GB Rowing 1st Assessment
This weekend saw the first step towards the 2019 Senior and U23 World Championships with the GB Rowing Team 1st Assessment in Boston, Lincolnshire. On Saturday, athletes performed a 2k ergo test with minimum standards required to proceed through to Sunday’s racing. Brookes had 48 athletes racing across the weekend which included returners from this year’s Senior, U23 and University World Championships. The men’s pair of Rory Gibbs and Morgan Bolding had the highest place finish with 2nd overall, with the scratch pair of Matthew Aldridge and Mikey Dalton finishing in an impressive 5th place. With a number of Brookes crews close behind, the strength in depth of this year’s
17 Athletes Selected to Represent Great Britain
With the domestic season over, and the majority of the squad away on their summer break, a number of athletes will be representing Great Britain at the upcoming Senior European, World University and World U23 Championships. Below are those who have been selected: U23 World Championships (25-29 July) Matt Aldridge M8+ Sophia Heath W8+ Sam Nunn M4- Matt Rowe M4+ Henry Bloise-Brooke M4+ Gavin McWilliams M4+ Senior European Championships (2-5 August) Mat Tarrant M8+ Jamie Copus LM2x FISU World University Championships (10-12 August) Alex Styles LW2x Susie Dear W2- Matt Hnatiw M8+ Henry Swarbrick M8+ Michael Glover M8+ Harry Brightmore M8+ Morgan Bolding M4- Rory Gibbs M4- Ben
Henley Royal Regatta Preview
BROOKES|Rowing will have 7 crews racing at this year’s Henley Royal Regatta, which takes place from this Wednesday 4th July until Sunday 8th July. For the first time ever, there are two entries into the Ladies’ Plate, and a full student crew will be racing in the Remenham Challenge Cup. Of the three crews entered for qualifiers, which took place last Friday, two progressed to the main regatta. The Women’s 1st VIII beat off crews from the USA and Ireland to claim one of just six qualifying places. They will race Yale University in the Remenham Challenge Cup on Wednesday at 12:00. In the Temple Challenge Cup, our “B” crew
Women win Academic Eights at Henley Women’s Regatta
The women’s squad have just returned from one of the best club performances to date at Henley Women’s Regatta, where 23 athletes reached finals day. The highlight of the weekend was claiming a win in the Academic Eights, which saw two Brookes eights in the semi finals of the event. In the final against close rivals Newcastle University, Brookes got off to a fantastic start which gave them an unassailable lead by the time they reached the enclosures, and pushed out to a 1.5 length win by the finish, and crowned them Academic Eights Champions for the first time in the club’s history. In the Championship Fours event, Brookes got
Success at Ratzeburg Regatta
BROOKES|Rowing returned to Ratzeburg Regatta for the first time since 2014, and did so in style- putting three men’s eights ahead of the German and Polish U23 crews on both days. On Saturday, the 1st VIII finished in a new club record time of 5:29.06. The Temple Eight finished second in 5:33 with the third placed eight finishing in 5:35. They repeated this order on Sunday, though conditions were slower. The men’s coxed four also faced competition from German U23 crews. On Saturday they won in a time of 6:20.48, and on Sunday finished third. The women’s quad beat crews from Poland and Germany to second place behind a composite
Fastest Four Times in Club History
On the Saturday of Ghent Regatta Henry Swarbrick, Morgan Bolding, Rory Gibbs and Oliver Wilkes won the men’s coxless fours by 0.32 seconds. On Sunday, the new combination of Ed Grisedale, Quentin Antognelli, Henry Swarbrick and Oliver Wilkes rowed a sensational race to cross the line 2.49 seconds in front in a time of 5:53.31. This is believed to be the fastest time ever rowed by a British coxless four outside of the national team, also breaking the Ghent course record by 11 seconds. The men’s eights finished with a 1-2 on both days. On Sunday, the 1st 8 set a new all time club record and broke the Ghent
Jamie Copus wins GBRT 3rd Assessment
Final year student Jamie Copus headed the strongest showing in recent years from BROOKES|Rowing athletes by winning this weekend’s GB Rowing Team 3rd Assessment. Copus, who raced in the LM2x at last year’s World Rowing Championships in Sarasota, took victory in the LM1x by just 0.3s over his doubles partner Sam Mottram. Brookes had three athletes in the top 5, with FISU hopeful Ben Reeves finishing 3rd and Joel Cassells taking 5th. Matthew Tarrant, with his partner Josh Bugajski who raced in the Ladies Plate for Brookes last summer, secured 7th spot in a large field in the men’s pair. This result was followed up with 8th place for Rory Gibbs
BROOKES|Rowing to race at Windermere Cup
BROOKES|Rowing will head to Seattle, USA to race in the Windermere Cup for the first time ever on 5th May. The Men’s 1st VIII will face the University of Washington and the Dutch National Team in what will be the first British crew to participate since Brookes alumni Scott Durant, Mason Durant and Matt Tarrant helped the Great Britain VIII to victory in 2014. The Huskies have only been defeated four times in the 31 year history of the event. It will be a busy weekend for BROOKES|Rowing, with the squad split between the USA and Nottingham, where the rest of the squad will look to defend a number of
Scullers Head & GB Trials Report
Jamie Copus came frustratingly close to retaining the headship of Scullers Head this year. After winning in 2014, and with 2015 cancelled due to bad weather, he went off bow #1 and came home 3rd in a stronger field than in 2014. 2 weeks later at the GB Rowing Team’s 2nd Trials Assessment at Caversham, Brookes athletes had a good set of results in their respective boat classes – Matthew Tarrant came 2nd in the M2- with Alan Sinclair, and Annie Withers had a good first trial in the W1x in her first season with the GB Senior squad. Jamie Copus won the LM1x trial, with fellow OBUBC member Joel Cassells coming 2nd.
