Leander Club athletes were crowned World Champions in Shanghai last week.
GOLD
M4-
The Men’s four (M4-), Leander’s Dan Graham, James Robson, Douwe de Graaf and George Bourne crossed the line ahead of the Romanians and Dutch – in their first regatta racing together.
James said: “We had a great row in that final. It was quite a battle and we’re just really happy to have got that over the line and get it done!”
Douwe said: “This feels awesome! We gave ourselves extra pressure by doing it this way – but it’s worked out for us and it makes this high even better.”
Dan said: “I haven’t experienced anything like that before. It’s my first senior World Championships and to race like that and have our absolute best performance in the final, it’s awesome!”
SILVER
M8+
The Men’s eight (M8+) won a silver medal in a tense race which had been restarted due to technical issues. The crew of Leander’s Will Stewart, Archie Drummond, Miles Beeson, Matt Rowe along with David Bewicke-Copley, Fergus Woolnough, Sam Nunn, Matt Aldridge, and cox Will Denegri battled through in the closing stages to take second place behind the Dutch and ahead of USA.
Matt Rowe said of the restart: “I was impressed with how we were completely not fazed by it and kept focus. We go through situations in training all the time while we try to shake ourselves, and throw ourselves off and I think we did that today too.”
Archie added: “I think I think the guys did a really, really good job at committing to the race plan. I think we’d be lying if we said that we were dreaming of getting a silver medal. But it’s important to remember these feelings, use it as motivation for training and next season.”
M4x
The Men’s quadruple sculls (M4x) was an entertaining race with Leander’s Cedol Dafydd and Rory Harris alongside Callum Dixon and Matt Haywood battling throughout to finish with the silver medal, just behind Italy.
Cedol said: “We came in wanting to win and we knew we could if everything went well and we raced our best. Unfortunately, our best today just wasn’t quite good enough. Credit to Italy, they were better than us today.”
Rory said: “I am very proud of the four of us and this is a great end to the season. I think we’ll be absolutely delighted when we look back on it. It’s a testament to how our season’s gone so far that we are a little bit disappointed. But, it’s still a silver medal. Matt said ‘medals at world champs don’t grow on trees’ and he’s right. I’ve absolutely thoroughly enjoyed the season I’ve had with these four.”
W4x
The Women’s quadruple sculls (W4x) of Leander’s Sarah McKay, Hannah Scott, Lola Anderson and Becky Wilde also took the silver in another fast paced race, finishing just behind the Dutch.
Sarah, who has taken a break as a cancer nurse at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool to pursue her rowing full time said: “I have a work whatsapp group with the staff and I put a little message on yesterday as I know that they were all keen to watch the race as it was ideal viewing time in the UK. It was perfect – they could all watch before starting work. I’ve had lots of nice messages through, so it’s so lovely to know that people back home are watching and supporting us.”
Lola said: “We’ve had a challenging season with illness and injury and I think we did everything we could out there today. So, we’re very happy, and a silver medal is a lovely bonus on top of that!”
BRONZE
W8+
The Women’s eight (W8+) of Leander’s Eleanor Brinkhoff, Juliette Perry, Amelia Standing, Lauren Irwin, Eve Stewart, Heidi Long and Megan Slabbert and cox, Jack Tottem, along with Martha Birtles.
Speaking after the race, Eleanor said: “I think I think we’d be lying if we said we weren’t going for the gold. I think you have to shoot for the stars! But to come away with a medal at the World Championships, particularly as it’s the first for so many of us, it’s just amazing.”
Juliette said: “I feel like we pushed all the way and gave it the best result that we could today. It’s been a tough regatta. Half our crew have doubled up and they’ve done an amazing job balancing the two boats. To medal at World Championships, I’m beyond excited.”
FINALISTS
W4-
The Women’s four (W4-) finished fifth in the A final, with Leander’s Lauren Irwin, Eve Stewart, Heidi Long racing with Megan Slabbert.
M2x
In the Men’s Double Sculls C-final, James Gare stepped in for Aidan Thompson (medical issue) and teamed up with Tobias Schroeder to finish 2nd in an all-Leander crew.
M2-
In the Men’s pair (M2-) B final, James Vogel and Harry Geffen finished 5th and 11th overall.
W2x
Leander’s Cam Nyland along with Lucy Glover finished 5th and 11th overall in their B final.
W2-
Leander’s Lizzie Witt racing with Jade Lindo finished 6th in the final, in their first senior World Championship.
M1x
Leander’s Tom Barras was third in the Men’s single sculls (M1x) D final, finishing 21st overall.
Many thanks to British Rowing and Benedict Tufnell for images and on the ground reporting.
