Tuesday 20 December
Prospective squad reduced after first round of national trials
Following the conclusion of the first round of national selection trials for the 2012 Australian Rowing Team, the Olympic and Paralympic Shadow Squads have been reduced to 55 athletes.
66 athletes were subject to four days of trials on the Nepean River and the Sydney International Regatta Centre from December 15-18, with the majority of these rowers progressing to the next stage of the selection race.
The updated shadow squad features all four of Australia’s gold medallists in rowing from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, with triple Olympic gold medallist Drew Ginn (VIC) and Duncan Free (QLD) in the men’s sweep squad and David Crawshay (VIC) and Scott Brennan (TAS) part of the eight man sculling squad.
Anthony Edwards (TAS), Ben Cureton (WA), Matt Ryan (NSW), Francis Hegerty (NSW), Cameron McKenzie-McHarg (VIC) and James Marburg, who have all won Olympic silver, remain in contention to feature in London next year, while returning 2004 Athens bronze medallist Dana Faletic (TAS) was included with crew mate from that year, Kerry Hore (TAS), in the women’s sculling squad.
Kathryn Ross (VIC) and John Maclean (NSW), who won the silver medal at the inaugural Paralympic rowing regatta in Beijing, remain on course to compete in London, while 2011 world championships bronze medallists Erik Horrie (QLD) is on track to represent Australia in his first Paralympic Games next year.
Rowing Australia National High Performance Director Andrew Matheson said the selectors were extremely happy with the group of athletes that remain in contention for the 2012 national team.
“The four days of trialling saw some extremely gruelling racing and the quality that we witnessed shows that we are in great shape ahead of next year,” Matheson said.
“Our aim over the current Olympic cycle has been to create a group of athletes that can be successful next year and we have that before us now.
“There is a great mix with athletes who have achieved Olympic success before and the younger members of our squad who will look to build on the recent world championship success.
“Competition for seats in all of the boats is strong and we look forward to monitoring all the athletes over the next three months ahead of the final trials.”
Rowing Australia will coordinate a number of camps during January at both the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, as well as on Lake Barrington in Tasmania.
Following these camps the 2012 Australian Rowing Championships (March 5-11) will form part of the lead up to the final round of selection trials at the Sydney International Regatta Centre from March 23-April 1.
The full Olympic and Paralympic squad is available here.
Media contact:
David Polglase 0401 453 041
Friday 16 December
Ginn and Dunkley Smith continue streak at national trials
Drew Ginn (VIC) and Joshua Dunkley Smith (VIC) continued their 100 per cent record in the men’s sweep program this morning at the first round of Rowing Australia’s 2012 national selection trials.
It was another near perfect day for rowing at the Sydney International Regatta Centre as Ginn and Dunkley Smith combined with 2008 Beijing Olympic Games silver medallists Cameron McKenzie-McHarg (VIC) and James Marburg (VIC) to win the first rotation of the men’s coxless fours.
Ginn and Dunkley Smith won the 5km time trial and 2km race in the men’s pair on the opening day of trials, while McKenzie-McHarg and Marburg had finished second on both occasions, and the quartet showed good rhythm in the bigger boat.
Stroked by 22-year-old Dunkley Smith, they crossed the line ahead of Nicholas Purnell (NSW), Tom Swann (VIC), Tom Larkins (VIC) and Joshua Booth (VIC), while James Chapman (NSW), Francis Hegerty (NSW), Sam Loch (NSW) and Will Lockwood (VIC) finished third.
The first rotation of the women’s double scull saw Sally Kehoe (QLD) and Kim Crow (VIC) claim victory over Pauline Frasca (VIC) and Dana Faletic (TAS), with Brooke Pratley (NSW) and Pippa Savage (QLD) in third place.
Crow and Kehoe, who both competed in Beijing three years ago, executed a good race and looked smooth in the calm water conditions.
Crow has partnered Tasmanian Kerry Hore, who is currently recovering from minor surgery, to back-to-back silver medals at the past two world championships in the women’s double scull, while Kehoe has rowed to two consecutive fourth place finishes in the women’s quad scull at the same regattas.
David Crawshay (VIC) partnered Chris Morgan (SA) in the men’s double scull rotations, with the pair winning ahead of Scott Brennan (TAS) and Jared Bidwell (QLD), with Nicholas Hudson (NSW) and James McRae (SA).
Crawshay, who struck gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games with Brennan, won both the 5km time trial and the 2km race in the men’s single scull on Thursday and is in excellent form ahead of the 2012 Games.
Hannah Every-Hall (QLD) prevailed in the lightweight women’s single scull, leading home Alice McNamara (VIC), who has partnered Every-Hall at the past two world championships in the lightweight women’s double scull.
Rowing Australia National High Performance Director Andrew Matheson says the performances of the triallists to date had been impressive.
“There is a lot of pressure on each of the athletes at selection trials but to date everyone has coped well and we have seen some good racing and some excellent results produced,” Matheson said.
“As a whole, we are extremely happy with the progress of the program, but we expect the athletes to continue stepping up.
“We are trying to view as many combinations as possible over the coming days and that will give us a good basis to move forward over the next three months ahead of the final trials in March.”
The final trials for the 2012 Australian team will be held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre from March 23 – April 1 next year.
Australia’s crews will then be selected to compete at world cup regattas in Lucerne, Switzerland (May 23–25) and Munich, Germany (15–17 June) before the final crews are nominated to the Australian Olympic Committee on June 22.
Photos available on request.
Media contact:
David Polglase 0401 453 041
Thursday 15 December
Stars shine on opening day of trials
Australia’s most decorated rowers have shown their early intent on the opening day of the first round of the 2012 national selection trials.
Following a 5km time trial in the morning on Nepean River, the 66 Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls moved across to the Sydney International Regatta Centre to complete one 2km race in the afternoon.
2008 Olympic Games gold medallist David Crawshay (VIC) led the way in the men’s single scull, claiming victory ahead of Chris Morgan (SA) and Jared Bidwell (QLD).
Crawshay won gold in Beijing in the men’s double scull with Scott Brennan (TAS) and the duo look set to be given the chance to defend their Olympic crown next year in London.
Crawshay and Brennan finished fourth at the world championships this year in Bled, Slovenia, just under a year after Brennan made his return to rowing following a break from the sport.
Kim Crow (VIC) showed her prowess in taking out the women’s single scull, with the Victorian winning ahead of Sally Kehoe (QLD) and Brooke Pratley (NSW).
Crow has combined with Tasmanian Kerry Hore to win silver at the last two world championships in the women’s double scull.
The women’s sculling ranks have been bolstered by the returns of 2004 Athens Olympic Games bronze medallist Dana Faletic (TAS) and 2008 Beijing representative Pippa Savage (QLD), who finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Triple Olympic gold medallist Drew Ginn (VIC) combined with partner Joshua Dunkley Smith (VIC) to sweep to victory in the men’s pair in a time of 6:20.59.
Ginn and Dunkley Smith, who earlier in the day had recorded the best time in the 5km time trial, again looked smooth across the water as they led home the talented field of Olympic aspirants.
Cameron McKenzie-McHarg (VIC) and James Marburg (VIC) finished in second place, while Sam Loch (NSW) and Francis Hegerty (NSW) claimed third place.
Duncan Free (QLD) made a successful return from his broken femur, completing both the 5km time trial and 2km race.
Free, who was knocked off his bicycle by a car while training in the Gold Coast in May, competed in a single scull today, but will move into the rotations of the men’s coxless fours over the weekend.
Friday morning racing will see a shift from smaller boats to bigger boats with the men’s sweep squad racing in coxless fours, while the women’s and men’s scullers will race in double sculls.
The final trials for the 2012 Australian team will be held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre from March 23 – April 1 next year.
Australia’s crews will then be selected to compete at world cup regattas in Lucerne, Switzerland (May 23–25) and Munich, Germany (15–17 June) before the final crews are nominated to the Australian Olympic Committee on June 22.
Media contact:
David Polglase 0401 453 041
Thursday 15 December
Rowers stake claim for Olympic berth
Australia’s elite rowers were out to impress the national selectors this morning as the first round of trials for the 2012 national team commenced with a 5km time trial on the Nepean River at Penrith.
Athletes faced calm conditions along the river, with three time Olympic gold medallist Drew Ginn (VIC) and partner Joshua Dunkley Smith (VIC) the best performed in the men's pair.
The athletes competing at the selection trials will now relocate to the Sydney International Regatta Centre for racing, which will conclude on Sunday (December 18) afternoon.
Thursday afternoon racing will see the same combinations from the 5km time trial compete over the standard 2km course at the Sydney 2000 Olympic venue.
66 athletes are still in contention to make the 2012 Australian team, with crews to be chosen following the final round of trials at the end of March.
2008 Olympic gold medallist Duncan Free returned to the selection mix after recovering from the fractured right femur he sustained after being hit by a car whilst cycling during cross training on the Gold Coast in May.
Free, who won gold with Ginn in the men’s pair in Beijing, will contest selection in the men’s sweep program that features the men’s four, men’s eight and men’s pair boats.
Rowing Australia National High Performance Director Andrew Matheson says a number of key issues will be assessed across the four days of trialling.
“The aim of these trials is to assess the current performance levels for all Olympic and Paralympic shadow team members in order to determine which athletes will remain in contention for the final trials next March,” Matheson said.
“We are really happy with where the high performance program is placed just eight months out from the start of London but we are aware of the hard work ahead of us now.”
The bulk of athletes that remain in the selection hunt for 2012 formed part of Australia’s most successful world championship team, which won a record 10 medals in Bled, Slovenia in September earlier this year.
Five of these medals came in Olympic class boats, two medals came in the Paralympic class categories, while a further three Olympic category crews finished in fourth place.
The final trials for the 2012 Australian team will be held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre from March 23 – April 1 next year.
Australia’s crews will then be selected to compete at world cup regattas in Lucerne, Switzerland (May 23–25) and Munich, Germany (15–17 June) before the final crews are nominated to the Australian Olympic Committee on June 22.
The full list of athletes competing at trials is available here.
Media contact:
David Polglase 0401 453 041
Monday 7 November
First round of Olympic trials on the horizon for rowers
Rowing Australia has named its initial Prospective Squad that will go through the selection process in the lead up to the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The returns of Olympians Duncan Free (QLD) and Sam Conrad (QLD) amongst the 63 athletes that have been chosen are the two biggest additions to the Australian team that won a record 10 medals at the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Slovenia earlier this year.
Free comes back into the Olympic selection mix after he sustained a fractured femur after being hit by a car while cross training on a bike on the Gold Coast in May, while Conrad will have the opportunity to make his first Australian team since the 2008 Beijing Games after a bad run of injury and illness.
The first round of selection trials will be held in December (15–18) with athletes facing a 5km time trial on the Nepean River on December 15, before switching to racing at the Sydney International Regatta Centre for the remaining three days.
National High Performance Director Andrew Matheson says there will a tight battle over the coming months to decide crews for 2012.
“We enjoyed some success in 2011 at the world championships but we are well aware that the competition will be even harder in London next year,” Matheson said.
“The racing in Slovenia was extremely tough across heats, repechages, semi-finals and finals and we are under no illusions that we will have to step up another level.
“There is a great core group of athletes in the system now however and we are confident that come London we will have the best possible crews in place to achieve Olympic and Paralympic success.”
The final round of Olympic and Paralympic selection trials will be held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre from March 23–April 1 next year, before Rowing Australia nominates its crews to the Australian Olympic Committee who will then officially name the team.
Australia has so far qualified 10 boats (men’s double scull, men’s quad scull, women’s double scull, women’s quad scull, men’s pair, men’s four, men’s eight, women’s pair, women’s lightweight double scull, men’s lightweight four) for the 2012 London Olympic Games, while it has also secured two boats at the 2012 London Paralympic Games (men’s arms and shoulders single scull, trunk and arms mixed double scull).
The full Prospective Squad is available on the Rowing Australia website.
Media contact:
David Polglase 0401 453 041
Monday 19 September
World’s best rowers to compete “down under” with Australia’s current and future stars
Rowing in Australia is entering a new and exciting chapter. At the 2011 World Rowing Championships held in Bled, Slovenia earlier this month, Aussie rowers won a record 10 medals, with the Australian Rowing Team finishing second out of 68 nations on the points table, and Rowing Australia was awarded the opening round of the prestigious FISA Samsung World Rowing Cup for 2013 and 2014.
Today, the future of the sport is shining even brighter with the NSW Premier and Minister for Western Sydney Barry O’Farrell and Minister for Tourism and Major Events George Souris, announcing the inaugural ‘Sydney International Rowing Regatta – World Rowing Down Under’.
This week-long festival of rowing will take place at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, Penrith, 18–24 March 2013. The regatta will include the opening round of the Samsung World Rowing Cup, Australian Open Rowing Championships, Australian Schools Rowing Championships, as well as the prestigious King’s and Queen’s Cup events.
Rowing Australia Director John Boultbee said, “For the first time in the history of world rowing, a Samsung World Rowing Cup round will take place in the same regatta as a national rowing championships. It will also be the first time a Samsung World Rowing Cup has been held in the Southern Hemisphere.
“Hosting the events will significantly benefit the sport of rowing in Australia and the people of NSW. The economic benefits to the people of Western Sydney will be significant with the Samsung World Rowing Cup alone, expected to see some 800 athletes, officials and media from across the world, make the journey “down under”. There will also be more than 2000 athletes coming from around Australia to compete at the regatta, as well as thousands of spectators.
“For many young athletes and club rowers, the chance to see and compete on the same water as London 2012 Olympic Champions, will be an incredible experience for these athletes”.
Three time Olympic Gold Medalist and five time World Champion, Drew Ginn said, “The one thing that Australian rowers always lack in our preparation for major events such as the World Championships and Olympic Games, is international racing in Australia. Having the World Cup come to Sydney is a dream come true for both elite and up and coming rowers.
“The finals for the National Schools Championships events are going to be raced within the World Cup regatta itself. This will ensure young athletes have the best experience possible” said Ginn. “It is very exciting! I only wish as a young school boy rower I had been able to line up right next to the Russians or the Chinese – what a buzz!”
Andrew Dee, CEO of Rowing Australia noted that securing the prestigious World Rowing Cup component of the regatta would not have been possible without the assistance of the NSW Government through Destination NSW, “The NSW Government under Premier O’Farrell and Minister Souris deserve enormous credit for seeing the potential of this exciting new concept. Our commitment to FISA and Destination NSW is that we will make this unique event a huge success. Planning is well underway and we have an experienced organising committee chaired by Sydney based Chris Noel.
“We encourage the Australian rowing community and the general public to get involved and be part of this historic regatta."
The inaugural week-long “Sydney International Rowing Regatta – World Rowing Down Under” will be conducted at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, 18–24 March 2013.
For more information please contact:
Linda Smith + 61 (0)417 268 376
Monday 5 September
World class rowing returns to Australia
Building on a record medal haul at the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled Slovenia, Rowing Australia together with the NSW Government through ‘Destination NSW,’ has secured the rights to stage the opening round of the prestigious Samsung World Rowing Cup in 2013 and 2014. The events will be staged in Western Sydney at the Sydney International Regatta Centre (SIRC), Penrith, a legacy venue of the Sydney 2000 Games.
International Rowing Federation (FISA) President Denis Oswald commented, “The FISA Council’s decision to attribute the first World Rowing Cup of 2013 to Sydney returns international rowing to Sydney and marks an important new era in our sport. Supported by our Title Partner Samsung, we are taking our sport global, to the southern hemisphere thus enabling us to reach new fans and extend our season. We are really pleased to be partnering with Rowing Australia and ‘Destination NSW’. We know Australians deliver great events and that this exciting development in our sport will be widely embraced by the world’s rowing community.”
"We're delighted to have been awarded the opening rounds of the World Rowing Cup in 2013 and 2014 by FISA" said Colin Smith, President of Rowing Australia. "It's an honour to be able to bring the best rowers in the world back to Sydney to compete at one of the best rowing facilities in the world (SIRC)."
"Hosting these events will benefit the sport of rowing and the people of NSW in a variety of ways. There will be immediate benefits to the economy of many hundreds of athletes, coaches, support staff and spectators coming to Sydney for training camps and competition. Media coverage and event broadcasts will mean the eyes of the rowing world will once again be on Western Sydney. For Australian rowing, it will showcase our sport and provide inspiration to everyone who watches the event, and particularly to our next generation of elite athletes."
Mr Smith added, “The World Rowing Cup regattas would not be able to be staged in Sydney if it were not for the assistance of the NSW Government and we are grateful for their generous support. They NSW Government deserves enormous credit for seeing the potential of the Rowing World Cups. Our commitment to them is that we will make these events a huge success and repay the trust they have shown in us and rowing".
“Even though the formal announcement was only made in Slovenia overnight, preparations have already commenced. We have an Organising Committee already looking at all aspects of the event and talking with international coaches and teams. On the back of our great results here in Slovenia just one year before the London 2012 Olympic Games, it's an exciting time for Rowing in Australia – and we look forward to making the most of these two wonderful opportunities."
For more information please contact
Linda Smith: +61 (0) 417 268 376
