GB Universities top Medal Table at European Universities Games
The 50-strong squad of students representing Great Britain returned from the European Universities Games in Rotterdam having finished top of the medal table, winning five gold, three silver and three bronze medals. In topping the medal table, the squad edged out Switzerland and Germany – both of whom entered more crews, but were unable to match the outstanding British performances.
This was the first year that rowing had been included as part of the European University Games, one of the few multi-sport events outside of the Olympic Games. 14 countries had entered crews – many coming directly from the World U23 Championships in Varese, Italy, the previous weekend.
The first final was the Women’s Eights, with Newcastle University maintaining their title as European University Champions from 2013 by rowing to gold in style – winning by almost four seconds. Nicole Lamb and Emily Ford went on to win bronze in the women’s pair with Gemma Hall, Rosie Rust, Natalie Hardie and Grace Hockenhull taking bronze in the women’s four.
The Newcastle University men also showed their form, with the four of Tom Ford, James Rudkin, Florian Reinecke and Jasper Holst following up their recent win at Henley Royal Regatta with a solid gold medal in Rotterdam.
Helen Roberts represented Cardiff University in the women’s single. Leading her final from the start, she won a comfortable gold medal ahead of a sculler from Switzerland who has raced at numerous World Championships and World Cups. Reflecting on the event, Helen said: “It was a great experience to compete as part of such a strong and driven team. There was a really friendly and supportive atmosphere at the regatta amidst a high standard of racing.”
The lightweight women from Oxford University provided a stunning display of sculling as they dominated their race – crossing the line more than 13 seconds ahead of the home nation.
The fifth gold medal for GBR was won in fine style by the Women’s quad from Reading, just one of three strong sculling crews from the composite team.
At the end of the Regatta, Team Manager James Lee said: “It has once again been a privilege to be part of this team. The rowers and coaches were all great fun to work with and they produced an exceptional set of results across the board. We promote the event as one which can help support the talent pathway and the development of crews and coaches across the sector and we continually see the results and progression through to further international representation from the event. “
Full results of the European University Games can be found at http://regatta.time-team.nl/eugames/2014/results/.
The 2015 European Universities Rowing Championships will be in Hannover, Germany from 10-12 September.
GB Universities
Cardiff University
Robbie Massey, Sam Whittaker, Helen Roberts
Durham University
Amelia Carlton, Becky Dell, Katie Denham, Charlotte Drury
University of East London
Stuart Heap
Imperial College, London
Romain Barnoud, Lily Beadle, Fabien Evrard, Myles Holbrough, Paul Jones, Wilf Kimberley, Harry Mayne, Isabelle von Loga
University of London
Rory Bufacchi, Jamie Cook
Loughborough University
Louise Hart
Newcastle University
Sam Arnot, Katherine Bulmer, Tom Ford, Emily Ford, Gemma Hall, Natalie Hardy, Grace Hockenhull, Jasper Holst, Nicole Lamb, Calum McRoberts, Ed Munno, Helen O’Riordan, Florian Reinecke, James Rudkin, Rosie Rust, Barnaby Stroud-Turp, Emma Ward, Samuel Wilson
Oxford University
Elena Backhouse, Rebecca Lane, Sophie Philbrick, Sarah Robinson
University of Reading
Lucy Cruxton, Courtney Edmonds, Stewart Innes, Andy Joel, Rob Johnston, Jess Lewis, Dominic Tope, Sam Twine, Bethan Walters
Management Team & Coaches
James Lee – Team Manager
Karl Offord – Assistant Team Manager
Fiona Rennie – Admin Support
Ian Shore – Cardiff
Cameron Kennedy – Durham
Josh Butler – Imperial
Chris George – London
Jesse Burgoine – Newcastle
Chris O’Hara – Oxford
Sean Casey – Reading
