U23 World Championships
6 Brookes athletes came away which much success at this year’s U23 World Championships. With the athletes representing in 4 boat classes both heavy and lightweight, this shows the diverse group of people that the OBUBC program caters for.
Two members of this year’s winning Temple crew progressed through the early rounds to find themselves in strong positions in their respective A-final. Chris Tebb raced in the LM2- with incoming Brookes fresher Dom Jackson – they were in the mix of the medals at the halfway point, but couldn’t hold on to 3rd as the pace heated up in second half, finishing them in 4th. Coxswain Charlie Clarke had a stellar Saturday with his crew in the M4+ – after winning the repechage in strong fashion, they put in a hard first half in the final to find themselves in 3rd with 500m to go. With a brilliant sprint to row through USA and hold off a late charge from Romania, Charlie and crew came away with a well-deserved Silver medal.
Since mid-June, Imogen Mackie has been training with her GB LW4x featuring athletes from Exeter, Oxford and Cambridge, with Brookes’ women’s coach Allan French also chosen to coach the LW4x. The crew raced internationally earlier in the year at the Holland Beker, winning their event and gaining valuable race experience in a tough event. At the U23 in Plovdiv, after progressing straight through to the A-final from their heat, they found themselves in a tight battle for spots, with Italy out ahead in first – beating the previous U23 World record by a number of seconds in the process. The GB LW4x rowed a very spirited second half and against a very strong field of medalists from last years final they finished in contact with the medals, but not quite close enough in 5th.
Matthew Aldridge, Morgan Bolding and Michael Glover – Ladies Plate winners earlier this summer – sealed off a very good regatta for Brookes and GB with their performance in the A final of the M8+. Having had a tussle with Romania in the heat, they rowed a very well-executed race to come away with a bronze medal behind two crews who’d set U23 world-best times earlier in the regatta.
A great representation at U23’s by all the Brookes athletes – still yet to race this summer internationally are Grace Macdonald and Sophia Heath who have been selected for the European U23 Championships in the GB W8+ with Aisling Humphries-Griffiths in the coxing seat, as well as Sam Nunn who has been selected for the M8+. Late Autumn will also see Harry Brightmore getting his call-up to the Senior Squad as cox of the M2+ at the Senior World Championships in Sarasota, as well as Jamie Copus to be confirmed in a lightweight boat.