My ‘preview’ of the male scullers…
Fraser Russell
Club/School: Sir William Borlase
Competing in: JM2x, JM4x
Position at Feb GB Trials- Exempt on medical grounds
Fraser moved across to Sir William Borlase at the beginning of the season from his old club, Marlow and has certainly seen the benefits. Sat in the bow seat, he’s won at HOR4 and the Scullery before taking the J18 prize at Wallingford with a slightly weakened crew. Watch out for his double with his Alex Haynes- these guys rowed together at Marlow and were the victorious J16 double at GB France
Alex Haynes
Club/School: Marlow Rowing Club
Competing in: JM2x, JM4x
Position at Feb GB Trials- 1st [Double with Scott Ozsanlav Harris]
The stalwart of the junior boys at Marlow and their sole representative in the team, Alex has pushed his Marlow quad on to some decent finishes at the Scullery and HOR4. He’s a talented oarsman and Bret King is looking to build a quad around this lad for the summer.
Rowan Law
Club/School: Nottingham Rowing Club
Competing in: JM2x, JM4x
Position at Feb GB Trials- 3rd [Double with Connor Gamble]
An extremely able sculler with a long history in single sculling that can be traced back to J14. He won J161x at NSR last year and was stroke of the Nautilus A crew that convincingly won Eli 4x at Wallingford on Sunday. Expect big things from his quad at Munich.
Chris Lawrie
Club/School: Sir William Borlase
Competing in: JM2x, JM4x
Position at Feb GB Trials- Exempt through illness
Had it not been for the shocking weather conditions at April Trials, I think Chris would have taken the win. He rowed in the junior quad at the World Championships last year alongside three ex-juniors and he also sat in the stroke seat for the SWB finalist quad at Henley last year. Arguably the best sculler in the country at the moment. The double he is racing with Rowan Law is bound to go fast.
Steven Parsonage
Club/School: Norwich Rowing Club
Competing in: JM2x, JM4x
Position at Feb GB Trials- NA
Steven burst onto the scene with a superb 1st place in November Trials, beating all the notable names in junior sculling. He is, apparently, nearly lightweight and sculls with real prowess, shown by his consistency in the scull this season. He’s racing in the bow seat of the top JM4x and is also racing a double with Sam Meijer- the battle between this crew and the Lawrie/Law combination will be fascinating.
Sam Meijer
Club/School: Westminster School
Competing in: JM2x, JM4x
Position at Feb GB Trials- 2nd [Double with Rufus Biggs]
I watched Sam’s final at Wallingford on Sunday and have also seen his single trial for the ‘A’ Westminster quad last year and the stand-out point in Sam’s race is his ability to sprint for the line. He took nearly 10 seconds out of the field in the final 500m at Wallingford and his power [a 6:04 2k] and strength will be a critical factor in the regatta at the weekend.
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