WA Rowers Named Amongst Cream of the Crop
A number of Western Australians have earned nomination across athlete and coaching ranks for peak honours at the 2018 Rower of the Year Awards.
The shortlist follows-on from a successful international season for the Australian Rowing Team that netted medals across all age levels.
Senior world championship medallists Joshua Hicks and David Watts have headlined the WA charge – with both men nominated along with their respective crews for the Male Crew of the Year title.
Hicks and the Aussie men’s four crew toasted world championship success for a second consecutive year after they defended their title in Bulgaria at the 2018 edition last September.
Watts and the men’s quad crew returned a sensational performance at this year’s world titles to win a silver medal and reassert themselves as an international force in the sculling class.
The men’s four and quad scull are shortlisted for the award alongside the men’s eight.
Annabelle McIntyre captured a bronze medal as a member of the women’s eight crew that earned Australia’s first podium finish in the event at world championship level in 12 years.
The performance was also McIntyre’s debut at senior world level. The women’s eight is up against the Australian women’s four for the Female Crew of the Year award.
London Olympian Hannah Vermeersch overcame an injury-cruelled stretch to return to top level competition, where she and Addy Dunkley-Smith finished eighth overall in the women’s pair.
Vermeerch’s determination and popularity amongst the national team have seen her nominated for the Rower’s Rower Award, along with Campbell Watts, Hamish Playfair, Leah Saunders, Nathan Bowden and Rosie Poppa.
WAIS rowing coach Jamie Hewlett has earned recognition amongst a shortlist of six coaches for the 2018 Pathway Coach of the Year award.
Hewett coached the Junior Australian coxed four crew, containing WA athletes Hamish Henriques and Ben Gerrard to a bronze medal at the world titles in the Czech Republic.
Locally, Hewlett has been a focal point of WA’s athlete talent identification and talent development plan, working collaboratively across Institute, State and Club pathways.
He is joined in shortlist by Nick Garratt, David Gely, Jason Lane, Don McLachlan and Tim McClaren.
The 2018 Rower of the Year Awards will take place at Sydney’s International Convention Centre on Saturday, November 3.