Local Rowers Race for Place in GB Senior Team
8th February 2011Three Somerset rowers will compete in the final GB Rowing Team winter assessment held this weekend on the chosen 2012 Olympic Course at Dorney Lake near Eton. Successful rowers will receive an invite to the final trials in April, one step closer to securing a place in the coveted senior squad.
Double World champion, Paul Mattick, born and bred in Frome, was part of the lightweight men's four that recently raced to a World Championship gold back in November.
Off the back of an exceptional 2010 World Cup season and a wealth of experience including the Beijing Olympic Games, Mattick will be confident ahead of this weekend's trials. As will Olympic bronze medallist Stephen Rowbotham, from Winscombe, with five World Championships under his belt.
Glastonbury's Cameron Nichol, who was part of the men's eight that narrowly missed out on a gold at the World Rowing Championships by six-tenths of a second, will be looking to impress this weekend.
Ex University of Bath student Marcus Bateman who raced to a silver at the 2010 World Rowing Championships, also a graduate of 'Start', GB Rowing Team's talent identification and development programme which is lottery-funded and sponsored by Siemens will be trialling this weekend. 2009 World U23 Champion Vicky Thornley, who learnt to row in Bath, will also make an appearance.
Other rowers expected to compete at the event include members of the GB squad from last November's World Championships in New Zealand, including Olympic gold medallists Andrew Triggs-Hodge and Peter Reed, as well as triple Olympic silver medallist and five times World Champion Katherine Grainger.
This is the first time in the selection process for the 2011 world cup and world championships squads that the full GB Rowing Team will be involved along with those that have progressed from earlier assessments. However, experience and previous world medals will not count for everything, all rowers must prove themselves at the trials to impress the GB senior coaches.
With several rowers coming from the lottery-backed and Siemens-sponsored Start programme it is a chance for exciting, new talent to seize the opportunity and prove to the coaches that they can challenge the likes of the current senior squad.
Competitors will be particularly keen to take to the water this weekend after the previous assessment was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. Rowers had to submit a 5km ergo (rowing machine) test time in order to make their mark and receive an invite to the final winter assessment trials this weekend.
GB Rowing Performance Director David Tanner identified that the 11 months following the World Championships “are a crucial part of the Olympic cycle” and that the rowers now have "London 2012 firmly set in their sights". Now that “the Olympic qualifying season” is under way athletes will be looking to clock a fast time on the Olympic course and secure a place in the squad ahead of the first World Cup of the season in May held in Munich, Germany.
Cameron says, "I am looking forward to the trials this weekend as it will be the first time we have had some side by side racing since the World Championships. They will be tough with the full World Championship team returning as well as a strong group outside the squad fighting for seats."
"The trials are important for selection as a vital step towards the final trials in April and ultimately London 2012. Racing at Dorney Lake will also give us more experience of the course and the unique conditions that go with it."
This final winter assessment forms the penultimate stage of a selection process that started in October. This weekend rowers must post fast enough times in the gruelling testing procedure to secure an invite to the final trials held on the 16th and 17th April. The GB Rowing Team senior squad will be announced on the 11th May.