Para-rowers kick off world cup for GB in France

The GB Rowing Team’s para-rowers were first in action at the season’s second world cup, taking place in Aiguebelette in France from this evening until Sunday and featuring 22 British crews.

2008 Paralympic Champion Tom Aggar qualified safely from his arms-shoulders single scull heat. He rowed to top spot in the time trial in 4:46.25 on the beautiful blue-green water of the Lake in Aiguebelette which is part of the Savoie region. He has now qualified direct into Saturday’s final.

Rachel Morris was also a Paralympic Champion in Beijing but in the sport of cycling in which she also took a road race bronze in 2012.

Since then she has transferred to rowing and has made remarkable progress in training. Today she was making her world cup debut and ran top Russian, Natalia Bolshakova, close in the time trial heats before finishing second in a time of 5:33.59.

With only one boat qualifying for Saturday’s final, Morris now races a repechage tomorrow.

The GB para-rowing mixed coxed four – in which Grace Clough made her world cup debut alongside 2013 World Champions Pam Relph, Oliver Hester, James Fox and cox Oliver James – were fastest finishers in their preliminary race in a time of 3:31.12 and are now through to Saturday’s finals.

Tomorrow’s racing will include 19 GB Rowing Team crews. All will race a time-trial instead of the more usual side-by-side heats as the sport’s world governing body uses this event to test the system which could be used in the case of adverse weather and any of the top events.

Racing starts at 8.35am (UK Time) and will run until the conclusion of the para-rowing repechages at 6.47pm.

There will be live race-tracker coverage at www.worldrowing.com

The GB ROWING TEAM para-rowing squad is supported by GUIDE DOGS.

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LAURENCE NEEDS A GOOD WOMAN

Whilst his squad-mates are in France and already racing at the first World Cup of the season, the GB Rowing Team’s Laurence Whiteley is home alone and training solo.

The talented para-rower is no slouch. He won two golds at the Varese International Regatta earlier this season in his single.

He has relocated from the North-east to the GB Rowing Team’s centralised training centre at Caversham, near Reading, to give himself the best possible chance of success.

If Laurence is to achieve his dream and row at Rio 2016, though, the only boat class open to Laurence is a mixed double scull. So, he needs to find a woman in the right disability classification and to find one soon.

“Every day I focus on each training session and Rio is what it’s all about. That’s the motivation to push myself day in and day out. The Paralympic Games are what we all strive for”, said Whiteley recently.

Louise Kingsley, the GB Rowing Team’s para-rowing manager, said that the squad is looking for a female whose impairment precludes them being able to bend their knee and/or ankle: “To be considered to join Laurence, potential para-rowers don’t need to have rowed before or have any knowledge of rowing. But they need to want to be fit, to enjoy training and working hard. We can teach them everything else”.

If you know someone who might fit the bill contact: info@gbrowingteam.org.uk

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ZAK LEE GREEN JOINS TEAM TO RACE LIGHTWEIGHT SINGLE

Former World U23 finalist Zak Lee Green has joined the GB Rowing Team in Aiguebelette for the weekend’s world cup, bringing the total number of crews in action to 22.

He will race in the lightweight men’s single scull just after finishing his final exams in dentistry.

Zak doubles up as a spare for the other lightweight sculling boats. He is a graduate of the renowned GB Rowing Team Start programme which identifies potential future champions.

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RESULTS
(Events featuring GB Rowing Team crews only. For full results www.worldrowing.com)

Para-rowing time trials

TIME TRIALS

WOMEN

Arms-shoulders single scull – Heat 1

1. Natalia Bolshakova (Russia) 5;32.60
2. Rachel Morris (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:33.59
3. Moran Samuel (Israel) 5:36.21
4. Adriana Quirijns (Netherlands) 6:27.36
5. Paulina Szmajda (Poland) 6:48.72
6. Monika Lengyel (Hungary) 6:51.93

MEN

Arms-shoulders single scull – heat 2

1. Tom Aggar (GREAT BRITAIN) 4:46.25
2. Fabio Caselli (Italy) 5:04.08
3. Dzmitry Ryshkevich (Belarus) 5:06.51
4. Johannes Schmidt (Germany) 5:27.66
5. Thomas Kelly (Ireland) 5:48.38
6. Jerzy Kulik (Poland 2) 5:49.51

MIXED

Leg-trunk-arms mixed coxed four – preliminary race

1. Grace Clough/Pamela Relph/James Fox/Oliver Hester/
Oliver James (cox)
2. Italy 3:39.14
3. France 3;40.26
4. Ukraine 3:54.28
5. Poland 4:29.21

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CREW LISTS

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair – Boat 1

Helen Glover (Minerva Bath RC/Penzance/17.06.1986)/
Heather Stanning (Army RC/Lossiemouth/26.01.1985)
Coaches: Robin Williams & Paul Thompson

Pair – Boat 2

Monica Relph (Leander Club/Cambridge/15.01.1988)/
Olivia Carnegie-Brown (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Oxford/28.03.1991)

Eight

Rosamund Bradbury (Leander Club/Banstead/17.12.1988)/
Zoe Lee (Imperial College BC/Richmond, N. Yorks/15.12.1985)/
Jessica Eddie (London RC/Durham/07.10.1984)/
Donna Etiebet (Sport Imperial BC/London/29.04.1986)/
Katie Greves (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.1982)/
Polly Swann (Leander Club/Edinburgh/15.06.1988)/
Caragh McMurty (Reading Univ BC/Southampton/22.08.1991)/
Louisa Reeve (Leander Club/London/16.05.1984)/
Zoe de Toledo (cox) (Leander Club/London/17.07.1987)
Coach: James Harris

Double scull

Frances Houghton (Leander Club/Oxford/19.09.1980)
Victoria Thornley (Leander Club/Wrexham/30.11.1987)
Coaches: Paul Thompson & Robin Williams

Quadruple scull

Beth Rodford (Gloucester RC/Gloucester/28.12.1982)
Lucinda Gooderham (Leander Club/Norfolk/09.06.1984)
Kristina Stiller (Tees RC/Yarm/23.06.1987)
Victoria Meyer-Laker (Leander Club/Premnay/18.03.1988)
Coach: Nick Strange

OPEN

MEN

Pair

Matthew Gotrel (Leander Club/Chipping Campden/01.03.1989)/
Paul Bennett (Univ of London BC/Leeds/16.12.88)
Coach: Jurgen Grobler

Four – Boat 1

Alex Gregory (Leander Club/Wormington/11.03.1984)/
Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey BC/Surbiton/27.03.1988)/
George Nash (Molesey BC/Guildford/10.02.1989)/
Andrew Triggs Hodge (Molesey BC/Hebden, N. Yorks/03.03.1979)
Coach: Jurgen Grobler

Four – Boat 2

Oliver Cook (Univ of London BC/Windsor/05.06.1990)/
Phil Congdon (Molesey BC/Bury St Edmunds/06.06.1989)/
Tom Ransley (Leander Club/Cambridge/16.09.85)/
Dan Ritchie (Leander Club/Herne Bay/16.01.87)
Coaches: Christian Felkel & Rob Dauncey

Eight

Scott Durant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Lancaster/12.02.1988)
Alan Sinclair (Leander Club/Inverness/16.10.1985)
Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell (Univ of London BC/Durham/13.04.1988)
Matt Langridge (Leander Club/Northwich/20.05.1983)
Pete Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth, Glos/27.07.1981)
James Foad (Molesey BC/Southampton/20.03.1987)
Matthew Tarrant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Shepperton/11.07.1990)
Will Satch (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/09.06.1989)
Henry Fieldman (cox) (Imperial College BC/Barnes, London/25.11.1988)
Coaches: Christian Felkel & Rob Dauncey

Double scull – Boat 1

John Collins (Leander Club/Twickenham/24.01.1989)/
Jonathan Walton (Leander Club/Leicester/06.10.1990)
Coach: Mark Banks

Double scull – Boat 2

Jack Beaumont(Leander Club/Maidenhead/21.11.93)/
Angus Groom (Leander Club/Glasgow/16.06.92)
Coach: Matthew Beechey

Quadruple scull

Graeme Thomas (Agecroft RC/Preston/08.11.1988)/
Sam Townsend (Reading Univ BC/Reading/26.11.1985)/
Charles Cousins (Leander Club/Willingham/13.12.1988)/
Peter Lambert (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/03.12.1986)
Coach: Paul Stannard

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Single scull

Ruth Walczak ((Molesey BC/Rochdale/15.09.88)
Coach: Paul Reedy

Double scull – Boat 1

Imogen Walsh (London RC/Inverness/17.01.1984)/
Kat Copeland (Tees RC/Ashington/01.12.1990)
Coach: Paul Reedy

Double scull – Boat 2

Eleanor Piggott (Wallingford RC/Olney/16.05.91)/
Charlotte Taylor (Putney Town RC/Bedford/14.08.1985)
Coach: Tom Evens

LIGHTWEIGHT

MEN

Pair

Jonathan Clegg (Leander Club/Maidenhead/14.07.1989)/
Sam Scrimgeour (Imperial College BC/Forfar/28.01.1988)
Coach: Rob Morgan

Four

Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/14.03.1990)/
Mark Aldred (London RC/London/18.04.1987)/
Richard Chambers (Leander Club/Coleraine/10.06.1985)/
Chris Bartley (Leander Club/Chester/02.02.1984)
Coach: Rob Morgan

Single scull (racing spare)

Zak Lee Green (Agecroft RC/Cardiff/05.02.91)

Double scull

William Fletcher (Leander Club/Chester-le-Street/24.12.1989)
Jamie Kirkwood (Leander Club/Creswell/30.08.1989)
Coach: Darren Whiter

PARA-ROWING CREWS

MEN

Arms-only Single Scull (ASM1x)

Tom Aggar (Royal Docks RC/Maidenhead/24.05.1984)
Coach: Nick Baker

WOMEN

Arms-only single scull (ASW1x)

Rachel Morris (Guildford RC/Farnham/25.04.1970)
Coach: Nick Baker

MIXED

Legs-trunks-arms mixed coxed four (LTAMix4+)

Grace Clough (Nottingham RC/Sheffield/ 21.06.1991)/
Pamela Relph (Leander Club/Aylesbury/14.11.89)/
James Fox (Univ of London/Peterborough/02.05.92)/
Oliver Hester (Henley RC/Henley-on-Thames/18.02.90)/
Oliver James (cox) (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/05.10.90)
Coach: Tom Dyson

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THE SEASON AHEAD

GB Rowing Team Diary Dates for 2014
June

11

Announcement of GB Para-Rowing crews for the World Cup, Caversham

20-22

World Cup II, Aiguebelette, France (includes para-rowing)

July

2-6

Henley Royal Regatta – Some GBRT crews to compete

12-13

World Cup III, Lucerne, Switzerland

17 – NOTE NEW DATE

Announcement of GB Rowing Team crews for the World Championships – venue TBC

23-27

World U23 Championships, Varese, Italy

August

6-10

World Junior Championships, Hamburg, Germany

16-28

World Youth Olympic Games, Nanjing, China

24 – 31

World Championships, Amsterdam

September

13-14

World University Championships, Gravelines, France (U23s only)

October

19-20

British Championships – GB Rowing Team participating

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CONTACT DETAILS

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