Selectors confident of Partridge fitness

Great Britain’s rowing selectors showed today that they are confident Alex Partridge will recover from a recent knee injury in time to race in the defending world champion men’s four, sponsored by Camelot, at this year’s world championships and Olympic qualifying regatta in Munich, from August 26-September 2nd.

The Siemens-backed women’s double scull of Elise Laverick and Anna Bebington could also be a crew to watch. They entered international competitive waters for the first time at the weekend, after Bebington’s injury-enforced absence earlier this season, and were fourth by just one hundredth of a second in the final. Described as "race-rusty" by their coach, this duo could have more to offer by the time Munich comes round.

Despite an out-of-character B Final placing in Lucerne for Colin Smith and Matt Langridge, in the Siemens-supported men’s pair, the team management have kept faith and named the Linz world cup gold medal winners in the Munich line-up.

Natasha Howard and Natasha Page, who raced for the first time together in Lucerne, have been named in the equivalent women’s boat, after a good fourth-placed finish.

Britain’s lightweight women’s single, double and quadruple sculls as well as the lightweight men’s pair and quadruple scull remained unchanged from their Lucerne line-ups as does the men’s quadruple scull – a true mix of youth and experience with a seasoned campaigner like Ian Lawson and a youthful graduate of the  sport’s talent development initiative like Alex Gregory on board.

Great Britain also announced three adaptive – elite rowing for those with a disability – crews. They include reigning world champion Helene Raynsford in the women’s single scull and the defending world champions in the mixed adaptive four.

Tom Aggar, a relative newcomer, has taken the men’s single scull slot ahead of 2006 world bronze medallist Shaun Sewell. The World Championships also doubles as the Paralympic qualifying regatta and rowing will be part of the Paralympic Games for the first time in Beijing in 2008.

However, the selectors are yet to name their final line-ups for the men’s and women’s eights, both backed by Siemens. Squads of twelve rowers will be tested further for these crews before they are finally named in the coming weeks. Each will be supported by a second boat – the coxed four for the men and the four the women.  Britain has not named a lightweight male single sculler for Munich at this stage.

Racing in Munich takes place as follows:

Heats
26 and 27 August

Repechages

28 and 29 August

Semi-finals

30 August and 31 August

FINALS

1 and 2 September

(Full details:  www.worldrowing.com and click on media
center before selecting events).

SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================== ===============================
GB CREWS FOR THE 2007 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Munich, August 26 – September 2, 2007)
(NB – listed from bow to stroke with
athlete name followed by club, home town
and date of birth in brackets).

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair

Natasha Page (Reading Uni/Hartpury/30.4.85)
Natasha Howard (Tideway Scullers/West Runton/3.9.80)

Coach: John Keogh

Eight and Four to be selected from:

Rowers:

Carla Ashford (Thames RC/Northallerton/13.3.79)
Jess Eddie (Uni of London/Durham/7.10.84)
Vicki Etiebet (Auriol Kensington/Ottowa, Canada/12.2.79)
Alice Freeman (Wallingford RC/Oxford/6.9.78)
Katie Greves (Uni of London/Oxford/2.9.82)
Alison Knowles (Thames RC/Bournemouth/27.3.82)
Georgina Menheneott (Mortlake, Anglian & Alpha RC/North Bradley, Wilts /18.12.79)
Baz Moffat (Thames RC/Bradford/8.4.78)
Vicky Myers (Leander/Cheshire/31.3.81
Louisa Reeve (Leander/London/16.05.84)
Beth Rodford (Thames RC/Burton-on-Trent/ 28.12.82)
Rebecca Rowe (Rebecca/Bridgend/16.5.81)

Cox:
Caroline O’Connor (Oxford Brookes/Ealing/25.4.83)

Coaches: John Keogh and Nathan Williams

Double scull

Elise Laverick (Thames RC/Poling, W.Sussex/27.7.75)/
Anna Bebington (Leander Club/Leek, Staffs/13.2.83)

Coach:  Miles Forbes Thomas

Quadruple scull

Annie Vernon (Thames RC/Wadebridge/1.9.82)/Debbie Flood
(Leander Club/Leeds/27.2.80)/Fran Houghton
(Uni of London/Oxford/19.9.80)/Katherine Grainger
(St Andrews BC/Aberdeen/12.11.75)

Coach: Paul Thompson

MEN

Pair

Colin Smith (Leander/Henley on Thames/23.9.83)/Matt Langridge
(Leander Club/Northwich/20.5.83)

Coach:  Jurgen Grobler

Four

Steve Williams (Leander Club/Cheltenham/15.4.76)/Peter
Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth, Glos/27.7.81)/Alex Partridge
(Leander Club/Alton, Hants/25.1.81)/Andy Triggs Hodge
(Molesey BC/Hebden, N.Yorks/3.3.79)

Coach: Jurgen Grobler

Eight and coxed four to be selected from:

Rowers:

Marcus Bateman (Leander Club/Torquay/16.9.82)
Robin Bourne-Taylor (Army RC/Oxford/22.7.81)
Richard Egington (Leander/Knutsford/26.2.79)
Alastair Heathcote (Army RC/London/18.8.77)
Tom James (CUBC/Wrexham/11.3.84)
Hugo Lee (Oxford Brookes/Jedburgh/5.3.84)
Tom Lucy (Oxford Brookes/Monmouth/1.5.88)
James Orme (Leander Club/Colchester/1.4.84)
Tom Parker (OUBC/Winchester/24.10.82)
Tom Solesbury (Molesey BC/Petts Wood, Kent/23.9.80)
Tom Stallard (Leander/Welwyn, Herts/11.9.78)
Josh West (Leander/Santa Fe/25.3.77)

Coxes:
Acer Nethercott (OUBC/Harlow/28.11.77)
Phelan Hill (London RC/London/21.7.79)

Coaches:  Mark Banks, John West, Richard Tinkler

Single Scull

Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers/Coleraine/9.5.83)

Coach: Bill Barry

Double Scull

Matt Wells (Leander Club/Hexham, Northumberland/19.4.79)/
Stephen Rowbotham (Leander Club/Winscombe, Somerset/11.11.81)

Coach: Mark Earnshaw

Quadruple scull

Simon Fieldhouse (Molesey/Thames Ditton/4.9.76)/Sam Townsend
(Reading Uni/Reading/26.11.85)/Alex Gregory (Reading Uni/
Wormington/11.3.84)/Ian Lawson (Leander/Otley, W.Yorks/4.3.77)

Coach: Steve Gunn

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Single scull

Andrea Dennis (Wallingford RC/Oxford/03.01.82)

Coach: Rob Dauncey

Double scull

Helen Casey (Wallingford RC/Oxford/6.2.74)/
Hester Goodsell (Rob Roy/Cambridge/27.6.84)

Coach: Robin Williams

Quadruple scull

Sophie Hosking (Durham Uni/Wimbledon/25.01.86)Laura Greenhalgh (Rob Roy/Oxford/2.9.85)/Mathilde Pauls (Imperial College BC/Berlin & Putney/26.09.83)/ Jane Hall (Leander/Caversham/20.10.73),

Coach: Rob Dauncey

MEN

Pair

Matt Beechey (Leander/Worcester/3.4.77)/Daniel
Harte (London/Edinburgh/12.12.75)

Coach:  Paul Reedy

Four

Richard Chambers (Oxford Brookes/Coleraine/10.6.85)/
James Lindsay-Fynn (London/Trim/29.9.75)/Paul Mattick
(Wallingford/Oxford/25.4.78)/James Clarke (London RC/
London/13.12.84)

Coach: Robin Williams

Double scull

Zac Purchase (Marlow RC/Tewkesbury, Glos/2.5.86)/
Mark Hunter (Leander Club/Romford, Essex/1.7.78)

Coach: Darren Whiter

Quadruple scull
Simon Jones (Leander/Henley/8.6.78)/Rob Williams (London RC/Maidenhead/21.1.85)/Chris Bartley (Wallingford/Chester/2.2.84)/Dave Currie (Leander/Bridgend/10.1.82)/

Coach:  Rob Morgan

ADAPTIVE CREWS

WOMEN

Single scull

Helene Raynsford (Guildford RC/Frimley/29.12.79)

Coach:  Chad King

MEN

Single scull

Tom Aggar

Coach: Chad King

MIXED

Mixed adaptive coxed four

Vicki Hansford )Guildford RC/Lewisham/31.10.79)
/Alan Crowther (Nottingham BC/Derby/29.7.65)/
Alastair Mckean (Herne Bay ARC/Whitstable/14.4.79)/
Naomi Riches (Marlow RC/Harrow Weald/15.6.83)/
/Alan Sherman (cox)

Coach: Chad King

GB may also select an adaptive double – to be confirmed at
a later stage.

TEAM MANAGEMENT AND SUPPORT

Team Manager:  David Tanner
Assistant Team Manager:  Maggie Netto
Doctor: Ali Sanders
Chief Coach Men: Jurgen Grobler
Chief Coach Women and Lightweights:  Paul Thompson
Adaptive boats coordinator:  Louise Kingsley
Lead Physio:  Mark Edgar
Physios:  Pam Gardiner, Gill Edmondson, Mike Chisholm
Physiologist:  Al Smith
Pyschologist:  Chris Shambrook
Sponsorship Liaison Manager:  Fran Bullock
Press Officer:  Caroline Searle

SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================== ===============================
OLYMPIC QUALIFYING DETAILS

Each nation competing in Munich will be seeking to
qualify for Olympic Games quota places, available for
each event.  It is important to remember, though, that
it is the "boats" that qualify in Munich and at the later
regattas (see below). In Britain’s case the individual "rowers’
names" will not be put to the places in each boat
until late June, 2008.

Events (with quota places available in Munich)

MEN

Single scull (11)
Pair (11)
Double scull (11)
Four (11)
Quadruple scull (11)
Eight (7)

WOMEN

Single scull (9)
Pair (8)
Double scull (8)
Quadruple scull (7)
Eight (5)

LIGHTWEIGHT MEN

Double scull (11)
Four (11)

LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN

Double scull (8)

If British boats do not gain a quota place in any given
event in Munich, there will be one further chance
via the final qualifying regatta in June of 2008 in
Lucerne, Switzerland where a small number of
further quota places will be available but for which
the competition will be fierce.

SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================== ===============================

CONTACT DETAILS
For media enquiries about British Rowing please contact:

Caroline Searle

T:  (01225) 383518
M:  (07831) 755351

e:  [email protected]

GB Rowing website www.biro.org.uk – full biogs available
here.