Bradley Beijing Bound

After weeks of speculation and hype, Rowing Australia has announced its final selection of rowers for the 2008 Beijing Games. Also named were the senior, junior and under-23 squads for the up coming World Championships in Linz, Austria and Brandenburg, Germany.

There were mixed fortunes for WAIS rowers following the announcement, with Amber Bradley gaining selection in the women’s quad scull, whilst dual Olympian, Sally Robbins missed out in the women’s double scull.

Bradley’s selection came as no real surprise after the Mt Pleasant resident produced a string of solid performances last week, to back up the strong ranking she had already accrued in the two previous selection regattas.

Bradley will compete in the women’s quad scull at Beijing along with crew members Kerry Hore (Tasmania), Zoe Uphill (NSW) and Amy Ives (NSW), with the squad coached by Nick Garratt. Bradley will be looking to better her bronze medal effort in Athens, in what is considered a strong boat.

Bradley admitted the thought of Beijing was only now dawning, after being selected for her second games.

“It’s quite a surreal feeling to now be named, before I had been taking it one training session at a time and not losing focus on that,” Bradley said.

“I was speaking to mum and dad earlier and they had already booked their tickets to Beijing, so obviously they were a lot more confident than I was.”

Bradley will now continue training in Sydney before two days in Perth and then travelling to Europe where she and her crew will compete in the first two World Cup regattas in Munich (Germany) and Lucerne (Switzerland).

Bradley feels her crew can compete for medals in Beijing, and is not afraid to raise the bar of expectation.

“I competed with Kerry Hore in Athens, winning bronze. It would be lovely to get a better result than that this time,” Bradley said.

“We can’t control what the other squads are doing, all we can do is give it our best. I have no doubt that we can surprise a few people.”

Despite a resolute finish to the final selection regatta, Robbins was unable to out rank Victoria’s Catriona Sens and ACT’s Sonia Mills for a spot in the women’s double scull. Pippa Savage (QLD) earned selection in the women’s single scull.

Robbins suggested that she would reassess her future goals in the wake of this disappointment.

“Obviously I’m disappointed that I won’t have the chance to represent my country in the double scull and have the opportunity to qualify and compete at my third Olympic Games in Beijing,” Robbins said.

“The past four years have been tough but I’m proud of myself and all that I’ve achieved. It was a close battle throughout the selection process and I wish all the girls the best for the coming months and their Olympic campaign.

“I’d also like to thank the enormous number of people who have supported and assisted me on my journey to this point.

“I will be taking some time now to establish new goals and I’m looking forward to an exciting future.”

WAIS will have a strong field of representation in the non-Olympic national senior and junior squads at the World Championships starting on 22 July in Linz, Austria.

Hugh Rawlinson will cox the men’s coxed pair along with NSW teammates Nicholas Baxter and Fergus Pragnell. The squad will train with Coach Ellen Randell in Sydney before departing for competition.

Ross Brown and Perry Ward will form part of the men’s lightweight eight squad, which will be based in Tasmania with Coach Ron Batt.

The entire junior men’s coxless four squad is WAIS based with Elliot Bannan, Christian Eyres, Harley Mooney and David Watts all selected for the World Championships with the boat to be coached by WAIS rowing mentor, Sean Leyland.

Leyland believes the squad can climb the dais after good form through the nationals.

“We are going to keep things smart and train hard, while creating good competition and confidence within the squad. Our goal for the World Junior Championships is to achieve a podium finish,” Leyland said.

“From an immediate point of view, we’ve already had plenty of time together and this will help us to continue to gel, perhaps more quickly, than those junior athletes that have to re-locate. Stress of school, work, and training can also be aided by the very supportive parents thesefour guys have here in WA.

“These four boys have huge amounts of potential in rowing. Not only have they shown that they have big engines, but their rate of improvement physiologically is good, as well as showing an incredible amount of maturity for guys of their age.

“Both their fitness and their ability to problem solve, and think on their feet will be assets to them not only in the next three months, but through their entire careers.”

Bunbury’s Alex Hagan will compete in Austria in the women’s single scull. Hagan (17) will be coached by Jamie Jones, who is also from Bunbury. The pair will travel to Perth on weekends to train with the WAIS rowing squad.

Rowing Australia also named the Under-23 squad that will compete in Brandenburg, Germany in July.

Emily Rose and Libby Alderman have been selected in the women’s pair, whilst Cameron Brewer and Rhys Grant will compete in the men’s coxless four.

WAIS rowing Coach, Jason LanewillCoach both crews in Perth, before the squad travels to Germany for competition.