Two golds and a bronze for GB Rowing Team in first finals session at Munich world cup
Paul Mattick and Adam Freeman Pask once more dominated the field in the lightweight men’s pair to take gold for Britain in a time of 6:50.65 this evening in Munich at the season’s final world cup.
They were race leaders virtually throughout. Australia were the early chasers in a repeat of this morning’s semi-final but in the final flourish past the grandstand they were overtaken by Holland.
Mattick said: “It went pretty much to plan; we had a gear or two left to use but it is always better to be a bit cautious rather than too brave. I was very happy as the first 1k disappeared and crews kept drifting off behind us and that’s a really nice feeling. We were always intending to have a strong 3rd 500m and we had a good lead which doesn’t happen often in lightweight racing
“It’s very exciting – whenever I get in the boat with Adam it seems to go well – he’s unbeaten this season so it’s a pretty good result for GB all round.”
Freeman-Pask added: “At the beginning of the season I didn’t even think I’d be on the team and I’ve got a reasonable haul this year compared to most years so it just goes to show that when you are ready to hang up your oars just stick in there. I hope that I can get better and I just want to do more racing.”
Kathryn Twyman backed up some solid earlier-round performances by taking sixth place in the lightweight women’s single scull final. She was in contention in the first half but in the final phases could not get amongst the leading quartet in a race won by Pamela Weisshaupt of Switzerland.
That left her locked in a battle for fifth and sixth place with Lucia Palermo of Argentina who got the verdict by just a tenth of a second on the line.
In the Paralympic class finals today Britain, the 2011 World champions in the mixed adaptive coxed four, knew they had a tough battle on their hands in today’s final against a revamped German crew.
Germany were leading in the first half but the British quartet of Pam Relph, Naomi Riches, Dave Smith and James Roe, coxed by Lily van den Broecke, came through by inches in a nail-biting finale to take the gold in 3:25.25.
“That was definitely one of our best performances”, said Roe. “We have never had to come from behind with 250m to go. Obviously, we have practised that in training but we’ve never had to use it”.
“I’ve not been well for the past two and a half weeks so I just held on in there”, said Smith. “That gives me a greater sense of achievement and Lily was great, she made all the right calls”.
Relph: said: “We knew that we were going to have some really tough competition here and this shows how much Paralympic sport has stepped on. We weren’t pushed like that in the World Championships last year and that was only nine months ago. So the plan was to go out there and race our absolute hardest – we had brilliant conditions even though it was stiflingly hot. We knew we were going to be hard pushed and it was just a case of who had that last couple of strokes on the day.
“I think we have a lot of confidence in our second half of the race and we knew that there was a strong possibility that we would be down at halfway and the plan was to stay relaxed and trust in ourselves and our fitness and experience as a crew to be able to come out on top. I’m really pleased with the result.”
Riches added: “We have moved on massively this year and we had to – we knew that winning by five seconds wasn’t going to happen every year especially in Paralympic year when the whole world steps on and if you don’t go with them you are going to be left well and truly behind. Everybody has improved. Good to win but it’s also a wake up call”.
Van den Broecke said: “At one point in the race I had a tiny doubt that we could catch Germany but I used that as motivation for the guys and they answered with their legs. I knew that if we could time it right we could do it.”
Andy Houghton was Britain’s contender in the arms-only single scull final. At halfway he was lying third with Australia and Korea out front. Spain’s two finalists were chasing hard as was Ukrainian Igor Bondar but Houghton, a computer specialist and training partner for Britain’s Paralympic Champion Tom Aggar, held onto the bronze slot in a race won by Australia with Korea, hosts of the 2013 World Championships in silver.
“I’m really disappointed with that”, said Houghton who had leg muscle spasms throughout. “I just wanted a good run at it today as my times in training are comparable with these guys [the medallists]”.
“Whilst Andy is disappointed we feel that was a decent performance and he has done us proud”, said team manager Louise Kingsley.
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RESULTS
(featuring GB crews only. For full results: www.worldrowing.com)
FINALS
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull
1 Pamela Weisshaupt (Switzerland) 8:09.21
2 Evi Geentjens (Belgium) 8:09.34
3 Michaela Taupe-Traer (Austria 1) 8:09.48
4 Leonie Pless (Germany 1) 8:10.37
5 Lucia Palermo (Argentina) 8:15.43
6 Kathryn Twyman (GREAT BRITAIN) 8:15.53
MEN
Pair
1. Paul Mattick/Adam Freeman-Pask (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:50.56
2. Arnoud Greidanus/Joris Pijs (Netherlands2) 6:52.32
3. Alister Foot/Blair Tunevitsch (Australia) 6:53.34
4. Christian Pedersen/Jens Vilhelmsen (Denmark) 6:55.88
5. Yannic Corinth/Lasse Antczak (Germany 1) 6:59.29
6. Daniel Wisgott/Stefan Wallat (Germany 2) 7:03.67
PARALYMPIC CLASS BOATS
MEN
Arms and Shoulders only single scull
1. Erik Horrie (Australia) 5:04.39
2. Park Jun-Ha (Korea) 5:07.23
3. Andrew Houghton (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:11.61
4. Igor Bondar (Ukraine) 5:13.55
5. Juan Alonso Barcia (Spain 2) 5:13.91
6. Edorta de Anta Lecuona (Spaine 1) 5:17.96
MIXED
Mixed adaptive coxed four
1. Pam Relph/Naomi Riches/Dave Smith/James Roe/Lily van den Broecke (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 3:25.25
2. Germany 1 3:25.78
3. Ukraine 3:30.81
4. France 3:37.03
5. Brazil 3:38.19
6. Canada 3:39.55
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GB ROWING TEAM CREWS LIST
(Munich world cup. Listed from bow to stroke)
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
Helen Glover/Heather Stanning
(Robin Williams)
Eight
Olivia Whitlam/Louisa Reeve/Jessica Eddie/Emily Taylor /Natasha Page/Annabel Vernon/Katie Greves/Victoria Thornley/Caroline O’Connor (cox)
(Nick Strange)
Double scull
Anna Watkins/Katherine Grainger
(Paul Thompson)
Quadruple scull
Melanie Wilson/ Debbie Flood /Frances Houghton/Beth Rodford
(Ade Roberts)
MEN
Pair
Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell/Cameron Nichol
(Paul Stannard)
Four
Alex Gregory/Pete Reed//Tom James/Andrew Triggs Hodge
(Jurgen Grobler)
Eight
Greg Searle/Alex Partridge/Marcus Bateman/Moe Sbihi/Tom Ransley /Ric Eginton/Matt Langridge/James Foad/Phelan Hill (cox)
(John West & Christian Felkel)
Single scull – two boats
Alan Campbell
(Bill Barry)
Graeme Thomas
(Hamish Burrell)
Double scull
Bill Lucas/Sam Townsend
(Mark Earnshaw)
Quadruple scull
Stephen Rowbotham /Tom Solesbury/Charles Cousins/Matt Wells
(Mark Banks)
LIGHTWEIGHTS
WOMEN
Single scull
Kathryn Twyman
(Ben Reed)
Double scull – two boats
Sophie Hosking/Kat Copeland
(Paul Reedy)
Imogen Walsh/Andrea Dennis
(Ben Reed)
MEN
Pair
Paul Mattick/Adam Freeman-Pask
(Rob Morgan/Darren Whiter)
Four
Pete Chambers/Rob Williams/Richard Chambers/Chris Bartley
(Rob Morgan)
Double scull
Zac Purchase/Mark Hunter
(Darren Whiter)
Single scull
Mike Mottram
(Rob Dauncey)
ADAPTIVE CREWS
ASM1x
Andy Houghton
(Mary McLachlan)
LTAMix4+
Pamela Relph/Naomi Riches/David Smith/James Roe/Lily van den Broecke (cox)
(Mary McLachlan)
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HOME TOWN LISTS
WOMEN
PAIR
Helen Glover Minerva Bath Penzance 17/06/86
Heather Stanning Army RC Lossiemouth 26/01/85
Coach: Robin Williams
Eight
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
Emily Taylor Leander Club Lincoln 28/06/87
Natasha Page Gloucester RC Hartpury 30/04/85
Annabel Vernon Leander Club Wadebridge 01/09/82
Katie Greves Leander Club Oxford 02/09/82
Victoria Thornley Leander Club Wrexham 30/11/87
Caroline O’Connor (cox) Oxford Brookes Univ BC Ealing, London 25/04/83
Coach: Nick Strange
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
Melanie Wilson Imperial College BC London 25/06/84
Debbie Flood Leander Club Guiseley, W Yorks 27/02/1980
Frances Houghton Leander Club Oxford 19/09/80
Beth Rodford Gloucester RC Gloucester 28/12/82
Coach: Ade Roberts
MEN
Pair
Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell Uni of London BC Durham 13/04/88
Cameron Nichol Molesey BC Glastonbury 26/06/87
Coach: Paul Stannard
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
Greg Searle Molesey BC Marlow 20/03/72
Alex Partridge Leander Club Alton, Hants 25/01/81
Marcus Bateman Leander Club Torquay 16/09/1982
Mohamed Sbihi Molesey BC Surbiton 27/03/88
Tom Ransley York City RC Cambridge 06/09/85
Richard Egington Leander Club Knutsford 26/02/79
Matthew Langridge Leander Club Northwich 20/05/83
James Foad Molesey BC Southampton 20/03/87
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)
Graeme Thomas Agecroft RC Preston 08/11/1988
Coach: Hamish Burrell
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
Tom Solesbury Leander Club Petts Wood, Kent 23/09/80
Charles Cousins Reading Univ BC Willingham, Cambs 13/12/88
Matthew Wells Leander Club Hexham, Northumberland 19/04/79
Coach: Mark Banks
LIGHTWEIGHTS
WOMEN
Single Scull
Kathryn Twyman Wallingford RC Oxford 29/03/87
Coach: Ben Reed
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 17/01/1984
Andrea Dennis Imperial College BC Oxford 03/01/1982
Coach: Ben Reed
MEN
Pair
Paul Mattick Leander Club Frome 25/04/1978
Adam Freeman-Pask Imperial College BC Windsor 19/06/1985
Coach: Rob Morgan/Darren Whiter
Four
Pete Chambers Oxford Brookes University BC Oxford 14/03/1990
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
Single Scull
Mike Mottram Leander Club Stoke Mandeville 08/06/1990
Coach: Rob Dauncey
ADAPTIVE CREWS
ASM1x
Andy Houghton Maidenhead RC Newbury 01/04/1981
Coach: Mary MacClachlan
LTAMix4+
Pamela Relph Leander Club Aylesbury 14/11/1989
Naomi Riches Marlow RC Harrow 15/06/1983
David Smith Molesey BC Ascot 21/04/1978
James Roe Stratford-upon-Avon BC Stratford-upon-Avon 28/03/1988
Lily van den Broecke (cox) Headington School BC Oxford 08/01/1992
Coach: Mary McLachlan
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TIMETABLE OF RACING IN MUNICH
– all local German times. Germany is one hour ahead of the UK
Thursday 14 June
18.30 – 19.30 Adaptive heats
Friday 15 June
08.30- 17.20 Heats and repechages
18.00 – 18.56 – Adaptive repechages
Saturday 16 June
09.00 – 16.04 – Reps, quarters & semi-finals
16.30 – 18.10 – Finals of the international classes
18.40 – 19.48 – adaptive Finals
Sunday 17 June
09.20 – 13.55 A and B Finals
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CONTACT DETAILS
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Caroline Searle on 07831 755351 or e-mail us on press@matchtight.co.uk
For regional press enquiries contact: Andy Sloan on 01225 443998
GB Rowing Team website, including full rower biogs: www.gbrowingteam.org.uk <http://www.gbrowingteam.org.uk>
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and Twitter: @gbrowingteam
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GB Rowing Team website www.gbrowingteam.org.uk <http://www.gbrowingteam.org.uk> – full biogs available
here.
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