WAIS Athlete Canberra Bound for Rowing Training Camp

WAIS rowing athlete Perry Ward will travel to Canberra to take part in a Rowing Australia training camp next week in preparation for the 2010 season.

2008 Olympic gold medallist in the men’s double scull, David Crawshay (VIC), will headline the athletes taking part in the camps, which includes the men’s heavyweight sculling group, women’s heavyweight and both the men and women lightweight rowers.

Members of the 2008 Olympic women’s eight – Sarah Heard (VIC), Elizabeth Kell (NSW) and Pauline Frasca (VIC) – all return from a one year break, along with the Tasmanian lightweight trio of four times Olympian Anthony Edwards, and the 2008 men’s lightweight double scull of Sam Beltz and Tom Gibson.

Sally Kehoe (QLD), Sarah Cook (ACT), Kim Crow (VIC) and Kerry Hore (TAS), who are currently AIS scholarship holders, will also feature in the camp.

South Australian scullers Chris Morgan and James McRae, who were part of the men’s heavyweight quad scull that finished fourth in Beijing, will also attend the six day camp, while Dan Noonan (NSW) and Pippa Savage (QLD) make up the Olympic contingent.

In addition to these athletes, a further eight rowers that competed for Australia at the 2009 World Championships will also be in attendance.

National High Performance Director Andrew Matheson says the returning athletes will provide a boost to the Australian rowing program in 2010.

“The quality of athletes that are coming back into the mix for 2010 is high calibre and will provide us with good strength and depth as we continue to move towards London,” Matheson said. “2009 was a very important year for us and we unearthed a number of younger rowers who looked to make their mark on the international rowing scene.

“Their progress in 2009 will provide us with competition for seats next year, which is always a good position to be in.”

The Australian Rowing Team will compete at two World Cups in 2010, as well as the World Rowing Championships in New Zealand in November.

The men’s camp will run next week from Monday 7 – Saturday 12 December, while the women’s camp will begin on Thursday 10 December and concludes on Sunday 13 December.

– Rowing Australia