On the penultimate day of the World Rowing Championships in Racice, the Australian Rowing Team had some strong performances from our Olympic Champion crews, winning a Silver in the Men’s Four and a Bronze in the Women’s Four.
The Men’s Four of Jack O’Brien, Jack Hargreaves OAM, Spencer Turrin OAM and Alex Purnell OAM were the ones to watch in the A-Final as the reigning Olympic Champions. They set out a fast pace, holding first position through the first 1000m of the race. An increase in speed from the Brits pushed them into the second place, the Dutch looked threatening but the Aussies held their position in Silver across the line for a strong finish.
Turrin shared his post-race comments, “Today was a very good race. We got the most out of this and I am really proud of us.”
The Women’s Four of Annabelle McIntyre OAM, Bronwyn Cox, Katrina Werry and Lucy Stephan OAM were first through 500m in the A-Final and moved into second at 1000m behind the crew from Great Britain. The Dutch Olympic Silver Medallists pushed our crew hard and overturned the result from Tokyo, moving us into a hard-earned Bronze.
Post-race, Stephan said, “There have been ups and downs this year with injuries and covid, it has been difficult, but we needed to come out and put a solid performance. GB and the Netherlands had a great race. We felt short in the semi and didn’t execute our race plan, we wanted to get back to what we do very well, even from an outside lane, and it worked well today.”
As the fastest qualifiers in the PR3 Mixed Four, the crew of James Talbot, Tom Birtwhistle, Al Viney, Jess Gallagher and cox Teesaan Koo went into the A-Final in a strong position. Racing pushed on another level with Great Britain securing a World Best winning time and the Gold. Australia fought hard and secured fourth position, a good result for this new combination.
A fast start out of the blocks from the Men’s Pair of Olympic Champion Alex Hill OAM and Harley Moore in the A-Final. The pairing caught a bad stroke in the first 500m, which saw them slip their lead and cross the line in fifth.
The Women’s Quad of Kate Rowan, Amanda Bateman, Rowena Meredith and Harriet Hudson had a slow start out of the blocks of the A-Final but put in some strong pushes to get back in touch with the field. It was a very tight finish line with all crews bunching up together, with our quad just falling short of fifth and into sixth by a hundredth of a second.
The Lightweight Women’s Double of Lucy Coleman and Anneka Reardon were in good company with the reigning Olympic Champions (ITA) and World Champions (NZL) in the B-Final. They fought all the way to the line and came fourth, 10th overall in the Regatta.
The B-Final of the Women’s Pair with Eliza Gaffney and Georgie Gleeson led out the first 500m, falling back slightly by 1500m into second position. The last 500m was a fight between Ireland and Czech Republic, the Australian pair took third place, just over a length from first. They finish this Regatta in ninth position.
Oscar McGuinness and Hamish Harding sat on the start line of the C-Final of the Men’s Lightweight Double, a few solid pieces saw them in the lead at points of the race, but there was real hunger in the field with everyone vying for the top spots. A fifth placed finish leaves them as 17th overall at this World Championships.
Sunday 25 September marks the final day of racing, with five A-Finals to complete the World Rowing Championship’s campaign for Australia. Racing starts at 12:12pm GMT+2/8:12pm AEST with the Men’s Single (8:12pm) kicks off the day’s racing with the B-Final. The A finals will begin for Australia with the PR1 Men’s Single (9:05pm), followed by the Men’s Doubles (9:39pm), Men’s Eight (10:10pm), Women’s Single (10:25pm) and concluding with the Women’s Eight (10:59pm).
Tune into Foxtel Channel 577 or Kayo for the last day of racing. If you missed any of the action, watch the highlights packages.
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 Seven Results:
Men’s Four (M4-) SILVER
Jack O’Brien
Jack Hargreaves OAM
Spencer Turrin OAM
Alex Purnell OAM
Women’s Four (W4-) BRONZE
Annabelle McIntyre OAM
Bronwyn Cox
Katrina Werry
Lucy Stephan OAM
PR3 Mixed Four (PR3Mix4+) 4TH OVERALL
James Talbot
Tom Birtwhistle
Al Viney
Jessica Gallagher
Cox: Teesaan Koo
Men’s Pair (M2-) 5TH OVERALL
Alex Hill OAM
Harley Moore
Women’s Quad (W4x) 6TH OVERALL
Kate Rowan
Amanda Bateman
Rowena Meredith
Harriet Hudson
Women’s Lightweight Double (WLW2X) 4th in B FINAL -> 10th OVERALL
Lucy Coleman
Anneka Reardon
Women’s Pair (W2-) 9th in B FINAL -> Ninth OVERALL
Eliza Gaffney
Georgie Gleeson
Men’s Lightweight Double (MLW2X) 5th in C FINAL -> 17TH OVERALL
Oscar McGuinness
Hamish Harding
Overall Regatta Results
PR2 Women’s Single (PR2W1X) SILVER
Kat Ross
PR3 Men’s Pair (PR3 M2-) SILVER
James Talbot
Nicholas Neales
PR3 Women’s Pair (PR3 W2-) SILVER
Al Viney
Alex Vuillermin
Women’s Lightweight Single (WLW1X) 5th IN C FINAL -> 17TH OVERALL
Georgia Nesbitt
Men’s Lightweight Single (MLW1X) 3rd IN B FINAL -> 9TH OVERALL
Hamish Harding
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World Championships Crew List
WOMEN
Women’s Single Scull (W1X)
Coach: Ellen Randell
Women’s Quad Sculls (W4X)
Coach: John Keogh
Women’s Coxless Four (W4-)
Coach: John Keogh
Women’s Eight (W8+)
Coach: Tom Westgarth
Women’s Coxless Pair (W2-)
Coach: Tom Westgarth
Women’s Lightweight Double Sculls (WLW2X)
Coach: Ellen Randell
Women’s Lightweight Single Scull (WLW1X)
Coach: Ellen Randell
Women’s Reserve:
Laura Gourley
PARA
PR2 Women’s Single Scull (PR2 W1X)
Coach: Renae Domaschenz
PR1 Men’s Single Sculls (PR1 M1X)
Coach: Jason Baker OAM
PR3 Mixed Coxed Four (PR3 Mix4+)
Cox: Teesaan Koo
Coach: Gordon Marcks
PR3 Women’s Coxless Pair (PR3 W2-)
Coach: Gordon Marcks
PR3 Men’s Coxless Pair (PR3 M2-)
Coach: Gordon Marcks
MEN
Men’s Coxless Pair (M2-)
Coach: Lyall McCarthy OAM
Men’s Coxless Four (M4-)
Coach: Rhett Ayliffe
Men’s Eight (M8+)
Cox: Kendall Brodie
Coach: Mark Prater
Men’s Double Sculls (M2X)
Coach: Lyall McCarthy OAM
Men’s Single Scull (M1X)
Coach: Lyall McCarthy OAM
Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls (MLW2X)
Coach: David Fraumano
Men’s Lightweight Single Scull (MLW1X)
Coach: David Fraumano
Men’s Reserves: