Silver for WAIS Lightweight Rowers

WAIS rowers Todd Skipworth and Ben Cureton have captured silver in the final of the men’s lightweight four at World Cup 3 in Germany over the weekend.

Competing alongside the Tasmanian duo of Anthony Edwards and Sam Beltz, the Australian men’s lightweight four showed they would be a medal threat in London after finishing second in the A-final in Munich behind Great Britain.

The current world champions began slowly, sitting fifth at halfway 1000m mark, but stroked by Skipworth, picked up their tempo in the second stage, passing Denmark, France and Switzerland to finish in a time of 6:18.81mins.

Great Britain will remain the obvious threat at the Olympics in August, with the GB crew showing good pace throughout the world cup series, and with the knowledge they will be backed by a parochial home crowd on the Eton Dorney course.

Fellow WAIS rowers Hannah Vermeersch and Alex Hagan competed in Munich in the women’s eight, qualifying for the final, where the Australian boat finished fifth.

Having recently earned Olympic qualification, the eight has threatened to break through for a podium finish, but they again fell marginally short in Germany, but will now build towards an Olympic tilt that until a month ago seemed improbable.