Local rowers to attend World Championships
28th October 2010A number of Somerset rowers will compete for the GB Rowing Team at the Rowing World Championships which will be held at Lake Karapiro in New Zealand from 31st October to 7th November 2010.
After a long flight out from the UK, the GB Rowing Team have now settled into their accommodation and have been training on the course at Lake Karapiro since Monday 18th October.
Bath-educated Alex Partridge will be aiming to help the men's four defend the World Championship title that they won at last years event in Poland. The final of the men's four is on Friday 5th November.
Minerva Bath rower Victoria Thornley has been named in the women's eight. The eight won medals at all three world cup regattas and will be a strong contender for gold in New Zealand. The final of the women's eight is on Sunday 7th.
Helen Glover, another Minerva Bath rower, will compete in the women's pair with her partner Heather Stanning. The pair will be aiming to be in the final on Saturday 6th.
Winscombe's Stephen Rowbotham is part of a developing men's quadruple scull line-up. The Beijing 2008 double scull bronze medallist has teamed up this season with Sam Townsend, Bill Lucas and Charles Cousins. The quartet has been on the world cup podium twice and will hope to get amongst the medals in New Zealand. The final of this event is due on Friday 5 November.
Frome's Paul Mattick is part of the lightweight men's four which brought its 2010 world cup season to a finale with gold in the world cup finals in Lucerne in July in a field that contained the reigning world champions from Denmark. If the quartet of Mattick, Richard Chambers, Rob Williams and Chris Bartley can find that kind of form in New Zealand they
will be podium contenders.
The World Championships is the culmination of the 2010 rowing season and was preceded by the three world cup events that were held in Europe over the summer.