Last weekend saw athletes return to the November set of GB trials in Boston. The U23 women’s contingent saw the return of many familiar faces with the likes of Georgina Robinson Ranger and Vwaire Obukohwo, along with many fresh faces representing an even younger generation of rowers eager to earn a GB vest. It should be noted that a vast majority of those trialling in the U23 category, also qualify as U20, so there are exciting things to come for lots of these scullers in future years. There will also be athletes returning from the US to join in the process later in the season.
Saturday’s 2km ergometer test saw all these athletes push themselves to the limit in the hopes of achieving a personal best, meeting the required cut-off time, as well as putting themselves in the best position possible ahead of Sunday’s 5km water assessment. There were strong performances across the board, with lots of PB’s, however, it was Obukohwo who came out on top with a 6:43.0, followed by Robinson Ranger who produced a 6:52.0. Obukohwo has previously demonstrated her strength on the ergometer, holding an age-group world record in the one-minute category, along with four British age-group records. Amongst a series of other strong performances, a mention should go to Claudia Rossington, producing the fastest U20 time of the day.
On Sunday, a slightly smaller contingent of women took to the river to race in a time trial over a 5 km stretch of the river. The top two times were produced by the same athletes who took these spots in the ergometer test, with Obukohwo winning in 20:18.89, closely followed by Robinson Ranger, who has a wealth of GB experience having won a bronze medal in the Women’s Four at the U23 European Rowing Championships that took place over summer, along with several junior appearances.
It was then time for the younger group of athletes to prove their ability, with the next six U23 times being taken by women who all fall into the U20 category. Both Rachel Bradley of Newcastle University and Hannah Supple, a fresher at Edinburgh University produced some fast times in what was described as rough conditions, to make their mark on the U23 women’s sculling scene.
The results from the weekend demonstrated that there is a lot of strength and depth in the contingent of U23 trialists this year, which will be both exciting and stressful for selectors as they deal with a highly competitive group of women. The reshuffling of ranking between the 2km ergometer test and 5km water assessment also demonstrated the differing abilities in athletes’ strength relative to their technical ability, which will provide for some exciting results at future assessments.
A well done should be said to all who took part in the assessment, with this being the first step to potentially earning an U23 GB vest, which may go one day lead to senior or even Olympic representation.
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