Hodge to race a single at trials
[img_assist|nid=2932|title=Andy Hodge with his Beijing gold medal|desc=Photo: Peter Spurrier|link=none|align=right|width=568|height=640]
Andy Triggs Hodge, Olympic champion in the men’s four, will contest this weekend’s GB Rowing Senior Trials (Sunday 12 and Monday 13th) in a single scull but says that Alan Campbell – the man who has won the "team berth" in that event for the past few years – should not worry as he will soon switch back to rowing.
"I’ve always enjoyed sculling and miss it when I go back into the pair each winter. So I’ve given myself an opportunity to hate it again like the old days.
"But aside from this, there are a lot of benefits like evening out the body, forcing myself to think about rowing in a very different way and not only technical ideas.
"I am enjoying the challenge and I just want to do myself justice but I’m sure I’ll be back rowing rather than sculling before the month is out", he said.
The exact nature of the boat in which Hodge will row remains one of the season’s more interesting questions. He won the men’s four Olympic crown in Beijing alongside Peter Reed, Tom James and Steve Williams. The latter duo are taking prolonged breaks from the sport with Williams still undecided as to whether to retire or not.
Peter Reed, the Olympic champion who won a fourth consecutive men’s pair title with Hodge at the event’s perennial venue in Hazewinkel, Belgium, races this year in a pair with Alex Gregory of Reading University who narrowly missed out on an Olympic berth last year in the men’s quadruple scull. Alex Partridge and Ric Egington, Olympic men’s eight silver medallists last year, will no doubt be among their main rivals.
Meanwhile, the trials could also prove an interesting test bed for the lightweight men’s squad which produced its first Olympic medal in 2008 through Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter who won gold in the men’s double scull. Hunter is also taking a break, leaving potentially an opening for someone to join Purchase, absent from the trials this weekend, in the double.
One of the contenders is Paul Mattick, who was an Olympic finalist and 2007 world champion in the lightweight men’s four.
"It’s quite a different scene this year", said Mattick. whose main rivals look set to be Richard Chambers and Rob Williams. "There are three lightweight men’s pairs from the next ranked athletes who are [this weekend] racing for the first time in the heavyweight division who will then trial to join the lightweight men’s four and pair this season. We also have some up and coming athletes including Bob Hewitt, Stephen Feeney and Chris Boddy".
Katherine Grainger, winner of a third Olympic silver medal in Beijing, must be one of the favourites to win the women’s single scull event. It would be her eighth title since 1998 should she succeed. Grainger will face stiff opposition from a strong women’s squad including fellow Beijing medallists Annabel Vernon and Anna Bebington as well as Sarah Winckless, a former world champion and 2004 Olympic medallist.
The equivalent men’s single scull event not only features Campbell but also Olympic bronze medallists Matt Wells and Stephen Rowbotham as well as emerging talent Marcus Bateman. LIke Hodge, Olympic men’s eight silver medallist, Matt Langridge has decided to race in a single.
The lightweight women’s squad is headed by Olympian Hester Goodsell, a music teacher, but includes strong contenders such as Andrea Dennis, Sophie Hosking, Jane Hall and Laura Greenhalgh.
The women’s open pair contest features several development squad pairs who are coming up through the sport from the lottery-backed and Siemens-sponsored World Class Start scheme. This includes Heather Stanning now of the Army RC and a former world U23 champion as well as Gemma Akers and Vicky Thornley who have all been part of the scheme based at the University of Bath under Paul Stannard.
The trials this year will signal the start of a new Olympic cycle and a time for transition and potential rebuilding. The World Championships will be the ultimate goal from August 23 – 30 but there will also be significant milestones in the world cups (29-31 May, 19-21 June and 10-12 July).
RACING TIMETABLE
April 12th:
09.30 – 10.30 Time trials
15.00-17.20 Semi-finals
April 13th
09.00 – 11.00 FINALS
PM – reserve period
*SIEMENS is the high performance partner of the GB Rowing Team
(as such they sponsor all the Olympic and Paralympic Class
boats in the senior squad and add value to the ARA’s World Class
Start and High Performance Programme in Clubs Schemes)
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ENTRY LIST
(club in brackets)
WOMEN
Single scull
Anna Bebington (Leander)
Jenny Farmer (Molesey)
Katherine Grainger (St Andrew)
Katie Greves (Leander)
Natasha Howard (Tideway Scullers)
Lindsey Maguire (Wallingford)
Kirsty Myles (Leander)
Beth Rodford (Gloucester)
Annabel Vernon (Marlow RC)
Mel Wilson (Molesey)
Sarah Winckless (Walbrook & Royal)
Ro Bradbury (Westminster School)
Sarah Cowburn (Durham Uni)
Rachael Jefferies (Leander)
Atlanta St John (Wallingford)
Emily Taylor (Durham Uni)
Ruth Walczak (Molesey)
Pair
(Bowside/strokeside)
Alice Freeman (Wallingford)/Jess Eddie (Uni of London)
Olivia Whitlam (Agecroft)/Louisa Reeve (Leander)
Gemma Akers (Minerva Bath)/Vicky Thornley (Minerva Bath)
Monica Relph (Nottingham)/Jacqui Round (Nottingham)
Vicky Bryant (Leander)/Heather Stanning (Army)
Jo Cook (Leander)/Vicky Myers (Leander)
Louise Entwistle (Uni of London)/Olivia Oakes (Uni of London)
Leonora Kennedy (Thames)/Lindsey Morton (Thames RC/Nottingham RC)
Jenny Arnold (Reading Uni)/Helen Wood (Reading)
MEN
Single scull
Marcus Bateman (Leander)
Dave Bell (Leander)
Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers)
Andrew Corrigan (Newcastle Uni)
Charles Cousins (Reading Uni)
Brendan Crean (Agecroft)
Kieren Emery (Durham Uni)
Ed Ford (Newcastle Uni)
Ben Johnson (Reading Uni)
Matthew Langridge (Northwich)
Bill Lucas (Reading Uni)
Ian Lawson (Leander)
Dave Marshall (Nottingham)
Steve Rowbotham (Leander)
Tom Solesbury (Isis)
Sam Townsend (Reading Uni)
Andy Triggs Hodge (Molesey)
Jonny Walton (Leicester)
Matthew Wells (Leander)
Pair
(Bowside/strokeside)
Tom Broadway (Leander)/James Clarke (London)
Tom Wilkinson (Leander)/Tom Burton (Leander)
James Orme (Leander)/George Laughton (Leander)
Alex Partridge (Leander)/Richard Egington (Leander)
Peter Reed (Leander)/Alex Gregory (Reading Uni)
John Collins (Reading Uni)/Ray Poulter (Leander)
Mason Durant (Newcastle Uni)/Murray Wilkojc (Newcastle Uni)
Karl Hudspith (Oxford Brookes)/Chris Abraham (Oxford Brookes)
Will Laughton (Leander)/Will Satch (Leander)
George Nash (Cambridge Uni)/Pete Marsland (Cambridge Uni)
Tom Ransley (Cambridge Uni)/Henry Pelly (Cambridge Uni)
Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell (Uni of London)/Fred Gill (Cambridge Uni)
Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey BC)/James Foad (Molesey BC)
James Strawson (Cambridge Uni)/Joel Jennings (Cambridge Uni)
Matt Tarrant (Oxford Brookes)/Scott Durant (Oxford Brookes)
Al Webb (Leander)/Tom Clark (Leander)
Colin Williamson (Leander)/Nick Clark (Leander)
Pair – In addition
Lightweight pairs racing in Open division
(Bowside/Strokeside)
Chris Bartley (Leander)/Bob Hewitt (Tees)
Stephen Feeney (London)/Chris Boddy (Tees)
John Preston (Reading Uni)/Adam Freeman-Pask (Imperial College)
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull
Stephanie Cullen (London)
Nikki Bartlett (Tees)
Katherine Copeland (Tees)
Andrea Dennis (London)
Hester Goodsell (Reading Uni)
Laura Greenhalgh (London)
Jane Hall (Leander)
Sophie Hosking (London)
Elaine Johnstone (Tideway Scullers)
Ruth Sander (Mortlake Anglian & Alpha)
MEN
Single scull
Andrew Berridge (London)
Joshua Butler (London)
Alex Cawthorne (London)
Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes)
Richard Chambers (Leander)
Jonno Clegg (Leander)
Ian Couch (Durham Uni)
James Dodd (Durham Uni)
Richard Dunley (London)
Nick Fearnhead (Durham Uni)
Will Fletcher (Durham Uni)
Dave Jones (Leander)
Ross Hunter (Leander)
Jamie Kirkwood (Angel BC)
Oliver Mahony (London)
Paul Mattick (Leander)
Michael Mottram (Reading Uni)
Nathan O’Reilly (Tideway Scullers)
Ben Rowe (Tees)
Rob Williams (London)
Alex Woods (Wallingford)
Coxes
Zoe de Toledo (Leander)
Caroline O’Connor (Oxford Brookes)
Henry Fieldman (Imperial College)
Phelan Hill (Leander)
Praneet Shivaprasad (Leander)
