Bath rowers impress at national trials
Two Bath-based rowers have impressed coaches by finishing seventh in the women’s pair event at GB Rowing’s Senior Trials, held in Hazewinkel Belgium.
Gemma Akers and Victoria Thornley, who row for Minerva Bath Boat Club and train at the University of Bath, beat a University of London crew and a Reading combination to win the B-final. The result is even more impressive as both women took up the sport less than two years ago and only recently switched disciplines from sculling to rowing.
Their coach Paul Stannard said: “The girls made steady progress in their training prior to the trials. It was always going to be challenging, because until recently they had done all their training in single scull boats and for the trials they had to compete in a pair.
“The transition is not easy because you have to learn to row with one oar instead of two. Therefore their win in the B-final was very encouraging, and is a sign of how far they have come in a year and a half.
“To finish seventh in the country is a great achievement, although we had hoped for even more,” he added.
The event was won by 2008 Beijing Olympic women’s pair Olivia Whitlam and Louisa Reeve, who dominated from the first day and eventually won the A-final by five seconds over their Beijing teammate Jess Eddie and Olympic reserve Alice Freeman.
Akers and Thornley are both currently on the Amateur Rowing Association’s World Class Start scheme, sponsored by Siemens and supported by the National Lottery. Established in order to identify and develop talent in rowing, the scheme has already seen great success. Graduates include 2008 Olympians Annie Vernon and Anna Bebington and Olympic reserve Alex Gregory, who was in the winning men’s pair in Hazewinkel.
Akers and Thornley will soon find out if their performance was strong enough to have earned them places in GB Rowing’s under-23 team for this season.
A-Final
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
1. Olivia Whitlam (Agecroft)/Louisa Reeve (Leander) 7:14.71
2. Alice Freeman (Wallingford)/Jess Eddie (Uni of London) 7:19.25
3. Monica Relph/Jacqui Round (Nottingham) 7:25.08
4. Jo Cook/Vicky Myers (Leander) 7:25.83
5. Vicky Bryant (Leander)/Heather Stanning (Army) 7:31.09
6. Leonora Kennedy (Thames)/Lindsey Morton (Nottingham) 7:32.27
B-Final
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
1. Gemma Akers/Vicky Thornley (Minerva Bath) 7:36.81
2. Louise Entwistle/Olivia Oakes (Uni of London) 7:37.61
3. Jenny Arnold/Helen Wood (Reading Uni) 7:42.00
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Posted: Monday 20th April 2009
