GB team for World Championships announced
GB Rowing today announced the crews which will represent the nation at this year’s World Championships – which for the first time in two decades will be in the UK, taking place at Eton from August 20-27 on the 2012 Olympic course.
The Andy Hodge-stroked men’s four and the women’s quadruple scull featuring double Olympic medallist and world champion Katherine Grainger, both sponsored by Camelot, must be amongst the top hopes for medals.
The Eton-based World Championships, which is backed by funding from UK Sport, also offers an opportunity for existing world cup headline-grabbers in the men’s and women’s double scull and the men’s single scull – all sponsored by Siemens – to shine.
Both the men’s four and the women’s quadruple scull crews are defending world champions, titles they won in Gifu, Japan, last September and ones which they are excited about the prospect of defending on home water.
"For us this will be like a small Olympics", explained world and Olympic Champion Steve Williams who races in the two-seat with Alex Partridge at bow and Peter Reed at no. 3. "There will be big crowds and it’s important to us that we perform well".
"Having the World Championships at Eton, means a huge amount to the whole team. Competing in front of your home crowd is something as rowers we rarely get to do. Occasionally at Henley we get to experience the roar of British supporters down the home stretch and it provides a huge lift in spirit and motivation. I was unfortunate to miss out at the Athens Olympics but the crowds there looked amazing, and from what I am told the World Championships this year could be very similar. I can’t wait to see", added Partridge.
"This year is very special to all of us. We all want to do our very best at Eton", said Grainger who was recently awarded an MBE for services to rowing and who strokes the quad which includes Debbie Flood at bow, Sarah Winckless at no.2 and Frances Houghton in the three-seat.
Single sculler Campbell, meanwhile, has emerged in a dramatic way this year taking the scalp of the Olympic champion, Olaf Tufte, to win in Munich and then running World Champion Mahe Drysdale close in Poznan before finishing fourth at Lucerne in a race won by Tufte with Drysdale second. He is also excited by the prospect of next month’s worlds:
"There is nothing I love more than representing my country but to be able to do it in front of a home crowd is going to be something very special.
"What every athlete wants at an event is a big crowd all the way down the course behind you and shouting for you", he said.
Campbell will probably get his wish as 40,000 spectators are expected to attend.
Britain has already had a relatively strong World Cup series this year and the men’s and women’s doubles of Annie Vernon and Anna Bebington and Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham – both of whom have won world cup medals – will be seeking to secure a place in the finals.
Amongst the lightweight crews James Lindsay-Fynn and Mark Hunter, in the men’s double scull, could feature although this is amongst the most hotly-contested of
lightweight classes.
The world cup series, though, is not always a true pointer to potential World Championships success as not all nations are present at all three regattas. China, for instance, decided to give the World Cup Finals in Lucerne last weekend a miss.
One surprise package could also be Tom James and Colin Smith in the men’s pair. The duo spent most of the early
part of this year fighting each other in the Cambridge and Oxford Boat Race crews respectively but have now combined in an outfit which showed a good turn of speed in Lucerne last weekend where they reached the final and took an outstanding silver medal behind the world champions Nathan Tweddle and George Bridgewater whom they led for the first half of the race.
James was previously in the men’s eight, and won a world bronze in 2003, but both he and Smith, who was GB’s single
sculler in Gifu last year, took a break this year for exams.
The women’s eight is an exuberant and dynamic grouping in a boat stroked by Olympic double scull bronze medallist and talented musician Elise Laverick. They reached the final in Japan eleven months ago and would hope to at least do the same at Eton.
Britain’s men’s eight, stroked by Kieran West, has not yet fired on all cylinders in competitive racing this year. A home crowd may just be the catalyst to change that trend.
From the eights training group, Britain will select a men’s eight and a coxed four.
There have been moments of promise and moments of dejection for the lightweight men’s four this season who raced well to qualify for the final at the Poznan world cup but who then dropped from first to fourth in the final 300 metres of their semi-final in Lucerne and had to be content with winning the B final rather than racing in the final itself.
They are a talented and improving crew.
In the lightweight women’s double, Jane Hall, a former world champion, has returned to the squad after protracted illness and has reached two finals with Helen Casey at world cup regattas this season.
GB Rowing had a tough choice in the non-Olympic lightweight single scull category. They have chosen the youth of Zac Purchase, just turned 20, rather than the maturity of Tim Male who will now be considered for a potential lightweight quadruple scull.
Britain may also field two lightweight quadruple scull boats and a lightweight pair at Eton after further assessment.
Great Britain also announced two from a potential four "adaptive" boats in its World Championships squad today. "Adaptive" in this sense means rowing for those with a disability. Rowing is now a Paralympic Games programme sport and will feature in Beijing in 2008.
The mixed coxed four won gold in Gifu last year and are, therefore, defending world champions. With three rowers selected again they will be strong contenders for the title at Eton though the event will look different as the race distance has been halved to 1000m.
This is the first time that we have selected a women’s single in the "arms only" category and this gives Helene Raynsford the chance to win her first Great Britain vest.
An announcement of the at least one further adaptive crew is expected in the coming weeks.
"The GB Rowing squad we have announced today has good strength in depth and is a blend of youth and experience. More and more nations are developing good and well-funded rowing programmes. The emergence of China and New Zealand are good examples. So the business of predicting medal winners gets tougher every year", said ARA International Manager, David Tanner. "I know we can win at least three medals in the Olympic boat classes and we will be working hard on their colour over the next
five weeks".
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GB TEAM LIST
for the 2006 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Eton, August 20-27th.
Eight
Beth Rodford (Thames RC)/Carla Ashford (Thames RC)/Vicki Etiebet
(Thames RC)/Elise Laverick (Thames RC)/Natasha Howard
(Tideway Scullers)/Natasha Page (Reading Uni)/Katie
Greves (Uni of London)/Alison Knowles (Thames RC)/
Caroline O’Connor (cox) (Oxford Brookes)
Coaches: Ron Needs/Gary Stubbs
Double scull
Annie Vernon (Thames RC)/Anna Bebington (Leander)
Coach: Miles Forbes Thomas
Quadruple scull
Debbie Flood (Leander)/Sarah Winckless (Walbrook)/
Frances Houghton (Uni of London)/Katherine Grainger
(St Andrew)
Coach: Paul Thompson
WOMEN’S RESERVES
Baz Moffat (Thames RC)
Jess Eddie (Uni of London)
MEN
Pair
Colin Smith (Oxford Uni)/Tom James (Cambridge Uni)
Coach: Rusty Williams
Four
Alex Partridge (Leander)/Steve Williams (Leander)/Peter Reed
(Leander)/Andy Hodge (Molesey)
Coach: Jurgen Grobler
Squad for eight and four
Marcus Bateman (Reading Uni)
Jonno Devlin (Oxford Brookes)
Richard Egington (Leander)
Simon Fieldhouse (Molesey)
Toby Garbett (Leander)
Matt Langridge (Leander)
Hugo Lee (Oxford Brookes)
Tom Parker (Oxford Uni)
Tom Solebury (Molesey)
Tom Stallard (Leander)
Josh West (Leander)
Kieran West (CUBC)
Cox: Acer Nethercott (OUBC)
Coaches: Steve Gunn and Richard Tinkler
Single scull
Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers)
Coach: Bill Barry
Double scull
Matthew Wells (Uni of London)/Stephen Rowbotham (Leander)
Coach: Mark Earnshaw
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Double scull
Helen Casey (Wallingford)/Jane Hall (Leander)
Coach: Rob Dauncey
Quadruple scull
(To be confirmed)
MEN
Pair
(to be confirmed)
Four
Matt Beechey (Leander)/Daniel Harte (London)/Paul Mattick
(Wallingford)/James Clarke (Durham Uni)
Coach: Mark Banks
Single scull
Zac Purchase
Coach: Darren Whiter
Double scull
James Lindsay-Fynn (London)/Mark Hunter (Leander)
Coach: Robin Williams
Quadruple scull
(to be confirmed)
ADAPTIVES
Mixed adaptive coxed four
Victoria Hansford (Guildford RC/Katie George Dunlevy
(Maidenhead RC)/Alastair Mckean (Herne Bay ARC)/
Alan Crowther (Nottingham Boat Club)/Alan Sherman
(Thames Tradesman RC)
Coach: Chad King
Women’s adaptive single
Helen Raynsford (Guildford RC)
Coach: Simon Goodey (Royal Docks RC)
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GB ROWING SQUADS = HOME TOWNS LIST
BRITISH ROWING SQUADS
NAME D.O.B/PLACEofBIRTH/HOMETOWN/LIVING/ROWING CLUB
Carla Ashford 13.3.79/Northallerton, N.Yorks/Masham, N.Yorks/Brentford/
Chris Bartley 2.284/Farndon, Cheshire/Nottingham/Notts Uni
Marcus Bateman 16.9.82/Bermuda/Torquay/Henley on Thames/Reading Uni
Anna Bebington 13.2.83/Leek, Staffs/Leek/Crowthorne, Berks/Leander
Matt Beechey 3.4.77/Worcester/Worcester/Henley on Thames/Leander
Nick Brodie 6.8.96/Oxford /Oxford/Oxford/OUBC
Alan Campbell 5.9.83/Coleraine/Coleraine/Mortlake/Tideway Scullers
Helen Casey 6.2.74/Stockport/Oxford/Oxford/Wallingford
Richard Chambers 10.6.85/??/??/Oxford/Oxford Brookes
James Clarke 13.12.84/London/London/Durham/Durham Uni
Ryan Davies 16.2.85/??/Henley on Thames/Oxford Brookes
Jonno Devlin 17.3.76/South Africa/Oxford/Putney/Oxford Brookes
Lindsay Dick 27.7.71/Strathaven/??/??Glasgow RC
Jess Eddie 7.10.84/Durham/Durham/Chiswick/Uni of London
Richard Egington 26.2.79/Knutsford/n/a/Henley on Thames/Leander
Robin Ejsmond-Frey 14.3.86/London/Hammersmith/Oxford/OUBC
Nick English 11.5.78/Coventry/Whitley Bay/Nottingham/Notts&Union
Simon Fieldhouse 4.9.76 n/a/n/a/Thames Ditton, Sy/Molesey
Debbie Flood 27.2.80/Harrogate/Leeds/Henley on Thames/Leander
Toby Garbett 14.11.76/Chertsey, Sy/West Byfleet/Ascot, Berks/Leander
Hester Goodsell 27.6.84/London/London/Cambridge/Rob Roy
Katherine Grainger 11.12.75/Glasgow/Aberdeen/Bisham, Bucks/St Andrew
Alex Gregory 11.3.84n/a/Wormington/Reading/Reading Uni
Katie Greves 2.9.82/London/Oxford/Mortlake/Uni of London
Joanna Hammond 28.1.80/Leamington Spa/Leamington/Cambridge/Leander
Daniel Harte 12.12.75n/a/n/a/Putney/London
Mike Hennessy 24.12.76/London/Deptford/Chiswick/Tideway Scullers
Rob Hollis 14.2.84/Wendover/Monmouth/Cowley/Oxford Brookes
Naomi Hoogesteger 22.5.81n/a/Wells/Spennymoor/Durham Uni
Frances Houghton 19.9.80/Oxford/Oxford/Putney/Uni of London
Natasha Howard 3.9.80/Harare, Zimbabwe/West Runton/Chiswick/Tideway Scullers
Mark Hunter 1.7.78/Forest Gate, London/Romford/Cadmore End, Bucks/Leander
Tom James 3.11.84/Cardiff/Wrexham/Cambridge/CUBC
Simon Jones 8.6.78n/a/n/a/Cropwell Butler/Leander
Alison Knowles 27.3.82/Bournemouth/Bournemouth/Putney, London/Thames Matthew Langridge 20.5.83/Northwich, Cheshire/Northwich/Henley on Thames/Leander
Elise Laverick 27.7.75/Rustington, Sx/Poling, W Sx/Putney/Thames
Ian Lawson 4.3.77/Bradford/Otley, W.Yks/Henley on Thames/Leander
Hugo Lee 5.3.84/Guildford/Jeburgh, Scottish Border/Oxford/Oxford Brookes
James Lindsay-Fynn 29.9.75/Dublin/Trim, Ireland/London/London
Rachel Loveridge 7.5.80/Swindon/Hayling Island/Putney/Thames
Tim Male 9.7.75/Yeovil, So/Yeovil/Chiswick/Tideway Scullers
Paul Mattick 25.4.78n/a/Oxford/Wallingford
Acer Nethercott 28.11.77/Newmarket/Harlow, Ex/Oxford/OUBC
Lorna Norris 23.12.75n/a/na/a/Mortlake/Mortlake Anglian
Caroline O’Connor 25.4.83Ealing/Ealing/Ealing/Oxford Brookes
Natasha Page 30.4.85n/a/Hartpury/Reading/Reading Uni
Charlie Palmer 25.10.78/Melbourne Hagley, Tasmania/Cambridge/CUBC
Tom Parker 24.10.82/Hammersmith/Winchester/Oxford/OUBC
Alex Partridge 25.1.81/San Francisco/Alton, Hants/East Sheen/Leander
Seb Pearce 10/5/82/?/Bromsgrove/Oxford/OUBC
Peter Reed 27.7.81/Seattle, USA/Nailsworth/Oxford/Leander
Beth Rodford 28.12.82/Burton/Trent/Gloucester/Cowley/Thames
Steve Rowbotham 11.11.81n/a/Winscombe/West Molesey/Leander
Rebecca Rowe 16.5.81/Bridgend/Cardiff/Cardiff/Rebecca
Phil Simmons 6.2.75/Wimbledon/Thames Ditton/Thames Ditton/Molesey
Colin Smith 3.9.83/ Harare, Zimbabwe/Henley on Thames/Oxford/OUBC
Tom Stallard 11.9.78/London/Welwyn, Herts/London/Leander
James Stephenson 4.4.77/n/aChipstead/Thames Ditton /Molesey
Florence Temple 11.3.79/Harlow/Northampton/Putney/Thames
Sam Townsend n/a/ Reading/Reading/Reading/Reading Uni
Andrew Triggs Hodge 3.8.79/Aylesbury/Hebden, Skipton/East Molesey/Molesey
Matt Tucker 5.1.85/??/Winkfield, Nr Windsor/Oxford Brookes
Antonia van Deventer 23.7.78/?/London/Rob Roy
Annie Vernon 1.9.82n/a/Wadebridge, Cornwall/Marlow, Bucks/Thames
Matthew Wells 19.4.79/Bradford/Hexham, Northumberland/East Sheen/Uni of London
Josh West 25.3.77/Santa Fe, USA/Santa Fe/Oxford/Leander
Kieran West MBE 18.9.77/Kingston-upon-Thames/W. Byfleet/Mortlake/CUBC
Steve Williams 15.4.76/Warwick/Cheltenham/Henley/Leander
Sarah Winckless 18.10.73/Reading/Hurley, Bucks/Marlow, Bucks/Walbrook
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CONTACT DETAILS
For media enquiries about British Rowing please contact:
Caroline Searle
T: (01225) 383518
M: (07831) 755351
GB Rowing website www.biro.org.uk – full biogs available
here.
International Rowing returned to GB for the World Cup in May
2005 and will be back once more for the 2006 World
Rowing Championships – both at Eton.
You’ll be kept up to date by GB Rowing News.
Official website www.wrc2006.com
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