Great Britain Tops Medal Table at World Rowing Cup II

It was an eventful and exciting final day of racing for Great Britain who topped the medal table picking up three gold, one silver and one bronze on the Rotsee at the World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne, Switzerland

The men’s eight (M8+) of Josh Bugajski, Jacob Dawson, Morgan Bolding, Mohamed Sbihi, Charles Elwes, Tom George, James Rudkin, Tom Ford and Henry Fieldman (cox) fought a hard and tight race, edging ahead on the final stroke to take the gold ahead of the Germans.

Morgan Bolding who was substituted into the boat yesterday after Oliver Wynne-Griffith was taken ill said: “It feels good to have raced today. It was heartbreaking to have not qualified for Tokyo the other weekend but it’s just a real honour to get to race with the eight today. It just shows that it’s never embarrassing to not be selected in this sort of boat when the standard is this high. Every credit to everyone in the crew – it was a real pleasure to race with the guys.” Moe Sbihi added: “Today was more about trying to execute our plan and we’re going to have to do that again in Tokyo.”

The men’s four (M4-) of Oli Cook, Matt Rossiter, Rory Gibbs and Sholto Carnegie took the gold after a dominant row which saw them leading the field from early on. Speaking after the race, Matt said: “We got out well – it probably wasn’t our cleanest start but then Sholto set a good rhythm in the middle where we were just pounding away, taking a little bit out every stroke. I make the calls for the boys, and they made my job so easy because we were just nudging ahead every stroke. It feels like a real privilege to be able to be in front of the race and watch it all unfold.  I’ve been rowing for GB since I was about 18 and I’ve never had that before, so to have that here and in the Europeans has been a good feeling.” Sholto added: “We’re really satisfied. I thought we executed a good plan and it’s a very fun boat to row.”

It was a commanding victory for the lightweight women’s double (LW2x) of Emily Craig and Imogen Grant. Speaking before collecting their gold medals Imogen said: “It hasn’t quite sunk in yet. Our plan was to get from A to B as fast as we could, and trust that that meant we’d cross the line first. I’m just overjoyed that happened.  Given that there are a limited number of races before the Olympic Games, we wanted to make sure that we put down a good performance. I think what we did today really reflected that.”

The women’s four (W4-) of Rowan McKellar, Harriet Taylor, Caragh McMurtry and Rebecca Shorten, picked up a silver medal in a race that started in glorious sunshine and ended after a massive downpour of rain on the Rotsee lake. Caragh who was subbed into the boat just this week said: “It was fun – I feel like I learned a lot, it was just a great experience and I’m happy that I could sub in and make it a good experience for the other three girls. I’m glad that I could do that and make it competitive.”

Rebecca added: “We’re really happy! We had Caragh in the boat instead of Karen, and we only came together a day before leaving.  I think the first race we did was the longest we’d ever been down the course together, and we put together a solid row and learned what to improve on for today. I think we took everything we’d spoken about there and delivered it well today.”

It was a bronze medal for the men’s quad (M4x) of Harry Leask, Angus Groom, Thomas Barras and Jack Beaumont. Commenting after the race Harry said: “We’re chuffed. Obviously coming from the Europeans, we just wanted to build our speed. We’ve put a lot of work in and to see it paying off here is so worthwhile, and makes everything so much more fun. This is my first world cup medal, and to be doing it here of all places! It’s also my first time racing here, and it’s an absolutely phenomenal place to race. It has to be one of my favourites already.”

Vicky Thornley finished fifth in the women’s single sculls final (W1x), she said “I’m disappointed with the result. We came here to improve the start of the race and close down the margin to the front of the field and we’ve done both of the things but the result is the frustrating part of it. Now it’s back to the grind and looking ahead to the Games this summer.”

The men’s double (M2x) GBR1 crew of John Collins and Graeme Thomas and the men’s pair (M2-) of Oli Wilkes and Mat Tarrant put in gutsy performances but both missed out on a medal, finishing in fourth place by just 0.3 and 0.5 seconds respectively. The men’s double (M2x) GBR2 crew of Jonny Walton and Sam Meijer finished 12th overall after their B final race.

Reflecting on the weekend racing, British Rowing Director of Performance Brendan Purcell said: “This was our last international regatta before we select and announce our Olympic Team and head off to Tokyo this summer. It’s not been a ‘usual’ season for us but we’ve had some standout performances today, and have seen some good learnings implemented following the Europeans. It’s heads down now, with our crews shortly travelling to training camps where the athletes and coaches will continue to reset and refine so that we can get to Tokyo in the strongest shape possible.”

Finals Day World Rowing Cup II Results