Somerset rowers named in squad for Lucerne world cup
18th May 2012GB rowers from Somerset are preparing for the second world cup of the 2012 season which will feature extra competition with crews from Australia, New Zealand and Canada taking part.
Winscombe's Beijing bronze medallist Stephen Rowbotham maintains his place in a revised men's quadruple scull, Cameron Nichol gets a shot in a second GB men's pair with Nathaniel Reilly O'Donnell and Frome's Paul Mattick continues in the non Olympic-class lightweight men's pair with Adam Freeman-Pask for the regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland from May 25-27.
Former Millfield School pupil Helen Glover, twice World silver medallist in the women's pair with Yeovil-born Heather Stanning, will potentially face their first outing of 2012 against the Kiwi pair which have pipped them to the World title on both occasions.
Experimentation continues in the men’s quad in the lead up to the Olympic announcement on June 6 with five names - including Rowbotham - still in the mix for the four seats. Charles Cousins moves to the stroke seat of a combination for Lucerne that features Tom Solesbury and Matt Wells with Marcus Bateman moving to a single.
Glastonbury's Nichol - World silver medallist in the men's eight last year - was named in a second pair for the first world cup in Belgrade after missing out on a place in the men's eight, but had his racing curtailed when his partner Reilly O'Donnell switched back into the eight to cover for the injured debutant Constantine Louloudis.
Louloudis is one of four familiar names who look set to return to the Siemens-sponsored and lottery funded GB Rowing Team and three of the four will race in the women’s eight - Louisa Reeve, Annabel Vernon and Natasha Page.
Vernon, a 2008 Olympic silver medalist in the women’s quad, has shown a pleasing return to form, Louisa Reeve is back from injury and Natasha Page has won a seat in the eight after a winter disrupted by illness.
The GB women’s eight were bronze medalists in Belgrade at the first world cup but were disappointed with their performance there against a narrow field.
“I've had such a tough year, mentally and physically”, said Page. “Getting back into training was a massive shock to the system. But now I'm back it’s the best feeling ever.
The new-look eight means Londoner Jo Cook and Oxford's Olivia Carnegie-Brown will now race a pair for GB in Lucerne.
World U23 men’s pair champion Louloudis could, subject to continuing recovery from a slight back injury, return to the men’s eight, after being withdrawn as a precaution from the 2012 opener in Belgrade where the GB men's eight were second to Germany.
Britain’s leading boats across the genders and weight-categories from Belgrade are all unchanged.
“We are still working on fine-tuning the team as the London Games approaches”, said GB Rowing Team Performance Director David Tanner.
“The benefit of consistent and significant investment by the National Lottery in our team over the past four years has given us a tremendous strength across the disciplines and gives us several options to consider”.
World Champions Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins will be determined to continue their unbeaten winning streak since early 2010 in the women’s double.
The men’s four of Andrew Triggs Hodge, Tom James, Peter Reed and Alex Gregory will continue their self-dubbed “work in progress” after taking gold 10 days ago.
Meanwhile, GB newcomer Rachel Gamble-Flint will be racing on the world-famous Rotsee in advance of her teammates. The emerging young rower will take on the experience of the Olympic qualifying regatta in the single scull as part of her preparation for this season’s World U23 and European regattas.
“Rachel competed at last weekend’s senior World Cup in Belgrade and acquitted herself well in her first ever senior event finishing 10th overall," said Tanner. "She has emerged well this season inside our U23 squad and will be able to use the Olympic qualifying regatta as part of her learning curve in the sport. Rachel is a real prospect for our European Championships team this season and has Rio 2016 in her sights, qualifying for London would, of course, be a huge bonus.”
The GB Rowing Team has already qualified boats in 13 of the 14 boat classes for London 2012 and the Olympic crews will be announced on June 6.
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GB ROWING TEAM CREWS LIST
(See home-towns, clubs and dates of birth in list below. Named here in crews bow to stroke unless indicated. (Coach in brackets).
SAMSUNG WORLD ROWING CUP II
Lucerne, Switzerland 25-27 May, 2012
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair – two boats
Helen Glover/Heather Stanning
(Robin Williams)
Jo Cook/Olivia Carnegie Brown
(Nick Strange)
Eight
Olivia Whitlam/Emily Taylor/Natasha Page/Annabel Vernon/Jess Eddie/Louisa Reeve/Katie Greves/Lindsey Maguire/Caroline O’Connor (cox)
(Nick Strange)
Single scull - Olympic qualifying regatta only
Rachel Gamble Flint
(Jane Hall)
Double scull
Anna Watkins/Katherine Grainger
(Paul Thompson)
Quadruple scull
Beth Rodford/Melanie Wilson/Frances Houghton/Victoria Thornley
(Ade Roberts)
MEN
Pair – two boats
George Nash/Will Satch
(Paul Stannard & Christian Felkel)
Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell/Cameron Nichol
(Paul Stannard)
Four
Alex Gregory/Pete Reed//Tom James/Andrew Triggs Hodge
(Jurgen Grobler)
Eight
James Foad/Alex Partridge/Ric Egington/Tom Ransley/Moe Sbihi/Greg Searle/Matt Langridge/Constantine Louloudis/Phelan Hill (cox)
(John West & Christian Felkel)
Single scull – two boats
Alan Campbell
(Bill Barry)
Marcus Bateman
(Mark Banks)
Double scull
Bill Lucas/Sam Townsend
(Mark Earnshaw)
Quadruple scull
Stephen Rowbotham /Tom Solesbury/Matt Wells/Charles Cousins
(Mark Banks)
LIGHTWEIGHTS
WOMEN
Single scull
Kathryn Twyman
(Paul Reedy)
Double scull – two boats
Sophie Hosking/Kat Copeland
(Paul Reedy)
MEN
Pair
Paul Mattick/Adam Freeman-Pask
(Rob Morgan)
Four
Peter Chambers/Rob Williams/Richard Chambers/Chris Bartley
(Rob Morgan)
Single
Mike Mottram
Double scull
Zac Purchase/Mark Hunter
(Darren Whiter)
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HOME TOWN LISTS (Club/Home town/Date of birth)
WOMEN
PAIR (Boat 1)
Helen Glover Minerva Bath Penzance 17/06/86
Heather Stanning Army RC Lossiemouth 26/01/85
Coach: Robin Williams
PAIR (Boat 2)
Jo Cook Leander Club Sunbury-on-Thames 22/03/84
Olivia Carnegie-Brown Oxford Brookes Univ BC Oxford 28/03/1991
Eight
Olivia Whitlam Agecroft RC Warrington 16/09/85
Emily Taylor Leander Club Lincoln 28/06/87
Natasha Page Gloucester RC Hartpury 30/04/85
Annabel Vernon Leander Club Wadebridge 01/09/82
Jessica Eddie Univ of London BC Durham 07/10/84
Louisa Reeve Leander Club London 16/05/84
Katie Greves Leander Club Oxford 02/09/82
Lindsey Maguire Wallingford RC Edinburgh 15/01/82
Caroline O'Connor (cox) Oxford Brookes Univ BC Ealing, London 25/04/83
Coach: Nick Strange
Single Scull – Olympic qualifying Regatta only
Rachel Gamble-Flint Leander Club Darlington 13/09/91
Coach: Jane Hall
Double Scull
Anna Watkins Leander Club Leek, Staffs. 13/02/83
Katherine Grainger St Andrew BC Aberdeen 12/11/75
Coach: Paul Thompson
Quadruple Scull
Beth Rodford Gloucester RC Gloucester 28/12/82
Melanie Wilson Imperial College BC London 25/06/84
Frances Houghton Leander Club Oxford 19/09/80
Victoria Thornley Leander Club Wrexham 30/11/87
Coach: Ade Roberts
MEN
Pair (Boat 1)
George Nash Molesey BC Guildford 02/10/89
Will Satch Leander Club Henley-on-Thames 09/06/89
Coaches: Christian Felkel & Paul Stannard
Pair (Boat 2)
Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell Uni of London BC Durham 13/04/88
Cameron Nichol Molesey BC Glastonbury 26/06/87
Four
Alex Gregory Leander Club Wormington 11/03/84
Pete Reed Leander Club Nailsworth, Glos 27/07/81
Tom James Molesey BC Wrexham 11/03/84
Andrew Triggs Hodge Molesey BC Hebden, N. Yorks 03/03/79
Coach: Jürgen Grobler
Eight
James Foad Molesey BC Southampton 20/03/87
Alex Partridge Leander Club Alton, Hants 25/01/81
Richard Egington Leander Club Knutsford 26/02/79
Tom Ransley York City RC Cambridge 06/09/85
Mohamed Sbihi Molesey BC Surbiton 27/03/88
Greg Searle Molesey BC Marlow 20/03/72
Matthew Langridge Leander Club Northwich 20/05/83
Constantine Louloudis Leander Club London 15/09/91
Cox – Phelan Hill Leander Bedford 21/07/79
Coaches: John West & Christian Felkel
Single Scull (Boat 1)
Alan Campbell Tideway Scullers School Coleraine 09/05/83
Coach: Bill Barry
Single Scull (Boat 2)
Marcus Bateman Leander Club Torquay 16/09/82
Double Scull
Bill Lucas London RC Kingswear 13/09/87
Sam Townsend Reading Univ BC Reading 26/11/85
Coach: Mark Earnshaw
Quadruple Scull
Stephen Rowbotham Leander Club Winscombe, Somerset 11/11/81
Matthew Wells Leander Club Hexham, Northumberland 19/04/79
Tom Solesbury Leander Club Petts Wood, Kent 23/09/80
Charles Cousins Reading Univ BC Willingham, Cambs 13/12/88
Coach: Mark Banks
LIGHTWEIGHTS
WOMEN
Single Scull
Kathryn Twyman Wallingford RC Oxford 29/03/87
Coach: Paul Reedy
Double Scull
Sophie Hosking London RC Wimbledon 25/01/86
Katherine Copeland Tees RC Ingleby Barwick, Stockton-on-Tees 01/12/90
Coach: Paul Reedy
MEN
Pair
Paul Mattick Leander Club Frome, Somerset 25/04/78
Adam Freeman-Pask Imperial College BC Windsor 19/06/85
Coaches: Rob Morgan & Darren Whiter
Four
Peter Chambers Oxford Brookes Univ BC Coleraine 14/03/90
Rob Williams London RC Maidenhead 21/01/85
Richard Chambers Leander Club Coleraine 10/06/85
Chris Bartley Leander Club Chester 02/02/84
Coach: Rob Morgan
Double Scull
Zac Purchase Marlow RC Tewkesbury 02/05/86
Mark Hunter Leander Club Romford, Essex 01/07/78
Coach: Darren Whiter
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TIMETABLE OF RACING IN LUCERNE
(Provisional – subject to change dependent on the draw and weather)
Friday 25 May
09.00 – 18.30 Heats and repechages – international and Olympic classes
Saturday 26 May
09.30 – 10.05 Semi-finals of the international classes
13.30 – 16.00 Reps and semi-finals Olympic classes
16.05 – 17.00 Finals of the international classes
Sunday 27 May
09.00 – 10.20 B Finals
10.22 – 14.40 FINALS – Olympic classes