Significant Returnees to GB Rowing Team for Lucerne

Four familiar names look set to return to the Siemens-sponsored GB Rowing Team for the season’s second world cup in Lucerne, Switzerland from May 25-27.

Three of the four will race in the women’s eight – Louisa Reeve, Annabel Vernon and Natasha Page.

Vernon, a 2008 Olympic silver medalist in the women’s quad, has shown a pleasing return to form, Louisa Reeve is back from injury and Natasha Page has won a seat in the eight after a winter disrupted by illness. The GB women’s eight were bronze medalists in Belgrade but were disappointed with their performance there against a narrow field.

“I’ve had such a tough year, mentally and physically”, said Page. “Getting back into training was a massive shock to the system. But now I’m back it’s the best feeling ever.

“Being poorly at the start of the year made me realise how much I wanted this. I’ve had so much support from friends and family along the way. I feel so lucky to have had such a great support system. Without them I wouldn’t have made it back”.

The new-look eight means that Jo Cook and Olivia Carnegie-Brown will now race a pair for GB in Lucerne.

World U23 men’s pair champion Constantine Louloudis could, subject to continuing recovery from a slight back injury , return to the men’s eight, after being withdrawn as a precaution from the 2012 opener in Belgrade where the GB eight were second to Germany.

Experimentation continues in the men’s quad in the lead up to the Olympic announcement on June 6 as Charles Cousins moves to the stroke seat of a combination that features Tom Solesbury with Marcus Bateman moving to a single.

Britain’s leading boats across the genders and weight-categories from Belgrade are all unchanged.

“We are still working on fine-tuning the team as the London Games approaches”, said GB Rowing Team Performance Director David Tanner. “The benefit of consistent and significant investment by the National Lottery in our team over the past four years has given us a tremendous strength across the disciplines and gives us several options to consider”.

World Champions Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins will be determined to continue their unbeaten winning streak since early 2010 in the women’s double.

Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, World silver medalists in 2010 and 2011, will potentially face their first outing against the New Zealanders who beat them to the title in Bled last year and on Lake Karapiro the year before that.

The men’s four of Andrew Triggs Hodge, Tom James, Peter Reed and Alex Gregory will continue their self-dubbed “work in progress” after taking gold 10 days ago.

Olympic champions Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter will race the lightweight double after winning in Belgrade and will relish the thought of the New Zealand world silver medal double joining the fray.

The men’s lightweight four combination that took silver in a competitive outing in Belgrade will return to the fray for Lucerne, stroked by Chris Bartley.

Sophie Hosking and Kat Copeland will have a further opportunity to bed in their new partnership in the lightweight women’s double scull after a strong debut in Belgrade saw them take silver.

Alan Campbell in the single and Sam Townsend and Bill Lucas in the men’s double scull were medal winners in Belgrade and will seek to repeat the act as the field thickens out with Canadian, Australian and Kiwi opposition likely to enter.

George Nash and Will Satch who had a good start as a young unit to the season and will look forward to a more testing environment in Lucerne with a thickening of the opposition including crews of the calibre of Beijing medalists Dave Calder and Scott Frandsen of Canada as well as reigning World Champions Hamish Bond and Eric Murray of New Zealand.

Rachel Gamble-Flint meanwhile will be racing on the world-famous Rotsee in advance of her compatriots. The emerging young rower will take on the experience of the Olympic qualifying regatta in the single scull as part of her preparation for this season’s World U23 and European regattas.

“Rachel competed at last weekend’s senior World Cup in Belgrade and acquitted herself well in her first ever senior event finishing 10th overall.  She has emerged well this season inside our U23 squad and will be able to use the Olympic qualifying regatta as part of her learning curve in the sport.  Rachel is a real prospect for our European Championships team this season and has Rio 2016 in her sights, qualifying for London would, of course, be a huge bonus”, said GB Rowing Team Performance Director David Tanner today.

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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).

SAMSUNG WORLD ROWING CUP II
Lucerne, Switzerland 25-27 May, 2012

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair – two boats

Helen Glover/Heather Stanning
(Robin Williams)

Jo Cook/Olivia Carnegie Brown
(Nick Strange)

Eight

Olivia Whitlam/Emily Taylor/Natasha Page/Annabel Vernon/Jess Eddie/Louisa Reeve/Katie Greves/Lindsey Maguire/Caroline O’Connor (cox)
(Nick Strange)

Single scull – Olympic qualifying regatta only

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
(Paul Stannard & Christian Felkel)

Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell/Cameron Nichol
(Paul Stannard)

Four

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

Eight

James Foad/Alex Partridge/Ric Egington/Tom Ransley/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

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

LIGHTWEIGHTS

WOMEN

Single scull

Kathryn Twyman
(Paul Reedy)

Double scull – two boats

Sophie Hosking/Kat Copeland
(Paul Reedy)

MEN

Pair

Paul Mattick/Adam Freeman-Pask
(Rob Morgan)

Four

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

Single

Mike Mottram

Double scull

Zac Purchase/Mark Hunter
(Darren Whiter)

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HOME TOWN LISTS

WOMEN

PAIR (Boat 1)
Helen Glover Minerva Bath Penzance 17/06/86
Heather Stanning Army RC Lossiemouth 26/01/85
Coach: Robin Williams

PAIR (Boat 2)

Jo Cook Leander Club Sunbury-on-Thames 22/03/84
Olivia Carnegie-Brown Oxford Brookes Univ BC Oxford 28/03/1991

Eight

Olivia Whitlam Agecroft RC Warrington 16/09/85
Emily Taylor Leander Club Lincoln 28/06/87
Natasha Page Gloucester RC Hartpury 30/04/85
Annabel Vernon Leander Club Wadebridge 01/09/82
Jessica Eddie Univ of London BC Durham 07/10/84
Louisa Reeve Leander Club London 16/05/84
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 – Olympic qualifying Regatta only
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

MEN

Pair (Boat 1)
George Nash Molesey BC Guildford 02/10/89
Will Satch Leander Club Henley-on-Thames 09/06/89
Coaches: Christian Felkel & Paul Stannard

Pair (Boat 2)
Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell Uni of London BC Durham 13/04/88
Cameron Nichol Molesey BC Glastonbury 26/06/87

Four

Alex Gregory Leander Club Wormington 11/03/84
Pete Reed Leander Club Nailsworth, Glos 27/07/81
Tom James Molesey BC Wrexham 11/03/84
Andrew Triggs Hodge Molesey BC Hebden, N. Yorks 03/03/79
Coach: Jürgen Grobler

Eight
James Foad Molesey BC Southampton 20/03/87
Alex Partridge Leander Club Alton, Hants 25/01/81
Richard Egington Leander Club Knutsford 26/02/79
Tom Ransley York City RC Cambridge 06/09/85
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
Coach: Bill Barry

Single Scull (Boat 2)
Marcus Bateman Leander Club Torquay 16/09/82

Double Scull
Bill Lucas London RC Kingswear 13/09/87
Sam Townsend Reading Univ BC Reading 26/11/85
Coach: Mark Earnshaw

Quadruple Scull

Stephen Rowbotham Leander Club Winscombe, Somerset 11/11/81
Matthew Wells Leander Club Hexham, Northumberland 19/04/79
Tom Solesbury Leander Club Petts Wood, Kent 23/09/80
Charles Cousins Reading Univ BC Willingham, Cambs 13/12/88

Coach: Mark Banks

LIGHTWEIGHTS

WOMEN

Single Scull
Kathryn Twyman Wallingford RC Oxford 29/03/87
Coach: Paul Reedy

Double Scull
Sophie Hosking London RC Wimbledon 25/01/86
Katherine Copeland Tees RC Ingleby Barwick, Stockton-on-Tees 01/12/90
Coach: Paul Reedy

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
Peter Chambers Oxford Brookes Univ BC Coleraine 14/03/90
Rob Williams London RC Maidenhead 21/01/85
Richard Chambers Leander Club Coleraine 10/06/85
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 IN LUCERNE
(Provisional – subject to change dependent on the draw and weather)

Friday 25 May
09.00 – 18.30 Heats and repechages – international and Olympic classes

Saturday 26 May
09.30 – 10.05 Semi-finals of the international classes
13.30 – 16.00 Reps and semi-finals Olympic classes
16.05 – 17.00 Finals of the international classes

Sunday 27 May
09.00 – 10.20 B Finals
10.22 – 14.40 FINALS – Olympic classes

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CONTACT DETAILS
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Caroline Searle on (01225) 443998 or e-mail us on [email protected]

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