August 11, 2006 News British Rowing NewsBritish Rowing EventsRowing CommunityGB Rowing TeamCompetitions and ClubsIndoor RowingPartners#YourStoriesArchive More crews finalised for Eton GB Rowing Team GB Rowing today began to put the finishing touches to its team for the 2006 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 crews have now been finalised for the men’seight and the men’s coxed four from the pool of selected rowers. This sees Richard Egington returning to the four seat in the eight with Hugo Lee moving to the stroke seat in the coxed four. Tom Stallard now strokes the men’s eight and Alison Knowles strokes the women’s eight.ADVERT The two new adaptive crew entries (for elite rowers with a disability) mean that GB now has a full entry in the Paralympic boat classes for a first time at the World Championships, providing a performance pathway for Beijing in 2008. Shaun Sewell in the single scull and Karen Cromie with James Roberts in the mixed double scull are the new names announced today and will be representing GB for the first time. Siemens sponsor the adaptive crews in another "first" for GB Rowing. GB has entered four more boats but the final selection for these will not be made until the weekend when they will be tested against the selection standard. These boats are the lightweight men’s and women’s quad sculls, the lightweight women’s single and the already-selected women’s sweep spares of Jess Eddie and Baz Moffat who are being considered for the pair. Of the crews already announced 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 £1.15 million of 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 Camelot-backed 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. Great Britain has already had a 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 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 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. 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 chose the youth of Zac Purchase, just turned 20, rather than the maturity of Tim Male. Of the adaptive crews, the mixed coxed four won gold in Gifu last year and are, therefore, defending world champions. With two 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. "The GB Rowing squad we have announced so far 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". SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE =============================== =============================== GB TEAM LIST for the 2006 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Eton, August 20-27th. Eight Vicki Etiebet (Auriol Kensington)/Natasha Page (Reading Uni)/ Natasha Howard (?)/ Carla Ashford (Thames RC)/ Beth Rodford (Thames RC)/Elise Laverick (Thames RC)/ 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 (under consideration for Pair) 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 Coxed four Simon Fieldhouse (Molesey)/Marcus Bateman (Reading Uni)/ Tom Parker (OUBC)/Hugo Lee (Oxford Brookes)/Seb Pearce (cox) (OUBC) Coach: Richard Tinkler Eight Toby Garbett (Leander)/Tom Solesbury (Molesey)/Jonno Devlin (Oxford Brookes)/Richard Egington (Leander)/Josh West (Leander)/ Kieran West (CUBC)/Matt Langridge (Leander)/Tom Stallard (Leander) Acer Nethercott (cox) (OUBC) Coach: Steve Gunn Single scull Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers) Coach: Bill Barry Double scull Matthew Wells (Uni of London)/Stephen Rowbotham (Leander) Coach: Mark Earnshaw Men’s Reserves James Orme (Leander)/ Alex Gregory (Reading Univ BC) Charlie Palmer (CUBC) LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN Single scull (under consideration for selection) Double scull Helen Casey (Wallingford)/Jane Hall (Leander) Coach: Rob Dauncey Quadruple scull (under consideration for selection) MEN Pair Chris Bartley (Notts Uni)/Richard Chambers (Oxford Brookes) 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 (under consideration for selection) ADAPTIVE BOATS Mixed legs/trunk/arms coxed four Victoria Hansford (Guildford RC/Katie-George Dunlevy (Royal Docks RC)/Alastair Mckean (Herne Bay ARC)/ Alan Crowther (Nottingham Boat Club)/Alan Sherman (Thames Tradesman RC) Coach: Chad King Women’s arms only single scull Helene Raynsford (Guildford RC) Coach: Simon Goodey (Royal Docks RC) Men’s arms only single scull Shaun Sewell (Royal Docks RC) Coach: Simon Goodey Mixed trunk and arms double scull Karen Cromie (Royal Docks BC)/James Roberts (Rebecca) Coach: Chad King SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE =============================== =============================== GB ROWING SQUADS = HOME TOWNS LIST BRITISH ROWING SQUADS NAME D.O.B/PLACEofBIRTH/HOMETOWN/LIVING/ROWING CLUB Carla Ashford 13.03.79/Northallerton, N.Yorks/Masham,N.Yorks/Brentford/Thames RC Chris Bartley 02.02.84/Farndon, Cheshire/Nottingham/Notts Uni Marcus Bateman 16.09.82/Bermuda/Torquay/Henley on Thames/Reading Uni Anna Bebington 13.02.83/Leek, Staffs/Leek/Crowthorne, Berks/Leander Matt Beechey 03.04.77/Worcester/Worcester/Henley on Thames/Leander Nick Brodie 06.08.96/Oxford/Oxford/Oxford/OUBC Alan Campbell 05.09.83/Coleraine/Coleraine/Mortlake/Tideway Scullers Helen Casey 06.02.74/Stockport/Oxford/Oxford/Wallingford Richard Chambers 10.06.85/??/??/Oxford/Oxford Brookes James Clarke 13.12.84/London/London/Durham/Durham Uni Karen Cromie 24.09.79/Banbridge, N.Ireland/Ballinamallard, Cty Fermanagh/??/Royal Docks BC Alan Crowther 29.07.65/??/Derby/Derby/Nottingham BC Dave Currie 10.01.82/Glamorgan/??/Henley/Leander Ryan Davies 16.02.85/??/Henley on Thames/Oxford Brookes Jonno Devlin 17.03.76/South Africa/Oxford/Putney/Oxford Brookes Lindsay Dick 27.07.71/Strathaven/??/??Glasgow RC Katie-George Dunlevy 26.11.81/??/Maidenhead/Maidenehead RC Jess Eddie 07.10.84/Durham/Durham/Chiswick/Uni of London Richard Egington 26.02.79/Knutsford/n/a/Henley on Thames/Leander Robin Ejsmond-Frey 14.03.86/London/Hammersmith/Oxford/OUBC Nick English 11.05.78/Coventry/Whitley Bay/Nottingham/Notts&Union Vicki Etiebet 12.08.79/Ottowa, Canada/London/London/Auriol Kensington Simon Fieldhouse 04.09.76/??/??/Thames Ditton/Molesey Debbie Flood 27.02.80/Harrogate/Leeds/Henley on Thames/Leander Toby Garbett 14.11.76/Chertsey, Sy/West Byfleet/Ascot, Berks/Leander Hester Goodsell 27.06.84/London/London/Cambridge/Rob Roy Katherine Grainger MBE 11.12.75/Glasgow/Aberdeen/Bisham, Bucks/St Andrew Alex Gregory 11.03.84/??/Wormington/Reading/Reading Uni Katie Greves 02.09.82/London/Oxford/Mortlake/Uni of London Jane Hall 20.10.73/Kingston-upon-Thames/Surbiton/Caversham/Leander Joanna Hammond 28.1.80/Leamington Spa/Leamington/Cambridge/Leander Vicki Hansford 31.10.79/Lewisham/Fleet/Fleet/Guildford RC Daniel Harte 12.12.75n/a/n/a/Putney/London Mike Hennessy 24.12.76/London/Deptford/Chiswick/Tideway Scullers Rob Hollis 14.02.84/Wendover/Monmouth/Cowley/Oxford Brookes Sophie Hosking??/??/??/Durham Uni Frances Houghton 19.09.80/Oxford/Oxford/Putney/Uni of London Natasha Howard 03.09.80/Harare, Zimbabwe/West Runton/Chiswick/Tideway Scullers Mark Hunter 01.07.78/Forest Gate, London/Romford/Cadmore End,Bucks/Leander Ross Hunter 13.07.81/??/??/Cadmore End, Bucks/Leander Tom James 03.11.84/Cardiff/Wrexham/Cambridge/CUBC Simon Jones 08.06.78n/a/n/a/Cropwell Butler/Leander Alison Knowles 27.03.82/Bournemouth/Bournemouth/Putney, London/Thames Matthew Langridge 20.05.83/Northwich, Cheshire/Northwich/Henley Leander Elise Laverick 27.07.75/Rustington, Sx/Poling, W Sx/Putney/Thames Ian Lawson 04.03.77/Bradford/Otley, W.Yks/Henley on Thames/Leander Hugo Lee 05.03.84/Guildford/Jeburgh/Oxford/Oxford Brookes Alistair Leighton-Crawford ??? James Lindsay-Fynn 29.09.75/Dublin/Trim, Ireland/London/London Alastair Mckean 14.04.79/Canterbury/??/Whitstable/Herne Bay ARC Tim Male 09.07.75/Yeovil, So/Yeovil/Chiswick/Tideway Scullers Paul Mattick 25.04.78n/a/Oxford/Wallingford Baz Moffat 8.4.78/Edinburgh/Bradford/Putney/Thames RC Acer Nethercott 28.11.77/Newmarket/Harlow, Ex/Oxford/OUBC Lorna Norris 23.12.75n/a/na/a/Mortlake/Mortlake Anglian Caroline O’Connor 25.04.83Ealing/Ealing/Ealing/Oxford Brookes James Orme 1.4.84/London/Colchester/Cambridge/Leander Natasha Page 30.04.85n/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 25.01.81/San Francisco/Alton, Hants/East Sheen/Leander Seb Pearce 10.05.82/?/Bromsgrove/Oxford/OUBC Zac Purchase 2.5.86/??/Tewkesbury/Tewkesbury/Marlow RC Peter Reed 27.07.81/Seattle, USA/Nailsworth/Oxford/Leander Helene Raynsford 29.12.79/Halfax, Yorks/??/Frimley/Guildford RC Naomi Riches 15.06.83/??/??/Harrow Weald/?? James Roberts 11.05.86/Mons, Belgium/Swansea/Cardiff/Rebecca 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 Shaun Sewell 10.05.75/Forest Gate, London/Manor Park, London/London/Royal Docks RC Alan Sherman 22.10.51/Wuppertal, Germany/??/London/Thames Tradesmen Tom Solesbury 23.9.80/Farnborough/Petts Wood/Henley-on-Thames/Molesey Colin Smith 03.09.83/ Harare, Zimbabwe/Henley on Thames/Oxford/OUBC Tom Stallard 11.09.78/London/Welwyn, Herts/London/Leander Sam Townsend 26.11.85/ Reading/Reading/Reading/Reading Uni Andy Triggs Hodge 03.08.79/Aylesbury/Hebden, Skipton/East Molesey/Molesey Matt Tucker 05.01.85/??/Winkfield, Nr Windsor/Oxford Brookes Antonia van Deventer 23.7.78/?/London/Rob Roy Annie Vernon 01.09.82n/a/Wadebridge, Cornwall/Marlow, Bucks/Thames Matthew Wells 19.04.79/Bradford/Hexham/East Sheen/Uni of London Josh West 25.03.77/Santa Fe, USA/Santa Fe/Oxford/Leander Kieran West MBE 18.09.77/Kingston-upon-Thames/W. Byfleet/Mortlake CUBC Steve Williams MBE 15.04.76/Warwick/Cheltenham/Henley/Leander Sarah Winckless 18.10.73/Reading/Hurley, Bucks/Marlow, Bucks/Walbrook ADVERT