Best GB showing in-depth at World U23s

GB rowers produced Britain’s best in-depth performance to date at any World U23 championships by qualifying 11 from 12 possible boats for tomorrow’s finals due to be held at Strathclyde Park.
In choppy and breezy conditions the men’s eight and pair were both semi-final winners today.  They will be joined in the finals by three other crews who emerged from semi-finals today alongside six further crews who had already reached the finals through heat wins or placings in yesterday’s repechages.

Only Ben Smith, in the men’s single scull, failed to progress after catching a crab seconds before the line in his semi-final today.

"We’ve had a great regatta so far after some good training at Caversham (GB Rowing’s training centre)", said Drew Robertson, the GB Team Manager.  "Conditions have been difficult and all the crews performed well".

The British men’s eight caught the eye today.  They went out quickly and had a commanding lead by halfway from where they countered attacks mounted by both Estonia and the USA before winning in 5:37.01.

Robertson was also pleased with the men’s pair who "raced with great maturity". They put themselves in contention in the early part of the race before moving through the field to win in 6:41.00 ahead of Italy.

There were also strong performances from the GB single sculler Ruth Walczak, who led all the way before being pipped in the final metres, and from the lightweight women’s double scull who were not fazed when Greece bolted out of the blocks only to fade further down the course.  "They kept their focus and  raced their own race", said Robertson.

The GB women’s four, who won their heat to qualify, will be amongst the ones to watch tomorrow. They could have a battle in store with Australia.

Britain’s men’s double may also have a medal chance after winning their heat to qualify in style.

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SEMI-FINAL RESULTS
(Races with GB crews only.  Full results
www.worldrowing.com)

OPEN

WOMEN

Single scull

Semi-final 1
1.  Ukraine  7:49.99
2.  GREAT BRITAIN 7:50.22
3.  Hungary  7:55.69
4.  Finland 7:56.98
5.  El Salvador 8:19.27
6.  Russia 8:24.21

MEN

Pair

Semi-final 1

1.  GREAT BRITAIN 6:41.00
2.  Italy 6:42.77
3.  Ukraine 6:44.20
4.  Slovenia 6:48.51
5.  Georgia 6:53.91
6.  Switzerland 6:59.67

Four

Semi-final 1

1.  Serbia 6:04.28
2.  GREAT BRITAIN 6:05.89
3.  New Zealand 6:06.14
4.  Croatia 6:10.97
5.  Ukraine 6:12.87
6.  Poland 6:14.49

Eight

Semi-final 2

1.  GREAT BRITAIN 5:37.01
2.  Estonia 5:38.65
3.  USA 5:38.79
4.  Canada 5:41.75
5.  Spain 5:47.98
6.  Netherlands 5:58.68

Single Scull

Semi-final 2

1. Lithuania 7:03.25
2.  Germany 7:04.91
3.  Monaco  7:06.92
4.  GREAT BRITAIN 7:09.06
5.  Latvia 7:10.16
6.  Mexico 7:11.48

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Double scull

Semi-final 2

1.  Italy 7:12.49
2.  Hungary 7:12.95
3.  GREAT BRITAIN 7:14.47
4.  Greece 7:16.76
5.  Switzerland 7:20.00
6.  Sweden 7:30.28

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GB CREWS FOR WORLD U23 CHAMPS
(Strathclyde Park, July 26-29  )
(NB – listed from bow to stroke with
athlete name followed by club in brackets).

WOMEN

Pair

Olivia Whitlam (Agecroft RC/Warrington)/Heather Stanning
(Uni of Bath/Lossiemouth)

Coach: Hamish Burrell

Four

Vicky Bryant (Oxford Brookes/Chester-le-Street)/Emily Taylor
(Durham Univ/Lincoln)/Kirsty Myles (Oxford Brookes/Edinburgh)/ Rachel Jefferies (CUWBC/Oxford)

Coach: Nick Strange

Single scull

Ruth Walczak (Hollingworth Lake RC/Rochdale)

Coach:  Ade Roberts

Women’s quadruple scull

Tina Stiller (Nottingham RC/Yarm, N.Yorks/23.6.87)/Franki Jus-Burke (Nottingham RC/Nottingham/3.1.87)/Atlanta St John (Reading Uni/North Leigh/Oxon/13.1.87)/Lauren Fisher (Reading Uni/Reading/17.2.86)

Coach:  Ade Roberts

MEN

Pair

Tom Wilkinson (Leander/Henley)/Charles Burkitt (Leander/Reading)

Coach:  Chris Collerton

Four

Cameron Nichol (Uni of London/Glastonbury)/Oliver Moore (Imperial/Burford)/Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey/Surbiton)/Colin Scott (Cambridge Uni/ Malvern)

Coach:  Peter Sheppard

Coxed four

Ryan Davies (Oxford Brookes/Henley)/Pete Marsland (Molesey/Hampton)/Alex Holden-Smith(Oxford Brookes/Bewdley)/George Laughton (Newcastle Uni/Douglas, I.O.M)/AndyGraham (cox) (Durham Uni/Walton-on-Thames).

Coach:  Andy Bird

Eight

Joshua Davidson (Leander/Richmond)/Matt Tucker (Oxford Brookes/Windsor)/Will Robinson (Oxford Brookes/Reading)/Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell
(Uni of London/Durham)/ Tom Ransley (York City RC/Canterbury)/Nick Clark (Leander/Marlow)/Will Laughton (Imperial College/Douglas I.O.M)/Pete Randolph (Bristol Uni/Twickenham)/Seb Stuart (Durham Uni/Salisbury)

Coach: Stuart Whitelaw

Single scull

Ben Smith (Imperial/Oxford)

Double scull

Bill Lucas (Reading Uni/Dartmouth)/Charles Cousins (Rob Roy/Cambridge)

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Double scull

1.  Emma Steel (Durham Uni/Chester-le-Street)/Frances Fletcher (Durham Uni/Chester-le-Street)

Coach: Peter Lee

MEN

Quadruple scull

Henry Chin (Durham Uni/Camberwell)/Bob Hewitt (Scarborough BC/Scarborough)/Adam Freeman-Pask (Imperial College/Windsor)/Chris Boddy (Tees RC/Thornaby-on-Tees)

Coach:  Nathan Adams

SUPPORT STAFF

Team Manager: Drew Robertson
Doctor: Tom Jenkins
Physio: Su Clark
Equipment Manager:  Maurice Hayes