Double silver for GB crews at World Rowing Junior Championships

August 6, 2011

The GB Rowing Team celebrated two silver medals at the World Rowing Junior Championships on Eton Dorney Lake today in the Olympic and Paralympic rowing test event.

The women’s four upset the odds to finish ahead of New Zealand before the men’s eight whipped the vocal home support into a frenzy as they overhauled Germany in third 500m to win GB’s second silver.

The crowds were also treated to a victory for the women’s quadruple scull in the ‘B’ final and a superb race from the men’s double to surpass expectations and qualify for Sunday’s final.

“I’m very pleased with our medals,” said David Tanner, performance director for the GB Rowing Team. “Both crews rowed to the top of their game to do that.

“They won silver medals against very tough opposition in both events for GB today.”

Sir Steve Redgrave and chair of the London 2012 organising committee Lord Sebastian Coe were in the stands for the first medal final featuring the women’s four of Elizabeth Horne, Nicole Lamb, Anastasia Chitty and stroke Amber De Vere, who ignited the crowd at the Olympic venue as they charged for the line in a gripping fight for silver behind the USA, chased inch by inch by New Zealand.

The British crew dug deep to defend their medal position and minutes later were beaming from the podium as the Union Jack flew from the medal flag-pole over Eton Dorney lake.

“We knew we had a good start and went from there,” said Horne. “We got all the adrenalin from watching the other crews as well. It was so good.”

Stroke Amber De Vere said: “That was amazing, especially as it is my first international competition.” And her crew-mates were equally thrilled with the effort they put in to hold onto second once the Americans had gone clear. “I looked across once and then rowed hard for the line,” said Chitty. “I don’t think I’ve ever hurt so bad.”

“It was amazing, it is the first time we’ve won a medal together, and it is at the Worlds,” added Lamb.

The GB men’s coxed four of Charlie Shaw, Alex Wilding, Rufus Eadie, Felix Newman and cox Alastair Camm were unable to make their mark in the second medal final and crept home out of contention but continued to row hard to the finish cheered by the home crowd before the climax of the day – the men’s eight final.

The flagship final of the men’s eight event drew the loudest cheers of the day from the masses lining the final 500m of the lake.

Rob Wickstead, Alexander Lloyd, Edward Munno, Jamie Copus, John Carter, Frederic Vystavel, Luke Briggs, Cameron MacRitchie and cox Ed Bosson were losing touch with Italy and were half a length down on Germany with the USA closing in at halfway.

“I looked across and thought, we are not going to finish fourth,” said Vystavel.

Bosson was thinking the same thing. He coxed the eight to fifth in the final of last year’s Junior Worlds and was determined to win a medal this time round.

“We were two seats down on the Germans and I said ‘we need to go now’ and the guys responded,” he said.

John Layng, team manager for the GB juniors described it as “a good afternoon’s racing”, was “very happy” with the two silvers, especially the “steely determination” of the women’s crew.

“The eight was a great end to the day and I think the result showed they gelled as a very effective racing unit,” he said.

“It has been a real taste for the future for them. The girl’s coxless four were very quiet and very professional throughout the training camp. And through the event they have come on every time they have taken to the water. It is that sort of steely determination that paid off in the end.”

Before the excitement of the medal finals came the first ‘B’ finals and the remaining semis ahead of Sunday’s finals.

The first GB crew out on the water in front of the home crowd were the men’s four of Vassilis Ragoussis, Will Kenworthy, Adam Janes and 16-year-old Callum Jones who finished fourth in the ‘B’ final, less than two tenths of a second behind Poland after a dramatic final 250m.

But the crowd did not have to wait long for the first British victory – just six minutes later in the very next race. It came courtesy of the GB women’s quadruple scull, laying to rest the demons of missing the ‘A’ final by a tenth of a second in yesterday’s semi-final with a convincing win in the ‘B’ final. Jessica Leyden, Klara Weaver, Katie Bartlett and Lucy Burgess hit the front at halfway and stroked to victory ahead of the Swiss crew coached by GB gold medallist Tim Foster and New Zealand.

GB’s Oleg Isaev and Andrew Brown finished sixth in the second semi-final of the men’s pair, significantly off the pace they produced to qualify from the repechage, before the men’s double scull of Ed Grisedale and Joseph Guppy produced a superb result to finish third and qualify for the final four tenths of a second ahead of Belgium after a frantic battle in the last 100m to the line.

The emotion’s switched once more as the men’s quadruple scull were unable to recover from a sluggish start in their semi-final. Jack Beaumont, Luke Moon, Marcus Bowyer and Lewis Sloan relegated Germany to the repechage after winning their heat on Thursday but couldn’t live with the pace of the Germans in a significantly faster semi. The quad put themselves back in contention with a sprint for the line which came too soon for them to catch the Hungarians in third, just over half a second separating the two crews.

Sunday’s finals, including GB crews in the ‘B’ finals of the men’s pair and quad and the final of the men’s double scull, start from 9:30am.

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RESULTS (for GB crews only listed bow to stroke – for full results go to www.worldrowing.com)

2011 World Rowing Championships, Eton Dorney Lake

August 3-7, 2011

‘B’ Finals

JUNIOR MEN

Four

1. Greece 6:12.79

2. Canada 6:15.30

3. Poland 6:18.22

4. Vassilis Ragoussis/William Kenworthy/Adam Janes/Callum Jones (GREAT

BRITAIN) 6:18.41

5. Denmark 6:18.45

6. USA 6:21.34

JUNIOR WOMEN

Quadruple Scull (JW4x)

1. Jessica Leyden/Klara Weaver/Katie Bartlett/Lucy Burgess (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:42.50

2. Switzerland 6:45.99

3. New Zealand 6:47.26

4. Australia 6:48.91

5. Japan 6:51.67

6. Russia 6:55.43

Semi-finals

JUNIOR MEN

Pair

1. Romania 6:46.74

2. Serbia 6:50.62

3. South Africa 6:51.64

4. Hungary 6:54.55

5. USA 6:55.46

6. Oleg Isaev/Andrew Brown (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:04.16

Double Scull

1. Slovenia 6:35.37

2. Switzerland 6:35.70

3. Ed Grisedale/Joseph Guppy (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:36.45

4. Belgium 6:36.86

5. Estonia 6:38.84

6. Poland 6:39.40

Quadruple Scull

1. Germany 5:56.89

2. Netherlands 5:58.62

3. Hungary 5:59.39

4. Jack Beaumont/Luke Moon//Marcus Bowyer/Lewis Sloan (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:01.08

5. USA 6:09.76

6. Canada 6:10.13

‘A’ Finals

JUNIOR WOMEN

Four

1. USA 6:48.77

2. Elizabeth Horne/Nicole Lamb/Anastasia Chitty/Amber De Vere (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:50.53

3. New Zealand 6:51.36

4. Italy 6:56.36

5. Germany 6:58.81

6. Canada 7:10.24

JUNIOR MEN

Eight

1. Italy 5:41.83

2. Rob Wickstead/Alexander Lloyd/Edward Munno/Jamie Copus/John Carter/Frederic Vystavel/Luke Briggs/Cameron MacRitchie/Ed Bosson (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:44.54

3. Germany 5:46.04

4. Spain 5:48.62

5. USA 5:50.78

6. Czech Republic 5:57.31

Coxed Four

1. Australia 6:21.79

2. New Zealand 6:23.10

3. Ukraine 6:24.35

4. Germany 6:26.17

5. Charlie Shaw/Alex Wilding/Rufus Eadie/Felix Newman/Alastair Camm (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:30.61

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GB ROWING JUNIOR TEAM CREW-LIST

(Name/Club/Home town/Date of birth)

2011World Rowing Junior Championships, Eton Dorney Lake

August 3-7, 2011

JUNIOR WOMEN

Coxless Four (JW4-)

Anastasia Chitty (Canford School/Canford, Dorset)/

Amber de Vere (Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School/Marlow, Bucks)/

Elizabeth Horne (Lady Eleanor Holles School/London)/

Nicole Lamb (Durham School/Hexham, Northumberland)

Coach: Frances Fletcher – Lady Eleanor Holles School

Quadruple Scull (JW4x)

Katie Bartlett (Nottingham RC/Aspley, Nottingham)/

Jessica Leyden (Hollingworth Lake RC/Todmorden, W.Yorkshire)/

Klara Weaver (Latymer School/London)/

Lucy Burgess (Runcorn RC/Runcorn)

Coach: Richard Boulton – GB Rowing Team

JUNIOR MEN

Pair

Oleg Isaev (Hampton School BC/London)/

Andrew Brown (Yarm School BC/Yarm, Stockton-on-Tees)

Coach: Mark Woodcock

Four

William Kenworthy (Eton College BC/Leatherhead)/

Adam Janes (St Peter’s School BC/York)/

Callum Jones (St Edward’s School BC/Nottingham)/

Vassilis Ragoussis (Abingdon School BC/Abingdon)

Coach: Colin Greenaway

Eight

Rob Wickstead (Hampton School BC/London)/

Alexander Lloyd (Hampton School BC/Hampton)/

John Carter (Abingdon School BC/Didcot)/

Jamie Copus (Abingdon School BC/Wallingford)/

Luke Briggs (Eton College BC/Iver, Bucks)/

Edward Munno (Bedford Modern School BC/Brickhill, Bedfordshire)/

Frederic Vystavel (Eton College BC/Marbella, Spain)/

Cameron MacRitchie (St Edward’s School BC/Oxford)/

Ed Bosson (cox) (Radley College BC/Beaconsfield, Bucks)

Coach: John Gearing

Coxed Four

Charlie Shaw (Radley College BC/Waterlooville, Hampshire)/

Alex Wilding (Canford School BC/Wimborne, Dorset)/

Rufus Eadie (Radley College BC/Oxton, Nottinghamshire)/

Felix Newman (Abingdon School BC/Christmas Common, Oxfordshire)/

Alastair Camm (cox) (Eton College BC/Souldern, Oxfordshire)

Coach: Ian Dryden

Double Scull

Ed Grisedale (Northwich RC/Congleton, Cheshire)/

Joseph Guppy (Eastbourne RC/Eastbourne)

Coach: Tom Jost

Quadruple Scull

Jack Beaumont (Maidenhead RC/Maidenhead)/

Luke Moon (The Kings School Canterbury BC/Deal, Kent)/

Marcus Bowyer (Exeter RC/Ottery St Mary, Devon)/

Lewis Sloan (The Windsor Boys School BC/Old Windsor, Berks)

Coach: Ian Lawson

SUPPORT STAFF

Team Manager: John Layng, Emanuel School

Lead Coach: Richard Boulton, GB Rowing Team

Asst. Lead Coach: Paul Stannard, GB Rowing Team

Equipment Manager: Bret King, GB Rowing Team

Doctor: Lucy Free

Physio: Rachel Burr

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PROVISIONAL WRJC SCHEDULE

Wednesday 3 August

Draw, Jury Inspection, Heats (racing scheduled for 1700-1815 only)

Thursday 4 August

Heats & Repechages (provisional race schedule from 0930-1330)

Friday 5 August

Repechages & Quarter Finals (provisional race schedule from 1000-1230)

Saturday 6 August

Semi Finals & Finals (provisional race schedule from 1000-1600)

Sunday 7 August

Finals & Closing Ceremony (provisional race schedule from 0930-1530)

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MORE INFORMATION

WRJC website: www.wrjc2011.com

Eton Dorney Lake website: www.dorneylake.co.uk

GB Rowing Team website: www.BritishRowing.org

*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 GB Rowing Teams’ Start and High Performance Programme in Clubs Schemes)

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KEY DATES FOR 2011

This important season for the nation’s top rowers culminates in the World Championships and Olympic and Paralympic qualifying regatta:

BLED, SLOVENIA, FROM AUGUST 28 – SEPTEMBER 4, 2011

Britain will seek to qualify boats into as many Olympic and Paralympic classes as possible here rather than through the last-chance final Olympic qualifying regatta in Lucerne from May 20-23, 2012 and Paralympic qualifying regatta in Belgrade from May 4-6, 2012.

Meanwhile, here are some additional dates of note for the GB squad for the remainder of 2011:

KEY DATES FOR YOUR 2011 DIARY

AUGUST

4-7

World Rowing Junior Championships, Dorney Lake, Eton

(this is also the Olympic and Paralympic test event)

28 – 4 September

WORLD ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS, Bled, Slovenia

SEPTEMBER

16-18

European Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

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