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Great Britain kick start rowing campaign at Munich 2022

Great Britain made a strong start to the European Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany today, with good performances across the Women’s, Men’s and Para crews despite quite windy, challenging conditions

Five crews have progressed directly to the final with another two lining up again in finals after preliminary races today. Four will race again in semi-finals while the remaining crews have the chance to secure a final or semi-final spot via repechage.

Returning to the Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) was Imogen Grant who, with Emily Craig, won the heat to progress to the final on Sunday. “We haven’t raced a double together for nine months so it was really exciting to be back in the combination and see what we’d gained individually, especially here in Munich, as it’s a really cool venue,” Imogen said.

Sam Nunn was “pretty pleased” with the Men’s Four (M4-) win with crewmates Will Stewart, Matt Aldridge and Freddie Davidson. He added: “There are tough conditions out there. We noticed the headwind was making it a longer, slower race but I thought once we got out into the middle we got ourselves into a good, controlling position and then we worked out our rhythm, which saw us through today.”

Also winning their heat were the Women’s Pair (W2-) of Emily Ford and Esme Booth. Esme said: “The conditions were tough. It’s quite bouncy out there and it’s a strong headwind but we kept the rate pretty solid the whole way down and kept our own rhythm so we’re pleased with how that went.” Emily added: “We came out with the result we needed, the result we wanted so we just need to do the same again on Saturday!”

The Women’s Four (W4-) of Heidi Long, Rowan McKellar, Samantha Redgrave and Rebecca Shorten comfortably won their heat. After the race, Samantha said: “We’re feeling good and confident. We liked how we were rowing in that headwind and how we managed it and we’re looking forward to the final, bring it on!” Reflecting on racing in Munich she added: “It’s everyone’s dream to go to the Olympics so it feels special to know that it was here. It’s like when you go to Dorney; you think it’s just another venue but then you see the rings and you realise how cool it is. It’s the same here, it’s been set up for a lot of people with a massive grandstand, so it’s really exciting!”

Lucy Glover said winning the Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x) heat with Jess Leyden, Lola Anderson, and Georgie Brayshaw was “really good.” She added, “We felt in control and just trusted each other and our speed.  For the final, we are looking forward to another race and finding out how fast we can go at this regatta.”

Ollie Wynne-Griffith said he and Men’s Pair (M2-) partner Tom George want to “build through the week,” after winning their heat. Adding: “That was the first marker down and we’ve just got to make sure that tomorrow is better than today and then the next day’s better than tomorrow.”

In the Men’s Single Sculls (M1x), Graeme Thomas described his second place finish as “a bit lonely out there,” adding, “Twellaar went out hard and got a bit of a lead and I was comfortably ahead of the other two guys so we didn’t really make a race of it. I’ll rest tomorrow, regroup and then race the semi-finals on Saturday.”

Saskia Budgett made her 2022 season debut with a second place finish in the Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) with Kyra Edwards. She said, “I am just so thankful to be here and it’s great to get racing after returning from my studies. We got into the rhythm we wanted. So for the next two days we’ll see what we can do!”

The GB Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x) of Harry Leask, George Bourne, Matt Haywood and Tom Barras also had a second place finish and progress to the semi-finals. George said: “I think for a new combination we kept our heads well and racing here in Munich is probably one of the coolest moments of the season! Moving into the quad is exciting and a little bit nerve wracking but that’s the first one out of the way and now we can try to build through the regatta and the season.”

The PR3 mixed coxed four (PR3 Mix 4+) rowed by Frankie Allen, Giedre Rakauskaite, Ed Fuller and Ollie Stanhope continued their unbeaten run in what is an emotional regatta for cox Erin Kennedy who is likely to be taking a break from the team after Munich, to continue treatment for her recently diagnosed breast cancer. They race in the final on Sunday after winning today’s preliminary race.

Also winning their preliminary race were the Men’s Eight (M8+) of Rory Gibbs, Morgan Bolding, David Bewicke-Copley, Sholto Carnegie, Charlie Elwes, Tom Digby, James Rudkin, Tom Ford and cox Harry Brightmore who will line up again on Sunday.

Racing on Friday in repechages will be Benjamin Pritchard in the PR1 Men’s Single Sculls (PR1 M1x), Maddie Arlett in the Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (LW1x), Dale Flockhart and Jamie Copus in the Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) and the Women’s Eight (W8+) where cox Morgan Baynham-Williams is joined by Rebecca Edwards and Lauren Irwin plus the Women’s Four and Women’s Pair.

Boat	Crew	Race	Time	Progression
PR1 M1x	Benjamin Pritchard	Heat	10:13.44	1st ➡ A Final
PR3 Mix4+	Frankie Allen, Giedre Rakauskaite, Ed Fuller, Ollie Stanhope, Erin Kennedy (cox)	Preliminary Race	07:23.21	1st ➡ A Final
W2-	Esme Booth, Emily Ford	Heat	07:44.93	1st ➡ A Final
W4-	Rowan McKellar, Heidi Long, Samantha Redgrave, Rebecca Shorten	Heat	07:11.95	1st ➡ A Final
W8+	Rebecca Edwards, Lauren Irwin, Emily Ford, Esme Booth, Samantha Redgrave, Rebecca Shorten, Rowan McKellar, Heidi Long, Morgan Baynham-Williams (cox)	Heat	06:43.52	2nd ➡ Repechage
LW1x	Maddie Arlett	Heat	08:51.26	5th ➡ Repechage
LW2x	Emily Craig, Imogen Grant	Heat	07:42.44	1st ➡ A Final
W2x	Kyra Edwards, Saskia Budgett	Heat	07:39.49	2nd ➡ A/B Semi Final
W4x	Jess Leyden, Lola Anderson, Georgie Brayshaw, Lucy Glover	Heat	07:09.73	1st ➡ A Final
M2-	Ollie Wynne-Griffith, Tom George	Heat	07:02.55	1st ➡ A/B Semi Final
M4-	Will Stewart, Sam Nunn, Matt Aldridge, Freddie Davidson	Heat	06:32.26	1st ➡ A Final
M8+	Rory Gibbs, Morgan Bolding, David Bewicke-Copley, Sholto Carnegie, Charlie Elwes, Tom Digby, James Rudkin, Tom Ford, Harry Brightmore (cox)	Prelim	05:59.29	1st➡ A Final
M1x	Graeme Thomas	Heat	08:17.09	2nd➡ A/B Semi Final
LM2x	Dale Flockhart, Jamie Copus	Heat	07:18.52	4th ➡ Repechage
M4x	Harry Leask, George Bourne, Matt Haywood, Tom Barras	Heat	06:22.99	2nd➡ A/B Semi Final

Catch up with all of the GB Rowing Team’s results here.