s final, fell just short of the podium in fourth.
In-between 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Alan Campbell said he felt that he was “on a good trajectory as we move towards Rio” after winning his open men’s single scull semi.
Alan Sinclair and Stewart Innes won their men’s pair semi-final but felt they made harder work of winning than they needed. Their rivals for Rio selection, Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell and Mat Tarrant, were second in the opposing semi-final which was won by the New Zealand Olympic and World Champions.
Vicky Thornley and Katherine Grainger found a better spark in their re-formed women’s double scull partnership by qualifying in second place from the repechages. They led before being caught on the line by New Zealand.
Thornley said: “We were much better in the first half of the race today, that’s a step up from the heats yesterday. We have stuff to work on but now we can enjoy the final and see how much speed we can get out of the boat”.
GB’s two lightweight men’s Olympic boats were in repechage action, too, and booked their places for tomorrow in second place. Will Fletcher and Richard Chambers were involved in a particularly close finish in a race won by Ireland by a margin of just 0.16 of a second. Chris Bartley, Mark Aldred, Jono Clegg and Peter Chambers were second to the French.
Great Britain’s two eights were involved in preliminary races today to seed the lanes for tomorrow’s finals. The women came home in first place and the men were third.
Jack Beaumont, GB’s second-ranked GB sculler here who is a former World U23 medallist, and the second-ranked GB women’s pair of Vicky Meyer-Laker and Louisa Reeve will be the two crews racing B finals tomorrow.
In the afternoon’s second session, the men’s coxed pair were led by Turkey in the final before taking and holding the lead from 500m out.
The lightweight men’s pair of Joel Cassells and Sam Scrimgeour successfully defended their unbeaten record this season in the final to win ahead of Denmark.
“That was our toughest race yet”, said Cassells. “But I’m very, very happy. We kept our heads even when the Danes challenged us”.
Tomorrow’s race programme includes the opportunity for the women’s pair of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning and the men’s four of Alex Gregory, Moe Sbihi, George Nash and Constantine Louloudis to confirm the form they showed in winning their heats yesterday to qualify direct.
A further 10 Olympic-class boats will be in A final action with coverage on the BBC TV Sport on the Red Button live from 09.30 BST and a highlights package on BBC 2 from 17.30-18.30.
For further information about this report please contact the GB Rowing Team press officer, Caroline Searle, via [email protected] or 07831 755351
Race Report
SEMI-FINALS AND REPECHAGES
Serbia, Australia and GB’s Alan Sinclair and Stewart Innes were locked in a triad of leaders at halfway in the first of two men’s pair semi-finals. The British combination were silver medal winners at the Europeans earlier this year but sat out Lucerne because Innes was ill.
Today they piled on the pace in the third quarter to take the lead just before 1500m and went on to win in 6:24.24. Australia were second and Serbia third.
“That was a closer race than it needed to be but we got the job done’, said Innes afterwards.
Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell and Mat Tarrant were next in action. The Lucerne world cup bronze medallists were second somewhat inevitably to the New Zealand World and Olympic Champions but were not out of contention as the race crossed the finish line, holding off the remainder of the field strongly. They came home in 6:20.48.
Jonny Walton and John Collins were not best pleased with the first half of their men’s double scull semi-final but came good in time.
At halfway the GB duo were in third and had begun to gradually lose Australia on the far side whilst New Zealand edged ahead of France at the head of the race. Cuba moved up to fourth but could not close the gap to GB who took third, a length down on the Kiwi winners and French second-place.
“We didn’t have the best first half of the race but tuned into something in the second. We did the job but not in the dominating way we would have liked. We’ll have to save that performance for the final”, said Collins afterwards.
Alan Campbell looked in good shape today as he took a semi-final win in the open men’s single scull. He made a good start, eased into his race pace before moving comfortably ahead of Michal Plocek of the Czech Republic, ultimately second, and Thibaut Verhoeven of France who held the lead briefly at halfway.
“I’m really happy. It’s nice when things are going your way and whilst I’m aware that a many people have not turned up here, I’ve put myself in the best possible position for the final. Damir (Martin) and Mahe (Drysdale) will be tough but I feel I’m on a good trajectory as we move towards the Olympics”, said Campbell.
Jack Beaumont found the going tough in his semi-final of the open men’s single scull in a race led by Damir Martin, a former European Champion, and the multi-medal winning Olympic Champion Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand.
Martin held off Drysdale at the finish and Beaumont dug deep to try and get the third qualifying slot but lost out to John Storey of New Zealand.
Peter Lambert, Sam Townsend, Angus Groom and Graeme Thomas were in the mix but behind the leaders Poland and second-placed Italy with 500m to go in their men’s quadruple scull repechage today. It looked as if they would find the pace to come back on the leaders but ultimately had to settle for third.
Vicky Thornley and Katherine Grainger took their repechage of the open women’s double scull by the scruff of the neck and were leading for the first half, building a margin of two seconds at 1500m gone. Drawn in the lane away from the grandstands the duo then gave their fans a fright as New Zealand flew up on the inside to snatch top spot. Thornley and Grainger had enough power, though,to hold off the Danes.
Madelina Beres and Laura Opera of Romania from Romania were the early leaders in the women’s pair repechage featuring Vicky Meyer-Laker and Louisa Reeve who were in second to halfway vying with Poland at that point for the second qualifying place.
With 600m to go Reeve and Meyer-Laker must have sensed the danger but were unable to counter the late-race pace of New Zealand and Poland. It finished with Romania out front, New Zealand second, Poland third and GB in fourth and into the B Final tomorrow.
Given their pedigree as World Silver medallists Will Fletcher and Richard Chambers were expected to be in the mix to qualify for tomorrow’s final from the repechage of the lightweight men’s double scull.
However, they have not had a text-book entry into the racing season and at halfway Germany, the European silver medallists, had built a length lead over the GB combination with Ireland in third. With only two places available for the final Fletcher and Chambers needed to find their pace for the final 500m and they did.
They came through to take second by just a whisker from the winners Ireland and Germany were in third.
Chris Bartley, Mark Aldred, Jono Clegg and Peter Chambers were in action next in the lightweight men’s four and came home in a solid second place beaten only by France. They looked in danger momentarily in the mid-race but found the pace to bring the boat home and qualify.
The two GB eights were involved in preliminary races to seed the lanes for tomorrow’s finals. GB’s women took top spot from New Zealand in second and the men were third in a race won by Germany with New Zealand in second.
PARA-ROWING FINALS
Rachel Morris, GB’s World silver medallist, made sure that she wasn’t dropped as Brigit Skarstein of Norway led out the final of the arms-shoulders single scull final with World Champion Moran Samuel of Israel.
At halfway Morris was lying second about three-quarters of a length down on the Norwegian. Just after halfway she began to make in-roads on the leader before putting in a massive push to pass Skarstein with 20 metres to go. Victory in 5:09.28. Moran was third.
“I was focussed on what I was doing but I guess you are aware of people around you even if it’s difficult to judge across the lanes”, said a clearly-delighted Morris.
Tom Aggar raced next in the equivalent arms-shoulders single scull for men and found the two Ukrainians Igor Bondar and Roman Polyianski too strong. Whilst they stretched out to a big lead, World Champion Erik Horrie and Aggar tried to chase them down without success.
INTERNATIONAL CLASS FINALS
Cox Henry Fieldman told his crew of Oli Cook and Callum McBrierty to stay relaxed and stay long as Turkey mounted a challenge towards the end of today’s men’s coxed pair final before the GB crew came through to gold.
Turkey took an early lead but Cook, McBrierty and Fieldman powered through them with 500m to go only for the Turks to stage a renaissance.
“I knew that they would come back on us at some stage and that was a tough race”, said Callum.
The GB duo of Joel Cassells and Sam Scrimgeour are already World, European and Lucerne world cup champions and today they took a strong early lead. By 500m they had almost a length over the field. At halfway they were holding their advantage with Denmark in second and Turkey third.
Denmark pushed the GB duo hard in the closing 500m but Cassells and Scrimgeour prevailed to remain unbeaten this season.
“There is still more to come”, said Scrimgeour. “There may be even more crews to enter this event for the Worlds. But we had a good race today and I’d like to thank the support team, we have such a good support team”.
Race Results
RESULTS
(Events featuring GB Rowing Team crews only. For full results – www.worldrowing.com)
FINALS
PARA-ROWING
Arms-shoulders single scull – women
1. Rachel Morris (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:09.28
2. Birgit Skarstein (Norway) 5:10.57
3. Moran Samuel (Israel) 5:18.30
4. Claudia Santos (Brazil) 5:21.65
5. Lyudmila Vauchok (Belarus) 5:34.40
6. Sandra Khumalo (RSA) 5:48.93
Arms-shoulders single scull – men
1. Igor Bondar (Ukraine 1) 4:34.71
2. Roman Polysanski (Ukraine 2) 4:35.61
3. Erik Horrie (Australia) 4:39.51
4. Tom Aggar (GREAT BRITAIN) 4:41.33
5. Rene Pereira (Brazil) 4:51.77
6. Fabrizio Caselli (Italy) 4:55.80
INTERNATIONAL CLASSES
OPEN MEN
Coxed pair
1. Oliver Cook/Callum McBrierty/Henry Fieldman (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:01.79
2. Onat Kazakli/Besim Sahinoglu/Asku Kaan (Turkey) 7:03.50
LIGHTWEIGHT MEN
Pair
1. Joel Cassells/Sam Scrimgeour (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:26.78
2. Emil Espersen/Jens Vilhelmsen (Denmark) 6:27.66
3. Augustin Mouterde/Alexis Guerinot (France) 6:29.79
4. Mert Kaan Kartal/Fatih Unsal (Turkey) 6:30.84
5. Mark O’Donovan/Shane O’Driscoll (Ireland) 6:32.14
6. Sven Kessler/Julius Peschel (Germany) 6:35.45
SEMI-FINALS
OPEN MEN
Pair – semi-final 1
1. Alan Sinclair/Stewart Innes (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:24.24
2. Spencer Turrin/Alexander Lloyd (Australia 1) 6:26.69
3. Milos Vasic/Nenad Bedik (Serbia) 6:29.65
4. Cristi-Ilie Pirghie/George Palamaru (Romania 2) 6:37.46
5. Adrian Juhasz/Bela Simon Jr (Hungary) 6:39.19
6. Peter Kluge/Clemens Ernesting (Germany 1) 6:41.67
Pair – semi-final 2
1. Eric Murray/Hamish Bond (New Zealand) 6:16.81
2. Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell/Mat Tarrant (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:20.48
3. Giovanni Abagnale/Domenico Montrone (Italy 1) 6:22.44
4. Johannes Weissenfeld/Torben Johannesen (Germany 2) 6:26.22
5. Axel Dickinson/Drikus Conrad (New Zealand 2) 6:26.67
6. James Medway/Joshua Hicks (Australia 2) 6:28.92
Single scull – semi-final 1
1. Damir Martin (Croatia) 6:45.82
2. Mahe Drysdale (New Zealand 1) 6:47.36
3. John Storey (New Zealand 2) 6:50.49
4. Jack Beaumont (GREAT BRITAIN 2)
5. Nick Larsen (Denmark 2)
6. Stanislau Shcharbachenia (Belarus) DNS
Single scull – semi-final 2
1. Alan Campbell (GREAT BRITAIN 1) 6:55.04
2. Michal Plocek (Czech Republic 1) 6:55.73
3. Thibaut Verhoeven (France) 6:56.67
4. Markus Kessler (Switzerland) 6:58.97
5. Sverri Nielsen (Denmark)
6. Jakob Nils Hoff (Norway) 6:13.57
Double scull – semi-final 2
1. Robert Manson/Christopher Harris (New Zealand) 6:08.59
2. Hugo Boucheron/Matthieu Androdias (France) 6:09.02
3. Jonny Walton/John Colins (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:11.90
4. Eduardo Rubio Rodriguez/Adrian Oquendo (Cuba) 6:15.53
5. Christopher Morgan/David Watts (Australia) 6:18.82
6. Koen Metsemakers/Floris Roling (Netherlands) 6:21.50
REPECHAGES
OPEN WOMEN
Pair – repechage 2
1. Madalina Beres/Laura Oprea (Romania) 7:04.49
2. Olivia Loe/Holly Greenslade (New Zealand 2) 7:06.78
3. Anna & Maria Wierzbowska (Poland) 7:08.36
4. Louisa Reeve/Vicki Meyer-Laker (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:12.75
5. Heleen Boers/Karien Robbers (Netherlands) 7:24.18
Double scull
1. Eve MacFarlane/Zoe Stevenson (New Zealand) 6:47.47
2. Vicky Thornley/Katherine Grainger (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:47.80
3. Lisbet Jakobsen/Nina Hollensen (Denmark) 6:48.19
4. Kristina Fleissnerova/Lenka Antosova (Czech Republic) 6:52.54
5. Tatsiana Klimovich/Krystina Staraselets (Belarus 2) 6:52.57
OPEN MEN
Quadruple scull – repechage
1. Ivan Capuano/Luca Rambaldi/Emanuele Fiume/Giacomo Gentili (Italy) 5:48.05
2. Mateus Biskup/Wiktor Chabel/Dariusz Radosz/Miroslaw Ziertarski (Poland) 5:48.31
3. Peter Lambert/Sam Townsend/Angus Groom/Graeme Thomas (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:50.39
4. Markus Kessler/Augustin Maillefer/Nico Stahlberg/Roman Roeoesli (Switzerland) 5:53.40
5. Vojtech Rimak/Martin Basl/Adam Sterbak/Matyas Klang (Czech Republic) 5:56.17
6. Andrei Jamsa/Allar Raja/Tonu Endrekson/Kaspar Taimsoo (Estonia) DNS
LIGHTWEIGHT MEN
Four – repechage
1. Franck Solforosi/Thomas Baroukh/Thibault Colard/Guillaume Raineau (France) 5:56.13
2. Chris Bartley/Mark Aldred/Jono Clegg/Peter Chambers (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:58.70
3. Stefano Oppo/Martino Goretti/Livio La Padula/Giorgio Tuccinardi (Italy) 6:00.45
4. Tobias Franzmann/Lucas Schaefer/Jonathan Koch/Lars Wichert (Germany) 6:04.83
5. Li Lei/Jie Dong/Zhu Guiying/Li Zhongwei (China) 6:15.25
Double scull – repechage 2
1. Gary & Paul O’Donovan (Ireland) 6:15.08
2. Will Fletcher/Richard Chambers (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:15.22
3. Moritz Moos/Jason Osborne (Germany) 6:15.91
4. Daniel Wiederkehr/Michael Schmid (Switzerland) 6:36.24
5. Bogdan Oberja/Drajan Raicovici (Romania) 7:06.12
RACE FOR LANES
OPEN WOMEN
Eight
1. Katie Greves/Melanie Wilson/Frances Houghton/Polly Swann/Jess Eddie/Olivia Carnegie Brown/Karen Bennett/Zoe Lee/Zoe de Toledo (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:07.34
2. New Zealand 6:08.73
3. Netherlands 6:12.55
OPEN MEN
Eight
1. Germany 5:32.64
2. New Zealand 5:34.26
3. Scott Durant/Tom Ransley/Andrew T Hodge/Matt Gotrel/Pete Reed/Paul Bennett/Matt Langridge/Will Satch/Phelan Hill (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:35.74
4. Poland 5:40.90
5. Belarus 5:54.84
Crew List
CREW LISTS
Poznan World Cup
16-19 June 2016
(Crews listed from bow to stroke with cox and with club, hometown and date of birth)
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair – GBR 1
Helen Glover (Minerva Bath RC/Penzance/17.06.86)/
Heather Stanning (Army RC/Lossiemouth/26.01.85)
Coach: Robin Williams
Pair – GBR 2
Louisa Reeve (Leander/London/16.05.84) /
Vicki Meyer-Laker (Leander Club/Premnay/18.03.88)
Coach: Robin Williams
Eight
Eight
Katie Greves (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.82)/
Melanie Wilson (Imperial College BC/London/25.06.84)/
Frances Houghton (Univ of London Tyrian Club/Oxford/19.09.80)/
Polly Swann (Leander Club/Edinburgh/05.06.88)/
Jess Eddie (London RC/Durham/07.10.84)/
Olivia Carnegie-Brown (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Henley-on-Thames/28.03.91)/
Karen Bennett (Leander Club/Edinburgh/05.02.89)/
Zoe Lee (Imperial College BC/Richmond/15.12.85)/
Zoe De Toledo (Leander Club/London/17.07.87) (cox)
Coach: Paul Thompson and James Harris
Double scull
Victoria Thornley (Leander Club/Wrexham/30.11.87)/
Katherine Grainger (St Andrew BC/Glasgow/12.11.75)
OPEN
MEN
Pair – GBR1
Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell (Univ of London BC/Durham/13.04.88)/
Matthew Tarrant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Shepperton/11.07.90)
Pair – GBR2
Alan Sinclair (Leander Club/Inverness/16.10.85)/
Stewart Innes (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/20.05.91)
Coach: Rob Dauncey
Coxed pair
Oliver Cook (Univ of London BC/Windsor/05.06.90)/
Callum McBrierty (Leander Club/Edinburgh/13.08.92)/
Henry Fieldman (Molesey BC/Barnes/25.11.88)
Four
Alex Gregory (Leander Club/Wormington/11.03.84)/
Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey BC/Surbiton/27.03.88)/
George Nash (Molesey BC/Guildford/02.10.89)/
Constantine Louloudis (Oxford Univ BC/London/15.09.91)
Coach: Jurgen Grobler
Eight
Scott Durant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Lancaster/12.02.88)/
Tom Ransley (Leander Club/Ashford/06.09.85)/
Andrew T Hodge (Molesey BC/Hebden/03.03.79)/
Matt Gotrel (Leander Club/Chipping Campden/01.03.89)/
Pete Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth/27.07.81)/
Paul Bennett (Univ of London BC/Leeds/16.12.88)/
Matt Langridge (Leander Club/Northwich/20.05.83)/
Will Satch (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/09.06.89)/
Phelan Hill (cox) (Leander Club/Bedford/21.07.79)
Coach: Jurgen Grobler/Christian Felkel
Single Scull – GBR1
Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers School/Coleraine/09.05.83)
Single Scull – GBR2
Jack Beaumont (Leander Club/Maidenhead/21.11.93)
Coach: John West
Double Scull
Jonny Walton (Leander Club/Leicester/06.10.90)/
John Collins (Leander Club/Twickenham/24.01.89)
Coach: Mark Banks
Quadruple Scull
Peter Lambert (Leander Club/Maidenhead/03.12.86)/
Sam Townsend (Reading Univ BC/Reading/26.11.85)/
Angus Groom (Leander Club/Glasgow/16.06.92)/
Graeme Thomas (Agecroft RC/Preston/08.11.88)/
Coach: Paul Stannard
Spare
Nick Middleton (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/12.08.88)
LIGHTWEIGHT MEN
Pair
Joel Cassells (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/15.06.94)
Sam Scrimgeour (Imperial College BC/Kirriemuir/28.01.88)/
Coach: Hamish Burrell
Four
Chris Bartley (Leander Club/Chester/02.02.84)/
Mark Aldred (London RC/Birmingham/18.04.87)/
Jono Clegg (Leander Club/Maidenhead/14.07.89)/
Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/14.03.90)
Coach: Hamish Burrell
Double scull
Will Fletcher (Leander Club/Chester-le-Street/24.12.89)/
Richard Chambers (Leander Club/Coleraine/10.06.85)
Coach: Darren Whiter
PARA-ROWING
WOMEN
Arms/-shoulders single scull (ASW1x)
Rachel Morris (Guildford RC/Farnham/25.04.79)
Coach: Tom Dyson
MEN
Arms/-shoulders single scull (ASM1x)
Tom Aggar (Marlow RC/Maidenhead/24.05.84)
Coach: Nick Baker
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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