Success for GB at 2013 University Champs
The 11 Universities from Great Britain returned from the 8th European Universities Rowing Championships in Poznan with 4 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze. The composite team drawn from 11 different Universities across the country finished second in the medals table and third nation in terms of points.
As always, the top end of event included world class athletes who had previously represented their country at Olympic Games, and World Championships from Junior to Senior level.
The first gold for GB came from the lightweight men’s four from Imperial College who led their race from the start to finish 11 seconds ahead of Germany. The crew included Wilf Kimberley and Tim Richards who had won a silver medal at the World Rowing U23 Championships earlier this season. They were joined by Paul Jones and Myles Holbrough. After the event, Holbrough said “The event was well run and the lake was the best I have been to. This was made even better by a solid win!“ Imperial also earned a bronze medal in the women’s double sculls where Michelle Vezie and Myriam Goudet finished behind a London 2012 Bronze medallist in the winning crew and World U23 Silver medallist in the second placed crew.
The lightweight women’s quad event had four entries all of which contained a wealth of experience. The Polish crew included Magdalena Kemnitz who won gold in the same event at the Senior World Rowing Championships in 2012. Stefanie Borzacchini raced in the Austrian crew and has previously raced at two World Rowing Junior Championships, three World Rowing U23 Championships and numerous World Cups. The GB crew from the University of Exeter took the lead from the start and continued to extend it to win gold by five seconds.
The morning session finished with a fine gold medal in the women’s eight from Newcastle University. With two World U23 medallists and five 2013 Henley Women’s Regatta medallists in the boat, there was no doubt that the crew would be strong. They proved this in the race for lanes on the Saturday and then showed their strength further when they won their final by 13 seconds. A few races earlier, the Newcastle men had won a silver medal in the coxless four, one of the most competitive events of the Championships. At the 1000m metre marker they were leading but were then pipped on the line by the University of Vienna. The fourth placed crew from Poland included rowers who have been in the A-final at the World Rowing U23 Championships for several years.
GB’s fourth gold came towards the end of racing when Durham University dominated the women’s coxless fours. Camilla Hadland, who won a gold medal at the 2010 World Rowing Junior Championships and is the incoming Club President, said “The whole experience was incredible from start to finish. The squad pulled together so well and there was a real team vibe between all the British Universities which was very different to competing against each other at BUCS regatta, but it was great to have your opposition as team mates for once! We knew that our boat (W4-) had been going well in training, but I don’t think we could have ever predicted winning a Europe-wide competition! It was a great end to the season for us, and hard work really does pay off!”
“The event is a unique opportunity where crews can come together to represent their University but as part of a composite team” said Team Manager, James Lee. “There was a fantastic atmosphere amongst the team with all of the individual Universities supporting each other. The fact that it was a smaller team than we have taken in the past yet 12 crews still won medals shows the strength of University rowing in GB and for many of these rowers, this event is a stepping stone to representing their country at a higher level.”
Full results from the Championships can be found at http://euc2013.rowtiming.com/.
In 2014, EUSA Rowing will form part of the EUSA Games in Rotterdam. Further information is available at www.eugames2014.eu/.
GB Universities
Cardiff University
Tom Barras, Robbie Massey, Jack Thomas, Sam Whittaker
University of Durham
Andrew Brown, James Gossage, Camilla Hadland, Francis Highton, William Mace, Eve Newton, Oscar Richards, Joanna Thom, Samuel Tuck, Anna Tyndall
University of Edinburgh
Georgina Grandfield, Joanna Smith
University of Exeter
Charlotte Dexter, Jessica Elkington, Emma Townshend, Hannah Trawylen
Imperial College, London
Myriam Goudet, Myles Holbrough, Paul Jones, Wilf Kimberley, Timothy Richards, Hannah Patterson, Georgie Phillips, Michelle Vezie
University of London
Rosa Atkinson, Emily Craig, Jade Wright
University of Manchester
Hugh Gallie
Newcastle University
Harriet Broad, Alexandra Dobson, Thomas Ford, Gemma Hall, Danielle Hardy, Natalie Hardy, Nicole Lamb, Alexander Leigh, Georgia Parry, James Rudkin, Rosemary Rust, Isabella Vyvyan, Samuel Wilson
University of Nottingham
William Davey, George McKirdy, Artjom Nepryahin, Stuart Sykes
Robert Gordon University
Christie Duff, Lewis McCue, Iona Riley
Teesside University
Josephine Wratten
Management Team & Coaches
James Lee (Team Manager)
Paddy Hudson (Driver)
Jesse Burgoine (Newcastle)
Katherine Copeland (Teesside)
John Higson (Edinburgh)
Mike Hughes (Robert Gordon)
Cameron Kennedy (Durham)
Don LeClair (Durham)
Edward Previte (Durham)
Alan Sherman (Exeter)
Ian Shore (Cardiff)
Alex Simmons (London)
Chris Waumsley (Nottingham)
Stuart Whitelaw (Imperial College & Driver)
