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Five-win start for GB Rowing Team at Worlds

Olympic Champions Helen Glover and Heather Stanning made a strong start to the defence of their World title with a dominant performance in the opening heats of the 2015 World Championships on Lake Aiguebelette in France this morning.

Olympic Champions Helen Glover and Heather Stanning made a strong start to the defence of their World title with a dominant performance in the opening heats of the 2015 World Championships on Lake Aiguebelette in France this morning.

Two of GB’s European Champion crews also shone. James Foad and Matt Langridge brushed off Romania in the second half of their men’s pair heat to win. Imogen Walsh had earlier completely controlled her lightweight women’s single scull heat on the alluring turquoise water of this popular venue.

Walsh said: “That was a good race to get out the way. I made good progress at the training camps and I was keen to see if I could put it into practice here and I did”.

Alan Campbell, 2012 Olympic bronze medallist closed, out the morning’s programme with a win in the open men’s single to show his continuing return to form.

Sandwiched between these wins, Will Fletcher and Richard Chambers – the latter a 2012 silver medallist in the light men’s four – showed a good turn of pace to take victory in their lightweight men’s double scull heat.

Fletcher said: “That was a very good race to start with. I’m very pleased. Everything that we did at the training camps has come together”.

Olympic Champion Kat Copeland and Charlotte Taylor also moved safely through in second place whilst as did birthday boy Jamie Kirkwood in the lightweight men’s single. Repechages await the men’s four, second this morning with only one qualifying for the quarters – and the men’s quadruple scull, fourth in their heat with only two moving into the semis.

For the men’s pair and single and both lightweight doubles as well aa the lightweight men’s single, the depth of field means they will race quarter-finals next. Glover, Stanning and Walsh are into the semis.

Glover was satisfied with today’s race. She said: ““We have come out of the training camps very well and today’s race was a reflection of the training we have done. It’s been a very good few weeks. Today it was good to get into the regatta and get on”.

Langridge, from the equivalent men’s boat said: “That was a good start. In the heats you see people put on different turns of speed at different points. It looked like Romania wanted to put in a good first 1km but they dropped off fairly quickly after that. We have four races here so we know we need to keep stepping up”.

13 more GB Rowing Team crews will be in action tomorrow with coxed pair of Mat Tarrant, Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell and cox Henry Fieldman leading off the programme at 09.00.

The headline crews look set to be the GB men’s eight and the mixed para-rowing coxed four who are both reigning World Champions.

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RACE REPORTS

Jamie Kirkwood celebrated his birthday by opening the whole GB Rowing Team performance here in Aiguebelette at the 2015 World Championships as well as qualifying safely for the quarterfinals in second place in his heat of the lightweight men’s single scull.

He led early but was overhauled by Rajko Hrvat of Slovenia. Turkey’s Ugur Ozcan moved into third place and that’s the way it stayed to the line with the top three qualifying for Tuesday’s next day.

European Champion Imogen Walsh raced next. She was leading as the race came up to halfway with Austria’s Stefanie Borzachinni two seconds behind and Germany also challenging.

Only one could qualify for the semis and Walsh made sure by keeping her nose very firmly in front. For the second half she had clear-water over her rivals and now races a semi-final on Thursday morning. Judith Anlauf of Germany took second with the Austrian in third but both will race a repechage.

Walsh said: “It’s taken a bit of getting used to this water with so many boats about. In the lightweight single scull you feel every movement.

“So that was a good race to get out the way. I made good progress at the training camps and I was keen to see if I could put it into practice here and I did”.

Helen Glover and Heather Stanning put down a marker from the outset in their women’s pair heat. With a quarter of the race gone they were a length ahead of the chasing Australians and South Africans. At halfway they still had clearwater over Naydine Smith and Lee-Ann Persse of South Africa with Germany moving up into third.

At the finish the duo were able to drop off their pace to the line to win in 7:04.77.

Glover said: “We have come out of the training camps very well and today’s race was a reflection of the training we have done. It’s been a very good few weeks. Today it was good to get into the regatta and get on”.

Stanning added: “It is a very spectacular venue. In the middle of the race there is a moment when you can’t hear the crowd and can focus on your own boat. At the end you can hear the crowd. It’s good now to know we have four days before the semi and almost a week before the final where we can bring things to a peak”.

James Foad and Matt Langridge, the European Champions, duly followed with a well-paced men’s pair heat which they won in 6:33.23. They tracked the Romanian leaders for the first half before pushing ahead just before halfway and going on to win. The following Germans and Romanians did not challenge in the final 500m.

Langridge said: “That was a good start. In the heats you see people put on different turns of speed at different points. Maybe the Romanians wanted to put in a good first 1km but they dropped off fairly quickly after that.

Foad added: “We’ve had a good couple of camps and it’s feeling pretty good here. We didn’t know what to expect from some of the crews”.

The lightweight men’s double of Richard Chambers and Will Fletcher looked good in winning their heat. Chambers was clearly pleased afterwards and said: “In terms of what we were trying to do that was very good. We set up a good rhythm. We had two good training camps and we are putting the pieces together nicely here with still more to come.

“This is an awesome venue. Even the colour of the water is stunning. We should come here again soon for big events”.

Charlie Taylor and Kat Copeland were closing quickly on the Irish in a tight finish which saw the GB combination move into Wednesday’s quarter-finals of the lightweight women’s double scull in second place.

Claire Lambe and Sinead Jennings led throughout with Taylor and Copeland pushing past Austria in the final 500m to take up the chase.

Scott Durant, Alan Sinclair, Tom Ransley and Stewart Innes are the newly-formed GB Rowing Team men’s four who, because they finished second to Italy this morning, will now have to race a repechage to reach the semi-finals here.

The British quartet were in very close contention throughout the first half and looked as if they might close the gap on the Italians in the third quarter before the eventual winners spotted the danger and picked up the pace.

Graeme Thomas, Sam Townsend, Charles Cousins and Peter Lambert did not have the best of returns to international racing today – the first time the 2013 World silver medallists have been able to race as a crew this season because of injury and illness.

They looked a little rusty as they came home fourth in their men’s quadruple scull heat which was won by Switzerland with New Zealand in second. The top two finishers move through to the semi-finals with the GB quartet now racing a repechage on Tuesday.

By contrast Alan Campbell closed out the racing programme this morning with a well-executed heat in which he held the USA’s Ken Jurkowski at bay in the first half and then moved away from him to win comfortably to progress to quarter-finals on Wednesday.

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RESULTS

Events featuring GB crews only. For full results:

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair – heat 2

1. Helen Glover/Heather Stanning (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:04.77
2. Naydene Smith/Lee-Ann Persse (South Africa) 7:09.79
3. Kerstin Hartmann/Kathrin Marchand (Germany) 7:14.72
4. Molly Goodman/Genevieve Horton (Australia) 7:15.30
5. Cheng Wenjing/Yi Liqin (China) 7:23.00

MEN

Pair

1. James Foad/Matt Langirdge (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:33.23
2. Cristi-Ilie Pirghie/George Palamaru 6:40.21
3. Peter Kluge/Alexander Egler (Germany) 6:45.11
4. Adrian Juhasz/Simon Jr Bela (Hungary) 6:55.88
5. David Sain/Mario Vekic (Croatia) 7:07.53

Four

1. Marco Di Constanzo/Matteo Castaldo/Matteo Lodo/Guiseppe Vicino (Italy) 5:50.34
2. Scott Durant/Alan Sinclair/Tom Ransley/Stewart Innes (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:54.51
3. Vlad-Dragos Aicoboae/Adrian Damii/Marius-Vasile Cozmiuc/Toader-Andrei Gontaru
(Romania) 5:55.65
4. Alexander Bardoul/George Howard/Robert Kells/Anthony Allen (New Zealand)
6:01.19
5. Yan Zengxin/Li Dongjian/Li Chong/Wang Linqing (China) 6:03.10
6. Clemens Auerberg/Christoph Seifriedberger/Alexander Leichter/Ferdinand Querfeld
(Austria) 6:20.18

Single scull

1. Alan Campbell (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:00.62
2. Kenneth Jurkowski (USA) 7:02.31
3. Anders Backeus (Sweden) 7:19.94
4. Mario Mihalik (Peru) 7:40.11
5. Riccardo Bouehi (CIV) 8:10.71

Quadruple scull

1. Nico Stahlberg/Augustin Maillerfer/Roman Roeoesli/Barnabe Delarze (Switzerland) 5:43.89
2. Karl Manson/John Storey/George Bridgewater/Jade Uru (New Zealand) 5;44.12
3. Derek Johnson John Madura/Hans Struzyna/Ian Silveira (USA) 5:48.57
4. Graeme Thomas/Sam Townsend/Charles Cousins/Peter Lambert (GREAT BRITAIN)
5:51.22
5. Ma Jian/Liu Zhiyu/Liu Dang/Zhang Quan (China) 5:55.12

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Single scull – heat 4

1. Imogen Walsh (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:41.99
2. Judith Anlauf (Germany) 7:52.50
3. Stefanie Borzacchini (Austria) 7:56.55
4. Amina Rouba (Algeria) 7:59.54
5. Anetta Barseghyan (Armenia)

Double scull – heat 5

1. Claire Lambe/Sinead Jennings (Ireland) 6:57.63
2. Charlotte Taylor/Katherine Copeland (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:57.97
3. Sara Lambing/Leonie Pless (Austria) 7:05.15
4. Frederique Rol/Patricia Merz (Switzerland) 7:05.94
5. Lee Yuen Yin/Lee Ka Man (Hong Kong) 7:18.30

MEN

Single scull – Heat 4

1. Rajko Hrvat (Slovenia) 7:00.58
2. Jamie Kirkwood (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:04.48
3. Ugur Ozcan (Turkey) 7:11.29
4. John McDonnell (Australia) 7:24.22
5. Siyavash Saeidikharayem (Iran) 7:26.78

Double scull – heat 2

1. Will Fletcher/Richard Chambers (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:23.11
2. Daniel Wiederkehr/Michael Schmid (Switzerland) 6:28.18
3. Huseyin Kandemir/Enes Kusuku (Turkey) 6:32.20
4. Ardi Isadi/Ihram Ihram (Idonesia) 6:47.34
5. Linh & Ha van Nguyen (Vietnam) 6:49.13
6. Lee Hakbeom/Park Taehyun (Korea) 6:59.63

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CREW LISTS
(bow to stroke plus cox, name, club, hometown)

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair

Helen Glover (Minerva Bath RC/Penzance/17.06.86)
Heather Stanning (Army RC/Lossiemouth/26.01.85)
Coach: Robin Williams

Four

Rebecca Chin (Agecroft RC/Deganwy/11.12.91)/
Karen Bennett (Leander Club/Edinburgh/05.02.89)
Lucinda Gooderham (Leander Club/Garboldisham/09.06.84)
Holly Norton (Leander Club/Johannesburg, SA/01.01.93)
Coach: Jane Hall

Eight

Katie Greves (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.82)
Louise Reeve (Leander Club/London/16.05.84)
Jessica Eddie (London RC/Durham/07.10.84)
Donna Etiebet (Sport Imperial/London/29.04.86)
Victoria Meyer-Laker (Leander Club/Premnay/18.03.88)
Olivia Carnegie-Brown (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Oxford/28.03.91)
Rosamund Bradbury (Leander Club/Banstead/17.12.88)
Zoe Lee (Imperial College BC/Richmond/15.12.85)
Zoe de Toledo (Cox) (Leander Club/London/17.07.87)
Coach: James Harris

Double scull

Katherine Grainger (St Andrew BC/Glasgow/12.11.75)
Victoria Thornley (Leander Club/Wrexham/30.11.87)
Coach: Paul Thompson

Quadruple Scull

Frances Houghton (Univ of London Tyrian Club/Oxford/19.9.80)
Jessica Leyden (Leander Club/Todmorden/22.02.95)
KrisTina Stiller (Tees RC/Yarm/23.06.87)
Melanie Wilson (Imperial College BC/London/25.06.84)
Coach: Nick Strange

Sculling Spare

Beth Rodford (Gloucester RC/Gloucester/28.12.82)

OPEN

MEN

Pair

James Foad (Molesey BC/Southampton/20.03.87)
Matt Langridge (Leander Club/Northwich/20.05.83)
Coach: Rob Dauncey

Coxed Pair

Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell (Univ of London BC/Durham/13.04.88)
Matthew Tarrant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Shepperton/11.07.90)
Henry Fieldman (cox) (Molesey BC/Barnes/25.11.88)
Coach: John West

Four

Scott Durant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Lancaster/12.02.88)
Alan Sinclair (Leander Club/Munlochy/16.10.85)
Tom Ransley (Leander Club/Ashford/06.09.85)
Stewart Innes (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/25.05.91)
Coach: Christian Felkel

Eight

Matt Gotrel (Leander Club/Chipping Campden/01.03.89)
Constantine Louloudis (OUBC/London/15.09.91)
Pete Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth/27.07.81)
Paul Bennett (Univ of London BC/Leeds/16.12.88)
Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey BC/Surbiton/27.03.88)
Alex Gregory (Leander Club/Wormington/11.03.84)
George Nash (Molesey BC/Guildford/02.10.89)
Will Satch (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/09.06.89)
Phelan Hill (cox) (Leander Club/Bedford/21.07.79)
Coach: Jurgen Grobler

Sweep Spares:

Oliver Cook (Univ of London BC/Windsor/05.06.90)
Callum McBrierty (Leander Club/Edinburgh/13.08.92)

Single Scull

Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers School/Coleraine/09.05.83)
Coach: John West

Double Scull

John Collins (Leander Club/Twickenham/24.01.89)
Jonny Walton (Leander Club/Leicester/06.10.90)
Coach: Mark Banks

Quadruple Scull

Graeme Thomas (Agecroft RC/Preston/08.11.88)
Sam Townsend (Reading Univ BC/Reading/26.11.85)
Charles Cousins (Leander Club/Willingham, Cambs, 13.12.88)
Peter Lambert (Leander Club/Maidenhead/03.12.86)
Coach: Paul Stannard

Sculling Spare:

Angus Groom (Leander Club/Glasgow/16.06.92)

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Single scull

Imogen Walsh (London RC/Inverness/17.01.84)
Coach: Paul Reedy

Double Scull

Charlotte Taylor (Putney Town RC/Bedford/14.08.85)
Kat Copeland (Tees RC/Ingleby Barwick/01.12.90)
Coach: Paul Reedy

Quadruple Scull

Brianna Stubbs (Wallingford RC/Poole/13.07.91)
Ruth Walzcak (Molesey BC/Rochdale/15.09.88)
Emily Craig (Univ of London BC/Mark Cross/30.11.92)
Eleanor Piggott (Wallingford RC/Bedford/16.05.91)
Coach: Ben Reed

LIGHTWEIGHT

MEN

Pair

Joel Cassells (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/15.06.94)
Sam Scrimgeour (Imperial College BC/Kirriemuir/28.01.88)
Coach: Rob Morgan

Four

Jono Clegg (Leander Club/Maidenhead/14.07.89)
Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/14.03.90)
Mark Aldred (London RC/Birmingham/18.04.87)
Chris Bartley (Leander Club/Chester/02.02.84)
Coach: Darren Whiter

Single Scull

Jamie Kirkwood (Leander Club/Cresswell/30.08.89)
Coach: Rob Morgan

Double Scull

Will Fletcher (Leander Club/Chester-le-Street/24.12.89)
Richard Chambers (Leander Club/Coleraine/10.06.85)
Coach: Darren Whiter

Quadruple scull

Jamie Copus (Oxford Brookes Univ/BC/Watlington/30.01.93)
Steve Parsonage (Norwich RC/Norwich/16.01.96)
Sam Mottram (Leander Club/Stoke Mandeville/14.11.94)
Zak Lee Green (Agecroft RC/Cardiff/05.02.91)
Coach: Hamish Burrell

PARA-ROWING

MIXED

Coxed four (LTA 4+)

Grace Clough (Nottingham RC/Sheffield/21.06.91)
Daniel Brown (Upper Thames BC/Reading/29.11.82)
Pamela Relph (Leander Club/Aylesbury/14.11.89)
James Fox (Univ of London/Peterborough/02.05.92)
Oliver James (cox) (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/05.01.90)
Coach: Tom Dyson

Trunk/-arms double scull (TA2x)

Laurence Whiteley (Tees RC/Northallerton/29.08.91)
Lauren Rowles (Marlow RC/Birmingham/ 24.04.98)
Coach: Nick Baker

MEN

Arms/-shoulders single scull (ASM 1x)

Tom Aggar (Marlow RC/Maidenhead/24.05.84)
Coach: Nick Baker

WOMEN

Arms/-shoulders single scull (ASW 1x)

Rachel Morris (Guildford RC/Farnham/25.04.79)
Coach: Tom Dyson

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OUTLINE TIMETABLE
(all times CET, the UK is one hour behind, key to boat classes is at foot of this section. NB – all times provisional, rowing is an outdoor sport. Please follow for up-to-date schedules).

Saturday 29 August

DRAW

Sunday 30 August

10.00 – 14.10

Heats of the: LM1x, LW1x, W2-, M2-, LM2x, LW2x, M4-, M4x, M1x, W1x

Monday 31 August

10.00 – 14.10

Heats of the: W4-, m2+, LM2-, LM4x, LW4x, W4x, W2x, M2x, LM4-, W8+, M8+

Repechages of the: LM1x, M2-, LM2x, LW2x, M1x, W1x

15.40 – 17.16

Heats of the: ASW1x, ASM1x, TAMix2x, LTAMix4+

Tuesday 1 September

10.00 – 11.15

Repechages of the: LM2-, LW1x, W2-, M4-, M4x, W2x, M2x

Race for lanes: LM8+

13:00 – 13:56

Repechages of the: ASW1x, ASM1x, TAMix2x, LTAMix4+

Wednesday 2 September

10.55 – 13.45

Repechages of the: M2+, LM4x, LW4x, W4x, LM4-, W8+, M8+

Quarter-finals of the: LM1x, M2-, LM2x, LW2x, M1x, W1x

15.55 – 16.51

Semi-finals of the: ASW1x, ASM1x, TAMix2x, LTAMix4+

Thursday 3 September

10.14 – 11.59

Semi-finals of the: LM2-, LM1x, LW1x, W2-, M2-, LM2x, LW2x, M4-, M4x

12.11 – 12.46

Quarter-finals of the: W2x, M2x

16.08 – 17.25

B and A FINALS of the: ASW1x, ASM1x, TAMix2x, LTAMix4+

Friday 4 September

09.41 – 10.16

B Finals of the: M2+, LM2-, LM1x, LW1x, LM4x, LW4x

10.23 – 11.40

Semi-finals of the: W2x, M2x, LM4-, M1x, W1x, M8+

11.50 – 13.36

A FINALS of the: W4-, M2+, LM2-, LM1x, LW1x, LM4x, LW4x

Saturday 5 September

12.00 – 13.00

B Finals of the: W2-, M2-, LM2x, LW2x, M4-, W4x, M4x

13.15 – 14.45

A FINALS of the: W2-, M2-, LM2x, LW2x, M4-, W4x, M4x

Sunday 6 September

12.00 – 13:00

B Finals of the: W2x, M2x, LM4-, W8+, M1x, W1x, M8+

13.15 – 14.45

A FINALS of the: W2x, M2x, LM4-, W8+, M1x, W1x, M8+

Key:

M1x, M2x, M4x – men’s single, double and quadruple sculls
M2-, M4-, M8+ – men’s pair, four and eight
W1x, W2x, W4x – women’s single, double and quadruple sculls
W2-, W4-, W8+ – women’s pair, four and eight
LM1x, LM2x, LM4x – lightweight men’s single, double and quadruple sculls
LM2-, LM4-, LM8+ – lightweight men’s pair, four and eight
LW1x, LW2x, LW4x – lightweight women’s single, double and quadruple sculls
ASW1x, ASM1x – arms-shoulders women’s and men’s single scull (para-rowing)
TAMix2x – Trunk-arms mixed double scull (para-rowing)
LTAMix4+ – Legs-trunks-arms mixed coxed four

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CONTACT DETAILS

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