WAIS Rowers Win Junior World Championship Medals
WAIS athletes have contributed to both of Australia’s bronze medal successes at the 2010 Junior World Rowing Championships in the Czech Republic.
The Australian junior men’s coxed four won a bronze medal on the final day of action in Racice, to mirror the efforts of the women’s four – who claimed bronze a day earlier.
Coxed by Jack Alpe (NSW), the crew of Thomas Amies (QLD), David Watts (WAIS), Matt Cochran (WAIS) and Angus Moore (ACT) finished third behind Switzerland and Italy in a time of 6:21.85.
Switzerland controlled the race from the start, while Australia produced a strong second 1000m to catch Italy, before being edged out by 0.34 seconds.
Hannah Vermeersch (WAIS), Emma Basher (SA), Olympia Aldersey (SA) and Natasha Gay (WA) were involved in one of the closest finishes of the regatta, with the top four crews all finishing within two seconds of each other.
The Australian crew held second position for the middle section of the race, but was overhauled by the USA in the closing stages.
New Zealand won the gold medal ahead of the USA, while Australia settled for bronze in a time of 6:51.03.
WAIS Rowing Performance Manager Antonio Maurogiovanni stated that it was good to see WAIS athletes excelling against the best in their age group.
“It is certainly positive to see Australia win two bronze medals, and to have three WAIS athletes contributing to that success makes it even more impressive,” he said.
In the other A Final contested by an Australian crew, the women’s junior double scull of Madeleine Edmunds (QLD) and Jessica Hall (QLD) finished in fourth place.
France won the gold medal from Italy and Germany, while Australia recorded a time of 7:24.73, five seconds shy of the bronze medal position.
The junior men’s quad scull of Thomas Sacre (NSW), Cameron Smith (QLD), Andrew Curnow (VIC) and Nicholas Wheatley (NSW) claimed second place in the B Final which was held earlier on Sunday.
After narrowly missing a place in the A Final, the crew bounced back in style to be denied a win in the B Final by just 0.04 seconds. Ukraine took the honours in a time of 6:08.18, while Belarus was third.
National High Performance Director Andrew Matheson says a lot of positives could be taken from the regatta.
“Winning two bronze medals at international level is always a good achievement,” Matheson said. “We have a good group of juniors who will continue to improve under the right guidance and we can expect some more from them in the years to come.
“With this group we have identified them as potential candidates for the 2016 Olympic Games, so it will be good to see how they develop over time.”
– Rowing Australia