The Australian Rowing Team qualified for eight A Finals here at the Rotsee in Lucerne, Switzerland amongst a competitive field for the third World Cup.
Performance Director Paul Thompson MBE said of the team’s performance, “We’ve had a fabulous morning. It’s been a really challenging regatta for us with illness and injury and I’ve been super impressed with how the coaches, medical staff and athletes have handled themselves. It shows a little bit about the DNA of our team and the quality that we’ve got.”
Olympic Champion Alex Hill OAM and crew mate Harley Moore were put under pressure by the Serbian crew in the Men’s Pair throughout the second half of the race, but the experienced duo held form to take the win and will race in the A Final tomorrow.
Olympic Bronze Medallist, Rowena Meredith and crew mate Kate Rowan had a strong last 1000m in the Women’s Double in a tight battle for the line to secure third and their place in the A Final.
Meredith said, “Coming from the bigger boat, we know that races often re-start around the 1km mark; that’s the same in this smaller boat. In that third 500m, we’re focusing on being really tight, together, and kind to the boat hull for it to do most of the work for us.”
Olympic Bronze Medallist Caleb Antill and new crew mate for this regatta, David Bartholot, were dominant in the competition in the Semi-Final of the Men’s Double and comfortably took the win to fight for a medal tomorrow in the A Final.
Antill put the crews’ success down to the quality and depth of athletes in the squad and experience in racing and training together. “The crux of it is that Dave and I have rowed together a fair bit. David’s doing a great job as a reserve and he’s been doing some awesome racing; to follow that up by jumping in the boat the day before – and we’ve won both races since then – full credit to him for making that adjustment and I’m looking forward to racing with him again tomorrow.”
Olympian Tara Rigney continued to show her class in the Women’s Single Scull by leading the Semi-Final, providing another World Cup medal opportunity for the Bronze Medallist from World Cup 2, racing the A Final tomorrow.
Of racing the A Final, Rigney said, “The goal for tomorrow is just to pick up the intensity a little bit. There’s some really good competition out there and I’m sure it will be a pretty fierce wind to the line. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Additional training at the European Training Centre paid off for Oscar McGuinness who placed second in his Semi-Final. Through his progression into the A Final McGuinness surprised himself and the crowd by leading the way against Olympic Champion Paul O’Donovan, through the 1500m mark. While experience won out through the final push where McGuinness was pipped at the post, placing fourth, he was pleased with his performance overall.
“Everyone’s very fast, pretty much everywhere. All the lightweights seem to be having a good crack in probably what’s going to be the last [lightweight] Olympiad, so they’re all very quick.”
“It’s surreal [to line up against the Olympic Champions but at some point, you’ve got to get over that and just look at them as someone you’re racing. I certainly didn’t leave anything out there and can’t complain, that’s about the best I could do on the day.”
Tokyo Olympian from the Men’s Eight, Simon Keenan, had no expectations but fought to secure a second-place finish in the C Final of the Men’s Single, which ranks him as 14th in the competition. Of finding himself in the single scull and racing the event, Keenan said, “It’s been a bit of a whirlwind. I try to just take it as it comes; don’t put too much pressure on yourself and have just have fun.”
The young U23 Men’s Four of Charles Batrouney, Torben Ungemach, Nicholas Smith and William Achermann will race in the B Final, having come fourth in their repechage today.
A strengthened field for World Cup 3 meant it was a more challenging Semi for Redmond Matthews and Hamish Harding. A sixth position finish means they will race in the B Final, having already bettered their 13th World Ranking from World Cup 2.
The morning session finished with the Repechage for the U23 Men’s Eight, a great experience for the crew who came fourth and so will race the B Final. Marcus Emmett, four seat of the Eight, said, “It’s honestly a great experience; to come up against some of the best in the world is really good for us.”
Coxswain Harry Keenan added, “The mature race profiles that all these crews have out here – you’ve got to be quick off the line and stay quick. It’s savage, the minute you don’t hit your technical focus, they take seats off you. That’s going to be a great experience to have when we do go to the Under 23 World Championships.”
Georgie Gleeson racing the Women’s Single Scull and Georgia Nesbitt racing the Lightweight Single Scull were both withdrawn from racing today under medical grounds.
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The Regatta concludes with the A Finals, which can be seen on Foxtel Channel 507 or Kayo on Sunday 10 July from 6pm to 10:45pm (AEST), with the B Finals shown on World Rowing from 4.55pm AEST.
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The racing schedule and live racing updates can be seen via the World Rowing website:
Follow the Rowing Australia social media channels for the latest updates, as well as photos and video coverage of the Australian Rowing Team.
For any information about team members, have a look at their biographies here: Australian Rowing Team Biographies.
Day Two Results:
Lightweight Men’s Single (LM1X) FOURTH OVERALL
Oscar McGuinness
Men’s Pair (M2-) FIRST -> A FINAL
Alex Hill OAM
Harley Moore
Men’s Double (M2X) FIRST -> A FINAL
David Bartholot
Caleb Antill
Women’s Single (W1x) FIRST -> A FINAL
AUS2
Tara Rigney
Women’s Double (W2X) THIRD -> A FINAL
Rowena Meredith
Kate Rowan
Men’s Four (M4-) FOURTH -> B FINAL
AUS2
Charles Batrouney
Torben Ungemach
Nicholas Smith
William Achermann
Men’s Eight (M8+) FOURTH -> B FINAL
AUS 2
Darcy McCluskey
Joshua Hill
Jamie Arnold
Marcus Emmett
Patrick Long
Fergus Hamilton
Alexander McClean
Angus Dawson
Cox: Harry Keenan
Lightweight Men’s Double (LM2x) SIXTH -> B FINAL
Redmond Matthews
Hamish Harding
Men’s Single (M1x) SECOND -> C Final (14TH OVERALL)
Simon Keenan
Lightweight Women’s Single (LW1x) DNS – ILLNESS
Georgia Nesbitt
Women’s Single (W1x) DNS – ILLNESS
AUS1
Georgie Gleeson
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World Cup 3 Crew Lists
Women
Lwt W1x
Georgia Nesbitt
Coach: Ellen Randell
W1x AUS1
Georgie Gleeson
Coach: Ellen Randell
W1x AUS2
Tara Rigney
Coach: Ellen Randell
W2x
B) Rowena Meredith
S) Kate Rowan
Coach: John Keogh
W8+
B) Eleanor Price
2) Bronwyn Cox
3) Paige Barr
4) Jacqueline Swick
5) Ella Bramwell
6) Giorgia Patten
7) Georgina Rowe
S) Emma Fessey
Cox: Talia Barnet-Hepples
Coach: Tom Westgarth
Men
Lwt M1x
Oscar McGuinness
Coach: David Fraumano
Lwt M2x
B) Redmond Matthews
S) Hamish Harding
Coach: David Fraumano
M2x
B) David Bartholot
S) Caleb Antill
Coach: Lyall McCarthy OAM
M2-
AUS 1
B) Harley Moore
S) Alex Hill OAM
Coach: Lyall McCarthy OAM
M4-
AUS 1
B) Alexander Purnell OAM
2) Spencer Turrin OAM
3) Jack Hargreaves OAM
S) Jack O’Brien
Coach: Rhett Ayliffe
AUS 2
B) Charles Batrouney
2) Torben Ungemach
3) Nicholas Smith
S) William Achermann
Coach: Matt Ryan
M8+
AUS 1
B) Henry Youl
2) Benjamin Canham
3) Angus Widdicombe
4) Jackson Kench
5) Sam Hardy
6) Will O’Shannessy
7) Patrick Holt
S) Rohan Lavery
Cox: Kendall Brodie
Coach: Mark Prater
AUS 2
B) Darcy McCluskey
2) Joshua Hill
3) Jamie Arnold
4) Marcus Emmett
5) Patrick Long
6) Fergus Hamilton
7) Alexander McClean
S) Angus Dawson
Cox: Harry Keenan
Coach: John Bowes