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64 athletes selected for World Championships on first step to Tokyo

64 athletes have been selected to compete for Great Britain at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Linz, Austria (25 Aug-1 Sep)

The World Championships will be the first and primary opportunity to qualify boats for next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

British Rowing Director of Performance Brendan Purcell commented on the selections, saying: “Following this season’s World Cup series, we’ve selected a team that we’re confident is capable of challenging for the Olympic and Paralympic qualification places available.

“We’re in a great position following our training camps in the lead up to Worlds, where the crews have been challenging themselves to keep stepping up their performances day by day.”

This season’s World Cup champions, the men’s eight, will be racing with a point to prove after claiming their first gold medal of the Olympiad and title last month in Rotterdam.  The crew of Tom George, James Rudkin, Josh Bugajski, Mohamed Sbihi, Jacob Dawson, Ollie Wynne-Griffith, Mat Tarrant, Tom Ford and cox Henry Fieldman, coached by Jurgen Grobler, will be challenging for one of only five Olympic qualification spots in Linz.

Sbihi, who was part of the gold medal-winning men’s four from Rio 2016, said: “As the Olympic and Paralympic qualification regatta, these World Championships are so important.

“The eight is the hardest boat on the sweep side to qualify – only five nations can qualify directly and ideally we don’t want to have to go through extra qualification rounds next year.  It’s a really important regatta for everyone involved and has a big impact on the wider team.”

Among those competing for Great Britain’s para squad will be Ben Pritchard, who will be heading to his first World Championships to race in the men’s PR1 single sculls. Pritchard has been given the nod following a fantastic season which saw him take home a bronze medal on his World Cup debut.

On his selection, Pritchard said: “I’ve really enjoyed this season. Being selected to represent Great Britain at the World Championships is the cumulation of two years of hard work.

“I’m looking forward to competing in Austria, seeing the progress that my coach Tom and I have made since Poznan and hopefully gaining a qualification spot for the Paralympic Games next year.”

Imogen Grant, who won lightweight single sculls gold in Rotterdam, will return to partner Emily Craig in the lightweight double, while bronze-medal winning pair Holly Hill and Polly Swann will join forces with Emily Ford and Sara Parfett in the women’s four.

The men’s four, women’s eight, men’s double and men’s quad, which have all won medals throughout the 2019 season, are unchanged for the World Championships regatta.

Zoe Lee, who was part of the Rio 2016 silver medal-winning women’s eight, said: “I’m super excited to be selected in the eight for the World Champs. It’s going to be a tough championships with Olympic qualification spots up for grabs but the whole team has been working hard to step up since the World Cups and we’re excited to show our speed.”

You can watch the GB Rowing Team in Linz on BBC One on Saturday, 31 August from 1:15 – 3:00 pm and BBC Two on Sunday, 1 September from 12:30 – 2:15 pm, as well as on www.worldrowing.com and British Rowing social media channels in the build-up to finals weekend.

GB Rowing Team crews for World Championships

Men’s single scull (M1x)

Tom Barras (Club: Leander Club / Hometown: Staines)

Coach: Paul Stannard

Men’s pair (M2-)

Morgan Bolding (Oxford Brookes University /Withiel)

Tom Jeffery (Leander Club / Plymouth)

Coach: Steve Trapmore

Men’s double sculls (M2x)

John Collins (Leander Club / Twickenham)

Graeme Thomas (Agecroft RC / Preston)

Coach: Dan Moore

Men’s four (M4-)

Matt Rossiter (Leander Club/ Newbury)

Ollie Cook (Univ. of London BC / Windsor)

Rory Gibbs (Oxford Brookes University / Marlow)

Sholto Carnegie (Leander Club / Oxford)

Coach: Christian Felkel

Men’s quadruple sculls (M4x)

Jonny Walton (Leander Club / Leicester)

Angus Groom (Leander Club / Glasgow)

Jack Beaumont (Leander Club / Maidenhead)

Pete Lambert (Leander Club / Maidenhead)

Coach: Paul Stannard

Men’s eight (M8+)

Tom George (Leander Club / Cheltenham)

James Rudkin (Newcastle Univ. BC / Litchborough)

Josh Bugajski (Oxford Brookes Univ. BC / Stockport)

Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey BC / Surbiton)

Jacob Dawson (Leander Club / Plymouth)

Ollie Wynne-Griffith (Leander Club / Guildford)

Mat Tarrant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC / Shepperton)

Tom Ford (Leander Club / Holmes Chapel)

Henry Fieldman (cox) (Leander Club / London)

Coach: Jürgen Grobler

Lightweight men’s single sculls (LM1x)

Sam Mottram (Leander Club / Stoke Mandeville)

Coach: Hamish Burrell

Lightweight men’s double sculls (LM2x)

Jamie Copus (Oxford Brookes Univ BC / Oxford)

Zak Lee-Green (Agecroft RC / Cardiff)

Coach: Hamish Burrell

Men’s spares

Harry Leask (Leander Club / Edinburgh)

Harry Glenister (Leander Club / Princes Risborough)

George Rossiter (Leander Club / Newbury)

Women’s single scull (W1x)

Vicky Thornley (Leander Club / Wrexham)

Coach: Paul Reedy

Women’s pair (W2-)

Sam Courty (Univ. of Bath BC / Alnwick)

Annie Withers (Leander Club / Kingston)

Coach: Tom Pattichis

Women’s double sculls (W2x)

Kyra Edwards (Nottingham RC / Nottingham)

Ruth Siddorn (Leander Club / Chester)

Coach: Paul Reedy

Women’s four (W4-)

Sara Parfett (University of London BC / Rochester)

Holly Hill (Cambridge Univ. Women’s BC / Isle of Ely RC / Gossington)

Polly Swann (Univ. of Edinburgh / Edinburgh)

Emily Ford (Leander Club / Holmes Chapel)

Coach: Tom Pattichis

Women’s quadruple sculls (W4x)

Jess Leyden (Leander Club / Todmorden)

Melissa Wilson (Cambridge Univ. Women’s BC / Edinburgh)

Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne (Reading Univ. BC / Hereford)

Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne (University of London BC / Hereford)

Coach: Jane Hall

Women’s eight (W8-)

Fiona Gammond (Leander Club / Bicester)

Zoë Lee (Imperial College BC / Richmond, N. Yorks)

Jo Wratten (Leander Club / Middlesbrough)

Hattie Taylor (Leander Club / Sunningdale)

Rowan McKellar (Leander Club / Glasgow)

Rebecca Shorten (Imperial College BC / Belfast)

Karen Bennett (Leander Club / Edinburgh)

Holly Norton (Leander Club / Johannesburg, RSA)

Matilda Horn (cox) (Univ. of London BC/Windsor)

Coach: James Harris

Lightweight women’s single sculls (LW1x)

Maddie Arlett (Edinburgh Univ. BC / Selkirk)

Coach: Darren Whiter

 

Lightweight women’s double sculls (LW2x)

Emily Craig (University of London BC / Mark Cross)

Imogen Grant (Cambridge Univ. Women’s BC / Cambridge)

Coach: Darren Whiter

Women’s spares

Saskia Budgett (Tideway Scullers’ School / Acton)

Rebecca Girling (Molesey BC / Fareham)

Caragh McMurtry (Southampton Coalporters ARC / Southampton)

PR1 men’s single scull (PR1 M1x)

Ben Pritchard (City of Swansea RC / Swansea)

Coach: Tom Dyson

PR2 mixed double sculls (PR2 Mix 2x)

Lauren Rowles (Worcester RC / Bromsgrove)

Laurence Whiteley (Tees RC / Northallerton)

Coach: Tom Dyson

PR3 mixed coxed four (PR3 Mix 4+)

Ellen Buttrick (Leeds RC / Leeds)

Giedre Rakauskaite (Worcester RC / Worcester)

James Fox (University of London/ Peterborough)

Ollie Stanhope (Molesey BC / London)

Erin Wysocki-Jones (cox) (Leander Club / Wantage)

Coach: Nick Baker