Leander athletes help GB strike gold in Rotterdam

FIVE Leander athletes helped the Great Britain men’s eight win gold on the final day of the World Rowing Cup III in Rotterdam last Sunday.

The gold medal was one of five that the GB squad picked up in the Netherlands during the three day event.

The men’s eight secured their first gold medal success since Rio 2016. The German eight, who had been undefeated for more than a year before Sunday’s final, took an early lead before the British crew of Leander’s Tom Ford, Tom George, Jacob Dawson, Ollie Wynne-Griffith and cox Henry Fieldman along with James Rudkin, Mohamed Sbihi, Mat Tarrant, Josh Bugajski moved past them at the halfway point.

The crew, coached by Jurgen Grobler, increased their lead through the second kilometre to win gold and the overall world cup series.

The men’s four of Leander’s Sholto Carnegie and Matt Rossiter along with Rory Gibbs and Ollie Cook, who became European champions earlier this season and won the Stewards’ Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta the previous weekend, secured a silver medal in a race which saw a fierce battle for medal positions. Australia took the honours with Germany in third place.

Speaking after the race Carnegie said: “I’m feeling good after that. We got a lot of stuff right this time, maybe not the full package but we’re certainly building in the right direction. There’s a lot of potential still in this crew and we’re really excited to be moving forward.”

Graeme Thomas and Leander’s John Collins cemented their status as one of the leading double sculls crews in the world as they claimed a hard-fought bronze medal, making their move at the 1,000m mark and battling their way through the final kilometre to third place. The medal follows their silver from World Cup II in Poznan and their Double Sculls Challenge Cup win at Henley. Elsewhere Polly Swann and Holly Hill claimed bronze in the women’s pairs while the previous day Imogen Grant won gold in the lightweight women’s single sculls.

The World Cup regatta in Rotterdam was the final test for the British team ahead of the World Championships in August, where qualification spots for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will be up for grabs for the first time.

Director of Performance Brendan Purcell said: “Our objectives from these World Cups were to benchmark ourselves against the competition and maximise our qualification opportunities at the World Championships. We now have a wealth of information as we head into our final training block of the season.

“We had 11 boats in 10 A finals today and we came away with four medals and two fourth place finishes. Polly and Holly put in an outstanding performance and it’s great to see the women’s pair back on the podium. Graeme and John in the double were excellent today and the men’s four turned out a great performance which will keep them hungry over the next six weeks.

“The fantastic result in the men’s eight was a big statement of intent challenging the Germans and winning by nearly a length. It’s important for the guys in the crew but also for the whole team to see what can be achieved.” Leander captain Vicky Thornley came agonisingly close to a spot on the podium as she battled with the Netherlands’ Lisa Scheenard to a photo finish for bronze. The fourth place result marks Thornley’s latest improvement throughout the season as she continues her return to form after taking most of last year off.

Earlier in the day, there were some outstanding GB performances in the B finals. The women’s four of Leander’s Emily Ford and Beccy Girling, Caragh McMurtry and Sara Parfett pushed themselves to their limits to lead from start to finish and win their B final by almost a length, while in the B final for the men’s single sculls, Leander’s Harry Leask brought the stroke rate up to 45 in a phenomenal final sprint and stormed through the field to take the win.

The GBR2 women’s eight showed their grit as they hung on to win their B final over the home Dutch boat. The crew of Leander’s Natasha Harris-White and cox Morgan Baynham-Williams along with Susie Dear, Heidi Long, Oonagh Cousins, Fiona Bell, Alice Davies, Rebecca Edwards and Nicole Lamb and featured seven senior GB debutants.

The GB Rowing Team will now head off on summer training camps before returning to compete at the World Championships from August 25 to September 1 in Linz, Austria.