Australian Youth Olympic Festival – all the GB action

GB Rowers have won three golds, a silver and three bronzes on the first of two days racing during the Australian Youth Olympic Festival  at the Penrith Regatta Course near Sydney which staged the 2000 Olympic Games.

The golds came in the women’s and men’s pair and the lightweight men’s double.

Lottie Howard-Merrill and Jo Fitzsimmons took the women’s pair title in 7:36.82 to hold off an Australian duo in second and their own GB team-mates Jenny Arnold and Olivia Carnegie-Brown who took bronze in 7:37.89 – just five tenths of a second off silver.

The men’s pair winners, George Nash and Matt Rossiter, seem to have the winning habit, having already been part of a GB junior men’s four that took the world junior title in 2007. They triumphed today in a time of 6:40.48 ahead of their colleagues Matt Tarrant, a world junior coxed four silver medallists from 2008 and Kieren Emery, also a men’s four world junior winner in 2007, who took silver in 6:44.78.  Australia were third.

John Preston and Jon Clegg completed the golden hat-trick for GB with a win in the lightweight men’s double scull in a time of 6:33.90 pushing Australia into second by just under four seconds.

GB’s other two medals – both bronzes – came in the women’s single scull from Rachel Gamble Flint and in the lightweight women’s double scull from Lottie Burgess and Katherine Copeland.

Heats for the bigger boats have also taken place with GB taking first place in the slower of two heats in each of the men’s and women’s quadruple scull and women’s four.

Tomorrow’s race programme includes finals for these three boats and the men’s four plus heats and finals for the men’s and women’s eights.

"We’ve had some good medal successes today. Once again, even with less strength in depth of entry than two years ago, this event is proving a good testing ground for our future, potential Olympians", said David Tanner, GB Performance Director.

Full results at:  www.olympics.org.uk/ayof09.

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RESULTS

(FINALS featuring GB crews only. Full results
at: www.olympics.org.uk/ayof09.)

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair

1.  Lottie Howard-Merrill/Jo Fitzsimmons (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:36.82
2.  Hill/Hill (Australia) 7:37.32
3.  Jenny Arnold/Olivia Carnegie-Brown (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:37.89
4.  Albert/Billing (Australia) 7:37.89
5.  Basher/Molsher-Jones (Australia) 7:41.54
6.  De La Hunty/Hagan (Australia) 7:42.76
7.  Sheldrick/Peppernell (Australia) 7:44.69
8.  Yann/Popa (Australia) 7:45.11  

Single scull

1.  Leah Stanley (New Zealand)  7:52.90
2.  Ashleigh Miles (Australia) 7:54.29
3.  Rachel Gamble-Flint (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:54.95
4.  Madeleine Edmunds (Austrlia) 7:57.95
5.  Xinyue Zhang (China) 7;58.36
6.  Olympia Aldersey (Australia) 8:00.99
7.  Sorelle Bowman (Australia) 8:05.21
8.  Regan Barkla (New Zealand) 8:09.04

MEN

Pair

1.  George Nash/Matt Rossiter (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:40.48
2.  Matt Tarrant/Kieren Emery (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:44.78
3.  Brigthorpe/Dunkley-Smith (Australia) 6:45.65
4.  Lynton/Ross (New Zealand) 6:48.52
5.  Murray/Gatti (Australia) 6:48.95
6.  McKenzie/Sweeney (Australia) 6:52.97
7.  Moore/Barnier (Australia) 6:56.71
8.  Healey/Kitchin (New Zealand) 7:05.22

Single Scull

1.  Taylor Wilczynski (Australia)  7:03.69
2.  Michael Berry (New Zealand) 7:06.36
3.  Nicholas Purnell (Australia) 7:10.15
4.  Jonathan Walton (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:11.48
5.  Tomas Sullivan (Australia) 7:13.48
6.  David Watts (Australia) 7:17.72
7.  William Satch (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:20.93
8.  Aleksandr Burzins (Australia) 7:31.15

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Double scull

1.  Edward/Trautvetter (New Zealand) 7:14.42
2.  Heath/Smith (Australia) 7:16.16
3.  Lottie Burgess/Katherine Copeland (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:17.76
4.  Liu/Liu (China) 7:19.57
5.  Britton/Gibson (Australia) 7:31.82
6.  Webb/Munns-Cook (Australia) 7:35.70

MEN

Double scull

1.  John Preston/Jon Clegg (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:33.90
2.  Budd/De Carvalho (Australia) 6:37.28
3.  Wilson-Haffenden/Hall (Australia) 6:43.77
4.  Brown/Cleary (Australia) 6:45.05
5.  Watson/Adendorff (Australia) 6:47.92
6.  Conolan/Mackenzie (Australia) 7:02.33

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CREW LIST
(listed from bow to stroke)

OPEN

WOMEN

OPEN

Pair (two boats)

Jenny Arnold (Reading Uni BC/06.02.90)/
Olivia Carnegie-Brown (Reading RC/28.03.91)

Lottie Howard-Merill (Headington School BC/15.11.89)/
Jo Fitzsimons (St Neots RC/16.06.90)

Coach: Eira Parry

Four

Lottie Howard-Merill (Headington School BC/15.11.89)/
Jo Fitzsimons (St Neots RC/16.06.90)/
Jenny Arnold (Reading Uni BC/06.02.90)/
Olivia Carnegie-Brown (Reading RC/28.03.91)

Coach: Eira Parry

Eight

Lottie Burgess (Reading Uni BC/25.06.90)/
Katherine Copeland (Yarm School BC/01.12.90)/
Rachel Gamble-Flint (Yarm School BC/13.09.91)/
Olivia Oakes (Uni of London Women’s BC/21.04.90)/
Lottie Howard-Merill (Headington School BC/15.11.89)/
Jo Fitzsimons (St Neots RC/16.06.90)/
Jenny Arnold (Reading Uni BC/06.02.90)/
Olivia Carnegie-Brown (Reading RC/28.03.91)/
Lilly van den Broecke – cox (Headington School BC/08.01.92)

Coach: Eira Parry

Single scull (two boats)

Rachel Gamble-Flint (Yarm School BC/13.09.91)

Olivia Oakes (Uni of London Women’s BC/21.04.90)

Coach: Nick Strange

Quad scull

Lottie Burgess (Reading Uni BC/25.06.90)/
Olivia Oakes (Uni of London Women’s BC/21.04.90)/
Rachel Gamble-Flint (Yarm School BC/13.09.91)/
Katherine Copeland (Yarm School BC/01.12.90)

Coach: Nick Strange

MEN

Pair (two boats)

George Nash (CUBC/02.10.89)/
Matt Rossiter (Abingdon School/25.09.89)

Kieren Emery  (Tyne RC/01.06.90)/
Matt Tarrant (OBUBC/11.07.90)

Coach: Alex Henshilwood

Four

Matt Tarrant (OBUBC/11.07.90)/
Kieren Emery  (Tyne RC/01.06.90)/
George Nash (CUBC/02.10.89)/
Matt Rossiter (Abingdon School/25.09.89)

Coach: Alex Henshilwood

Eight

Jonny Walton (Leicester RC/06.10.90)/
Jon Clegg (Leander Club/14.07.89)/
Matt Tarrant (OBUBC/11.07.90)/
Will Satch (Leander Club/09.06.89)/
George Nash (CUBC/02.10.89)/
Matt Rossiter (Abingdon School/25.09.89)
John Preston (Reading Uni BC/16.04.89)
Kieren Emery  (Tyne RC/01.06.90)/
Max Gander (Abingdon School/26.01.90) – cox

Coach: Alex Henshilwood

Single scull (two boats)

Will Satch (Leander Club/09.06.89)

Jonny Walton (Leicester RC/06.10.90)

Coach: Wade Hall-Craggs

Quadruple scull

Jon Clegg (Leander Club/14.07.89)/
Jonny Walton (Leicester RC/06.10.90)/
Will Satch (Leander Club/09.06.89)/
Jon Preston (Reading Uni BC/16.04.89)

Coach: Wade Hall-Craggs

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Double scull

Lottie Burgess (Reading Uni BC/25.06.90)/
Katherine Copeland (Yarm School BC/01.12.90)

Coach: Nick Strange

MEN

Double scull

John Preston (Reading Uni BC/16.04.89)/
Jon Clegg (Leander Club/14.07.89)

Coach: Wade Hall-Craggs

Travelling reserves

Josh Butler (London Rowing Club/11.03.89)
Sophie Vellacott (Durham Uni BC/13.03.89)