Success for student rowers in Kazan
British rowing’s stars of the future shone brightly in Kazan, Russia, at the weekend, bringing back a gold and silver medal from the 2012 World University Rowing Championships.
The Women’s Lightweight Double Sculls crew of Charlotte Burgess and Eleanor Piggott claimed GB’s only gold medal of the regatta, finishing ahead of crews from Russia and France in the final in a time of 7 minutes and 16.04 seconds.
GB’s contingent was made to wait until the very last race of the Championships for their second and final medal – a surprise silver for the Men’s Eight.
A dominant performance from the Polish eight saw them cruise comfortably to the top of the podium, but the GB Eight – consisting of Timothy Clarke, Edward Ford, Richard Steele, Phillip Congdon, Barnaby Stentiford, Paul Bennett, James Cook, John Ford, and Franz Imfeld – finished almost three seconds clear of the third-placed crew from Belarus.
GB’s two remaining crews finished fifth (David Bell, Men’s Single Sculls) and sixth (Karen Bennett and Phillippa Whittaker, Women’s Double Sculls) in their respective finals, amidst often inclement weather conditions in Kazan.
Germany finished top of the final medal table, with three golds from six crews. Hosts Russia – who had by far the largest contingent of student rowers at the regatta with 13 crews – finished third behind Italy.
Our congratulations go to all 14 British athletes involved in the 2012 Championships, as well as to their coaches and support staff.
For more information about the event, visit http://kazan2013.ru/en/test_competition_rowing.html.
