Six returning medallists for U23 World Rowing Championships

GB Rowing has announced the squad to contest the World U23 Championships in Brandenburg, Germany, from 18 – 20 July 2008, which includes six athletes who last year won  bronze medals at this level – Tina Stiller, Charles Cousins, Bill Lucas, Mohamed Sbihi, Cameron Nichol and Charles Burkitt.

Stiller, who has competed at two senior world cups this year, contests the women’s single scull rather than the women’s quadruple scull in which she won her 2007 bronze.

Cousins and Lucas will race the men’s double scull once more whilst Sbihi and Nichol contest the men’s four with Dan Ritchie and Will Laughton. Burkitt races in a men’s pair with Ben Smith, last year’s single sculler who won a bronze medal in the pair in 2006.

Youth Olympic and 2006 world junior gold medallist Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell has been chosen to stroke the men’s eight.

Jacqui Round, a world junior bronze medallist in the women’s quadruple scull last year, is part of this year’s women’s four which once more features Vicky Bryant, Kirsty Myles and Rachael Jefferies.  Emily Taylor and Hannah Elsy, from Durham University,form the women’s pair.

Six of the selected rowers have come through the ARA’s World Class Start Scheme, sponsored bySiemens and backed by the lottery. They are Bill Lucas, Charles Cousins,  Mohamed Sbihi, Dan Ritchie, Bob Hewitt and Chris Boddy.

Hewitt and Boddy race in the lightweight quadruple scull, unusual for this scheme which has been targetted more specifically at spotting heavyweight rowers.

Britain won a gold and six bronzes at the last World U23 Championships.  The gold came in the women’s pair from Heather Stanning and Olivia Whitlam.  The latter is now part of GB’s Olympic team for Beijing whilst Stanning is at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.

CREW LISTS
(From bow to stroke with cox. Includes club or school/home town/d.o.b).

OPEN

WOMEN
Pair
Emily Taylor (Durham Uni/Lincoln/28.06.87)/Hannah Elsy (Durham
Uni/Twickenham/28.12.86)

Four
Vicky Bryant (Oxford Brookes/Chester-le-Street /23.07.87)/Jacqui Round
(Nottingham RC/St Neots/01.07.87)/Kirsty Myles (Oxford
Brookes/Edinburgh/24.02.86)/Rachael Jefferies (Oxford
Brookes/Abingdon/02.09.87)

Single scull
Tina Stiller (Nottingham RC/Yarm/23.06.87)

Double scull
Ruth Walczak (Uni of London/Rochdale/15.09.88)/Rosamund Bradbury
(Westminster School/Banstead/17.12.88)

MEN
Pair
Ben Smith (OUBC/Oxford/07.08.86)/Charles Burkitt (Leander/Newark/28.04.86)

Four
Dan Ritchie (Reading Univ/Herne Bay/06.01.87)/Mohamed Sbihi*(Molesey
BC/Surbiton/27.03.88)/Cameron Nichol (University of
London/Glastonbury/26.06.87)/Will Laughton (University of London/Isle of
Man/17.06.87)

*Subject to medical

Eight
Joshua Davidson (Leander/Twickenham/19.09.86)/Chris Abraham (Oxford
Brookes/Lisbellaw, N. Ireland/05.12.87)/Mason Durant
(Newcastle Uni/Halton, Lancs/12.02.88)/Fred Gill (Newcastle
Uni/Shrewsbury/09.01.86)/Karl Hudspith (Oxford
Brookes/Twickenham/31.03.88)/Matthew
Rossiter (Abingdon School/Newbury/25.09.89)/Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell
(University of London/Durham/13.04.88)/Scott Durant (Oxford Brookes/Halton,
Lancs/12.02.88)/Henry Fieldman (University of London/London/25.11.88) (cox)

Double scull
Charles Cousins (Reading Univ/Cambridge/13.12/88)/Bill Lucas (Reading
Univ/Kingswear/13.09.87)

LIGHTWEIGHTS

WOMEN
Single scull
Nicola Spencer (Exeter Uni/Chipping Norton/04.12.86)

Double scull
Emma Steel (Durham Uni/Chester-le-Street/08.02.87)/ Frances Fletcher (Durham
Uni/Chester-le-Street/02.08/87)

MEN
Pair
John Preston (Reading Uni/Durham/16.04.89)/Carl Delaney (Nottingham
Uni/Wallingford/07.03.88)

Quadruple scull
Henry Chin (Durham Uni/London/27.03.86)/Bob Hewitt (Tees
RC/Scarborough/27.04/87)/Nick Fearnhead (Durham Uni/Mold/08.02.88)/Chris
Boddy (Tees RC/Stockton-on-Tees/16.11.87)

Team Management
David Tanner & Steve Gunn

Coaches
Peter Sheppard
Stuart Whitelaw
Chris Collerton
Henry Bailhache-Webb
Adrian Cassidy
Nick Strange
Edouard Blanc
Ade Roberts
Carl Smith
Nathan Adams
Peter Lee

CONTACT DETAILS

For further information about this press release
please call:

Tash Carpenter in the Matchtight Ltd office on:

01225 443998
Or
07765 258432

For general media enquiries about GB Rowing please contact:

Caroline Searle

T:  (01225) 443998
M:  (07831) 755351

e:  [email protected]

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

The GB Rowing Squad is supported by the National Lottery Sports Fund as part of UK Sport’s Podium Programme.

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