Three tight tussles at GB Rowing Team Senior Trials

April 11, 2010

Richard Egington and Matthew Langridge took line honours from their world champion men’s four crew-mates Alex Partridge and Alex Gregory in the semi-finals of the men’s pair at the GB Rowing Team Senior Trials in one of three notably-contested races in Belgium today.

The others, on a breezy and overcast afternoon, were the women’s pair semi-final in which Jessica Eddie and Alison Knowles beat the Beijing Olympic pairing of Olivia Whitlam and Louisa Reeve as well as the lightweight men’s single scull semi-final battle between Rob Williams and Peter Chambers with the former winning.

Peter Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge were never in doubt as winners of their men’s pair semi in a race which was marked by Moe Sbihi and James Foad‘s triumph over more-fancied squad crews.

Alan Campbell and Katherine Grainger, both world silver medallists in 2009, won their single scull semi-finals with Marcus Bateman – the time trial winner from the morning’s session – and Anna Watkins winning the opposing races.

Zac Purchase looked to be back in form and enjoying racing after a year out dogged by illness last year. He won his lightweight men’s single scull semi at a canter. Andrea Dennis and Hester Goodsell, as expected, won the two lightweight women’s single scull semis whilst Natasha Page and Vicky Thornley were comfortable winners of the second women’s pair semi-final.

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RACE REPORTS

Whilst Andy Hodge and Pete Reed stamped their authority on the opening men’s pair semi-final, the race opened with Chris Bartley and Richard Chambers, rowing as lightweights in the open-weight event, getting off to a flying start. They were still in contention at halfway before drifting off the pace in the second half. Mohamed Sbihi and James Foad fought a see-sawing battle with Tom James, returning after a year out, and Tom Ransley to take second.

The opposing semi-final also saw a significant tussle – this time between the two pairs who won world men’s four gold together last year. Richard Egington and Matthew Langridge won in 6:52.37 but did not really get a fully upper hand over Alex Partridge and Alex Gregory until the final 300m with the lead bouncing backwards and forwards several times before that point.

Marcus Bateman is the in-form challenger to Alan Campbell in the men’s open single scull on today’s time-trial and semi-final results. Each won their semi but Bateman won the morning’s time-trial. In Bateman’s semi-final Bill Lucas and Charles Cousins were second and third with the latter coming home ten seconds ahead of Greg Searle in fourth. Matt Wells and Sam Townsend were second and third behind Campbell.

Natasha Page, racing here with former Sporting Giant and “Start” rower Victoria Thornley, was a comfortable winner of the second women’s pair semi-final. Page, who has been in form in training recently, and Thornley were more than four seconds ahead of Jo Cook and Lindsey Maguire.

Earlier Jess Eddie and Alison Knowles came home ahead of Olivia Whitlam and Louisa Reeve in the first women’s semi. Whitlam and Reeve were the chosen Olympic pairing for Beijing and the 2009 World Championships. Heather Stanning, now in the Army, and Helen Glover – both of whom have been developed through the GB Rowing Teams’ “Start” programme, backed by the lottery and sponsored by Siemens – were a strong third to qualify for tomorrow morning’s finals.

Katherine Grainger continued her dominant streak in the open women’s single scull. She took victory over Annabel Vernon and Melanie Wilson – although Vernon was the better starter – with a significant push from 650m onwards which saw her take a length and a half lead by the halfway mark en route to victory.

Anna Watkins started well, applied the pressure and built a significant lead from the early phase of her semi-final before going on to win. Katie Solesbury put in a good performance to move up from third to second with a push at 750m. Ro Bradbury was third.

Some of the best racing of the day occurred during the second lightweight men’s single scull semi-final whichwas ultimately won by Rob Williams but not before Peter Chambers, younger brother of 2007 world lightweight men’s four champion Richard, had given him a fight to remember. The two were locked together throughout the first three-quarters of the race before Williams pulled away. Behind them a second enticing duel took place between Will Fletcher and Jonno Clegg with Fletcher grabbing the place in tomorrow’s final by just under three tenths of a second.

Zac Purchase proved too strong for Paul Mattick in the opposing semi. Mattick had his hands full meanwhile with a challenge from Ben Rowe with Rowe leading Mattick until 900m gone.

The lightweight women’s single semi-finals were a tad more processional with Andrea Dennis storming to victory in the first and Hester Goodsell in the second. Scots Imogen Walsh and Kelly Limond were locked into an interesting contest behind Goodsell before Walsh pulled away to take second in 8:32.46.

In the UK, Tom Aggar won the adaptive men’s single scull trial from Andy Houghton in 4:58.2.

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RESULTS

SEMI-FINALS

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair

Semi-final 1
1. Jessica Eddie/Alison Knowles (Uni of London/Thames RC) 7:48.23
2. Olivia Whitlam/Louisa Reeve (Agecroft/Leander) 7:48.86
3. Helen Glover/Heather Stanning (Reading Uni/Army) 8:01.68
4. Leonora Kennedy/Zoe Lee (Imperial College/Sport Imperial) 8:17.58
5. Jenny Farmer/Jacqui Round (Molesey/Leander) 8:23.14

Semi-final 2
1. Natasha Page/Victoria Thornley (Reading Uni/Minerva Bath) 8:00.79
2. Jo Cook/Lindsey Maguire (Leander/Wallingford) 8:05.00
3. Rachael Jefferies/Gemma Akers (Leander/Reading Uni) 8:14.08
4. Lottie Howard-Merrill/Polly Swan (Imperial College/Glasgow RC) 8:22.15
5. Jenny Arnold/Jessica Budgett (Durham Uni) 8:35.05
6. Karen Bennett/Imogen Evans (Clydesdale/Rhwyfo Cymru) 8:46.30

Single scull

Semi-final 1
1. Katherine Grainger (St Andrew) 8:25.59
2. Annabel Vernon (London) 8:29.21
3. Mel Wilson (Imperial) 8:31.08
4. Rachel Gamble-Flint (Yarm School) 8:34.03
5. Ruth Walczak (Molesey) 8:53.84
6. Anna Railton (Cambridge Uni) 8:59.10

Semi-final 2
1. Anna Watkins (Leander) 8:19.67
2. Katie Solesbury (Leander) 8:26.29
3. Debbie Flood (Leander) 8:33.37
4. Ro Bradbury (Jesus College) 8:37.22
5. Emily Taylor (Durham Uni) 8:41.89
6. Vicky Meyer-Laker (Nottingham) 8:56.72

MEN

Pair

Semi-final 1
1. Peter Reed/Andrew Triggs Hodge (Leander/Molesey) 6:58.23
2. James Foad/Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey) 7:00.59
3. Tom James/Tom Ransley (Molesey/York City) 7:05.61
4. Tom Wilkinson/Tom Burton (Leander) 7:11.63
5. Chris Bartley/Richard Chambers (Leander) 7:15.23
6. Adam Freeman-Pask/Chris Boddy (Imperial/Leander) 7:19.41

Semi-final 2
1. Richard Egington/Matthew Langridge (Leander) 6:52.37
2. Alex Partrige/Alex Gregory (Leander) 6:54.82
3. James Clarke/Tom Broadway (London/Leander) 6:55.83
4. Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell/Dan Ritchie (Uni of London/Herne Bay)
6:56.66
5. Tom Solesbury/James Orme (Molesey/Leander) 7:05.71
6. George Nash/Fred Gill (Cambridge Uni) 7:07.28

Single scull

Semi-final 1
1. Marcus Bateman (Leander) 7:31.44
2. Bill Lucas (Reading Uni) 7:34.42
3. Charles Cousins (Reading Uni) 7:39.42
4. Greg Searle (Molesey) 7:49.04
5. John Collins (Reading Uni) 8:02.68
6. David Read (Leander) 8:06.46

Semi-final 2
1. Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers) 7:29.22
2. Matthew Wells (Leander) 7:32.80
3. Sam Townsend (Reading Uni) 7:45.65
4. Brendan Crean (Agecroft) 7:46.09
5. David Marshall (Reading Uni) 8:00.24
6. Jonathon Walton (Loughborough Uni) 8:00.26

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Single

Semi-final 1

1. Andrea Dennis (Reading Uni) 8:26.97
2. Stephanie Cullen (London) 8:42.06
3. Ruth Sander (Mortlake Anglian & Alpha) 8:48.69
4. Anna Townsend (Mortlake Anglian & Alpha) 8:52.02
5. Katherine Twyman (Oxford Uni) 8:53.31

Semi-final 2

1. Hester Goodsell (Reading Uni) 8:31.28
2. Imogen Walsh (Clyde) 8:32.46
3. Kelly Limond (Strathclyde Park) 8:41.73
4. Charlotte Burgess (Reading Uni) 8:45.87
5. Katherine Copeland (Uni of London) 8:59.70
6. Nicola Spencer (Nottingham RC) 9:05.40

MEN

Semi-final 1
1. Zac Purchase (Marlow) 7:39.14
2. Paul Mattick (Leander) 7:40.83
3. Ben Rowe (Tees) 7:45.28
4. Alex Cawthorne (London) 7:52.30
5. Dave Jones (Leander) 7:54.55
6. Bob Hewitt (Leander) 7:54.67

Semi-final 2
1. Rob Williams (London) 7:26.77
2. Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes) 7:29.47
3. Will Fletcher (Durham Uni) 7:33.41
4. Jonno Clegg (Leander) 7:33.69
5. Jamie Kirkwood (Imperial College) 7:39.84
6. Jamie Watson (Durham Uni) 7:58.76

TIME TRIALS

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair

1.   Jessica Eddie/Alison Knowles (Uni of London/Thames) 7:22.23
2    Natasha Page/Victoria Thornley (Reading Uni/Minerva Bath) 7:22.78
3.   Jo Cook/Lindsey Maguire (Leander/Wallingford) 7:25.36
4.   Olivia Whitlam/Louisa Reeve (Agecroft/Leander) 7:25.60
5.   Helen Glover/Heather Stanning (Reading Uni/Army) 7:26.66
6.   Rachael Jefferies/Gemma Akers (Leander/Reading Uni) 7:34.06
7.   Lottie Howard-Merrill/Polly Swann (Imperial College/Glasgow) 7:38.62
8.   Jenny Farmer/Jacqui Round (Molesey/Leander) 7:41.37
9.   Leonora Kennedy/Zoe Lee (Imperial College/Sport Imperial) 7:41.40
10. Jenny Arnold/Jessica Budgett (Durham Uni) 7:52.76
11. Karen Bennett/Imogen Evans (Clydesdale/Rhwyfo Cymru) 8:03.53

Single scull

1.   Katherine Grainger (St Andrew) 7:48.12
2.   Anna Watkins (Leander) 7:50.78
3.   Katie Solesbury (Leander) 7:55.78
4.   Mel Wilson (Imperial College) 7:58.06
5.   Annabel Vernon (London) 8:02.11
6.   Debbie Flood (Leander) 8:03.03
7.   Ro Bradbury (Jesus College) 8:05.55
8.   Rachel Gamble-Flint (Yarm School) 8:06.73
9.   Ruth Walczak (Molesey) 8:11.24
10. Emily Taylor (Durham Uni) 8:14.65
11. Vicky Meyer-Laker (Nottingham) 8:15.19
12. Anna Railton (Cambridge Uni) 8:25.20
13. Franki Jus-Burke (Thames) 8:25.68
14. Franki Sanjani (Mortlake) 8:28.98
15. Monica Relph (Nottingham) 8:30.50
16. Erica Bodman (Reading Uni) DNS

MEN

Pair

1.   Pete Reed/Andrew Triggs Hodge (Leander/Molesey) 6:28.12
2.   Richard Egington/Matthew Langridge (Leander) 6:32.70
3.   Alex Partridge/Alex Gregory (Leander) 6:35.61
4.   James Foad/Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey) 6:36.86
5.   Tom James/Tom Ransley (Molesey/York City) 6:37.13
6.   James Clarke/Tom Broadway (London/Leander) 6:38.87
7.   Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell/Dan Ritchie (Uni of London/Herne Bay)
      6:40.71
8.   Tom Wilkinson/Tom Burton (Leander) 6:41.83
9.   Chris Bartley/Richard Chambers (Leander) 6:42.12
10. Tom Solesbury/James Orme (Molesey/Leander) 6:45.41
11. George Nash/Fred Gill (Cambridge Uni) 6:47.91
12. Adam Freeman-Pask/Chris Boddy (Imperial College/Leander) 6:49.12
13. Alan Sinclair/NIck Clark (Leander) 6:51.27
14. Andy Holmes/Will Satch (Molesey/Leander) 6:54.42
15. Matt Tarrant/Chris Abraham (Oxford Brookes) 6:55.53
16. Nick Baker/Oliver Staite (Oxford Brookes) 7:01.48
17. Karl Hudspith/Ertan Hazine (Oxford Brookes/Wallingford) 7:03.92
18. Ben Bathurst/Frazer Bent (Uni of Bristol/Molesey) 7:04.38
19. Alex Torbica/Geoff Reading (Uni of London) 7:14.57
20. Stuart McCluskey/Philip Congdon (Durham Uni) 7:14.95
21. Simon Steele/Rory Sullivan (Imperial College) 7:15.58
22. Henry Goodier/Johnathan Rankin (Imperial College) 7:16.57

Single scull

1.   Marcus Bateman (Leander) 6:59.56
2.   Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers) 6:59.95
3.   Matthew Wells (Leander) 7:05.16
4.   Bill Lucas (Reading Uni) 7:08.34
5.   Charles Cousins (Reading Uni) 7:12.42
6.   Sam Townsend (Reading Uni) 7:13.04
7.   Brendan Crean (Agecroft) 7:13.20
8.   Greg Searle (Molesey) 7:15.64
9.   David Read (Leander) 7:23.08
10. David Marshall (Reading Uni) 7:25.56
11. Jonathon Walton (Loughborough Uni) 7:26.63
12. John Collins (Reading Uni) 7:27.39
13. Nick Middleton (Leander) 7:27.55
14. Ben Smith (Molesey) 7:32.33
15. Cameron Nichol (Molesey) 7:43.41
16. Stewart Innes (Durham) DNS

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Single scull

1.   Andrea Dennis (Reading Uni) 8:06.73
2.   Hester Goodsell (Reading Uni) 8:13.64
3.   Imogen Walsh (Clyde) 8:14.51
4.   Stephanie Cullen (London) 8:15.95
5.   Ruth Sander (Mortlake Anglian & Alpha) 8:23.43
6.   Kelly Limond (Strathclyde Park) 8:24.41
7.   Charlotte Burgess (Reading Uni) 8:25.70
8.   Anna Townsend (Mortlake Anglian & Alpha) 8:26.56
9.   Katherine Twyman (Oxford Uni) 8:27.82
10. Nicola Spencer (Nottingham) 8:38.55
11. Katherine Copeland (Uni of London) 8:45.32

MEN

1.   Zac Purchase (Marlow) 7:09.97
2.   Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes) 7:16.90
3.   Rob Williams (London) 7:23.12
4.   Paul Mattick (Leander) 7:23.52
5.   Ben Rowe (Tees) 7:24.68
6.   Jonno Clegg (Leander) 7:25.10
7.   Will Fletcher (Durham Uni) 7:25.69
8.   Alex Cawthorne (London) 7:25.71
9.   Dave Jones (Leander) 7:25.78
10. Jamie Kirkwood (Imperial College) 7:26.20
11. Jamie Watson (Durham Uni) 7:26.26
12. Bob Hewitt (Leander) 7:26.66
13. Oliver Mahony (London) 7:27.12
14. Simon Barr (Leander) 7:28.77
15. Zak Lee-Green (Agecroft) 7:33.91
16. Carl Delaney (Nottingham) 7:34.58
17. Iain Docwra (Heriot-Watt Uni) 7:42.79
18. Joshua Butler (London) 7:42.89
19. Michael Mottram (Reading Uni) 7:46.04