GB Trials February Assessment Race Report

Last weekend we sent six athletes to the third stage of GBRT trials. This is a compulsory stage of the trialling process for those wanting to the World Rowing Championships, World Rowing U23 Championships and FISU team selection. Despite preparation in the run up to the event being disrupted by illness and injury we came away with some exciting results.

First up to take on the cold and windy weather in Boston were the girls. Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne,  bronze medallist at the 2017 World Cup came away with an impressive second place in the W1x behind Vicky Thornley. Our other heavyweight female sculler Lucy Ryan performed very strongly to come 6th in the Under-23 category despite not having the best preparation for the event due to injury. Last but not least for our female scullers was Chloe Knight, one of our first years. She also raced well and placed 11th out of the Under-23 lightweight women. 

The boys were up next and our two heavyweight men Rory Harris and Olly Dix raced confidently to come away with 4th and 6th in Under-23 respectively, an impressive result especially from Rory since this is his first year at university. Our lightweight sculler Franklin Hamilton raced commendably despite illness and placed 15th in Under-23.  

A special mention must go out to our coaches, Will Rand, Chris Bartley and Charlie Booth, who accompanied the athletes and braved the cold and windy conditions with them. Without the support of our coaches none of this would be possible. 

We're looking forward to getting our triallists back in crew boats now and preparing for our first big head race of the season, BUCS head!