WA Set for Signficant Representation at Junior and U23 World Champs
Western Australia is set to boast strong representation in both Australian Junior and U23 teams at this year’s Rowing World Championships.
Five West Aussies will compete at the U23 Titles in Florida this July, whilst a further six teens will don the green and gold at the Junior Championships in Tokyo in August.
The selections are a boon for the local pathway development structure and provide further evidence of the effective partnerships being carried out between the local Rowing Clubs, Rowing WA and WAIS.
The state had three U23 representatives in 2018 and two Junior representatives. A year later and that combined number has swelled to 11.
Giorgia Patten will contest the U23 Women’s Double Scull and will partner Sydney’s Harriet Hudson with the duo coached by WAIS Rowing Program lead Rhett Ayliffe.
Patten is the only returning U23 team member from WA in this year’s cohort, but she will be joined by debutants Lia Franklin, Olivia Jones, Patrick Boere and Rohan James.
Franklin and Jones will team with UTS Rowing Club members Grace Reid and Nicela Martincic in the Women’s Coxless Four. The crew will be coached by West Australian Rowing Club mentor Joe Tamigi.
Boere and James will partner in the Lightweight Men’s Pair with the Swan River Rowing Club duo coached by Mark Beer of the same club.
Hamish Henriques will return for a second stint at Junior World Championship level, having won a bronze medal as a member of the Men’s Coxed Four in 2018 in the Czech Republic.
This year, he will team with Victoria’s Harrison Fox in the Men’s Double Scull, with the duo coached by WAIS coach Jamie Hewlett.
The boys came close to breaking a junior world record in the same event at the recent trials in Penrith, demonstrating that they are likely to be in the hunt for medals in Tokyo.
The Australian Junior Men’s Coxless Four crew will boast two WA debutants, with Duke Gordon and Riley Rees-Turner both securing berths. They will team with NSW athletes Torben Ungemach and Nikolas Pender with the crew set to be led by Mosman Rowing Club coach Matthias Ungemach.
Rees-Turner’s selection marks a special milestone for the WA talent pipeline with the youngster who will celebrate his 18th birthday this week, having been uncovered by a WAIS/Rowing WA Talent Search initiative that visited his CBC Fremantle school back in 2017.
To have achieved selection on an official Australian Junior Team just 18 months later is a significant feather in his cap.
The Men’s Coxed Four crew will similarly feature two West Australians with Johnson Daubney and Alexander Rossi earning selection, alongside Nicholas Rath and Lexi McClean of the Mosman Rowing Club. The boat will be coxed by Sydney Rowing Club’s Harry Keenan. Mosman’s Judith Ungemach will coach the crew.
Rounding out an excellent list of WA selections, Clare Netherway will compete in Women’s Double Scull with Sydney’s Sophie Houston. Stefano Balosso, who coaches Netherway out of the University of WA Boat Club will lead the duo.
U23 Australian Team Representatives for the World Championships in Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida from July 24-28:
- Giorgia Patten (West Australian Rowing Club) – Women’s Double Scull
- Lia Franklin (Swan River Rowing Club) – Women’s Coxless Four
- Olivia Jones (West Australian Rowing Club) – Women’s Coxless Four
- Patrick Boere (Swan River Rowing Club) – Lightweight Men’s Pair
- Rohan James (Swan River Rowing Club) – Lightweight Men’s Pair
Junior Australian Team Representatives for the World Championships in Tokyo from August 7-11:
- Hamish Henriques (West Australian Rowing Club) – Men’s Double Scull
- Duke Gordon (West Australian Rowing Club) – Men’s Coxless Four
- Riley Rees-Turner (Swan River Rowing Club) – Men’s Coxless Four
- Johnson Daubney (Hale School Rowing) – Men’s Coxed Four
- Alexander Rossi (Trinity College Rowing Club) – Men’s Coxed Four
- Clare Netherway (University of WA Boat Club) – Women’s Double Scull