“The whole team is hungry to go racing”: World Champions and fresh faces unite for World Rowing Cup I
48 athletes will travel to the first World Rowing Cup of the season, including eight who will represent Great Britain at senior level for the first time
Great Britain has named 13 crews that will travel to Seville, Spain for World Rowing Cup I.
Back on the international stage for the first time since being crowned 2025 World Champions is the unchanged Men’s Four. Dan Graham, James Robson, Douwe de Graaf, and George Bourne raced together for the first time during their heat in Shanghai, China at last year’s World Rowing Championships. They went on to post the fastest time across the heats and the semi-finals, before conquering the world in their final, beating Romania and the Netherlands into second and third place respectively.
Lauren Henry is back racing in the Women’s Single Sculls. The 2024 Olympic Champion will look to emulate the success she saw at last year’s World Rowing Cups, where she won gold on both occasions.
Of the fresh faces flying to Seville to make their senior debuts next weekend, several of of them will feature in the Women’s Four. Off the back of a historic win in the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race, Sarah Marshall will race in a new-look Women’s Four. Molesey Boat Club’s Angharad Broughton, who recently travelled to the Windermere Cup as a reserve, and Holly Youd will also make their first appearances. Youd is a previous World Champion, having won gold in the U23 competition two summers ago. Joining them is Eleanor Brinkhoff, who brings valuable experience after winning bronze in the Women’s Eight in Shanghai.
Two boats that have already raced this season are the Men’s and Women’s Eights. Both crews were invited to the 40th edition of the Windermere Cup this April, with the women winning in Seattle. That triumphant combination remains unchanged as Lizzie Witt, Jade Lindo, Lauren Irwin, Katherine George, Amelia Standing, Megan Slabbert, Heidi Long, Annie Campbell-Orde, and Jack Tottem.
The Men’s Eight all return from racing in Seattle however, with a new order. Archie Drummond will stroke the boat, steered by Tom Bryce. Miles Beeson, Harry Geffen, David Bewicke-Copley, Sam Nunn, Gabriel Obholzer, Fergus Woolnough will follow Drummond, with Matt Aldridge in the bow seat.
Reading University Boat Club’s Finn Stratton steps up into the GB Women’s Quadruple Sculls, the boat she won gold in at last year’s World Rowing U23 Championships. After winning GB Rowing Team November Trials in her Single Scull, Stratton is the new addition to last year’s crew that won silver at the World Rowing Championships. Stratton will stroke the crew of World silver medallist Sarah McKay and Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallists Hannah Scott and Lola Anderson.
Lauren Carey will compete alongside Juliette Perry as racing reserves in the Women’s Pairs. Carey already has two U23 vests and a silver medal in the U23 Women’s Four to her name and combines with Perry who won bronze in the Women’s Eight at last year’s World Rowing Championships.
Tobias Schroder returns to the Men’s Double Scull, a boat he called home for the 2025 season. He’s joined by 2025 World silver medallist Callum Dixon from the Men’s Quadruple Sculls. Dixon has seen success in this boat class, having won gold at the U23 European Rowing Championships in 2021. As well as the rest of the world, the two returners will race a second, development, British crew.
The crew that won silver in the Men’s Quadruple Sculls has also been shaken up. Rory Harris and Matt Haywood return to the stern pair, and will be joined by James Cartwright and Jamie Gare. Cartwright began his rowing journey with the British Rowing Performance Development Academy at Gloucester Rowing Club before making his senior debut at World Rowing Cup Varese last summer. Gare, also a graduate of the Performance Development Academy system, raced all four events last season in the Men’s Double Sculls.
Two weeks ago, Ed Fuller and Matt Long helped Reading University Boat Club win the Victor Ludorum at BUCS Regatta, racing together in the Championship Quadruple Sculls and Double Sculls. Now, they will race as a development crew on the world stage.
Also making his debut and competing as a racing reserve is Tideway Scullers School’s Adam Oliver, entered into the Men’s Single Sculls. Oliver will race for Great Britain for the first time since 2022, when he competed in the Men’s Double Sculls at the U23 World Rowing Championships in Varese.
Cam Nyland is back from last season, joined by Olympic bronze medallist Becky Wilde in the Women’s Double Sculls.
James Vogel and Matt Rowe will contest the Men’s Pair. The two of them travelled as reserves to the Windermere Cup after both making their senior debuts last season, which include Vogel placing fourth in the Men’s Four in Varese, and Rowe winning the European Rowing Championships in the Men’s Eight.
“Following a season opener for some of the rowers at the Windermere Cup, Seville is a great opportunity for us to see how the team are performing as they emerge out of winter training and into the summer racing season,” said Interim Performance Director Tom Dyson.
“As this is the second year of the Olympiad, we should expect a step up in standard as this season progresses towards the World Rowing Championships. This event will be the first opportunity for the rowers to test themselves against the standard internationally, and I know the team is highly motivated for it.”
“The Women’s Squad has enjoyed a solid block of training since crews were finalised in April,” added Women’s Head Coach Andrew Randell.
“The Eight had a successful trip to the US, winning the Windermere Cup, and it has been pleasing to see them settle straight back into training at Caversham. The Women’s Four, a newly selected combination, has made solid progress, and we are looking forward to seeing them race in Seville. The reserve pair has progressed well and, as a result, will also race in Seville.
“On the sculling side, Lauren has enjoyed a solid winter and is looking forward to her first race of the season. Due to injury, the Quad has had interrupted preparation, but the new crew has settled well and produced some excellent performances in training. The newly selected combination of Becky and Cam continues to improve and will be an exciting prospect moving forward.”
“It’s been a hard winter, the kind where every session asks a bit more of you than the last,” explained Men’s Head Coach Paul Stannard.
“However, the squad has met it with real purpose. We’ve laid down months of honest work, and now there’s a real excitement about getting back on the start line. The atmosphere in the team across the Men’s, Women’s, Para’s and Beach squads is developing really well with genuine support for each other and a shared sense of purpose to be better every day when we’re together at the National Training Centre.
“Seville is our first chance this season as a whole team to see where we stand, to test ourselves properly, and the whole team is hungry to go racing.”
The GB Rowing Team to race World Rowing Cup I, Seville
Women’s Eight
Lizzie Witt (Leander Club / Imperial College BC)
Jade Lindo (Molesey BC / Twickenham RC)
Lauren Irwin (Leander Club / Durham University / Chester-le-Street ARC)
Katherine George (Leander Club)
Amelia Standing (Oxford University BC)
Megan Slabbert (Molesey BC)
Heidi Long (Oxford University BC / Leander Club)
Annie Campbell-Orde (Marlow RC/Leander Club)
Jack Tottem (cox) (Leander Club / Oxford University BC)
Coach: Andrew Randell
Women’s Four
Holly Youd (Molesey BC)
Sarah Marshall (Oxford University BC)
Angharad Broughton (Molesey BC)
Eleanor Brinkhoff (Leander Club / Dundee University BC)
Coach: Dan Moore
Women’s Pair
Lauren Carey (Leander Club)
Juliette Perry (Leander Club / Oxford University BC)
Coach: Dan Moore
Women’s Quadruple Sculls
Sarah McKay (Leander Club / Grosvenor RC)
Hannah Scott (Bann RC / Leander Club)
Lola Anderson (Leander Club / Newcastle University BC)
Finn Stratton (Reading University BC)
Coach: Darren Whiter
Women’s Double Sculls
Becky Wilde (Leander Club / Bath University BC)
Cam Nyland (Leander Club)
Coach: Helen Taylor
Women’s Single Scull
Lauren Henry (Leicester RC)
Coach: Andrew Randell
Men’s Eight
Matt Aldridge (Christchurch RC/Oxford Brookes University BC)
Fergus Woolnough (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Gabriel Obholzer (Cambridge University BC)
Sam Nunn (Oxford Brookes University BC)
David Bewicke-Copley (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Harry Geffen (Oxford University BC)
Miles Beeson (Leander Club)
Archie Drummond (Leander Club)
Tom Bryce (cox) (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Coach: Steve Trapmore
Men’s Four
Dan Graham (Leander Club)
James Robson (Cambridge University BC / Leander Club)
Douwe De Graaf (Leander Club)
George Bourne (Leander Club)
Coach: Christian Felkel
Men’s Pair
James Vogel (Leander Club)
Matt Rowe (Oxford Brookes University BC / Kingston RC)
Coach: Christian Felkel
Men’s Quadruple Sculls
James Cartwright (Leander Club)
Jamie Gare (Leander Club / City of Cambridge RC)
Matt Haywood (Nottingham RC / Burton Leander RC)
Rory Harris (Leander Club / Reading University BC)
Coach: Paul Stannard
Men’s Double Sculls 1
Callum Dixon (Twickenham RC)
Tobias Schröder (Leander Club / Oxford University BC)
Coach: Richard Chambers
Men’s Double Sculls 2
Edward Fuller (Reading University BC)
Matt Long (Reading University BC / Kingston RC)
Coach: Chris Bartley/Richard Chambers
Men’s Single Sculls
Adam Oliver (Tideway Scullers School)
Coach: Richard Chambers
Reserves: Joshua Bowesman-Jones and Will Stewart
Team Management and Support Staff
Team Leader – Tom Dyson
Team Manager – Jo Bates
Resources Manager – Karl Offord
Head Coach, Women – Andrew Randell
Head Coach, Men – Paul Stannard
Men’s Coach – Richard Chambers
Men’s Coach – Christian Felkel
Men’s Coach – Steve Trapmore
Women’s Coach – Dan Moore
Women’s Coach – Helen Taylor
Women’s Coach – Darren Whiter
Physiotherapist, Men – Stephen Greenan
Physiotherapist, Women – Beatrice Caitas
Sports Scientist – Molly Lloyd Jones
Doctor – Ann Redgrave
Resources Support – Dan Lockey
Resources Support – Henry Pearson
Resources Support (Outbound) – Paul Cobbett
Resources Support (Inbound) – Ben Wellburn
Sports Psychologist – Geoff Lovell
Coach Development – Holly Young
