Australia readies for World Rowing Championships

Kehoe and Bradley at Australian trials

Eight days of intense trialling at the Sydney International Regatta Centre concluded with the announcement of Australia’s rowing team for this year’s World Rowing Championships and the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in the first stage of Australia’s push towards the 2008 Olympics.

Rowing Australia’s High Performance Director Noel Donaldson said in a press release that he believed the form of the senior team at trials indicated they would have a strong showing at the World Rowing Championships.

?I’m very pleased with the standard that has been displayed in the first year of a four-year cycle,? Donaldson said. ?On the basis that many of the Olympic athletes are taking a short break at present, there’s no question that we are heading in the right direction and we will be very competitive in Japan.”

The standout performance of the trials was in the women’s double with world junior champion Sally Kehoe and Olympic bronze medallist Amber Bradley clocking impressive times in the final trial.

“We believe they can take on the Olympic Champions from New Zealand,” said Donaldson who noted that although Kehoe and Bradley have not yet rowed together internationally, their individual talents had combined well so far.
 
The team will contest eight men’s events and four women’s in one of the smallest squads to be sent in recent years.

SENIOR SQUAD

Men’s Pair
Karsten Fosterling
Christian Ryan

Men’s Four
James Chapman
Matt Ryan
Jeremy Stevenson
James Gatti

Men’s Coxed Pair
Sam Conrad
Hardy Cubasch
Marc Douez

Men’s Single
David Crawshay

Men’s Quad
Craig Jones
Chris Morgan
Tent Collins
Jason Day

Men’s Lightweight Double
Cameron Wurf
Sam Beltz

Men’s Lightweight Four
Tom Gibson
Ben Cureton
Michael McBryde
Tim Smith

Men’s Lightweight Pair 
Todd Skipworth
Ross Brown 

Women’s Sweep Squad
Natalie Bale
Sarah Outhwaite
Emily Martin
Sarah Herd
Kate Hornsey
Pauline Frasca
Robyn Selby Smith
Sonia Mills
Lizzie Patrick

Women’s Double
Amber Bradley
Sally Kehoe

Women’s single
Kerry Hore

Women’s Lightweight Double
Marguerite Houston
Kirsty Flemming

The World Rowing team values feedback.