Jess Leyden Archives - 91��ɫ

Record-breaking weekend of racing at Senior Champs 2016

91��ɫ — Sun, 23 Oct 2016 16:51:03 +0000

Bennett was part of a Leander Club crew, along with reigning World Champions Fiona Gammond and Holly Norton, that claimed gold in a well-contested women’s eight competition on Sunday.

“That was a really nice way to start the season,” said Bennett. “It was great fun racing with the girls, they are all up-and-coming rowers and really talented.”

Leander also won the men’s eight title in a new regatta record as they got the better of an experienced Oxford Brookes University crew featuring Olympic champion Scott Durant and fellow Rio 2016 rowers Peter Chambers and Mat Tarrant.

Holly Nixon and Jess Leyden, World Senior and U23 Champions respectively, teamed up with Lucy Burgess and Emily Carmichael to claim a clear-water victory in the women’s quadruple scull.

And their club colleagues at Leander recorded a one-two in the men’s competition, with gold going to the lightweight quad of Ed Fisher, Charles Waite-Roberts, Jonathan Jackson and Samuel Mottram.

The first day of competition saw a 26-year-old record fall as an Isis A crew featuring Ollie Cook took full advantage of the weekend’s tail-winds to win a cracking men’s four final in a new regatta-best time of 6:03.17.

Cook was one of three reigning World Champions to claim gold on Saturday, with Wallingford RC’s Brianna Stubbs and Ellie Piggott continuing their successful partnership by dominating the women’s double competition.

Leander Club’s Nick Middleton and Tom Barras did likewise in the men’s double, while Cambridge University Women’s BC’s A crew of Myriam Goudet, Alice White, Lucy Pike and Melissa Wilson claimed the women’s four title in impressive fashion.

Four aspiring GB para-rowers competed in an open arms-trunk single scull, with Scott Jones (Gloucester Hartpury), Sophie Brown (Sudbury RC) and Ekow Otoo (Marlow RC) winning gold in their respective classifications.

Paralympics legend Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson presented the medals and said: “The inclusive nature of these Championships is really important and great to see. I wish more sports would do it.”

This year’s Championships – sponsored by Visit Sarasota County, hosts of the 2017 World Senior Championships – were the first to include prizes for non-high performance programme clubs and universities. Tideway Scullers School, Lea RC, Kingston RC and Thames RC were among the clubs to take home shields.

More than 1,000 rowers from 100 clubs – 19 of which were composites – raced during a busy and competitive weekend.

Jim Harlow, Chairman of the Regatta, said: “It has been a hugely successful weekend at the 91��ɫ Senior Championships. We have seen lots of close racing over the course of the weekend, with crews really pushing each other to bring out their best. It is testament to the dedication and hard work that every rower and coach puts in; it’s great to see.

“I would like to personally thank all the outstanding volunteers, without which this event would not be possible. I’m already looking forward to next year!”

Go to to see the results in full and click on the expander boxes below for reports and reaction from the weekend, plus a roll of honour.

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Olympic superstars to race at Senior Championships

91��ɫ — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 19:52:27 +0000

A host of reigning World Champions, at both senior and U23 level, will also be representing their clubs when the two-day competition is staged at the National Water Sports Centre, Holme Pierrepont.

“I love racing at the British Championships”, Scott Durant, Olympic champion

The last time Durant raced, he was part of the Team GB men’s eight that stormed to gold in memorable style on the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. Two months later, and at the end of a week when the Rio 2016 heroes were celebrated in Manchester and London, he will line up in an Oxford Brookes University eight looking to retain the British title they won last year.

“I’m looking forward to this weekend, I love racing at the British Championships and it should be good fun as always,” said Durant.

“It’s always good to get back into an Oxford Brookes boat and race with the students coming through. Brookes played such a huge part in my rowing development – I was there for six years between leaving school and joining the GB Rowing Team, and I owe so much of my rowing success to them.

“It should be a good competition. There are a lot of guys coming into the GB team who will be racing for the likes of Leander this weekend, so it will be tough but we are hoping to retain our title.”

Also representing Oxford Brookes are double Olympian Peter Chambers, twice World Champion Mat Tarrant, who was a men’s heavyweight spare in Rio, and Joel Cassells, a European Champion and World bronze-medallist in the lightweight men’s pair this year.

Sam Scrimgeour, Cassells’ partner in the boat for both of those races and the lightweight men’s spare at the Olympic Games, races for Imperial College BC this weekend.

The men's eight from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games

Bennett’s last competitive outing was with the GB women’s eight that won a historic silver medal in Rio. She returns to action as part of a strong Leander Club squad looking to once again secure the Victor Ludorum accolade for top performing club.

“I’m excited to kick-start the season at the British Championships,” said GB Rowing Team Start graduate Bennett, who will compete in a women’s eight field that has attracted an impressive 31 crew entries.

“It’s great to see so many women getting involved and racing. The eight is a very fast but fun boat because you can share all the moments with eight other people.

“It will be the first time I’ve raced since my Olympic final and the scenery will be a bit different but I’m really looking forward to it.

“It’s great to have the opportunity to represent my club. They’ve given me a lot of help over the years so when I was offered the chance to race for them this weekend I couldn’t turn it down.

“It will be tough after the post-Rio break I’ve had but I’m going to go out there and give it my best shot.”

Other rowers with senior GB experience include Becca Chin, Caragh McMurtry, Jamie Copus, Zak Lee-Green and Nick Middleton, who won both the double scull and quadruple scull titles at last year’s British Championships.

There will be plenty of potential Tokyo 2020 stars for rowing fans to look out for this weekend, including several who shone at this year’s combined Senior, U23 and Junior World Championships in Rotterdam.

“It’s fantastic to see such a strong and diverse line-up”, Jim Harlow, Regatta Chairman.

Ollie Cook (University of London BC) and Callum McBrierty (Leander), powered to gold alongside cox Henry Fieldman in the senior men’s coxed pair, while three of the women’s four that won in Rotterdam – Fiona Gammond, Holly Nixon and Holly Norton – will race in Leander colours this weekend.

Lightweight women’s quadruple scull World Champion Emily Craig will represent University of London BC, while Ellie Piggott and Brianna Stubbs – her team-mates in Rotterdam – will race for Wallingford RC.

All six of GB’s reigning U23 World Champions will be in action – Jess Leyden (Leander) and Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne (Reading RC) were emphatic winners of women’s double scull gold, while Hugo Coussens (Durham University BC), Ollie Varley (Newcastle University BC), Matthew Curtis and Gavin Horsburgh (both Edinburgh University BC) took the lightweight men’s quadruple scull title in fine style.

Eleven other U23 medallists and eight World Junior medallists will also take their place among the 1,004 rowers from 100 clubs – 19 of which are composites – who have signed up for this weekend’s championships.

Jim Harlow, Chairman of the Regatta added: “It’s fantastic to see such a strong and diverse line-up at this year’s Senior Championships. It is testament to the strength and depth of senior rowing across the UK. Rowing is one of those rare sports where club rowers have the chance to compete alongside GB rowers including returning Olympic champions. After so many inspiring performances on the Lagoa in Rio it is set to be a hotly contested championship.”

Races will take place in nine categories – men’s and women’s double sculls, men’s and women’s fours, men’s and women’s quadruple sculls, men’s and women’s eights, and mixed para-rowing.

Racing is scheduled to begin at 9am on both days and conclude around 4.30pm on Saturday and 4.10pm on Sunday. This year’s championships are the first-ever to include prizes for non-high performance programme clubs and universities.

For more information about the 91��ɫ Senior Championships, visit .

SCHEDULE FOR A FINALS (ALL SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

Saturday

15:30 – men’s double scull

15:48 – women’s double scull

16:06 – men’s four

16:24 – women’s four

Sunday

13:40 – para-rowing

15:06 – women’s eight

15:24 – men’s quadruple scull

15:42 – women’s quadruple scull

16:00 – men’s eight

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Four more medals for U23s as double dazzle

91��ɫ — Fri, 26 Aug 2016 18:11:30 +0000

Both the women’s and men’s eights won silver medals on Friday afternoon, while a late surge secured a second successive bronze for the lightweight men’s four.

Today’s medals, adding to the gold and silver won by the lightweight men’s quad and men’s four respectively on Thursday, took GB’s tally up to six – matching their total from Plovdiv, Bulgaria last year.

Sir David Tanner, 91��ɫ’s Performance Director and Overall Team Leader in Rotterdam, said: “With six medals, including two great golds and three strong silvers, we can be proud of our young rowers at these Championships.

“There is real promise in this team and I am sure that we have some exceptional talent here to challenge for senior team places as we start the Tokyo Olympiad.”

Hodgkins-Byrne and Leyden already have senior experience and gave another demonstration of why they are so highly rated by finishing six seconds clear of the field in the women’s double scull final.

“I can’t believe how well that worked out!” said Hodgkins-Byrne. “This is my third go at the U23s and my first medal. It just felt different this year, we’ve felt really confident all the way.”

The women's eight medal winners

On a good day for the Hodgkins-Byrne family, younger sister Charlotte helped the women’s eight emulate the senior team’s result at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games by finishing second to the United States.

Alice Bowyer, Emily Ford, Chloe Brew, Holly Hill, Madeline Badcott, Anna Thornton, Heidi Long and cox Sasha Adwani were also in the GB boat that pushed away from Russia in the third 500m to secure silver.

Long said: “I am so happy, I can’t believe it. I don’t think we could have asked for anything more, it feels absolutely amazing!”

The men’s eight of Calum Irvine, Oliver Wynne-Griffith, Matthew Benstead, Timothy Livingstone, David Bewicke-Copley, Sholto Carnegie, Robert Hurn, Arthur Doyle and cox Ian Middleton weren’t able to overhaul the front-running Dutch in their race but were pleased to get a silver medal.

Carnegie said: “We didn’t get off to the best of starts but we put it all out there and kept pushing through to get a medal.”

The men's eight with their silver medals

The lightweight men's four medal winners

The lightweight men’s four final was a repeat of last year with GB’s Ed Fisher, Ben Reeves, Jonny Jackson and Alistair Douglass taking bronze behind Italy and Germany after a late sprint past Poland.

Douglass said: “We came here to try and win the gold but we knew it was going to be a top-class field, so we’re pleased to go home with a medal.”

It is the turn of the seniors to challenge for medals on Saturday, with five GB crews contesting the finals.

The women’s four of Fiona Gammond, Donna Etiebet, Holly Nixon and Holly Norton race at 10.55am BST, followed at 11.10am BST by the men’s coxed pair of Ollie Cook, Callum McBrierty and cox Henry Fieldman.

Britain are defending champions in both that boat class and the lightweight men’s pair, with Joel Cassells and Sam Scrimgeour bidding to hold onto their title at 11.55am BST.

Brianna Stubbs, Emily Craig, Imogen Walsh and Ellie Piggott all won silver medals at last year’s World Championships and will be looking to upgrade those in the lightweight women’s quadruple scull final at 12.10pm BST.

The finals conclude at 12.25pm BST with Charles-Waite Roberts, Jamie Copus, Jamie Kirkwood and Zak Lee-Green racing for GB in the lightweight men’s quad.

Saturday afternoon sees the focus move back to the Junior World Championships, with five GB crews racing in semi-finals – the women’s four, men’s four, women’s quad, men’s quad and men’s pair.

Click on the expander boxes below for reports, reactions and results in full from today’s racing.

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Seven more finalists as next generation shine in sun

91��ɫ — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 18:04:14 +0000

All six of the GB crews racing in Tuesday afternoon’s U23 semi-finals went through, four of them recording eye-catching victories, while the morning session saw the senior lightweight men’s quadruple scull progress through their repechage.

Three single scullers – Tom Barras, Sam Mottram and Gemma Hall – also booked semi-final spots on a day blessed by ideal racing conditions.

Pete Sheppard, Chief Coach for U23s and Juniors, said: “It’s been a very good day, one of the best semi-final days we’ve ever had.

“Everyone stepped up and to have seven more crews through to finals is very pleasing.”

Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne and Jess Leyden

The senior lightweight men's quad

The morning session saw the senior lightweight men’s quad of Charles Waite-Roberts, Jamie Copus, Jamie Kirkwood and Zak Lee-Green finish runners-up in a thrilling repechage to book their place in Saturday’s final.

Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne and Jess Leyden then set the tone for a fantastic afternoon of U23 semi-finals by winning their women’s double scull race by clear water, a feat matched by the men’s four of James Johnston, Tom George, James Rudkin and Lewis McCue.

The lightweight men’s quad of Hugo Coussens, Oliver Varley, Matthew Curtis and Gavin Horsburgh led from start to finish before the men’s eight produced a powerful performance to win the last race of the day by a length.

The men’s quad and lightweight men’s four also progressed to take the number of GB U23 finalists up to ten – the women’s four, women’s eight, men’s coxed four and lightweight women’s quad having booked their places earlier in the week.

The U23 lightweight men's quad

The U23 men's four

U23 men’s single scullers Tom Barras and Sam Mottram will be looking to join them after reaching their respective open-weight and lightweight semi-finals, taking place on Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday also sees the Junior World Championships get under way, with seven GB crews taking to the Willem-Alexander Baan course for their heats.

Click on the expander boxes below for reports, reaction and results in full.

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U23s challenged to show Tokyo 2020 potential at Worlds

91��ɫ — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 15:08:45 +0000

Sir David Tanner, 91��ɫ’s Performance Director and Overall Team Leader in Rotterdam, said “This is a key year for our Under 23s as we look towards the Tokyo Olympic cycle. Our rowers have the chance to impress at the Championships and stake a claim to a step on the Olympic ladder for 2020.”

Of the 57 rowers selected, 26 have competed at the championships in the past and can boast 13 medals between them.

A further 12 rowers have previously represented Great Britain at the World Junior Championships, including two history-making gold-medallists – Jess Leyden and Gavin Horsburgh – of whom Horsburgh will be making his U23 debut when the regatta takes place from August 21-28.

Leyden – who became the first Brit to win an international women’s single scull title at the 2013 World Juniors – was fourth in the single at the World U23 Championships in 2014 and has no shortage of experience having raced in the senior women’s quadruple scull during the past two seasons, the boat missing out on Olympic qualification by two places.

She will team up in the women’s double with Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne, who made an impressive senior debut in the single at this year’s European Championships and returns for a third successive World U23s.

Another rower with senior experience is Sam Mottram, who raced with the lightweight men’s quad at last year’s World Championships a month after winning silver in the same boat at the World U23s – one of six medals won by GB in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. He will contest the lightweight single this time.

This year’s lightweight quad includes Horsburgh, part of the first-ever GB men’s quad to win a gold medal at a global championships during last year’s World Juniors in Rio. He is joined by newcomers Oliver Varley, Hugo Coussens and Matthew Curtis.

Jess Leyden

Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne

Sam Mottram

Ed Fisher, Benjamin Reeves, Alastair Douglass and Jonathan Jackson have been named in the lightweight men’s four for a second successive year and will be looking to get on the podium again and step up a notch having won bronze in 2015.

The open men’s four are no strangers to the World U23s either, having made nine previous appearances between them. Lewis McCue – going to a fourth successive championships – and James Johnston both won silver in the boat last year and are joined this time by Tom George and James Rudkin, who finished fourth in the men’s pair in Plovdiv.

The women’s four contains two medallists from 2015 in Rowan McKellar, who won silver in the pair, and Hattie Taylor, who won bronze in the eight. They are joined by two former World Juniors, Lauren Kedar and Saskia Budgett.

Georgia Francis, who won silver with the eight in 2014 and raced in the double last year, will make her latest U23 appearance in the women’s quad alongside Lucy Burgess, Ruth Siddorn and Kyra Edwards, a silver-medallist in the quad at last year’s World Junior Championships.

Susannah Duncan was a team-mate of Edwards in Rio, winning her second World Junior medal in the process. Both she and Mary Wilson will make their U23 debuts in the lightweight women’s quad, alongside Ellie Lewis – a bronze-medallist in the boat in 2013 – and Maddie Arlett.

In the women’s eight are Emily Ford and Holly Hill, who won bronze with the four last year, plus World Junior medallists Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne – Mathilda’s younger sister – and Anna Thornton. Alice Bowyer, Chloe Brew, Madelaine Badcott and Heidi Long complete a crew coxed by Sasha Adwani.

The men’s eight also contains two World Junior medallists in Oliver Wynne-Griffith and Matthew Benstead, as well as Calum Irvine, Tim Livingstone, David Bewicke-Copley, Sholto Carnegie, Robert Hurn, Arthur Doyle and cox Ian Middleton.

Harry Leask and Andrew Joel continue in the men’s quad for a second successive year, joined this time by Harry Glenister and 2014 World Junior medallist Rowan Law.

Tom Barras, who has been part of the quad for the past couple of years, has been the top U23 sculler this season and goes in the men’s single.

Rory Gibbs and cox Harry Brightmore, who were in the eight in 2015, will contest the men’s coxed four alongside Christopher Heywood, Michael Glover and Michael Aldridge, while debutants Oliver Hines and Graham Ord form the men’s pair.

This year’s World U23s are taking place alongside both the Senior and Junior World Championships, with more than 100 GB rowers in total competing on the Willem-Alexander Baan rowing course during an action-packed week.

Click here to see the Senior squad and here to see the Junior team.

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GB rowers among the winners at Henley Royal Regatta

91��ɫ — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 09:05:50 +0000

It was a particularly notable occasion for Jack Beaumont, who claimed a fifth successive Henley title when he teamed up with Leander and international colleague Nick Middleton to win the Doubles Sculls Challenge Cup.

“I couldn’t be happier with how that race went,” said Beaumont after Sunday’s four-and-a-half length win over Gasper Fistravec and Dani Fridman in Sunday’s final.

“We knew we would get a run for our money, but we also knew we could win this. We feel great as a pair and I love rowing alongside my teammate Nick.

“We train on this stretch of the river every single day so to win this cup makes the early mornings and tough training sessions worth it.”

Taking the plaudits in the Princess Grace Challenge Cup were the young GB quartet of Melissa Wilson, Jess Leyden, Holly Nixon and Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne.

Racing as Reading RC and Leander Club, the women’s quad held off a determined challenge from AZS Warszawa & Wisca Grudziadz of Poland – the reigning World U23 Champions – to win by one length.

“That was really good,” said Hodgkins-Byrne, who became the first Reading RC member to win at Henley since 1935. “It was my third time at Henley and the previous two visits were quite stressful but I really enjoyed this one.”

The lightweight GB quad of Brianna Stubbs, Emily Craig, Imogen Walsh and Ellie Piggott – racing as Wallingford RC and London RC – were beaten by the Schuylkill Navy High Performance Center from the United States in the heats.

Both GB development eights reached their respective finals, with the men’s crew – racing as Nautilus RC – pushing the Dutch Olympic eight all the way in an excellent Grand Challenge Cup final, only losing by three-quarters of a length.

It proved a tougher task for the women’s eight in the Remenham Challenge Cup final as GB – racing as a Leander and Tees RC composite – were beaten by four and three-quarter lengths by Princeton Training Centre from the US.

Ollie Cook and Callum McBrierty, racing as University of London BC and Leander, were edged out by French pair Benoit Demey and Edouard Jonville in the semi-finals of the Silver Goblets and Nickalls’ Challenge Cup.

The Leander Club and Oxford Brookes University composite men’s quad of Zak Lee-Green, Charlie Waite-Roberts, Jamie Copus and Jamie Kirkwood – all GB lightweight internationals – also narrowly missed out on a place in the Queen Mother Challenge Cup final as they were beaten by California RC.

The GB development men’s four of James Johnston, Tom George, James Rudkin and Lewis McCue – racing as Newcastle University and Robert Gordon University – also reached the semi-finals of the Stewards’ Challenge Cup, where they lost by a length to eventual overall winners Hollandia Roeiclub of the Netherlands.

You can watch highlights of the finals day below:

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“Real buzz” as GB rowers head to Henley

91��ɫ — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 06:55:34 +0000

Among the record number of entrants for the 2016 regatta are Jack Beaumont and Nick Middleton, who will be racing in the Double Sculls Challenge Cup under the Leander Club banner.

They will be looking to continue the impressive form they have shown on the international stage this season, where they reached the final at the World Cups in Varese and Lucerne.

Beaumont, from Maidenhead, also won silver as a last-minute sub with the men’s quadruple scull in Lucerne and was victorious in the men’s single scull B final at the Poznan World Cup. He is bidding for a fifth successive Henley title this year.

“Being a local lad I have grown up around Henley Royal Regatta – I used to go and watch every year with my family,” he said.

“I love the traditions and the head-to-head racing. It’s also the only race where all of my friends and family can come and watch which makes it extra special.

“To win at Henley for a fifth successive year would be fantastic.”

Contesting the Silver Goblets and Nickalls’ Challenge Cup are Ollie Cook and Callum McBrierty, fresh from their World Cup victory in the men’s coxed pair with Henry Fieldman in Poznan. McBrierty also helped the GB men’s four claim a dramatic gold at the Lucerne World Cup after subbing in for the ill Constantine Louloudis.

The Queen Mother Challenge Cup for the men’s quadruple sculls features the Leander Club and Oxford Brookes University composite of Jamie Kirkwood, Jamie Copus, Charlie Waite-Roberts and Zak Lee-Green.

All four are experienced lightweight internationals, as are Imogen Walsh, Brianna Stubbs, Emily Craig and Ellie Piggott who will race as Wallingford RC and London RC in the Princess Grace Challenge Cup. Each crew member won a silver medal at last year’s World Championships in Aiguebelette – Walsh in the lightweight single and the others with Ruth Walczak in the lightweight quad.

Also contesting the Princess Grace are the open-weight GB quartet of Jess Leyden, Melissa Wilson, Holly Nixon and Mathilda Hodgkins-Bryne.

“Henley time is so exciting, there’s a real buzz around the town and I love it,” said Leyden, who was part of the winning Princess Grace crew in 2015.

“I can’t wait to race there in front of the crowds. The women’s quad event looks really strong this year and I’ll do all I can to try and defend the title.”

Tina Stiller – who rowed alongside Leyden and Nixon in the GB women’s quad that narrowly missed out on Olympic qualification this summer – will race in the women’s single scull event, the Princess Royal Challenge Cup.

Beth Bryan, Becca Chin, Caragh McMurtry, Donna Etiebet, Jo Wratton, Holly Norton, Fiona Gammond and Katherine Douglas make up the Leander and Tees RC composite women’s eight that will contest the Remenham Challenge Cup. All have GB experience, either at senior or U23 level, and will be coxed by Erin Wysocki-Jones.

Henley will also offer potential World U23 and World Junior rowers another chance to impress the GB selectors ahead of this year’s Championships in Amsterdam.

And there will be more GB Rowing Team interest in the historic regatta on Thursday when the ParalympicsGB rowing squad for Rio 2016 is announced at Henley.

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Six more GB crews through to European finals

91��ɫ — Sat, 07 May 2016 12:52:36 +0000

Their perfectly-paced race on Brandenburg’s breezy Beetzee made them one of six GB Rowing Team crews to make tomorrow’s finals and join the seven crews that had already qualified from yesterday’s racing.

Innes said: “We had a good start and then the middle bit got a bit bouncy but we came through it well – job done and we’re looking forward to the final”.

John Collins and Jonny Walton came through strongly in the second half of their open men’s double semi today to take a third place and move through in a strong field.

Collins said: “We looked at both semi-finals and thought we had the toughest one but we know we have to race the best at some point. We had quite a strong first half in yesterday’s heats but needed to be a bit calmer in these conditions and I felt we pitched it a lot better today”.

Imogen Walsh

Jamie Kirkwood

Jonny Walton and John Collins

Both GB open quads went through – the men in second place and the women in third in their repechages. As an inexperienced crew the women did well in the worsening wind and the men were closing on Estonia, who won, in the closing stages.

Jamie Kirkwood grabbed third in a dramatically close finish to his lightweight men’s single semi and Imogen Walsh was second in her repechage to book a place tomorrow.

Meanwhile, It was a difficult day for two 2012 medallists. Olympic champion Kat Copeland and her partner Charlotte Taylor missed out on a finals spot coming fourth in their light double semi. Alan Campbell looked out of sorts and finished fifth in his open men’s single.

Conversely fourth place was a significant achievement for 21 year-old emerging talent Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne in the open women’s single at her first regatta at this level in this boat.

End of the Rio Road for W4x. Copyright Intersport Images

The men's quad

The 2016 GB men’s four of Alex Gregory, George Nash, Mohamed Sbihi and Constantine Louloudis, after an eye-catching heats win, are amongst the seven already-qualified crews. Despite their comfortable qualification all four feel there is more to be done.

Gregory said: “For me it feels like it’s been a long winter of training. There has been a lot riding on trials and getting selected. So, to finally get a run-out competitively in the heats here was exciting. It felt great.

“But we have a few things to adjust in our race place and we are looking forward to putting them right tomorrow. The conditions here are not easy so it’s a test of boatmanship was well as our first international races as a crew”.

Sbihi added: “Looking ahead to the final, we are not looking at who we are racing but how we are going to improve from yesterday”.

The men’s eight were pleased with their heats win ahead of Poland but are not resting on their laurels.

Scott Durant said: “We obviously want to win tomorrow but this is the first regatta of the season, so it’s about building on what we have done so far and working towards the goal of Rio. It’s all part of the learning curve”.

The lightweight men’s four also impressed in qualifying yesterday and Peter Chambers said: “It’s been going well for us over the last few weeks, we’ve got our act together and have been moving the four along nicely. We’ve been setting a good high standard and hopefully we can show that tomorrow”.

Helen Glover and Heather Stanning will kick off the Olympic boat class action tomorrow for GB as favourites to win the women’s pair after a blistering heat. They race at 09.18 UK time in a finals session which has been brought forward by one hour due to predicted strengthening wind conditions later in the day. The session starts at 07.00 with the B finals. A Finals start at 08.33 and finish at 12.33.

Follow live updates on Twitter – @GBRowingTeam.

GB ROWERS TO RACE EURO FINALS WEARING BLACK RIBBONS

In tomorrow’s European Championships finals, members of the GB Rowing Team will race wearing black ribbons on their vests in memory of the late Ron Needs who sadly died a few days ago.

Ron had been a GB coach since the 1970s, coaching many medal boats and he continued to work with the team until a couple of years ago.

He coached the current GB women’s pair coach Robin Williams to a lightweight world medal in the 1970s and coached alongside current GB Rowing Team Performance Director Sir David Tanner in his days as an international coach.

Ron also coached the first GB crew to win a world gold since the 1940s when they won lightweight eight won in Amsterdam in 1977.

Katherine Grainger said: “Ron was my first GB Rowing coach and remained a wise counsel and friend to me for 20 years. His passion for rowing was infectious and his knowledge and understanding of the sport immense”.

For reaction to this report and interview requests on the day please contact the GB Rowing Team press office on site: comms@gbrowingteam.org.uk or 07831 755351 or 07765 071683.

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European selections point to aiming high at Rio Olympics

91��ɫ — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 09:35:57 +0000

Helen Glover and Heather Stanning were announced in the women’s pair in which they are the reigning Olympic, World and European Champions.

Glover said: “It’s always fantastic to be selected to represent Great Britain, and never more so than in Olympic year. The European Championships are our first opportunity to test our early season speed against international competition.”

And one of the strongest open men’s sweep* rowing squads in the world has been deployed across the men’s eight and four, as well as a new-look men’s pair, for the event which takes place in Brandenburg, Germany from May 6-8.

Sir David Tanner, GB Rowing Team Performance Director, said: “We are clearly ambitious to do well in Rio and will race and then review the Europeans combinations announced today. We will also enter six crews for the Varese World Cup regatta in ten days’ time.”

Double Olympic men’s four champions Pete Reed and Andrew T Hodge have been selected into the men’s eight in a line-up which includes Scott Durant and 2012 men’s eight medallist Matt Langridge alongside multiple World Champions Paul Bennett, Matt Gotrel, Tom Ransley, stroke Will Satch and cox Phelan Hill. Ransley, Satch and Hill are also 2012 medallists.

Alex Gregory, 2012 gold medallist in the four, returns to that boat and races with his Trials winning partner, Mohamed Sbihi, plus George Nash and stroke Constantine Louloudis. The quartet are all reigning World Champions in the men’s eight.

Gregory said: “Everything we do aims towards the Olympics and now finally we are starting to form the crews that will make up the Olympic team. With the European Championships as the first test, I can’t wait to get the 2016 racing season underway. It’s a privilege to race for our country and the feeling of pride and excitement never diminishes.”

Having laid down a strong marker with a top-four finish at the recent GB Trials, Alan Sinclair and Stewart Innes are named as the men’s pair.

It is the first major step conquered on the way to fulfilling my dream of competing in my fifth Olympic Games – Frances Houghton

Relative rookie Angus Groom has forced his way into the open men’s quadruple scull* in the absence of the injured Charles Cousins, to join 2013 and 2014 World medallists Sam Townsend, Graeme Thomas and Peter Lambert.

Lambert said: “I am extremely happy with my selection for the Europeans. This regatta is an exciting start to our Olympic season. The men’s quad at the Europeans is an extremely high competition. Out of the eight crews that qualified last year for the Olympics, seven of them are European countries. We are looking forward to it.”

2012 bronze medallist Alan Campbell, whose Trials’ win showed that he is back on form, races the single scull and Jonny Walton and John Collins, contest the double scull – they qualified that boat for Rio at last year’s World Championships.

Four-times Olympic medallist Katherine Grainger is named in the open women’s double scull with Trials winner Vicky Thornley in a reprise of their 2015 partnership which finished its debut season with a place in the World final.

Like Grainger, Frances Houghton, will race a fifth Olympic Games if selected later this summer for Rio. She has switched from sculling to sweep rowing and has won a seat in the women’s eight that came so close to winning a medal at last year’s World Championships.

Grainger said: “The idea of ever competing at the Olympic Games was once just a dream and so it was incredible when I made the team in 2000. Now 16 years on and looking to my fifth Games I still have the same excitement I did back then, it’s the most amazing event to be part of and that doesn’t change whether it’s the first time or the fifth.”

Houghton said: “I feel almost overwhelmed to be selected for the European Championships in the women’s eight. It is the first major step conquered on the way to fulfilling my dream of competing in my fifth Olympic Games.

“It has at times seemed like an insurmountable mountain to climb and now it is just sinking in that all the hard work and deep belief in the darkest of times of illness and injury has paid off.”

Olympians Jess Eddie, Katie Greves and Melanie Wilson as well as 2013 World pair champion Polly Swann, back after a year out with injury, will be joined in the line-up by Zoe Lee, Karen Bennett, Olivia Carnegie-Brown and cox Zoe de Toledo.

It’s a privilege to race for our country and the feeling of pride and excitement never diminishes – Alex Gregory

World silver medallists Kat Copeland and Charlotte Taylor will once more race the lightweight women’s double scull having taken the top two spots at the Trials from a strongly contested lightweight sculling group. Imogen Walsh, therefore, races the single in which she won World silver in 2015.

Richard Chambers is on his way back after a recent hand injury and will race the lightweight men’s double, if fully fit, with Will Fletcher. Just like Olympic Champion Copeland and Taylor, they won World silver last year in their debut season together.

Further post-Trials testing was needed to establish the crews for the lightweight men’s sweep boats. 2012 silver medallists Peter Chambers and Chris Bartley have made the cut and will be joined by Mark Aldred and Jono Clegg, both now experienced internationals. Sam Scrimgeour and Joel Cassells are GB’s choice in the pair. They won World gold last year.

Jamie Kirkwood, a World finalist last year, takes up the GB slot in the lightweight men’s single once more.

91��ɫ will also race six crews at the Varese World Cup from April 15-17, including the women’s quadruple scull, announced in the European squad today as Holly Nixon, Jess Leyden, Tina Stiller and Rosamund Bradbury as the campaign begins to qualify this boat for Rio.

Click the expander ‘Crew List’ box below to see the squad in full.

*Sweep = one rower, one oar / Scull = one rower, two sculls

RACING TIMETABLE – 2016 European Championships, Brandenburg, Germany

Friday 6 May – all heats a.m.; some repechages p.m.
Saturday 7 May – All further repechages and semi-finals.
Sunday 8 May – All finals (09.33 – 13.33 UK Time).

GB ROWING TEAM MEDALISTS – 2015 European Championships, Poznan, Poland

Gold:

Women’s pair – Helen Glover, Heather Stanning.
Men’s pair – James Foad, Matt Langridge.
Men’s four – Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell, Alan Sinclair, Tom Ransley, Scott Durant.
Lightweight women’s single scull – Imogen Walsh.
Lightweight women’s double scull – Charlotte Taylor, Kat Copeland.
Lightweight men’s pair – Joel Cassells, Peter Chambers.

Silver:

Men’s eight – Matt Gotrel, Stewart Innes, Pete Reed, Paul Bennett, Moe Sbihi, Alex Gregory, George Nash, Will Satch, Phelan Hill (cox).
Lightweight men’s double scull – Richard Chambers, Will Fletcher.

Bronze:

Women’s double scull – Vicky Thornley, Katherine Grainger.
Men’s quadruple scull – Jack Beaumont, Sam Townsend, Graeme Thomas, Peter Lambert.

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Rowers have “another gear to go” ahead of crunch Trials finals

91��ɫ — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 18:38:58 +0000

Sbihi said of their win: “We had the objective to go hard out of the blocks and stick to doing our own thing. We got the rewards over the first 500m and then were able to settle into a nice rhythm, relax and kick out”.

Olympic medallists Pete Reed and Constantine Louloudis won the opposing semi in a faster time, holding off strong opposition from George Nash and Will Satch, winners of 2012 bronze in this event.

Alan Sinclair and Stewart Innes put in a sizzling performance to take second behind Gregory and Sbihi in a semi which, by contrast, held heartache for 2012 men’s four champion Andrew T Hodge and World silver medallist Matt Langridge. The duo did not have enough in the tank in the closing 350m to nudge into third place, taken by Tom Ransley and Scott Durant, and will race a B final instead.

The scene is now set not only for a men’s pair final crammed with World and Olympic medallists but some cracking racing across the board as the pressure mounts on potential Olympic places.

Emerging talent Angus Groom and 2012 bronze medallist Alan Campbell look set to lock horns in the men’s single scull final having won their semis today respectively. John Collins, Sam Townsend, Graeme Thomas and Jonny Walton will also fancy their chances as recent World medallists or finalists in sculling events.

Campbell said: “I’m feeling very good and happy with it but it’s all to play for tomorrow”. Both men know that a fit Charles Cousins, winner of the past two trials, would have presented a challenge. Cousins has recently had back surgery for an injury that has scuppered his chances of racing in Rio but is determined to battle back to fitness and mount a Tokyo campaign.

Another tight contest could unroll in the lightweight women’s single scull. Charlotte Taylor, Kat Copeland and Imogen Walsh were involved in an almost blanket final last time round and with only two seats at the Olympics for this group of rowers the pressure is intense. Taylor and Walsh won the two semis today.

Will Fletcher looked the strongest of the lightweight men’s single scullers in winning his semi-final from defending champion Jamie Kirkwood but there is still all to play for tomorrow with Zak Lee Green and Sam Mottram in the mix.

Helen Glover and Heather Stanning were, as expected, consummate winners of their women’s pair semi-final and are certainly strong favourites to win. They had an early run-out against their expected strongest opposition in Jess Eddie and Polly Swann today and the two pairs will clash again tomorrow.

Frances Houghton, trying for her fifth Olympics and having already won two Olympic silvers, was a winner of the first semi today with Olivia Carnegie Brown from Karen Bennett and Melanie Wilson.

Sir David Tanner, Performance Director of the GB Rowing Team, said: “They have been fantastic conditions to race in today and what we’ve seen is the depth we’ve got in our squads, in most of the events, especially the open weight ones. It’s great to see so many competitive women’s pairs as well as men’s, and the singles on the men’s side are really good. We’ll have an interesting day of finals.

“Having qualified 12 boats for the Olympics it means we have some choices to make. So even if you look down a little bit, in several events down the final, or even not quite in it, they could still make the Games and arguably do well. It’s where we are and it’s competitive stuff.”

The lightweight men’s pair final is a four-boat affair with 2012 silver medalist Chris Bartley and Mark Aldred coming out top in today’s time-trials to “seed” the final.

115 rowers are contesting these trials with just 48 Olympic places on offer. Tomorrow’s racing takes place from 10-12.00.

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