With just over 60 athletes attending this year’s GB Rowing Team first assessment as Under 23 trialists, it really is an exciting time for the new and upcoming generation of rowers entering the British Rowing circuit.
As clubs from all over the country sent trialists to Boston this year, it would take days to analyse the performances of all athletes involved, so in this review I’ll highlight the performances of athletes that caught my interest. However, it’s necessary to congratulate all the athletes that attended this year – it’s no mean feat going to trials and performing after the disrupted training and racing last year.
The women’s U23 sweep trialists that made it to the Sunday came from the usual competitors such as University of London, Durham University, Imperial College London, Oxford Brookes University, Tideway Scullers School and Newcastle University.
Finishing seventh overall in the women’s pair for Sunday’s 5km water trial, and first out of the U23 athletes, were Grace Bening Smitherman and Abigail Topp of Leander. With a time of 19:46.38, it’s clear that these athletes are not to be overlooked as they slot comfortably amongst the senior trialists.
University of London’s pair consisting of Emily Lindberg and Rhiannon Morgan also put on a dominant performance at the water trial, finishing just four seconds behind Smitherman and Topp. However, their performance on the water was not the only strength they demonstrated over the weekend, as they finished in the top 31 athletes for the 2km time trial on Saturday. With such impressive performances on water and on land alike, it’ll be really interesting to see how the rest of the trial process turns out for these two athletes.
One thing that really struck me this year looking at the results is the high attendance of athletes from Oxford Brookes University, Tideway Scullers and Newcastle University that are currently U21 athletes. Brookes three pairs made up of Furness and Birtles, Forde and Richards and finally, Bowers and Sharp, took the places of 17th, 18th and 19th respectively. With such a high number of young athletes passing through to the 5km water trial on Sunday, the strength of the current programs in these clubs and universities is evident.
Moreover, the thought of these athletes showing so much promise whilst still being to trial again is incredibly exciting and hints at the talent that is rising amongst the British rowing ranks. I look forward to seeing what the rest of the trialling process has in stall for all the athletes that attended Boston this November.
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