Somerset rowers invited to GB Trials
7th April 2010The GB Rowing Team have invited a number of Somerset rowers to attend The GB Rowing Team Senior Trials in Hazewinkel, Belgium, on 9-12 April, 2010. The Trials provide rowers with a great chance to impress selectors before the opening World Cup event in Bled, Slovenia in late May.
Winscombe's Steve Rowbotham, of the Leander Club which benefits from the Siemens backed High Performance Programmes in Clubs, will attend the Trials. With his partner Matt Wells he won gold in the men's double scull at 2009 world cup event in Banyoles as well as a bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Frome's Paul Mattick has been selected for the lightweight single scull event at the Trials. Last year he finished second, by just 0.2 seconds behind racing partner Rob Williams. Paul raced through the 2009 world cup series with Williams in the Olympic class lightweight double scull, taking 4th in Banyoles and Munich and 5th in Lucerne. At the 2009 World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Rob and Paul were 6th.
It will take something special for Bath-educated Alex Partridge to better last year. The former Monkton Combe School pupil was named as British Rowing's "Olympic athlete of the Year" in 2009 for his career achievements which last year included being a member of the world championship winning men's four. Partridge, of the Leander Club, also won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in the men's eight.
Minerva Bath RC rowers Helen Glover and Vicky Thornley will both be rowing in the women's pair at the Trials. Thornley was selected in the women’s eight for the 2009 World U23 Championships, where she won a gold medal. Recently Thornley graduated from rowing's "Start" talent development scheme to the full senior squad and has now moved training bases from the University of Bath to the national training centre at Caversham.
The World Cup series is a series of three races. This year the racing starts in Bled, Slovenia, on the 28-30 May, continues in Munich, Germany from 18-20 June, and finishes in Lucerne, Switzerland on 9-11 July.
The World Championship will be held in Lake Karapiro in New Zealand from 31st October to 7th November 2010.