Leander athletes help GB top Poznan medal table

LEANDER Club athletes helped Great Britain win four gold medals and top the medal table at the World Rowing U23 Championships in Poznan, Poland, last weekend.

On Sunday, the final day of the championships, Great Britain added gold medals in the women’s quadruple sculls, men’s and women’s eights to the women’s four gold they won the day before to finish the competition in style, top of the medal table with 26 athletes returning home from Poznan as U23 World Champions. The women’s eight featuring Leander’s Lily Wood, Ailish Harkin, Abigail Dawson, Alice Baker and cox Nikita Jacobs along with Matilda Drewett, Anna Grace, Olivia Hill and former Shiplake College student Jess Weir were almost clear water ahead by the 1km in their final and held off a late surge by the USA to retain the U23 title.

With Dawson, Baker and Hill returning from the crew which won gold in St Catharine’s last year, the group were jubilant after the event, with Jacobs saying: “It was a great race. The girls did an amazing job, just going out and executing what we talked about the whole time.”

The men’s eight, who have been U23 world champions every year since 2019, triumphed once again. The crew, which featured Leander’s Josh Brangan, Cameron Beyki, Harry Geffen, Ben Mead, Cameron Tasker along with Tristan Wenger, Gabriel Obholzer, Richard Hawes and cox Tom Bryce, kept focus despite initial pressure from the pack to pull ahead at the 1km and held off a final charge from New Zealand to retain the title.

For the second consecutive year, Great Britain won the women’s coxless fours. The crew, featuring Leander’s Ellie-Kate Hutchinson and Imogen Cabot along with Maddie Greenstock and Jessica Martin were first out of the blocks and maintained the lead throughout, to cross the line more than three seconds ahead of Romania and New Zealand.

Speaking after the race, Hutchinson — who is now a two-time U23 World Champion having won gold in the women’s eight in Canada last year — said: “We trusted each other and trusted the race plan. We’ve only been rowing together for around three weeks but got the job done today.”

Great Britain’s other gold medal came in the women’s quadruple sculls.

Leander’s Theo Bell along with Marcus Chute gave it their all in the men’s pair final. The race for silver and bronze saw three crews cross the line together, with the GB boat narrowly missing out on the podium, finishing fourth by the smallest of margins, just 0.08 seconds. The bronze winning crew included former Shiplake College leaver Seric Critchley who helped Switzerland to their first U23 open weight sweep medal.

The men’s four, featuring Leander’s Osian James along with William Morgan-Jones, Isaac Thurnham and George Lauchlan, finished fourth in another close race, where they were pipped on the line, just 0.12 seconds behind Romania.

The men’s quadruple scull crew of Leander’s Elliott Donovan-Davies along with Harry Ruinet, Max Bird and Matt Long had a hard-fought battle, keeping close to the pack but finishing just outside the medals in fourth.