Sydney Stage is set for Opening World Cup

Sydney provides the backdrop to the season’s opener in the 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup Series this weekend (22-24 March) – two months earlier than the Series’ traditional May start.

It is the first World Cup to be staged in the Southern Hemisphere and will use the Sydney 2000 Olympic course at Penrith.

The GB Rowing Team for the event has a fresh look and feel about it with some unusual combinations. “This is the season and the venue to try some new things”, said British Performance Director Sir David Tanner.

For the large number of senior debutants in the GB Rowing Team the venue could not be more inspirational, given that Sir Steve Redgrave won his fifth Olympic gold here and Katherine Grainger won her first silver – GB’s debut women’s Olympic medal.

Whilst the newcomers’ nerves might be jangling, the more established rowers in the squad will be keen to race internationally for the first time since the Olympic Games at Eton Dorney last year.

“The 2000 Olympic course is special. Great venue. Can’t wait to race”, Peter Reed told rowing fans through Twitter yesterday.

Reed, like his 2012 Olympic gold medal men’s four crew-mates, Andrew Triggs Hodge and Alex Gregory, are racing here in an eight.

Olympic bronze medallists Moe Sbihi, Tom Ransley, cox Phelan Hill and 2011 World silver medallist Dan Ritchie are also in the line-up with newcomers Lance Tredell and Matt Gotrel. The crew have their first outing tomorrow at 9.36 in a preliminary lane-seeding race with two Australia crews, the USA and New Zealand.

The GB women will have their own “big eight” as well as doubling up in pairs and double sculls to produce a busy weekend of racing.

Helen Glover, the Olympic champion, races a pair with Polly Swann in the absence on Army duty of Heather Stanning. The duo have their pair heat early in the morning tomorrow before joining the eight for an evening heat at 18.25.

The GB women’s eight races a strong field here but features a host of World and Olympic medallists across a variety of boats and new cox Zoe de Toledo.

There are also new-look lightweight boats. Imogen Walsh teams up with Kathryn Twyman to race the lightweight women’s double. Walsh narrowly missed out on selection for last year’s Games but both women were World Champions in 2011 in the lightweight women’s quad. Ruth Walczak races the single on her debut at this level here.

Adam Freeman-Pask and Richard Chambers contest the lightweight men’s double scull and there are two newcomers – Jonno Clegg and Chris Boddy- in the lightweight four to join 2012 silver medallists Peter Chambers and Chris Bartley. Jamie Kirkwood races the lightweight single.

Amongst the open weight scullers Bill Lucas and Sam Townsend, last year’s Olympic men’s double, are racing a quadruple scull with Charles Cousins, from the 2012 quad line-up, and Graeme Thomas. Thomas, a former rugby player, is like his crew-mates a graduate of the talent identification and development system, Start.

Debutants John Collins and Pete Lambert have stepped into the double whilst Jonathan Walton, also making his World Cup debut, races the single scull.

Frances Houghton, who is the only rower on the GB squad to have raced here at the Sydney Olympic Games, teams up with Vicki Meyer-Laker in a double as do 2011 World Champion Beth Rodford and Vicky Thornley.

The women’s quad consists of Kristina Stiller, Olivia Carnegie-Brown, Monica Relph and Zoe Lee who replaces the poorly Rachel Gamble-Flint. They open the whole race programme for the GB squad at 08.06 on Friday with a tough heat including China and New Zealand.

All four women will also be part of the eight alongside Katie Greves and Jess Eddie who race a pair, too.

The fresh GB men’s four of Scott Durant, Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell, Alan Sinclair and Matthew Tarrant will be writing their own World Cup history here tomorrow with a preliminary lane-seeding race at 08.30 – they will be the first senior GB four to row the course since that historic day in 2000 when Redgrave, Sir Matt Pinsent, Tim Foster and James Cracknell won gold.

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GB Rowing Team – Crew List
2013 World Rowing Cup, Sydney

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair – (two boats)

Helen Glover / Minerva Bath / Penzance / 17/06/86
Polly Swann / Leander Club / Edinburgh / 15/06/88

Katie Greves / Leander Club / Oxford / 02/09/82
Jessica Eddie / London RC / Durham / 07/10/84

Double scull – (two boats)

Beth Rodford / Gloucester RC / Gloucester / 28/12/82
Victoria Thornley / Leander Club / Wrexham / 30/11/87

Frances Houghton / Leander Club / Oxford / 19/09/80
Vicki Meyer-Laker / Leander Club / Premnay / 18/03/88

Quadruple scull

Monica Relph / Leander Club / Cambridge / 15/01/88
Kristina Stiller / Tees RC/ Yarm, N.Yorks / 23/06/87
Zoe Lee / Sport Imperial BC / Richmond, N. Yorks / 15/12/85
Olivia Carnegie-Brown/Oxford Brookes Uni / Oxford / 28/03/91

Eight

Katie Greves / Leander Club / Oxford / 02/09/82
Jessica Eddie / London RC/ Durham / 07/10/84
Beth Rodford / Gloucester RC / Gloucester / 28/12/82
Vicki Meyer-Laker / Leander Club / Premnay / 18/03/88
Frances Houghton / Leander Club / Oxford / 19/09/80
Victoria Thornley / Leander Club / Wrexham / 30/11/87
Helen Glover / Minerva Bath / Penzance / 17/06/86
Polly Swann / Leander Club / Edinburgh / 15/06/88
Zoe de Toledo (cox) / Leander Club / London / 17/07/87

Spares

Erica Bodman / Leander Club / Guernsey / 24/01/1988

OPEN

MEN

Four

Scott Durant / Oxford Brookes Uni BC / Lancaster / 12/02/88
Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell / Uni of London BC / Durham / 13/04/88
Alan Sinclair / Leander Club / Inverness / 16/10/85
Matthew Tarrant / Oxford Brookes Uni BC / Shepperton / 11/07/90

Eight

Matt Gotrel / Leander Club / Chipping Camden / 01/03/89
Alex Gregory / Leander Club / Wormington / 11/03/84
Tom Ransley / Leander Club / Cambridge / 06/09/85
Pete Reed / Leander Club / Nailsworth, Glos / 27/07/81
Dan Ritchie / Leander Club / Herne Bay / 16/01/87
Mohamed Sbihi / Molesey BC / Surbiton / 27/03/88
Lance Tredell / Leander Club / Hale / 25/10/88
Andrew Triggs Hodge / Molesey BC / Hebden, N. Yorks / 03/03/79
Phelan Hill (cox) / Leander / Bedford / 21/07/79

Single scull

Jonathan Walton / Leander Club / Leicester / 06/10/90

Double scull

John Collins / Leander Club / Twickenham / 24/01/89
Pete Lambert / Leander Club / Johannesburg / 03/12/86

Quadruple scull

Charles Cousins / Leander Club / Willingham, Cambs / 13/12/88
Bill Lucas / London RC / Kingswear / 13/09/87
Graeme Thomas / Agecroft RC / Preston / 08/11/88
Sam Townsend / Reading Univ BC / Reading / 26/11/85

Spare

Oliver Cook / Uni of London / Windsor / 05/06/1990

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Double scull

Kathryn Twyman / Wallingford RC / Oxford / 29/03/87
Imogen Walsh / London RC / Inverness / 17/01/84

Single scull
Ruth Walczak / Molesey BC / Rochdale / 15/09/88

LIGHTWEIGHT

MEN

Double scull

Richard Chambers / Leander Club / Coleraine / 10/06/85
Adam Freeman-Pask / Reading Uni BC/ Windsor / 19/06/85

Four

Chris Bartley / Leander Club / Chester / 02/02/84
Chris Boddy / Leander Club / Thornaby-on-Tees / 16/11/87
PeteR Chambers / Oxford Brookes Uni BC / Oxford / 14/03/90
Jonno Clegg / Leander Club / Maidenhead /14/07/89

Single scull

Jamie Kirkwood / Leander Club / Cresswell / 30/08/89

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OUTLINE RACING TIMETABLE
(All times given are local times. Sydney is 11 hours ahead of the UK. Times may be subject to change once all entries and the draw are known)

Friday 22 March

08.00 – 10.00 – heats

First GB race or morning session – women’s quad at 8.00am;
Last GB Race of morning session – lightweight men’s single scull at 9.54am.

17.55 – 18.31 – Heats and Repechages

First GB race of evening session – men’s double at 18.15;
Last GB race of evening session – women’s eight at 18.25

Saturday 23 March
08.00 – 09.30 – Reps and Semi-finals
17.00 – 17.42 – B Finals

Sunday 24 March
09.30 – 12.45 – FINALS

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CONTACT DETAILS

For media enquiries about this event please contact:

Caroline Searle on (01225) 443998 or (NB Sydney is 11 hours ahead of the UK) 07831 755351 (or e-mail [email protected]

GB Rowing Team website, including full rower biogs: www.gbrowingteam.org.uk

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The GB Rowing Team is supported by the National Lottery with Science in Sport as its nutrition supplier.