Somerset Rowers Named In World Championship Team
19th July 2011The GB Rowing Team has named six rowers from Somerset in its squad for the World Championships - which double as qualifying for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.
Helen Glover, Paul Mattick, Vicky Thornley, Cameron Nichol, Marcus Bateman and Stephen Rowbotham have all been selected to compete at the Worlds in Bled, Slovenia, from August 28 – September 4, and help qualify their boats for London next summer.
PE teacher Glover and her army officer partner in the women’s pair Heather Stanning broke through at last year’s Worlds to claim silver and at the world cup finals in Lucerne earlier this month they won gold – beating the World Champions from New Zealand in the process.
Both rowers were part of the GB Rowing Team’s World Class Start programme in Bath, lottery funded and sponsored by Siemens, along with Thornley and Bateman.
Thornley, who was initially spotted via the UK Sport’s Sporting Giants programme, is one of nine rowers and a cox selected to fight for seats in the women’s eight.
The nine women will be whittled down to eight before the Worlds after performance testing during the summer training camps.
Thornley was part of the eight that came just missed out on the podium at last year’s Worlds and has been named alongside Jo Cook, Jess Eddie, Alison Knowles, Lindsey Maguire, Natasha Page, Louisa Reeve, Emily Taylor, Katie Solesbury and cox Caroline O’Connor.
Cameron Nichol from Glastonbury has been named in an unchanged men’s eight from Lucerne which hopes to avenge its defeat by sixth-tenths of a second to Germany at last year’s Worlds.
Paul Mattick from Frome on the other hand will be hoping to defend his World title in the lightweight men’s four with the same crew-mates – if Chris Bartley can prove his fitness. Bartley, from Wrexham, has been selected alongside Mattick, Rob Williams and Richard Chambers subject to medical and performance tests after missing the world cup finals in Lucerne.
Richard’s younger brother Peter deputised for him, winning gold in his first ever race in the same boat as his elder sibling.
Marcus Bateman who learned to row in Bath competes in the double scull nicknamed the Red Express with fellow redhead and Beijing bronze medallist Matt Wells.
And Stephen Rowbotham from Winscombe has the chance to continue the impressive progress of the quadruple scull with Tom Solesbury, Sam Townsend and Bill Lucas, after they earned silver in Lucerne, beating the current World Champions for the second time in ten days following their win at the Henley Royal Regatta.
Four of the crews from the lottery-funded senior squad, sponsored by Siemens, go to Bled after winning gold medals at the world cup finals in Lucerne where the GB Rowing Team also won four silvers and two bronze medals.
They are the women’s double scull and pair as well as the open and lightweight men’s fours.
“Lucerne was an excellent curtain raiser for the World Championships,” said David Tanner, the GB Rowing Team’s performance director.
“We had some great performances which we would hope to carry through as the competition steps up.”
The Olympic and Paralympic qualifying regatta in Bled enables nations to qualify boats rather than crews – allowing teams to shuffle their crews as required between now and next summer.
There will be a final chance for the GB Rowing Team, sponsored by Siemens and lottery funded, to qualify a boat in each of the 14 Olympic boat classes on 20-23 May, 2012, in Lucerne and in each of four Paralympic boat classes on 4-6 May, 2012.
Other boats may be added to the GB contingent bound for Bled in the international classes dependent on performances at the World U23 Championships in Amsterdam from July 21-24.