Barras goes it alone in Shanghai World Rowing Championships

LEANDER Club athletes once again dominate the GB squad that has been selected for the World Rowing Championships in Shanghai later this month.

Of the 48 athletes selected for the Chinese championship, which run from September 21 to 28, Leander have representation in 11 of the 15 boats. The squad comprises crews who have been well-established this season as well as some new combinations who will compete in soaring temperatures, at the Shanghai Water Sports Centre.

Leander’s Tom Barras, silver medallist in Tokyo 2020, returns to the single sculls for the second time this season.

Having topped the podium at the European Championships and World Rowing Cup Lucerne are the unchanged men’s quadruple sculls of Leander’s Cedol Dafydd and Rory Harris along with Callum Dixon and Matt Haywood.

Returning European Champions and World Rowing Cup Varese winners are the men’s eight of Leander’s Archie Drummond, Miles Beeson and Matt Rowe along with Will Stewart, David Bewicke-Copley, Fergus Woolnough, Sam Nunn, Matt Aldridge and cox Will Denegri. Completing the men’s squad are three new crew combinations.

The men’s four sees three returners, fresh from their Cambridge University Boat Race win, James Robson, Douwe de Graaf and George Bourne join Leander’s Dan Graham. The all Leander men’s pair will be James Vogel and Harry Geffen, while Leander’s Tobias Schröder is joined by Aidan Thompson in the double sculls. The women’s quadruple sculls sees the return of Paris 2024 Olympic Champion Hannah Scott along with Sarah McKay, Olympic Champion Lola Anderson and Olympic bronze medallist Becky Wilde in an all-Leander line-up. The women’s double sculls is a combination of Lucy Glover with Leander’s Cam Nyland.

The new women’s four of Leander’s Lauren Irwin, Eve Stewart and Heidi Long, along with Megan Slabbert, will double up in the women’s eight joining Leander’s Eleanor Brinkhoff and Juliette Perry, along with Amelia Standing, Martha Birtles and cox Jack Tottem. GB’s women’s eight were crowned European Champions and won the Varese World Cup earlier this year. Leander’s Lizzie Witt is joined by Jade Lindo in the women’s pairs. Leander are without representation in the remaining GB boats competing in the women’s single sculls, PR1 men’s single sculls, PR3 mixed double sculls and PR3 mixed coxed fours.

Louise Kingsley, British Rowing director of performance, said: “We have had a strong start to the LA cycle topping the medal table at the European Rowing Championships and winning the overall World Rowing Cup, but now we’re at the business end of the season and expect to meet some fierce competition in China as we face crews from across the world.

“Lining up in Shanghai, we have some unchanged crews who have produced impressive results this year. We also have some new combinations, where we are welcoming athletes back into the squad including those who have been away at university. We’re looking forward to seeing how they all perform at the Shanghai Water Sports Centre.”