UPDATED: Team spirit parked as battle for European places hots up
Team spirit will be parked temporarily this weekend as members of the British squads and their nearest challengers battle to impress the national coaches ahead of May’s European Championships selections.
Some exciting racing should be in store on both Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning (19 and 20 April) at the GB Rowing Team Senior Team Trials taking place Caversham.
World and Olympic medallists will find themselves pitted against each other. The event also provides a stage for Cornish-Scottish duo of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning to renew their Olympic partnership for the first time since London 2012.
Glover said of their last two weeks at training camp : “The last two weeks have been a good learning process for us. Before the Olympics we were together for three years and we grew together, but now we have had to re-establish our communication with each other and things still feel natural”.
Glover also added, with regard to the importance of this weekends trials; “It’s a crucial weekend to set the tone for the year, and establish our partnerships within the team. This trial four years ago was when myself and Heather first joined the GB team, so it’s great to be back”.
Some of the toughest racing could be in the lightweight divisions – particularly the men’s single – where no fewer than eight 2013 World Championships medallists will be racing each other.
Olympic silver-winning brothers Richard and Peter Chambers, from Coleraine, were in the top three at the last Trials with Windsor’s Adam Freeman-Pask. Welshman Chris Bartley, also a London silver medallist, Maidenhead’s Jonno Clegg, Derbyshire’s Will Fletcher, Sam Scrimgeour of Fofar, and Londoner Mark Aldred are the other 2013 medalists with Cresswell’s Jamie Kirwood, a World finalist, likely to be snapping at their heels as well as Zak Lee Green of Cardiff.
The equivalent women’s event features the return to competitive racing of Olympic women’s double champion Kat Copeland from Stockton on Tees.
She is part of an intense training group which now includes World U23 gold medalists Eleanor Piggott, from Olney, and Headington’s Brianna Stubbs as well as 2013 World finalist Imogen Walsh, of Inverness, the 2013 Trials winner. Londoner Charlotte Taylor and Wallingford’s Elizabeth Polgreen are also ones to watch.
World single scull bronze medallist Ruth Walczak from Rochdale has pulled out on the eve of the trials on a medical exemption.
Britain’s trio of Olympic men’s four gold medallists have been drafted by Chief Coach for Men, Jurgen Grobler, across three pairs. Gloucester’s Pete Reed will race with Henley’s Will Satch, Yorkshireman Andrew Triggs Hodge with Guildford’s George Nash and Alex Gregory, from Gloucestershire, with Moe Sbihi of Surbiton.
Satch, Nash and Sbihi are all World Champions in the men’s eight as are the Kent pairing of Dan Ritchie and Tom Ransley who had to withdraw on the eve of the event due to an injury to Ransley. Ritchie will now transfer to the open men’s single.
The men’s pair event also features squad members Alan Sinclair of inverness and Durham’s Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell, Paul Bennett from Leeds and sailor-turned-rower Matt Gotrel, of Chipping Camden, along with Southampton’s James Foad and Windsor’s Oliver Cook.
Other contenders for the six final places on Sunday could well come from pairings featuring brothers Mason and Scott (rowing with World U23 champion Mat Tarrant) Durant or young pretenders such as George Rossiter and Francis Highton.
A fascinating duel could once more be in store in the open men’s single scull. Serial previous winner Alan Campbell, of Coleraine, lost out to Charles Cousins, from Cambridge, a year ago. Both will race this weekend in an event which also features three other members of the world bronze-winning men’s quad – Henley’s Pete Lambert, Reading’s Sam Townsend and Preston’s Graeme Thomas – a former talented rugby player.
Leicester’s Jonny Walton and London Olympic finalist Bill Lucas from Devon will provide stiff opposition as could emerging rowers Maidenhead’s Jack Beaumont, Seb Devereux, Sholto Carnegie and Angus Groom. Matt Langridge, a London 2012 men’s eight medallist and former men’s four World Champion, has been forced to withdraw on medical grounds today.
Constantine Louloudis, an Olympic men’s eight bronze medallist and fresh from his Boat Race triumph with Oxford, could prove the wild card in this line-up.
Paul Thompson, the Chief Coach for Women and Lightweights, has placed his top women across the pair and single scull events.
Glover, who won the women’s single scull last year, races in her more favoured women’s pair event. This is the category in which she is Olympic Champion with Heather Stanning and World Champion with Edinburgh’s Polly Swann.
Swann races with experienced Olympian Jess Eddie, from Durham, at the weekend with three other squad pairings amongst the opposition that also features the Start pairing of Rebecca Chin and Stella D’Arch Smith, both of Agecroft Rowing Club. Chin is a silver medallist from last year’s World U23 Champs.
Olympians Vicky Thornley, from Wrexham, Frances Houghton (twice an Olympic quadruple scull silver medallist) from Oxford and Gloucester’s Beth Rodford will be strong contenders in the women’s single as will Premnay’s Vicky Meyer-Laker and Rachel Gamble-Flint, Louisa Reeve and Tina Stiller. They will be joined by World Junior Champion Jess Leyden.
For some of the younger rowers in action, a chance to be considered for World U23 Championships selection, is the main aim for the weekend.
Other medical withdrawals today have included Holly Nixon, of Leander Club and Kieran Brown.
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EVENT INVITATION
VENUE: The Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake, Caversham, Nr Reading
TIMINGS:
Saturday 19 April
09.30 – 11.35 – Time trials (all events)
15.00 – 17.37 – semi-finals (all events)
Sunday 20 April
10.00 – 12.50 – finals (all events)
A + B finals will start at 11.00
DIRECTIONS:
For directions to the venue please contact: [email protected]
RSVP
For catering, working space and wi-fi purposes, please RSVP to let us know you are coming. Only bona fide members of he working media will be permitted to attend as we have space restraints within our press office set-up for this event.
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ENTRY LIST
* denotes U23
OPEN
MEN
SINGLE
Tom Barras (Cardiff Univ BC/Staines/07/01/1994)*
Jack Beaumont (Leander Club/Maidenhead/21.11.93)
Josh Bugajski (Leander Club/Cardiff/05.10.90)
Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers School/Coleraine/09.05.83)
Sholto Carnegie (Leander Club/London/28.02.1995)*
Dan Clift (Isle of Ely RC/Torpoint/15.06.88)
John Collins (Leander Club/Twickenham/24.01.89)
Charles Cousins (Leander Club/Willingham/13.12.88)
Sebastian Devereux (Leander Club/Hillingdon/15.02.1995)*
Harry Glenister (Molesey BC/Hillingdon/02.07.1995)*
Angus Groom (Leander Club/Glasgow/16.06.92)*
Matthew Hnatiw (Oxford Brookes Univ)*
Stewart Innes (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/20.05.91)
Andrew Joel (Reading Univ BC/Slough/08.06.1995)*
Pete Lambert (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/03.12.86)
Matt Langridge (Leander Club/Northwich/20.05.83) – WITHDRAWN (MEDICAL)
Constantine Louloudis (Oxford Univ BC/London/15.09.1991)
Bill Lucas (London RC/Kingswear/13.09.87)
Robert Massey (Cardiff Univ BC)*
Dominic Meyrick-Cole (Univ of London BC)
Nick Middleton (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/12.08.88)
Christopher Revell (Caius)
Dan Ritchie (Leander Club/Herne Bay/16.01.87) – NEW ENTRY (transferred from men’s pair after MED withdrawal of Ransley).
Barnaby Stentiford (Leander Club/Torquay/06.02.91)
Graeme Thomas (Agecroft RC/Preston/08.11.88)
Josh Tonnar (Moseley BC)
Dominic Tope (Reading Univ BC)*
Sam Townsend (Reading Univ BC/Reading/26.11.85)
Lance Tredell (Leander Club/Hale/25.10.88)
Tristan Vouilloz (Imperial Coll)*
Jonathan Walton (Leander Club/Leicester/06.10.90)
Samuel Whittaker (Cardiff Univ BC)*
PAIR
Frazier Christie (Bath Univ BC/Watchfield/11.01.93)*/ Lewis McCue (Robert Gordon Univ BC/Aberdeen/26.12.94)*
Richard Clarke (Univ of London BC)*/Alex Wilding (Univ of Bath BC/18.01.1993)
Timothy Clarke (Leander Club/07.04.91)/Adam Neill (Leander Club)
Oliver Cook (Univ of London BC – LSE/Windsor/05.06.90)/James Foad (Molesey BC/Southampton/20.03.97)
James Cook (Univ of London BC – UCL/Windsor/02.07.92)*/ Rory Bufacchi (Univ of London – UCL)
Mason Durant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Lancaster/12.02.88)/Phil Congdon (Molesey BC/East Molesey/06.06.89)
Scott Durant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Lancaster/12.02.88)/Matthew Tarrant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Shepperton/11.07.90)
Matthew Gotrel (Leander Club/Chipping Camden/01.03.89)/ Paul Bennett (Univ of London BC/Leeds/16.12.88)
Edward Grisedale (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Congleton/09.12.93)*/Timothy Grant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Otford/02.07.93)*
Francis Highton (Leander Club/Edinburgh/10.04.91)/George Rossiter (Leander Club/Oxford/09.03.1992)*
Sybren Hoogland (Oxford Brookes Univ)* /Oliver Holt (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Chester/11.01.92)*
Callum Jones (Oxford Brookes Univ)*/Richard Hawkins (Oxford Brookes Univ)*
James Martyn Smith (Oxford Brookes Univ/Altrincham/27.07.91)/Louis Paterson (Oxford Brookes Univ)
Henry Millar (Edinburgh Univ BC)*/ Graham Ord (Edinburgh Univ BC)*
William Moorhouse (Oxford Brookes Univ)/Morgan Bolding (Oxford Brookes Univ/Leeds/13.05.1995)*
George Nash (Molesey BC/Guildford/02.10.89)/Andrew Triggs Hodge (Molesey BC/Hebden/03.03.79)
Tom Ransley (Leander Club/Cambridge/16.09.85)/Dan Ritchie (Leander Club/Herne Bay/16.01.87)- WITHDRAWN – MEDICAL – RANSLEY
Peter Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth/27.07.81)/William Satch (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/09.06.89)
James Rudkin (Newcastle Univ/Litchborough/07.07.94)*/Thomas Ford (Newcastle Univ BC/Holmes Chapel/03.10.92)
Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey BC/Surbiton/27.03.88)/Alex Gregory (Leander Club/Wormington/11.03.84)
Alan Sinclair (Leander Club/Inverness/16.10.85) Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell (Univ of London BC/Durham/13.04.88)
Sam Twine (Reading Univ BC)*/Luke Moon (Molesey BC/Deal, Kent/25.03.93)*
William Warr (Leander Club/Durham/12.03.92)*/Callum McBrierty (Leander Club/Edinburgh/13.08.93)*
WOMEN
SINGLE
Katie Bartlett (Nottingham RC/Nottingham/02.02.94)*
Lucy Burgess (Northwich RC/Swindon/27.04.1994)*
Anastasia Chitty (Oxford Univ Women’s BC/London/07.12.93)*
Rachel Gamble-Flint (Leander Club/Darlington/13.09.1991)
Lucinda Gooderham (Leander Club/09.06.84) – WITHDRAWN – MEDICAL
Katie Greves (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.82)
Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne (Gloucester Hartpury)*
Frances Houghton (Leander Club/Oxford/19.09.80)
Jessica Leyden (Hollingworth Lake/Burnley/22.02.1995)
Victoria Meyer-Laker (Leander Club/Premnay/18.03.88)
Holly Nixon (Leander Club/Enniskillen/07.12.1993)* – WITHDRAWN MEDICAL
Louisa Reeve (Leander Club/London/16.05.84)
Beth Rodford (Gloucester RC/Burton-upon-Trent/28.12.1982)
Kristina Stiller (Tees RC/Yarm/23.06.87)
Victoria Thornley (Leander Club/Wrexham/30.11.87)
Yasmin Tredell (Oxford Brookes Univ/Chester/18.11.1992)
Pippa Whittaker (Leander)
Helen Wood (Imperial College BC/Maidenhead/16.03.87)
PAIR
Amber Anderson (Molesey BC)*/Margery Pepper (Univ West of England BC)*
Karen Bennett (Molesey BC/Perth/05.02.1989)/Pippa Burnham (Exeter Univ BC)
Rosamund Bradbury (Leander Club/Banstead/17.12.88)/Olivia Carnegie-Brown (Oxford
Brookes Univ BC/Oxford/28.13.91)
Stella D’Arch Smith (Agecroft RC/Uttoxeter/13.06.90)/Rebecca Chin (Agecroft RC/Salford/11.12.91)
Charlotte Drury (Durham Univ BC)*/Isabel Currie (Durham Univ BC)*
Jessica Eddie (London RC/Durham/07.10.84)/Polly Swann (Leander Club/Edinburgh/15.06.88)
Emily Ford (Newcastle Univ BC/08.11.94)*/ Nicole Lamb (Newcastle Univ BC/Hexham/20.01.93)
Georgina Francis (Sport Imperial BC)*/ Samantha Courty (Bath Univ BC)*
Holly Game (Cambridge Univ Women’s BC/Woodbridge/09.03.92)*/ Isabella Vyvyan (Cambridge Univ Women)
Helen Glover (Minerva Bath/Penzance/17.06.86)/ Heather Stanning (Army RC/Lossiemouth/26.01.1985)
Georgina Grandfield (Edinburgh Univ BC)/ Natalie Irvine (Strathclyde Univ BC)*
Lauren Kedar (Oxford Univ Women’s BC/Akrotiri/13.08.1995)*/TBC
Caragh McMurtry (Reading Univ BC/Southampton/22.08.91)/ Zoe Lee (Sport Imperial BC/Richmond/15.12.85)
Michelle Pearson (Leander Club)/ Katherine Douglas (Leander Club/Midlothian/03.08.89)
Monica Relph (Leander Club/Cambridge/15.01.88)/ Donna Etiebet (Sports Imperial BC)
Joanna Thom (Durham Univ BC)*/ Camilla Hadland (Durham Univ BC)*
Michelle Vezie (Sports Imperial BC/10.07.1989)/ Claire McKeown (Clydesdale ARC/Glasgow/16.07.90)
Claire Watkins (Cambridge Univ Women’s BC)*/ Melissa Wilson (Cambridge Univ Women’s BC)*
LIGHTWEIGHT
MEN
SINGLE
Mark Aldred (London RC/London/18.04.87)
Chris Bartley (Leander Club/Chester/02.02.84)
Matthew Bedford (Univ of London BC/Maidenhead/21.01.91)
Benjamin Board (Leander Club/West Sussex/09.03.93)*
Chris Boddy (Leander Club/Thornaby-on-Tees/16.11.87)
Kieran Brown (Edinburgh Univ BC)*
Nicholas Buckle (Leander Club/24.05.92)*
Joel Cassells (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/15.06.1994)*
Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/14.03.90)
Richard Chambers (Leander Club/Coleraine/10.06.85)
Tom Claxton (Edinburgh Univ BC)*
Jonathan Clegg (Leander Club/Maidenhead/14.07.89)
Jamie Copus (Oxford Brookes/30.01.93)*
William Davey (Nott m & Union)*
Donald Evans (Leander Club/Aryshire/28.09.88)
William Fletcher (Leander Club/Chester-le-Street/24.12.89)
Adam Freeman-Pask (Reading Univ BC/Windsor/19.06.85)
Hugh Gallie (Agecroft)
John Hale (Isle of Ely RC/Girton/28.02.88)
Stuart Heap (Tideway Scullers/10.04.87)
Andrzej Hunt (Granta)*
Wilf Kimberley (Imperial College BC/London/15.07.92)*
Jamie Kirkwood (Leander Club/Cresswell/30.08.89)
Zak Lee-Green (Agecroft)
Iain Mandale (Isis)*
George McKirdy (Nott m & Union/Univ of Nottingham)
Samuel Mottram (Leander Club)*
George Patrick (Newcastle Univ)*
Timothy Richards (Imperial College BC/London/12.05.92)*
Sam Scrimgeour (Imperial College BC/Fofar/28.01.88)
Jack Taylor (Univ of London BC-UCL)*
Sam Tuck (Durham Univ BC)*
Charles Waite-Roberts (W. of England Univ BC/Bristol/06.11.92)
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
SINGLE
Rosa Atkinson (Univ of London BC-Kings College/16.11.92)*
Katherine Copeland (Tees RC/Ashington/1.12.1990)
Emily Craig (Univ of London BC-Courtauld/East Sussex/30.11.92)*
Lucy Cruxton (Reading Univ BC/Stoke-on-Trent/22.12.93)*
Christie Duff (Robert Gordon Univ)*
Charlotte Dexter (Exeter Univ BC/Roxston/06.07.1991)
Jess Elkington (Exeter Univ)*
Gemma Hall (Newcastle Univ BC/Wargrave/10.04.92)*
Ellie Lewis (Sir William Borlase/Marlow/14.04.1994)*
Yasmin Marks (Nottingham RC)*
Emma McDonald (Glasgow Univ BC)*
Suzi Perry (Univ of West of England BC)*
Georgina Phillips (Imperial Coll)
Kate Parrish (Bristol Univ BC/Bedford/20.02.92)
Eleanor Piggott (Wallingford RC/Olney/16.05.91)
Elizabeth Polgreen (Wallingford RC/19.10.88)
Francesca Rawlins (Mortlake A&A RC/Uckfield, East Sussex/08.07.1986)
Nicola Spencer (Nottingham RC/Nottingham/04.12.1986)
Brianna Stubbs (Wallingford RC/Headington/13.07.91)
Charlotte Taylor (Putney Town RC/London/14.08.85)
Hannah Traylen (Exeter Univ)*
Ruth Walczak (Molesey BC/Rochdale/15.09.88) – WITHDRAWN – MEDICAL
Imogen Walsh (London RC/Inverness/17.01.84)
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