WAIS Rowers Earn World Championship Selection
At the completion of the 2011 National Rowing Selection Trials in Sydney last week, WAIS has had four athletes selected into the Australian team for August’s Senior World Championships.
Olympians Todd Skipworth and Ben Cureton have earned nomination for the men’s lightweight four boat, where they will compete along with Tasmanian duo Anthony Edwards and Sam Beltz. Fellow WAIS lightweights Ross Brown and Perry Ward will also head to Bled, Slovenia for the championships after gaining selection for the lightweight men’s eight.
Almost three years on from their Olympic gold medal in the men’s double scull in Beijing, David Crawshay (VIC) and Scott Brennan (TAS) have been reunited after the Australian Rowing Team was named at the conclusion of the 2011 National Selection Trials in Sydney.
Crawshay and Brennan were announced in the men’s double scull, one of 11 Olympic class boats that Australia will take to the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia (August 28-September 4) with the intention of qualifying for next year’s 2012 London Olympic Games.
Brennan took time away from the sport after the triumph in 2008, with today’s selection marking his return to the Australian team, while Crawshay featured in the men’s quad scull in 2009 and 2010, winning silver and bronze medals at the corresponding world championships.
Australia’s second gold medallist crew from 2008, Drew Ginn (VIC) and Duncan Free (QLD), will also row together, but this time in the men’s coxless four with youngsters Joshua Dunkley Smith (VIC) and Nicholas Purnell (NSW).
Triple Olympic gold medallist Ginn missed the selection trials but had impressed national selectors enough since his return to competition at the start of the year to earn a seat in the boat in which he won his first Olympic gold medal in 1996.
Ginn, who is recovering from a stress fracture of the rib, is expected to be back in full training in the early part of May.
Dunkley Smith, 22, and Purnell, 20, are widely considered as two of Australia’s brightest young prospects and form the remainder of the crew that is being targeted to break Great Britain’s run of gold in the past three Olympic Games.
Australia will also field a strong men’s eight in 2011, with all rowers selected having previously rowed for Australia at either Olympic or world championship level.
Coxed by Toby Lister (NSW), the crew features Fergus Pragnell (NSW), Tom Swann (VIC), Bryn Coudraye (SA), Matt Ryan (NSW), James Marburg (VIC), Josh Booth (VIC), Francis Hegerty (NSW) and Sam Loch (NSW).
Kerry Hore (TAS) and Kim Crow (VIC) were re-selected in the women’s double scull after winning the silver medal at last year’s world championships, while Sarah Cook (ACT) and Amy Ives (NSW) join Sally Kehoe (QLD) and Brooke Pratley (NSW) in the women’s quad scull.
Two-time Olympian Sarah Tait (VIC) and Phoebe Stanley (VIC) will row for the second year together in the women’s coxless pair, while Hannah Every-Hall (QLD) and Alice McNamara (VIC) will once again combine in the women’s lightweight double scull.
The men’s quad scull will be stroked by Daniel Noonan (NSW), with Karsten Forsterling (VIC), James McRae (SA) and Chris Morgan (SA) joining the New South Welshman in the crew. Nicholas Hudson (NSW) will row in the men’s single scull and also serve as the reserve for the men’s sculling boats, while the men’s coxless pair consists of Tom Larkins (VIC) and John Linke (VIC).
Rowing Australian National High Performance Director Andrew Matheson said the national selectors were impressed across the board with all athletes.
“The competition for places in every single boat category this year was a marked improvement from 2010,” Matheson said. “The selectors faced a number of really difficult decisions across the trials and the athletic ability of all athletes was really noticeable.
“2011 is a very important year for Australian rowing and all the athletes are raring to go for the next training block and then the international competition later in the year.
“We are really starting to see the benefits of the National Talent Identification and Development program filter into the under 23 team, and this is going to pay dividends in the future.”
Aside from the Olympic class boats, a further 6 non-Olympic category boats were also selected to compete in international competition.
Selectors have reserved the right to amend the crews in the men’s sweep squad (men’s coxless pair, men’s coxless four and men’s coxed eight) following World Cup 3.
The Australian Rowing Team will compete at the Henley Royal Regatta in England (June 29-July 3) and World Cup 3 in Lucerne, Switzerland (July 8-10), before attending a training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport’s European Training Centre in Varese, Italy ahead of the 2011 World Rowing Championships.
Rowing Australia has also announced selections for the U23 World Championships to be held in the Netherlands in July.
WAIS athletes Matt Cochran, Brendan Murray and Tom Gatti will compete in the men’s coxed eight, Ashleigh Miles and Hannah Vermeersch will form part of the women’s four, whilst Hannah Jansen will compete in the lightweight single scull.
– Rowing Australia