WA Rowers Compete at World Rowing Cup III

Western Australia’s elite rowers were in the thick of the action at the weekend World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne with athletes competing across four crews.

With final crews set to be announced for this year’s World Championships in the USA in September, Switzerland presented a last competitive opportunity for hopefuls looking to push their case for selection.

Josh Hicks was a member of the Australian men’s eight crew that picked up a silver medal in Lucerne, with the boat finishing second behind Germany.

The Australians closed in on the world leading Germans in the final 500m, but couldn’t quite finish over the top of the World Cup champions.

James Kerr and the Australian lightweight men’s quad scull crew finished fifth in their A-Final having qualified for the race through the repechage round.

Kerr, rowing with Hamish Parry, Redmond Matthews and Sean Murphy produced a spirited effort, but the Australians could not quite match the backend speed of the podium boats, with the Czech Republic winning ahead of Italy and France.

Rio Olympian David Watts took fourth place in the B-Final of the men’s quad scull, racing with Luke Letcher, whilst Cam Fowler was third in the D-Final of the men’s lightweight single scull.

With the Australian team finishing competition second on the medal tally, Performance Director Bernard Savage said he was pleased with the performances and professionalism of the team.

“We have had some really encouraging results today and across the regatta as a whole. It has been pleasing to see the professional way the whole team – athletes, coaches and staff – have gone about their business.

“Obviously we had a really exciting race today. in the Men’s Eight, and it’s great to see that crew perform well after so little time together. It’s also pleasing to see the Women’s Four back up from Poznan and win another gold medal, this time against a stronger field.

“This tour has been a really important stepping stone leading up to the World Rowing Championships. We head home now, will assess all the performances and finalise our boats and crews for Worlds, looking to maintain the momentum we have developed here in Europe.”