Sam Townsend

For the 2010 World Cup Series Sam raced at Bled in the GB second men's double scull with Bill Lucas, gaining a silver medal in a remarkable GB "one-two" behind Matthew Wells and Marcus Bateman.  For the next two World Cups, Munich and Lucerne, he raced in the men's quad where he won a bronze medal on both occasions.  This World Cup season has seen the quad step up and establish themselves as serious contenders on the World Stage.

In 2009 Sam stroked the men's quad for the World Cup series, winning silver in Banyoles and Lucerne and taking 4th place in Munich.  He was selected in the men's quad for the 2009 World Championships in Poznan where the boat had a good chance of contending for a final place, but bad luck struck when half of the crew had to withdraw through illness or injury.  A real shame. 

A former British Junior Indoor Rowing Champion, Sam finished 15th in the quad at the 2007 World Championships.  In the 2008 World Cup series he was part of the men's quad which narrowly missed Olympic qualification.

In 2008 Sam raced the single at the European Championships, narrowly missing a place in the top six but creditably winning the B Final.

Sam attended Chiltern Edge School and previously played football and cricket winning the Berks and Bucks Cup (football) at the age of 16. He was recruited at Chiltern Edge into the GB Rowing Team's Start Programme, sponsored by Siemens.

Sam was the British Junior Ergo Champion in 2003 (6.07.2) and won the U23 Ergo title in 2005 (5.56.2). He competed for GB in the men's quadruple scull at the World U23 Championships in Poznan in 2004, finishing 11th, and then switched to the men's eight in 2005, finishing 10th in the World U23 Championships in Amsterdam.

He is studying rural environmental science and will graduate this summer from Reading University where he currently coaches senior men at the university's boat club.

Sam is Lottery Funded through UK Sport.