WA Rowers in Action at World Champs in Florida

WA athletes competing for Australia at the 2017 World Rowing Championships in Florida have all been in action across the opening three days of competition.

Josh Hicks and the Australian men’s four crew won their heat on Sunday to progress directly for Thursday’s semi-final, avoiding a repechage.

Hicks, Spencer Turrin, Jack Hargreaves and Alexander Hill finished ahead of crews from Spain and New Zealand after recording a time of 6:06.71mins.

At 26, Hicks is now based in NSW with the Sydney Rowing Club and has previously competed at Junior and U23 World Championship level, as well as having represented Harvard in the famed Harvard-Yale battles during his time studying in the USA.

James Kerr and Cameron Fowler were part of the Australian lightweight men’s quad scull boat that has booked its place in the semi-finals after taking third place in their repechage.

Joined by Redmond Matthews and Hamish Perry, the Australians finished ahead of Brazil and Norway in a time of 6:04.75 to progress, in a performance that Kerr said was better than their earlier heat.

“Today’s repechage was a step up from our heat performance. We tackled the race with a little less nerves and a much larger focus on holding onto the front-runners out of the blocks,” Kerr said.

“We trust that Ian’s [Wright] program has given us enough steam to hold it on the limiter, to the line, even if we spend a bit more fuel in the initial phase of the race.”

“Semi-finals are the next step for us, with our goal being to race the A final. If we can take the same approach [as we did for this race] to another level, I am confident we can get the job done,” he said.

Kerr is a member of the UWA Boat Club, whilst Fowler is aligned to the Swan River Rowing Club. Both men study outside of sport, with Kerr completing a Mechanical Engineering degree and Fowler focusing on Psychology and Sport Science.

 

   

The Men’s Double Scull crew of Western Australian David Watts and 2016 U23 World Champion Luke Letcher will require a repechage to continue their campaign in Florida.

The young duo were drawn in a heat with an inform Italy and Great Britain and couldn’t secure passage direct to the semi-final.

They’ll be back in action on Wednesday, racing against crews from Bulgaria, USA, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada. A top two spot will see them advance.

  

Photos: (c) Rowing Australia