Eveshams Internationals

Posted on July 28, 2008 | Filed under Rowing

Evesham Rowing Club’s junior 18 international rowers have returned home from the Junior World Championships and the Coupe de la Jeunesse with some great experiences under their belt but sadly no medals.

Will Tew and Josh Pendry represented Great Britain at the Junior World Championships in Linz, Austria, last week. The event attracted 655 athletes from 48 nations and was won by Germany which collected eight gold medals and a further 4 silver and bronze medals.

The GB junior men’s eight, in which Tew had a seat, had a tough first round, with the USA and Italy taking the top two places to put them through to the final. The GB eight came third which meant they needed to earn a top two place in the repecharge to get through to the A final. With New Zealand in the draw for the repecharge they were once again up against a top crew and GB finished second to the kiwis which gave them their coveted place in the A final and a chance for a medal.

The final last Saturday pitted the USA, New Zealand, Italy, Spain and Germany against the Brits. The GB crew held fourth place for the first 1,500m of the 2k race but then dropped back into fifth at the finish. The winners were Germany, with New Zealand picking up silver and Italy, bronze.

Evesham’s Josh Pendry competed in the junior men’s pair with Stewart Innes, from St Edwards’ School. In their first heat they finished fourth behind Turkey, Latvia and Slovenia. In their quarter final they finished in fifth place, beating a crew from Hungary. In their semi-final they were battling out for a place in the C or the D final. They finished comfortably in second place beating crews from Brazil, Portugal, Estonia and Hungary for their place in the C final. In the final last Saturday the pair were pitted against five other crews. South Africa and Serbia led all the way. The GB pair trailed in sixth place for the first half of the race before picking up speed and coming through to finish in fourth place ahead of Estonia and Russia.

The previous weekend Evesham juniors Rory Sullivan and Oli Staite competed for GB at the Coupe de la Jeunesse - junior European championships - in Cork, Ireland. Staite and Sullivan were teamed with Steven Jones, from King’s Chester, and Oliver Wood, from Abingdon School, in the coxless four event.

The boys’ first race proved a white knuckle ride for watching spectators. The GB crew led the way for most of the race being pushed hard by crews from Italy, Ireland and France. The four crews crossed the line together but a photofinish declared that the GB crew had come home in fourth place by tiny margin - less than a second separated first and fourth place - putting them through to the B final, which they lost to The Netherlands by less than a second.

The GB four was determined to make the A final for Sunday’s racing, which they did by coming second to Poland and beating Italy and Ireland. However, illness struck one of the crew members and the boys lacked pace in the A final where they finished fifth. Great Britain won the overall championship title.

The International rowing season is now over for GB juniors. Evesham Rowing Club saw eight of its junior rowers represent their country this season - a fantastic achievement in a sport that is traditionally dominated, at this age group, by school rowers. They are now taking a well-earned rest before
the training season begins again in September.

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