On Saturday the 12th of February 2022, Boston played host to the third water trial of the 2021-2022 season. Strong winds tested the athletes to their limits, making a strong result at this trial even more impressive. The Senior Men’s Single Scull category was no exception, with the usual big names being joined by some fresh faces at the top of the time sheets.
Olympic silver medallist from Tokyo 2020, Harry Leask, took the overall win in the event representing Leander club. Harry has been a hugely successful and reliable athlete for the GB Rowing Team for a number of years now, picking up several World Cup and European Championship medals between 2018 and 2021, all culminating in the previously mentioned Olympic Silver medal last year. As we move towards the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, he will be looking to cement himself as GB’s top male sculler in an attempt to add another Olympic medal to his collection.
A mere 1.5 seconds behind Leask was George Bourne in second place racing for Tideway Scullers School. George is part of the next generation of GB men’s sculling, having won the U23 World Rowing Championships 2019 in Sarasota, Florida, alongside Sam Meijer and Matt Haywood, both of whom also featured in the top 10 of this trial. Being so young, this blend of younger athletes such as George and more experienced athletes such as Harry has the potential to push the standard of the GB men’s sculling to new heights over the next Olympiad.
In third place was Tom Barras, also representing Leander Club just under seven seconds behind Leask. Tom burst onto the senior international stage with a spectacular bronze medal of the Men’s Single Scull category in the 2017 World Rowing Championships, beating Olympic Silver medallist Damir Martin in a sprint for the line. He’s an incredibly experienced athlete who was also a part of the men’s quad that won Silver in Tokyo and will almost certainly be looking to go one better in Paris in just over two years.
Another impressive result was Sam Meijer in fourth place, ten seconds behind Leask. As previously mentioned, Sam is part of the younger group of scullers at Caversham. He’s enjoyed exceptional success at junior and U23 level, winning a gold and a silver at the Junior World Championships as well as three golds at the U23 World Championships. To be so high up the time sheets at his age bodes very well for Sam’s senior rowing career and it’ll be exciting to see him fight for his seat in Paris.
The standard of GB men’s sculling seems to have changed into another gear, with such an incredible result to build off of from Tokyo, it’ll be fascinating to see what these athletes can achieve once the international racing season gets underway at World Cup I in Serbia in May.
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