Monday 31 May
Bailey wins maiden silver
The stage was set for a big afternoon of adaptive rowing finals at World Cup 1 in Bled, Slovenia. After a one-hour rain delay, the athletes pushed off the pontoons and rowed up to the start in still, but wet conditions.
The first Australian to compete was Ben Houlison (NSW) in the Arms and Shoulders Men's Single Scull (ASM1x). Ben rowed his way to a fifth place in the A Final behind Beijing 2008 Paralympic gold medalist and 2009 World Champion Tom Aggar.
"I was happy with my race as I stuck to the race plan, but unfortunately the outcome was not what was desired. I was able to take some positives out of the race, and I know what needs to be worked on for the World Championships later this year," Houlison said.
Fellow Australians Grant Bailey and Kathryn Ross in the Trunk and Arms Double Scull (TA2x) were in the next final to be raced.
"I was nervous and excited to have a chance to potentially take my first international medal, and I just wanted to get out there and show the world what I was capable of," Bailey commented prior to the Final.
After holding off a strong surge through the 500m mark by the Italian crew, the Australian TA2x rowed gallantly to finish in the silver medal position behind the 2009 World Championship crew of Ukraine.
"As soon as I herd the finish horn I was frantically looking around to see our position, and when I realized we finished in second, I was over the moon!" Bailey stated on the victory pontoon after receiving his silver medal with partner Kathryn Ross.
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Grant Bailey and Kathryn Ross with their silver medals |
AIS/National Adaptive Rowing Head Coach, Pedro Albisser was pleased with the results.
"The speed of both crews was what I had expected, and I was extremely pleased to have both crews in the A Final, and for the double to have the success that they had. The competition has definitely increased following the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, with a higher grade of athletes racing each year," Albisser stated.
The Australian Team will now return to Australia to resume training for the August selection regatta, in an attempt to be named in the 2010 World Championship Senior A Squad for New Zealand in November.
The team would like to take this opportunity to thank the Australian Institute of Sport staff at the European training centre in Varese, Italy and for stand-in team physiotherapist Neil Maclean-Martin who toured with the squad for the regatta.
Saturday 29 May
World Cup 1 – Bled, Slovenia
The 14th year of the Rowing World Cup series got off to a slow start in Bled, Slovenia, with the Thursday afternoon adaptive rowing races being cancelled due to strong winds, and unsafe water.
The Australian Adaptive Rowing Team awoke with clam conditions on Friday morning, to prepare for the mid-afternoon heats. Under the snow-capped peaks of the mountain ranges surrounding the Bled rowing course, Ben Houlison (NSW) followed up from his bronze medal at the 2009 World Rowing Championships with a solid performance, comfortably winning Heat 3 of the Adaptive Men's Arms and Shoulders Single Scull (ASM1x) by 10 sec.
"I was really happy with my consistent 250m split times, which has put me in a great position for tomorrow's semi-final. Coming first in my heat gives me great confidence moving into the semis, which I hope to carry onto the final on Saturday night," Houlison stated following his race.
Fellow Australian Team members, Kathryn Ross (VIC) and new comer Grant Bailey (NSW), found themselves in a race for lanes following two crew withdrawals from their event. In the Trunk and Arms Mixed Double Scull (TA2x) race, Ross and Bailey raced powerfully to second place in their first international event as a duo, 4 seconds behind 2009 World Champions, Ukraine.
"I was happy to finally get my first race against other crews under my belt, as you can only race against the clock so many times in training," Bailey said.
His experienced partner Ross (2008 Beijing Paralympic silver medalist) was also pleased with the result.
"It was a great first hit-out, and a fantastic learning experience both for Grant and for myself as this was my first real international race in the double following the final in Beijing, and we both know that we can only improve from here."
Adaptive AIS/National Head Coach Pedro Albisser was equally impressed with the results of his team.
"Both crews had good solid performances. The double took some great steps forward in their development as a crew, and Ben continues to impress with every international regatta."
Following the cancellation of Thursday evening's opening races, Albisser praised his athletes ability to cope with the ever-changing program.
"Both crews are in good spirits, and are remaining level headed about the conditions and re-scheduling. We have been fortunate to have knowledgeable support staff to provide alternative training programs off the water, which has kept the athletes focused and on track for great performances."
Houlison will race in Semifinal A at 09:10 Slovenian time. A top-three place will progress him straight to the A Final at 18:00. The double of Ross and Bailey will compete in the A Final of the TA2x at 18:15.
For more information, and live race tracking and commentary, please refer to www.worldrowing.com.
Tuesday 25 May
RA media release:
Slovenian challenge for Aussie trio
Australia’s adaptive rowing squad will take to the water this weekend in World Cup 1, aiming to make a mark in Bled, Slovenia.
Ben Houlison (men’s arms and shoulders single scull), Kathryn Ross and Grant Bailey (trunk and arms mixed double scull) departed Australia on Sunday 16 May and have been training for the past week at the Australian Institute of Sport’s European Training Centre in Varese, Italy.
The trio will arrive in Slovenia tonight, before the heats of their respective races are held on Thursday 27 May.
Houlison, Bailey and Ross have made significant progress in 2010 after all relocating to the AIS in Canberra, as part of the new adaptive rowing program based out of the AIS’ Centre of Excellence.
Houlison, who claimed bronze at the 2009 World Rowing Championships, is aiming to continue his rise in the ranks of the sport in 2010 and is looking forward to World Cup 1.
“It is great that the world governing body, FISA, is giving the adaptive rowing community the chance to compete in more international regattas, and it shows the big step forward that has been made in the last few years,” Houlison said. “The support we get out of the AIS is great, but having the chance to race internationally is priceless.
“It will be good to see how all three of us go against the international crews and I can’t wait to get out on the water.”
Rowing Australia Head Adaptive Coach, Pedro Albisser, said the training camp in Varese was a worthwhile exercise for the three rowers.
“To have a facility in Italy is excellent for all Australian rowers, and the investment made by the AIS is defiantly worthwhile,” Albisser said. “Ben has been training with good purpose, while Kathryn and Grant improve with each row.
“It must be remembered they have only been rowing together for three months, and the improvement they have made is impressive.”
Following the heats of the adaptive races, the repechages will be held on Friday, before the finals are contested on Saturday 29 May.
The remainder of the Australian Senior A Rowing Team arrive in Europe on June 14 and will contest World Cup 2 and World Cup 3.
For more information please call David Polglase on 0401 453 041
Thursday 20 May
RA media release:
Youth rowers ready to battle New Zealand
The Australian Sport Commission’s National Talent Identification (NTID) rowing squad will hit the water tomorrow in a 5km time trial against the New Zealand Junior Rowing Team at Lake Karapiro, Hamilton.
The 25 person NTID squad arrived in New Zealand on Tuesday and have been getting used to conditions at the course that will also host the 2010 World Rowing Championships later this year.
The Winter Series Regatta that commences on Friday morning (21 May) will offer the young rowers exposure to international racing across three days of competition.
The tour is being used by the NTID program as an important step in each athlete’s pathway into international rowing and will be used as a stepping stone for the group to attend further NTID camps and regattas.
NTID Senior Coordinator Wayne Diplock says all athletes are looking forward to the opportunity.
“The whole group is excited at the opportunity that lies before them and are raring to go ahead of their first bit of action tomorrow,” Diplock said.
“Since arriving in New Zealand on Tuesday, we have been building towards tomorrow and despite the fact there will be some pre-race nerves, we can look forward to some great rowing.”
Following tomorrow’s time trial there will be a further two days of racing against the New Zealand Junior Rowing Team, before the squad returns to Australia on Monday 24 May.
Men’s Single Scull
Riley Elvery – NSW, Maclean High
Women’s Single Scull
Jessica Buttell – NSW, Queenwood
Men’s Double Scull
Daniel Whitehead – NSW, Kinross Wolaroi
Dylan Porte – SA, Unity College
Men’s Quad Scull
James Cahill – VIC, Melbourne High School
Christian Moore – NSW, Newcastle Grammar School
Samuel Volker – TAS, The Friends' School
Yannick Dixon – QLD, Kenmore SHS
Men’s Eight
Clive Fairburn-Calvert – VIC, Ballarat Grammar
James Medway – NSW, Sydney Grammar School
Jock Lawrence – VIC, Ballarat Grammar
Joshua Cukurins – VIC, St Kevin’s College
Lachlan Hanbury-Brown – NSW, Shore School
Mathew Barnier – ACT, Canberra Grammar School
Patrick Connors – QLD, Brisbane State High School
Thomas Bowditch – NSW, St Ignatius College, Riverview
Jake Edwards – QLD, Brisbane State High School
Women’s Quad Scull
Brittany Jones – VIC, St Columbas College
Sarah Jones – NSW, Grafton High School
Eliza Flint – NSW, Pymble Ladies' College
Emily Wilson – NSW, Roseville College
Women’s Four
Ciona Wilson – TAS, Launceston Church Grammar School
Emily Brown – NSW, Queenwood
Johanna Tarran –t NSW, Grafton High School
Leah Saunders – NSW, Maclean High
For more information please call David Polglase on 0401 453 041
Friday 14 May
RA media release:
Rowing Australia commends new Government funding package
Rowing Australia congratulates the Australian Government on the latest round of sport funding that was released as part of the 2010/2011 Federal Budget.
Following the release of the Crawford Report in November last year, the Australian Government, led by Minister for Sport, The Hon. Kate Ellis, has responded with a $325 million boost including new funding of $195 million. The Government has demonstrated its strong support of the Australian sporting system, highlighting the importance of sport to the Australian culture, both at community and elite level.
Rowing Australia President, Colin Smith, says the additional funding comes at a crucial time for Australian sport and that the Minister should be applauded for the confidence shown in Australian sport and the dedication to its ongoing success.
“Over the last 6 months our closest competitors have been writing Australia off, but the Government’s new package shows its commitment to Australian sport,” Smith said. “Rowing Australia, along with all Australian National Sporting Organisations, can now take advantage of the additional funding and regain the prominence we all achieved at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
“Rowing Australia strongly supports the ‘Australian Sport: The Pathway to Success’ program that has been developed by the Australian Government and believes that the new levels of funding will increase the success of Australian sport both by growing community participation and enhancing elite performance.”
Meanwhile Rowing Australia CEO Andrew Dee supported the process the Government undertook in developing its policy and deciding funding levels.
“The Government carefully listened to feedback from the sports industry in relation to the Crawford Report in developing its policy response,” Dee said.
“Rowing Australia is confident that it and the rest of Australian sport will reward the Government’s confidence by delivering programs that will enhance the health and spirit of the nation well into the future”.
For more information please call David Polglase on 0401 453 041
Thursday 13 May
The man who holds the key to TV sport
Roy Masters, Sydney Morning Herald, 22 April
Broadcasting fees are the lifeblood of professional sport in Australia and, along with its close relation, sponsorship, contributes 60 to 80 per cent of total revenue.
More than $350 million in TV income pumps through Australian sport annually, with one player involved in all the big contracts, either the current deals, or negotiations for the next rights fees package.
He is Colin Smith, a 50-year-old Melburnian, who, despite his surname being the most common in the English-speaking world, is the only Smith common to the caller ID's of the phones of Australia's top sporting officials.
He logs more air miles than most pilots, crossing the country as the boss of LEK's regional Sports, Gaming, Media and Entertainment division, as well as recently linking up with the former Cricket Australia and ICC boss, Mal Speed, to form Global Media and Sports, a firm specialising in negotiating broadcasting deals for sports.
Smith worked on the biggest TV deal in sporting history – the AFL's five-year, $780 million contract – in tandem with Ben Buckley, who is now the chief executive of the FFA.
Buckley and Smith lodged the AFL's initial claim for rights fees to the Channel Seven-Ten consortium at only 4 per cent of the sum the then Channel Nine boss, Kerry Packer lodged, forcing Seven-Ten to meet it under their first and last rights clause.
Smith is advising the NRL chief executive, David Gallop, on rugby league's next broadcasting contract, which hopes to deliver parity with the AFL.
Smith helped ARU chief John O'Neill with the soon-to-be-announced SANZAR rights, and helped Cricket Australia boss James Sutherland with the last TV deal and is involved in the next round of rights. Thoroughbred racing, including the AJC, VRC and Queensland Racing, consult with Smith and AOC chairman, John Coates, has engaged him on digital rights.
Even exotic deals – advising PNG on the broadcasting value it can bring to the NRL as a possible new franchise and preparing a brief for ANZ Stadium on the likely TV income of a possible hybrid rules match between the Kangaroos and Wallabies – are on his desk.
The big professional sports are lining it up like formula one cars at the grid, as anticipated changes to the federal government's anti-siphoning rules are expected to favour the cash-strapped free-to-air broadcasters.
Rugby union media rights are first out, with the Wallabies and Super 15 deals soon to be announced. The AFL is next, with its contract concluding in 2011, followed by the NRL a year later. Cricket is the last of the big sports to finish existing deals.
Smith rejects claims his multiplicity of deal-making exposes him to accusations of conflict of interest, saying, "I am acting for the sports, and not the sports and the broadcaster at the same time. If I was doing the AFL and the NRL at the same time, it would be a problem."
Smith is convinced all sports will receive more from their next broadcasting deals. "I am very confident that the leading professional sports will continue to grow. Popular sports guarantee TV audiences. The fragmentation of audiences across more channels on free-to-air and pay TV, and now through broadband, will ensure an increase in overall audiences watching the games and holding it for longer."
Nor does he see an increase in one sport's rights income necessarily being at the expense of another, although it seems certain Channel Nine – desperate to hold NRL rights – will not pitch seriously for AFL, leaving the Seven-Ten consortium as the only bidder.
He cites NRL as an "excellent TV product" and notes Gallop is considering unbundling the existing rights of the Telstra premiership, State of Origin and Four Nations tournament, although Channel Nine belives its first-and-last rights deal prevents the NRL from doing this.
Of rugby union, he says: "The new SANZAR Melbourne team in Australia's second-largest market, together with a guaranteed finalist from the five Australian teams, will give the competition a real boost. Last year, the Waratahs effectively disappeared off our TV screens for three weeks because they were playing in South Africa after midnight in Australia. This will happen less under the new contract."
Of cricket: "The international runaway success of the Twenty20, especially IPL, is a clear indicator the market has adopted another form of cricket. Similarly, the success of the KFC Big Bash this season, with the inclusion of international players, has been a big success."
However, the Australian sports market is highly competitive, with more national leagues per million of population than any other nation.
"There are clubs that are financially challenged," Smith said, pointing to Super 14's Queensland Reds, recently taken over by the ARU; the A-League's North Queensland Fury being bailed out by FFA; the AFL's Port Adelaide, which sought a merger with a more cashed-up second-tier club; and NRL team Cronulla's ongoing problems with the bottom line.
"The picture for the football codes is rosy only while all teams are competitive and guaranteeing an audience to TV."
Smith is a gold medal-winning rower, winning Australia's first ever World Championship in the lightweight fours at Lucerne in 1974. He subsequently won medals at the following three World Championships and, as chairman of Rowing Australia, he will lead the sport to the London Olympics.
While he may have multiple oars in the water at once, he is confident he can negotiate the murky waters of Australian TV, with its history of conspiring to depress rights fees to sport.
Sunday 9 May
Work underway at Yarralumla
Work has commenced on the new building that will house the AIS Rowing Centre of Excellence and Rowing Australia in the same location for the first time.
Workmen moved onto the site behind the current AIS Rowing Centre of Excellence in Yarralumla, ACT, to begin work on the new building that is expected to be completed in December 2010.
The new Rowing Australia building, built with the support of the Australian Sports Commission and the AIS, is another large step forward for the collaboration of the AIS Rowing Centre of Excellence and Rowing Australia, and will create a better working environment that will further aid the development of rowing in Australia.
Upon completion, the building will signify the full integration of the Rowing Australia High Performance Program and the AIS Rowing Program.
Rowing Australia CEO Andrew Dee said that the construction signifies the progress of Australian rowing.
“With the generous backing of the AIS and Australian Sports Commission, Australian rowing will be strongly positioned to deliver a fully integrated national program,” Dee said.
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Digging commences, Friday 7 May
Photo: Naomi Wagstaff |
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Artists impressions |
Thursday 6 May
RA media release:
World Cups beckon as international crews relocate
The 2010 Australian Senior A Rowing Team crews will relocate to their new training locations this weekend as the World Cup season looms on the horizon.
Following the conclusion of the selection trials on May 2, the 39 athletes selected as part of the team to contest World Cup 2 and 3 have enjoyed a break from training, but will refocus on Monday as they begin their final block of training ahead of the international season.
Tasmania will once again feature as one of the main relocation states, as both the men’s quad scull and two men’s lightweight four crews head over Bass Straight.
The men’s quad scull – Daniel Noonan (NSW), David Crawshay (VIC), Karsten Forsterling (VIC) and Chris Morgan (SA) – along with reserve and men’s single scull Nicholas Hudson (NSW), will train out of Huon on the Franklin River under the tutelage of incumbent men’s quad scull coach, John Driessen.
Meanwhile, Tasmanian Institute of Sport Head Coach Brett Crow, will take charge of his first Australian Senior A crews, as the two men’s lightweight four crews train out of Hobart.
Melbourne will play host to three crews, as the Olympic and World Championship silver medallists, Francis Hegerty (NSW), Cameron McKenzie-McHarg (VIC), James Marburg (VIC), and Matt Ryan (NSW), work under the command of the experienced Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) Head Coach, Chris O’Brien.
The two women’s pairs of Pauline Frasca (VIC) and Phoebe Stanley (VIC), and Sarah Tait (VIC) and Sarah Cook (ACT) will also row out of Melbourne, with VIS coach Bill Tait looking after both crews.
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra will play host to the remaining crews, as the men’s double scull, men’s sweep squad, and women’s lightweight and heavyweight sculling programs all base themselves out of the nation’s capital.
National Men’s Head Coach Noel Donaldson will mentor the men’s sweep squad, AIS men’s senior coach, Rhett Ayliffe, will focus on the men’s double scull, National Women’s Head Coach Lyall McCarthy will take charge of the women’s single and double scull, while AIS women’s senior coach, Laryssa Biesenthal will coach the women’s lightweight single and double scull crews.
All crews will complete an intensive five week training block before departing Australia on Sunday 13 June.
The Australian team will compete in World Cup 2 in Munich, Germany (18–20 June) and World Cup 3 in Lucerne, Switzerland (9–11 July), before returning to Australia to continue preparations for the 2010 World Rowing Championships in New Zealand (31 October–November 7).
Media contact: David Polglase 0401 453 041
Wednesday 5 May
RA media release:
Trans Tasman trip provides pathway to the top
(includes 2010 NTID Development Tour Squad)
25 of Australia’s next generation of rowers have been selected to travel as part of the ASC’s National Talent and Identification (NTID) squad to New Zealand later this month.
The athletes will leave for New Zealand on Tuesday 18 May and compete in a three-day Winter Series Regatta (May 21–23), an event aimed at giving international exposure to youth athletes.
The regatta will be held on Lake Karapiro, just outside the North Island city of Hamilton, which will also host the 2010 World Rowing Championships in November.
The tour is being used by the NTID program as an important step in each athlete’s pathway into international rowing and will be used as a stepping stone for the group to attend further NTID camps and regattas.
NTID Senior Coordinator Wayne Diplock says the tour, which is being run for the second year, has a large part to play in Australian rowing.
“Rowing Australia and the ASC NTID program are making significant headway at uncovering our next generation of international rowers and this tour is just another part of this process,” Diplock said.
“Some of these 25 athletes narrowly missed out on making the 2010 Australian Junior Rowing Team, but are still very much of our future plans and this tour will allow them to race at international level.
“Both the Australian Junior Team and our NTID touring group contains some rowers with excellent skills and strength and we look forward to seeing their continued development in both New Zealand and in the future.”
The NTID squad will arrive in Canberra on Thursday 13 May for a four day departure camp at the AIS, while the team will return to Australia on Monday 24 May.
Media contact: David Polglase 0401 453 041
2010 NTID Development Tour Squad – Lake Karapiro, NZ
Christian MOORE, NSW – Newcastle Grammar School
Clive FAIRBAIRN-CALVERT, VIC – Ballarat Grammar
Daniel WHITEHEAD, NSW – Kinross Wolaroi
Dylan PORTE, SA – Unity College
Jakes EDWARDS, QLD – Brisbane State High School
James CAHILL, VIC – Melbourne High School
James MEDWAY, NSW – Sydney Grammar School
Jock LAWRENCE, VIC – Ballarat Grammar
Joshua CUKURINS, VIC – St Kevins College
Lachlan HANBURY-BROWN, NSW – Shore School
Mathew BARNIER, ACT – Canberra Grammar School
Patrick CONNORS, QLD – Brisbane State High School
Riley ELVERY, NSW – Maclean High
Samuel VOLKER, TAS – The Friends' School
Thomas BOWDITCH, NSW – St Ignatius College, Riverview
Yannick DIXON, QLD – Kenmore SHS
Brittany JONES, VIC –St Columbas College
Ciona WILSON, TAS – Launceston Church Grammar School
Eliza FLINT, NSW – Pymble Ladies' College
Emily BROWN, NSW – Queenwood
Emily WILSON, NSW – Roseville College
Jessica BUTTEL, NSW – Queenwood
Johanna TARRANT, NSW – Grafton High School
Leah SAUNDERS, NSW – Maclean High
Sarah JONES, NSW – Grafton High School
Tuesday 4 May
Purchase 2010 Australian Rowing Championships 2-Disc DVD online
WCSN, in association with Rowing Australia, is proud to offer a Limited Edition, 2-Disc DVD set of the 2010 National Rowing Championships from Nagambie, Victoria.
For the first time ever, the final day of the two-week event was streamed live to the world via www.WCSN.com.au. Now, also for the first time ever, the footage is available for you to enjoy and keep forever on DVD.
- Races, atmosphere, celebrations and presentations
- High Definition video and sound quality
- Over 270 minutes (four and a half hours) of video content
- Convenient chapter points (skip ahead to your favourite races)
The 2-Disc DVD set is available exclusively via the WCSN website for $39.95+ph.
Stocks are strictly limited and already selling fast, so be sure that you do not miss out on your opportunity to own your own piece of Australian rowing history.
If you have any further enquiries, simply email WCSN at info@wcsn.com.au.
Tuesday 4 May
RA media release:
World Cup beckons for Australian trio
Rowing Australia has selected two adaptive crews to complete a three week tour of Europe following the conclusion of the 2010 National Selection Trials at the Sydney International Regatta Centre.
Ben Houlison (NSW) will compete in the men’s arms and shoulders single scull for the second consecutive year, while 2008 Beijing Paralympic silver medallist, Kathryn Ross (VIC), will combine with newcomer Grant Bailey (NSW) in the trunk and arms mixed double scull.
The two crews will leave Australia on May 16 and attend a nine day training camp at the AIS’ European Training Centre in Varese, Italy, before competing at FISA’s Rowing World Cup 1 in Bled, Slovenia (May 27–29).
Houlison had an excellent 2009 season which included bronze medals at both the 2009 International Adaptive Regatta in Italy and the 2009 World Rowing Championships in Poland.
The 28-year-old Lithgow-born athlete moved to the AIS at the start of 2010 and is part of the new AIS Centre of Excellence rowing program. The program, headed by the National Adaptive Head Coach, Pedro Albisser, is targeting athletes ahead of the 2012 London Paralympic Games.
Meanwhile, Ross, who won silver with John Maclean in Beijing, has begun rowing with Bailey in the last two months, and the pair set some strong times during the selection regatta last week.
Ross and Bailey have also been re-located to the AIS in Canberra and Albisser is happy with their progress.
“Kathryn and Grant have come together really well and both have the potential to challenge the world’s best crews in this discipline,” Albisser said. “We have been doing a lot of work with them in the last two months and to see the pace they produced as a combination is exciting.
“Ben has also moved from strength-to-strength in the last 12 months and his main goal is definitely focused around peaking in London in two years time.”
Following their tour this month, all three athletes will return to Canberra and continue their preparations ahead of the 2010 World Rowing Championships in New Zealand (October 31–November 7).
Media contact: David Polglase 0401 453 041
Tuesday 4 May
Thomas Keller Medal: Oarsome rower finalist
Congratulations to Drew Ginn, who is the latest nominee for the Thomas Keller Medal. Read more on the World Rowing website.
Sunday 2 May
RA media release:
Australia eyes success on whirlwind World Cup tour
(includes announcement of 2010 Australian World Cup and Under 23 Rowing Teams)
The Rowing Australia Board today approved a squad of 39 athletes to contest World Cup 2 and 3 as the 2010 National Selection Trials concluded at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, Penrith.
Australia will send crews to World Cup 2 (Munich, Germany) and World Cup 3 (Lucerne, Switzerland) on a four week tour of Europe, before the squad returns to Australia to continue preparations ahead of the 2010 World Rowing Championships in New Zealand (October 31–November 7).
As part of the same announcement, eight crews were named in the Australian Under 23 World Championships team, which will compete at the 2010 Under 23 World Championships in Brest, Belarus in July.
Headlining the Senior A contingent will be the 2008 Olympic silver medal crew of Francis Hegerty (NSW), Cameron McKenzie-McHarg (VIC), James Marburg (VIC) and Matt Ryan (NSW) who will be eager to add further medals to their tally, after also claiming silver at the 2009 World Championships.
The two men’s sculling boats threw up a number of potential combinations, with the selectors able to choose two strong crews. Daniel Noonan (NSW), David Crawshay (VIC), Karsten Forsterling (VIC) and Chris Morgan (SA) will form the men’s quad scull crew, while Jared Bidwell (QLD) and Danjels Reedman (NSW) will combine in the men’s double scull.
The men’s eight will split up into two men’s fours crews for World Cup 2, before reforming the eight in Lucerne.
In the women’s program, 2008 Beijing Olympians Kerry Hore (TAS), Sarah Tait (VIC) and Pauline Frasca (VIC) all return to the Australian team, with Hore to row in the women’s double scull with Kim Crow (VIC), while Tait and Frasca will row in separate women’s pair combinations.
2004 junior women’s single scull world champion, Sally Kehoe (QLD), will get her chance to row the boat at senior level for the first time, while Hannah Every-Hall (QLD) and Alice McNamara (VIC) form the women’s lightweight double scull.
Rowing Australia High Performance Director Andrew Matheson says that there were a number of difficult decisions to make.
“Across the week of trials we had a number of athletes put their hands up and push for selection across all boat categories,” Matheson said. “We have developed a good talent pool of rowers for the current Olympic cycle and we believe that this squad will serve us well for the two World Cups in Europe.”
Meanwhile Matheson said there was still the chance for a number of other athletes to come back into the selection race for the World Championships.
“A number of athletes were unable to make the World Cup tour due to injuries or personal commitments and these athletes will have the chance to trial in August,” Matheson said.
“Duncan Free, Sam Conrad, Brooke Pratley, James McRae, Ben Cureton and Tom Gibson, who were all part of the Olympic team in 2008, will trial for places in August and will be given due opportunity to qualify for the World Championships team.”
The 2010 Australian Rowing Team will depart for Europe on Sunday 13 June to compete in World Cup 2 and 3.
A final round of selection trials for the 2010 Australian World Rowing Championships team will be held in August.
Download the team lists:
View athlete profiles
For more information please call David Polglase on 0401 453 041
