ROWING: The 2016 Australian Rowing Team will take to the water this week to compete in the final World Rowing Cup of 2016. Australia has entered 12 crews at World Rowing Cup 3 which runs from 17 to 19 June in Poznan, Poland.
Competing for the first time this international season will be Australia’s two World Championship winning para-rowing crews. Three-time World Rowing Champion in the Arms and Shoulders Men’s Single Sculls, Erik Horrie, is entered in a field of 13 crews, which includes Great Britain’s Tom Aggar and Ukraine’s Igor Boldar, who finished second and third behind Horrie in Aiguebelette in 2014.
2015 World Champion Kimberley Brennan, along with women’s sculling reserve Olympia Aldersey, will compete in the Women’s Single Sculls this weekend. The boat class has 24 entries and will see 2014 World Rowing Champion in the Women’s Single, Emma Twigg of New Zealand, potentially take on Brennan for the first time since the 2014 World Championships.
Brennan, who won gold at World Rowing Cup II last month, said: “I’m really looking forward to having a good hit out against a quality field on the weekend. I’ve raced at Poznan a couple of times before, and really enjoy racing there. The Australian team has had a good couple of weeks training at our “home away from home” at the AIS in Gavirate and will be looking to consolidate on some good first up races in Lucerne.”
The Men’s Quadruple Sculls who also won gold at World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne, are amongst a field of 12 entries and will be hoping to emulate their strong performance from Switzerland last month. The crew of James McRae, Cameron Girdlestone, Alexander ‘Sasha’ Belonogoff and Karsten Forsterling will once again take on Great Britain, who finished second, as well as crews from Switzerland, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Italy and Poland.
Girdlestone commented pre-event: “We’re looking forward to the regatta this weekend and having another opportunity to race against strong international competition. We’re focussed on executing what we have been working hard on in training and using our momentum from Lucerne, allowing us to improve as we head towards the culmination of the international season.”
Rhys Grant will compete in the Men’s Single Sculls this weekend, in the boat class that has the most entries at the World Rowing Cup, a total of 30. Australia will enter two crews in the Men’s Pair boat class, with Spencer Turrin and Alex Lloyd once again taking to the water, this time they’ll be joined by the Men’s Sweep reserve pairing of Joshua Hicks and James Medway.
The Australian Men’s Four sees the return of Alex Hill to the crew. Hill, alongside Joshua Dunkley-Smith, Joshua Booth and William Lockwood will be hoping upgrade their silver medal from Lucerne to a gold in Poznan. There are eight crews entered in the boat class, including reigning Olympic champions, Great Britain, and reigning World Champions, Italy.
The Men’s Double Sculls of David Watts and Chris Morgan will be looking to improve upon their performance in Lucerne, Switzerland and are in a field of 17 competitors in Poland. The crew have been working hard in Varese with coach Rhett Ayliffe ahead of the regatta this weekend.
Ayliffe’s other sculling crew, Sally Kehoe and Genevieve Horton, claimed a silver medal at World Rowing Cup II in Switzerland. At this weekend’s regatta, the crew will be one of 10 countries looking to be standing on the dais. The gold medallists from last month’s World Cup, Lithuania, are not entered to compete at Poznan, however third-placed Greece are back, along with fellow finalists Germany, France and New Zealand amongst others.
The 12th crew entered by Australia is the Women’s Quadruple Sculls of Madeleine Edmunds, Jennifer Cleary, Kerry Hore and Jessica Hall. The crew finished fifth at World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne and will face a smaller field of boats in Poznan. Entered alongside Australia is Belarus, Germany, the Netherlands and Lucerne gold medallists’, and hosts, Poland.
Australian crews for World Rowing Cup 3 – 17 to 19 June, Poznan, Poland
Men’s Pair
Crew 1
Spencer Turrin (Sydney RC/RBNTC – NSW)
Alexander Lloyd (Sydney RC/RBNTC – NSW)
Crew 2
Joshua Hicks (Sydney RC/NSWIS – WA)
James Medway (UTS RC/NSWIS – NSW)
Men’s Four
Alexander Hill (Adelaide RC/RBNTC – SA)
Joshua Booth (Melbourne University BC/VIS – VIC)
Joshua Dunkley-Smith (Mercantile RC/VIS – VIC)
William Lockwood (Melbourne University BC/RBNTC – VIC)
Men’s Single Sculls
Rhys Grant (West Australian RC/WAIS – WA)
Men’s Quadruple Sculls
James McRae (Murray Bridge RC/SASI – SA)
Cameron Girdlestone (Sydney University BC/NSWIS – NSW)
Alexander Belonogoff (Sydney University BC/SASI – NSW)
Karsten Forsterling (Melbourne University BC/VIS – VIC)
Men’s Double Sculls
David Watts (Swan River RC/RBNTC – WA)
Chris Morgan (Sydney RC/NSWIS – SA)
Women’s Single Sculls
Crew 1
Kimberley Brennan (Melbourne University BC/RBNTC – VIC)
Crew 2
Olympia Aldersey (Adelaide RC/RBNTC – SA)
Women’s Double Sculls
Genevieve Horton (Mosman RC/NSWIS – NSW)
Sally Kehoe (Sydney University BC/SASI – QLD)
Women’s Quadruple Sculls
Madeleine Edmunds (Commercial RC/QAS – QLD)
Kerry Hore (Huon RC/TIS – TAS)
Jennifer Cleary (Mercantile RC/VIS – VIC)
Jessica Hall (Brisbane & GPS RC/QAS – QLD)
World Rowing will live-stream the Olympic boat-class A-Finals on Sunday 19 June. Fox Sports are due to broadcast Sunday's finals, please check your local guide for further details.
