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Two silvers and a bronze for GB on final day of World U23s

The final day of the World U23 Rowing Championships at Lake Varese in Italy brought some excellent results for the GB Rowing Team. They added two silver medals and a bronze to the silver won by the lightweight men’s pair yesterday.

Great Britain’s second silver medal of the U23 Championships was won by Jamie Copus, Iain Mandale, Tim Richards and Joel Cassells after they put in a superb performance in the final of the lightweight men’s four.

The GB four won their repechage race on Friday to progress through to today’s final, where they held the silver medal position from 1000m onwards and stayed in the mix for a gold just behind Spain’s four. It was clear from the start that Spain were very fast, but GB did a magnificent job in holding off the home nation’s four, of whom three members of the crew won a gold medal at last year’s U23 Championships. The GB four finished in 6:04.75.

All four men spoke after the race, with Joel Cassells saying: “We aimed to track the Spanish in the middle ‘k’ and did that. It was great how we held off Italy, the 2013 Champions, to take silver”.

Mandale said: “I’m really excited to win this medal at my first World Championships, it was great to race with these guys”.

Richards said: “That was our best race here in Varese – really pleased with the way we did it, we just could not quite hold Spain in the last few strokes. I’m very proud of the crew and our medal”.

Copus added: “That was great – we had our game plan and stuck to it”.

The women’s eight of Katie Bartlett, Anastasia Chitty, Melissa Wilson, Georgia Francis, Sam Courty, Ruth Whyman, Fiona Gammond, Nicole Lamb and cox Morgan Baynham-Williams won GB’s second silver medal of the day in a tight final race.

USA, who typically produce fast eight crews in any age group, held the lead throughout the racing as Great Britain, Germany and Australia battled it out for silver and bronze medals. The GB eight were well placed in third at 500m and they moved past Australia’s crew into a clear second place. They retained this lead all the way through to the finish line, holding off their German and Australian rivals, to win another terrific silver medal for GB in a time of 6:11.72, and defend the silver medal the eight won at last year’s Championships.

Cox of the crew Morgan Baynham-Williams had this to say after the crew’s efforts: “We’re really pleased with our silver medal – it was a very intense race and we delivered our best out there. I couldn’t have asked for any more from from the girls”.

GB’s double scull partnership of Angus Groom and Jack Beaumont produced a fine race in their final as they won a bronze medal. The GB double made a storming start and they led the field from the 500m mark all the way through to 1500m, but the French and Lithuanian crews stayed in the hunt all the way down the course.

In the last 500m France took the lead and the Lithuanians inched ahead of Beaumont and Groom, who had put in a huge effort over the first three quarters of the race. The British boat held off a late charge from Germany in a very tight finish to seal a thoroughly deserved bronze medal, in a time of 6:21.21.

After the race, Beaumont said: “So pleased to win this medal for GB men’s sculling, it has been a while coming. We really took the race on today and produced our best medal”.

Groom added: “We were inspired by this year’s GB Senior Team scullers, especially John [Collins] and Jonny [Walton] in the double – that was our best, it’s fantastic to win this medal”.

19-year old Jess Leyden competed in today’s final of the women’s single scull. Leyden won a historic gold medal at the Junior World Championships in Trakai last year, and produced an exceptional performance here in Varese, finishing fourth at her first U23 World Championships.

Leyden came up against three rowers who all raced at the Senior World Cup in Lucerne earlier this year, in the form of Milda Valciukaite of Lithuania, Italy’s Sara Magnaghi and Germany’s Anne Beenken. These were the athletes that took the medals in the final, with Leyden finishing just behind the German sculler in fourth. It was a highly encouraging performance though, against opposition who had senior international experience. Leyden also finished ahead of Latvian Elza Gulbe, who won a bronze medal in this event last year.

The GB men’s eight of James Johnston, Tom Ford, Cameron Buchan, Tom Pagel, Morgan Hellen, Tom George, Ed Grisedale, Ollie Wynne-Griffiths and cox Ian Middleton had to go for broke off the start of their final, and were well placed in fourth after 1000m. The effort they put in off the start line took its toll though, as a late surge from Italy pushed the GB crew back into sixth place in a time of 5:37.07. This was another highly creditable performance from GB, with high quality crews from New Zealand, Australia and the USA medalling in the final.

Emily Craig, who did brilliantly to progress through her semifinal yesterday, raced in today’s final of the women’s lightweight single scull. In a highly competitive field, Craig struggled to keep up with the pace set by Ilse Paulis of the Netherlands and Greece’s Aikaterini Nikolaidou, who won Craig’s semifinal yesterday. The GB lightweight finished sixth in the World in a time of 7:53.20, which was four seconds faster than her semifinal time.

The first GB race of the day saw men’s lightweight single sculler Sam Mottram contest the ‘B’ final, after he finished just outside the qualifying spots for the ‘A’ final yesterday. In a race where Germany and Croatia battled for first place, Mottram stayed with the pack and held fourth place from 500m to the 1500m mark. He produced a good finish to take third place, ninth overall in the event.

GB Lead U23 Coach Peter said commented on the Championships afterwards, saying: “There were three excellent medals today to add to yesterday’s silver. We had really consistent performances across so many boats”.

He added: “It has been a great team to work with. Great credit must also go to the coaches and the team support staff, and of course the rowers themselves”.

GB Rowing Team Performance Director Sir David Tanner also spoke after the conclusion of the Championships, saying: “Well done for good medals today from the women’s eight, the lightweight men’s four and the men’s double. The latter is a big step forward for GB men’s sculling. Also well done to the Varese organising committee who did an outstanding job to deliver these Championships”.

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RESULTS

(Events featuring GB Rowing Team crews only. For full results visit: http://www.worldrowing.com/events/2014-world-rowing-u23-championships/schedule-results)

A & B FINAL RESULTS

OPEN

WOMEN

Eight – Final A

1. USA 6:07.88
2. Katie Bartlett/Anastasia Chitty/Melissa Wilson/Georgia Francis/Samantha Courty/
Ruth Whyman/Fiona Gammond/Nicole Lamb/Morgan Baynham-Williams
(GREAT BRITAIN) 6:11.76
3. Germany 6:12.74
4. Australia 6:12.83
5. Belarus 6:19.22
6. Poland 6:24.74

Single scull – Final A

1. Milda Valciukaite (Lithuania) 7:27.33
2. Sara Magnaghi (Italy) 7:31.48
3. Anne Beenken (Germany) 7:36.00
4. Jess Leyden (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:38.30
5. Elza Gulbe (Latvia) 7:45.67
6. Jovana Arsic (Serbia) 7:46.94

OPEN

MEN

Eight – Final A

1. New Zealand 5:28.82
2. Australia 5:30.45
3. USA 5:32.18
4. Germany 5:35.76
5. Italy 5:36.94
6. James Johnston/Tom Ford/Cameron Buchan/Tom George/Morgan Hellen/Thomas Pagel/
Edward Grisedale/Oliver Wynne-Griffith/Ian Middleton (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:37.07

Double scull – Final A

1. Michael Marteau/Alberic Cormerais (France) 6:20.29
2. Aurimas Adomavicius/Rolandas Mascinskas (Lithuania) 6:20.70
3. Angus Groom/Jack Beaumont (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:21.21
4. Florian Eidam/Timo Piontek (Germany) 6:23.54
5. Gergely Papp/Bendeguz Petervari-Molnar (Hungary) 6:23.87
6. Joaquin Montero Gomez/Alex Marti Roura (Spain) 6:33.30

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Single scull – Final A

1. Ilse Paulis (Netherlands) 7:37.18
2. Aikaterini Nikolaidou (Greece) 7:41.58
3. Eveline Peleman (Belgium) 7:44.35
4. Jackie Kiddle (New Zealand) 7:46.74
5. Anna Ioannou (Cyprus) 7:47.50
6. Emily Craig (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:53.20

LIGHWEIGHT

MEN

Four – Final A

1. Spain 6:02.35
2. Jamie Copus/Iain Mandale/Timothy Richards/Joel Cassells (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:04.75
3. Italy 6:05.20
4. Germany 6:05.27
5. Japan 6:13.71
6. Turkey 6:21.80

Single scull – Final B

1. Jonathan Rommelmann (Germany) 7:06.83
2. Luka Radonic (Croatia) 7:08.66
3. Samuel Mottram (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:10.27
4. Daan Klomp (Netherlands) 7:12.26
5. Uncas Batista (Brazil) 7:17.92
6. Spyridon Giannaros (Greece) 7:19.09

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GB SQUAD FOR WORLD U23 ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS, VARESE, ITALY

OPEN

WOMEN

Eight

Katie Bartlett (Nottingham RC/Nottingham/02.02.1994)
Anastasia Chitty (Oxford Univ Women’s BC/London/07.12.1993)
Melissa Wilson (Cambridge Univ Women’s BC/Edinburgh/10.06.1993)
Georgia Francis (Imperial College BC/Newbury/18.08.1994)
Sam Courty (Bath Univ BC/Alnwick/07.01.1993)
Ruth Whyman (Gloucester RC/Tewkesbury/07.03.1992)
Fiona Gammond (Headington School Oxford BC/Bicester/19.10.1992)
Nicole Lamb (Newcastle Univ BC/Hexham/20.01.1993)
Morgan Baynham-Williams (cox) (Leander Club/Ross-On-Wye/28.06.1994)
Coach: Jesse Burgoine

Single Scull

Jess Leyden (Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club/Burnley/22.02.1995)
Coach: Ian John

Quadruple scull

Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne (Gloucester Hartpury/Hereford/01.10.1994)
Holly Nixon (Leander Club/Enniskillen/07.12.1993)
Jo Wratten (Tees RC/Middlesbrough/23.03.1992)
Lucy Burgess (Northwich RC/Northwich/27.04.1994)
Coach: Pete Sheppard

OPEN

MEN

Four

Jamie Cook (Univ of London BC/Windsor/02.07.1992)
George Rossiter (Leander Club/Newbury/09.03.1992)
James Rudkin (Newcastle Univ BC/Litchborough/07.07.1994)
Lewis McCue (Robert Gordon Univ BC/Aberdeen/26.12.1994)
Coach: Brian Young

Eight

James Johnston (Leander/Henley-On-Thames/26.08.1994)
Tom Ford (Newcastle Univ BC/Holmes Chapel/03.10.1992)
Cameron Buchan (Leander/Dunipace/03.12.1992)
Tom Pagel (Griffen BC/Oxford/28.05.1994)
Morgan Hellen (Molesey BC/Maidstone/19.10.1992)
Tom George (Leander/Oxford/22.09.1994)
Ed Grisedale (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Congleton/09.12.1993)
Ollie Wynne-Griffiths (Molesey BC/Guildford/29.05.1994)
Ian Middleton (cox) (Cambridge Univ BC/Oxford/27.06.1995)
Coach: Steve Trapmore

Double scull

Angus Groom (Leander Club/Glasgow/16.06.1992)
Jack Beaumont (Leander Club/Maidenhead/21.11.1993)
Coach: Matt Beechey

Quadruple scull
Tom Barras (Cardiff Univ BC/Staines/07.01.1994)

Seb Devereux (Leander Club/Chalfont Saint Giles/15.02.1995)

Robbie Massey (Cardiff Univ BC /Shrewsbury/14.12.1992)

Sholto Carnegie (Leander Club/Oxford/28.02.1995)

Coach: Ian Shore

Coxed Four

Sybren Hoogland (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Norwich/03.11.93)
Tim Grant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Sevenoaks/02.07.1993)
Will Warr (Leander Club/Tunbridge Wells/12.03.1992)
Callum McBrierty (Leander Club/Edinburgh/13.08.1992)
Harry Brightmore (cox) (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Chester/01.07.1994)
Coach: Angelo Savarino

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Single scull

Emily Craig (Univ of London BC/Mark Cross/30.11.1992)
Coach: Phil Gray

Quadruple scull

Ellie Lewis (Agecroft RC/Marlow/14.04.1994)
Jess Elkington (Exeter Univ BC/Exeter/29.08.1992)
Gemma Hall (Newcastle Univ BC/Wargrave/10.04.1992)
Lucy Cruxton (Reading Univ BC/Stoke-On-Trent/22.12.1993)
Coach: Phil Gray

LIGHTWEIGHT

MEN

Pair

Wilf Kimberley (Imperial College BC/London/15.07.1992)
Charles Waite-Roberts (Univ of West England BC/Basingstoke/06.11.1992)
Coach: Stuart Whitelaw

Four

Jamie Copus (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Chicago/30.01.1993)
Iain Mandale (Isis BC/Surbiton/27.01.1993)
Tim Richards (Imperial College BC/Goring-On-Thames/17.05.1992)
Joel Cassells (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/15.06.1994)
Coach: Henry Bailhache-Webb

Single Scull

Sam Mottram (Leander Club/Stoke Mandeville/14.11.1994)
Coach: Clive Cooper