Rowers back training in rain after 100-day marker passes

At a press day to mark 100 days to the Games, yesterday, the GB Rowing Team said that Olympic champion Tom James will be the “fourth man” in the GB Rowing Team men’s four for the season’s opening World Cup in Belgrade (4-6 May) whilst Alex Partridge has the chance to pursue his passion for the eight instead.

The announcement means a reunion for James with Andrew Triggs Hodge and Peter Reed, with whom he won men’s four gold in Beijing, and with Alex Gregory with whom he won World gold in 2011.

For Partridge the opportunity now arises to rekindle the excitement of the eight in which he won silver in Beijing and World silver in 2010 and 2011.

“The objective has always been to have a strong strategy across the squad and to produce more than one top boat. There are no winners and losers today”, said Men’s Chief Coach, Jurgen Grobler, summing up the confident mood in a men’s squad that has strong medal aspirations for both Belgrade and the London Games, which begin 100 days from today.

“I love the eight, I love racing in it and I’m very excited to be with such a strong group of guys. At the end of the day I want to be in a place in the team where I know that I can do everything I can to be the best I can be when the Games come round”, said Partridge from the team’s training camp in Italy.

Tom James said: ”I’m looking forward to being in the four in Belgrade.  After a long and sometimes difficult winter of training, it will be good to get racing”.

Great Britain won silver in the men’s eight in Beijing and silver at the 2010 and 2011 World Championships.  The men’s four were champions in Beijing and World Champions in 2009 and 2011.

“These tight selection calls show the high quality of both of these boats with all our top guns vying for places through the long trials and testing process”, said GB Rowing Team Performance Director David Tanner.

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HILL CLIMBS INTO COXING SEAT AND QUAD LINE-UP FINALISED

Phelan Hill, on leave from his role as a special advisor at HM Treasury, can now count on steering the GB Rowing Team men’s eight in Belgrade. He retains his seat in the boat that won World Silver in 2010 and 2011.

Britain has also named its men’s quadruple scull for the first world cup.  Matt Wells and Stephen Rowbotham – who were double scull bronze medalists in Beijing – will race in Belgrade with Charles Cousins and Tom Solesbury.

This means that 2010 World double scull silver winner, Marcus Bateman, will contest the single scull in Serbia

“It’s good to have the last bits of the jigsaw in place and we look forward to taking on the rest of the world in Belgrade. This is an important first step to test out our boats after an excellent winter’s preparation across the squads”, said Tanner.

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SAMSUNG WORLD ROWING CUP I

Belgrade, Serbia, 4-6 May, 2012

GB ROWING TEAM CREWS LIST

(See home-towns, clubs and dates of birth in list below.  Named here in crews bow to stroke unless indicated. Coach in brackets).

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair

Helen Glover/Heather Stanning
(Robin Williams)

Eight

Jo Cook/Emily Taylor/Polly Swann/Olivia Whitlam/Louisa Reeve/Jess Eddie/Katie Greves/Lindsey Maguire/Caroline O’Connor (cox)
(Nick Strange)

Single scull – two boats

Annabel Vernon
(Paul Thompson)

Rachel Gamble Flint
(Jane Hall)

Double scull

Anna Watkins/Katherine Grainger 
(Paul Thompson)

Quadruple scull

Beth Rodford/Melanie Wilson/Frances Houghton/Victoria Thornley
(Ade Roberts)

MEN

Pair – two boats

George Nash/Will Satch
(John West & Christian Felkel)

Dan Ritchie/Cameron Nichol
(John West & Christian Felkel)

Four

Alex Gregory/Peter Reed/Andrew Triggs Hodge/Tom James
(Jurgen Grobler)

Eight

Alex Partridge/James Foad/Tom Ransley/Ric Egington/Moe Sbihi/Greg Searle/Matt Langridge/Constantine Louloudis/Phelan Hill (cox)
(John West & Christian Felkel)

Single scull – two boats

Alan Campbell
(Bill Barry)

Marcus Bateman
(Mark Banks)

Double scull

Bill Lucas/Sam Townsend
(Mark Earnshaw)

Quadruple scull

Matt Wells/Tom Solesbury/Charles Cousins/Stephen Rowbotham
(Mark Banks)

LIGHTWEIGHTS

WOMEN

Single scull

Kathryn Twyman
(Paul Reedy)

Double scull – two boats

Sophie Hosking/Kat Copeland
(Paul Reedy)

Imogen Walsh/Andrea Dennis
(Paul Reedy)

MEN

Pair

Paul Mattick/Adam Freeman-Pask
(Rob Morgan/Darren Whiter)

Four

Peter Chambers/Richard Chambers/Rob Williams/Chris Bartley
(Rob Morgan)

Double scull

Zac Purchase/Mark Hunter
(Darren Whiter)

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HOME TOWN LISTS

OPEN WOMEN	CLUB	HOME TOWN	DATE OF BIRTH
Pair
Helen Glover	Minerva Bath	Penzance	17/06/86
Heather Stanning	Army RC	Lossiemouth	26/01/85
Coach: Robin Williams
Eight
Jo Cook	Leander Club	Sunbury-on-Thames	22/03/84
Emily Taylor	Leander Club	Lincoln	28/06/87
Polly Swann	Leander Club	Edinburgh	05/06/88
Olivia Whitlam	Agecroft RC	Warrington	16/09/85
Louisa Reeve	Leander Club	London	16/05/84
Jessica Eddie	Univ of London BC	Durham	07/10/84
Katie Greves	Leander Club	Oxford	02/09/82
Lindsey Maguire	Wallingford RC	Edinburgh	15/01/82
Caroline O’Connor (cox)	Oxford Brookes Univ BC	Ealing, London	25/04/83
Coach: Nick Strange
Single Scull (Boat 1)
Annabel Vernon	Leander Club	Wadebridge	01/09/82
Coach: Paul Thompson
Single Scull (Boat 2)
Rachel Gamble-Flint	Leander Club	Darlington	13/09/91
Coach: Jane Hall
Double Scull
Anna Watkins	Leander Club	Leek, Staffs.	13/02/83
Katherine Grainger	St Andrew BC	Aberdeen	12/11/75
Coach: Paul Thompson
Quadruple Scull
Beth Rodford	Gloucester RC	Gloucester	28/12/82
Melanie Wilson	Imperial College BC	London	25/06/84
Frances Houghton	Leander Club	Oxford	19/09/80
Victoria Thornley	Leander Club	Wrexham	30/11/87
Coach: Ade Roberts
OPEN MEN
Pair (Boat 1)
George Nash	Molesey BC	Guildford	02/10/89
Will Satch	Leander Club	Henley-on-Thames	09/06/89
Coaches: John West & Christian Felkel
Pair (Boat 2)
Daniel Ritchie	Leander Club	Herne Bay	06/01/87
Cameron Nichol	Molesey BC	Glastonbury	26/06/87
Coaches: John West & Christian Felkel
Four
Tom James	Molesey BC	Wrexham	11/03/84
Alex Gregory	Leander Club	Wormington	11/03/84
Pete Reed	Leander Club	Nailsworth, Glos	27/07/81
Andrew Triggs Hodge	Molesey BC	Hebden, N. Yorks	03/03/79
Coach: Jürgen Grobler
Eight
Alex Partridge	Leander Club	Alton, Hants	25/01/81
James Foad	Molesey BC	Southampton	20/03/87
Tom Ransley	York City RC	Cambridge	06/09/85
Richard Egington	Leander Club	Knutsford	26/02/79
Mohamed Sbihi	Molesey BC	Surbiton	27/03/88
Greg Searle	Molesey BC	Marlow	20/03/72
Matthew Langridge	Leander Club	Northwich	20/05/83
Constantine Louloudis	Leander Club	London	15/09/91
Cox – Phelan Hill	Leander	Bedford	21/07/79
Coaches: John West & Christian Felkel
Single Scull (Boat 1)
Alan Campbell	Tideway Scullers School	Coleraine	09/05/83
Single Scull (Boat 2)
Marcus Bateman	Leander Club	Torquay	16/09/82
Coach: Bill Barry
Double Scull
Bill Lucas	London RC	Kingswear	13/09/87
Sam Townsend	Reading Univ BC	Reading	26/11/85
Coach: Mark Earnshaw
Quadruple Scull
Charles Cousins	Reading Univ BC	Willingham, Cambs	13/12/88
Stephen Rowbotham	Leander Club	Winscombe, Somerset	11/11/81
Tom Solesbury	Leander Club	Petts Wood, Kent	23/09/80
Matthew Wells	Leander Club	Hexham, Northumberland	19/04/79
Coach: Mark Banks
LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN
Single Scull
Kathryn Twyman	Wallingford RC	Oxford	29/03/87
Coach: Paul Reedy
Double Scull (Boat 1)
Sophie Hosking	London RC	Wimbledon	25/01/86
Katherine Copeland	Tees RC	Ingleby Barwick, Stockton-on-Tees	01/12/90
Coach: Paul Reedy
Double Scull (Boat 2)
Imogen Walsh	London RC	Inverness	17/01/84
Andrea Dennis	Imperial College BC	Oxford	03/01/82
Coach: Paul Reedy
LIGHTWEIGHT MEN
Pair
Paul Mattick	Leander Club	Frome, Somerset	25/04/78
Adam Freeman-Pask	Imperial College BC	Windsor	19/06/85
Coaches: Rob Morgan & Darren Whiter
Four
Richard Chambers	Leander Club	Coleraine	10/06/85
Peter Chambers	Oxford Brookes Univ BC	Coleraine	14/03/90
Rob Williams	London RC	Maidenhead	21/01/85
Chris Bartley	Leander Club	Chester	02/02/84
Coach: Rob Morgan
Double Scull
Zac Purchase	Marlow RC	Tewkesbury	02/05/86
Mark Hunter	Leander Club	Romford, Essex	01/07/78
Coach: Darren Whiter

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TIMETABLE OF RACING

Friday 4 May

Heats and repechages 09.00 – 18.30

Saturday 5 May

Quarter-finals, semi-finals:

09.00 – 16.30

FINALS (International classes only)

17.00 – 18.00

Sunday 6 May

09.20 – 10.30

B Finals – (Olympic classes)

FINALS – (Olympic classes)

The dates and venues for the other two world cups are:

SAMSUNG ROWING WORLD CUP II

Lucerne, Switzerland, 24-26 May

SAMSUNG ROWING WORLD CUP III

Munich, Germany, 15-17, June