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
British National Championships
The Men’s 1st VIII claimed the national title at the British Rowing Senior Championships- held this weekend at Holme Pierrepont. They won the final with three seconds to spare over local rivals Leander. Molesey finished in third place, with an unprecedented three further Brookes crews rounding off the top 6. Despite this being the national championships, this is the first race for most clubs this season, and the result demonstrated the strength in depth built over the last few years by Head Coach Henry Bailhache-Webb. The 3rd VIII, the highest ranked all-student crew, claimed the university pennant over the 4th VIII- the only two crews in this category to make the
FISU World University Championships Report
It was a successful weekend for BROOKES|Rowing athletes, where 10 athletes raced at the World University Championships (FISU) which took place in Shanghai, China. The Men’s Eight, consisting of Harry Brightmore, Henry Swarbrick, Michael Glover and Matt Hnatiw faced competition from the USA, Poland, Italy, China and the Netherlands. They won the race for lanes and replicated that race in the final, leading from start to finish in a time of 5:38 to win the gold medal. The Men’s Four included Rory Gibbs and Morgan Bolding. They were joined by Matt Benstead and Oli Wilkes, the latter of whom raced in the Ladies Plate as part of a Brookes/Edinburgh composite
U23 World Championships Report
There were a number of notable performances by BROOKES|Rowing athletes at last week’s U23 World Championships, held in Poznan, Poland. Of the 8 medals won by GB crews, 3 involved current athletes, with a further 4 athletes racing in A finals. In the Men’s coxless fours, Sam Nunn raced in the 2 seat partnered by David Ambler, Charlie Elwes and Felix Drinkall. The crew finished in a time of 5:52.74, pipping New Zealand to a silver medal by just 0.07 seconds. Matthew Aldridge, racing at his third and final U23 Championships, improved on his bronze medal in the eight at last years championships with a thrilling finish to claim a
GB Rowing Final Trials Report
This weekend, 18 BROOKES|Rowing athletes raced over two days at the GB Rowing Senior, U23 and FISU Final Trials at Caversham. The crews were blessed with great conditions which made for some tight racing throughout the weekend. The time trials and semi-finals were raced on Saturday, with the finals taking place on Sunday morning. Matt Tarrant, who raced in the winning Men’s 1st VIII at the recent Head of the River Race, came away with a win in the M2- partnered by Alan Sinclair. Matt was in the bronze medal winning M4- at last year’s World Rowing Championships, and will be looking to gain selection for the top heavyweight men’s
Women’s Head Report
Three BROOKES|Rowing eights travelled to London on Saturday to race in this year’s Women’s Head of the River Race. The race was part of a long weekend of racing which also incorporated the Head of the River Race and Schools Head- the first time all three have been run in this format. There were a record 320 entries at Women’s Head- more than the men’s race for the first time ever. The women’s 1st VIII, featuring GB Rowing Team member Annie Withers, finished in a very strong sixth place overall, winning the senior pennant for the first time in the club’s history. The 2nd VIII put in a great row
Four BROOKES|Rowing crews to face University of Oxford
This Saturday 24 February, BROOKES|Rowing will open its spring racing season against local rivals, the University of Oxford. The top two eights from the men’s and women’s squads will battle it out against their dark blue counterparts over two pieces on the championship course, where Oxford will race Cambridge University in 4 weeks time. Timings for the races can be found below: Women’s 2nd VIII vs Osiris @ 15:30 Women’s 1st VIII vs OUWBC Blue Boat @ 16:00 Men’s 2nd VIII vs Isis @ 16:20 Men’s 1st VIII vs OUBC Blue Boat @ 16:45 The men’s squad will face Cambridge University the following week, with the women heading to Reading
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
Dominant Performance at Wallingford Head
BROOKES|Rowing produced the fastest men’s and women’s crews in every boat class with a dominant performance on their home stretch at Wallingford Head this weekend Four first years helped the second eight to overall victory in a course record of 13:26.4, winning by just a second over the first eight. Henry Bloise-Brooke, Seb Newman, Ari Cohen and Matt Rowe all started studying at Oxford Brookes in September, and this result shows how well they have made the transition to university rowing. The win, in Open 8+, built on their performance in the morning division, where they posted the fastest time and claimed victory in Open U23 8+. In addition to these
