GB Rowing name strong squad for European Championships

Olympic champions Will Satch, Moe Sbihi and Tom Ransley will lead Great Britain's charge at next month's European Championships in Glasgow.

The Rio 2016 gold medallists are part of a 53-strong squad taking to the Scottish waters, as part of the men's eight, while Zoe Lee and reigning European champion Vicky Thornley will also compete in the sculls.

The men’s quadruple sculls of John Collins, Jonny Walton, Graeme Thomas and Tom Barras will enter the regatta in form after their gold medal at the recent World Cup in Lucerne, whilst Angus Groom and Jack Beaumont will compete in the double sculls after World Cup triumphs.

For British Rowing performance director Brendan Purcell, this is an event upon which to expect big things heading into the second half of the year.

“We anticipate hard racing, which I’m sure will give the athletes the confidence and motivation to head into another tough training block ahead of September’s World Championships,” he said.

“Each competition is another opportunity to evaluate how far we have progressed and importantly direct the energies and attention of athletes, coaches and support team to continue improving.”

Rowing is one of six sports included in the new format event, which will collate the aquatics, cycling, golf, gymnastics, rowing and triathlon European Championships into one in Glasgow.

And if the prospect of competing in a brand-new format isn’t enough, the regatta boasts the added incentive of being the first time the Great British Rowing Team will race on home waters time since 2013.

“Glasgow 2018 is an important event for us,” added Purcell.

“It is a great opportunity to perform in front of a home crowd and for many of our athletes it will be their first taste of a multi-sport event.

“We’ve seen some encouraging performances so far this year as we build to the business end of the season.”

Men

Men’s Pair: Oliver Cook, Matt Rossiter

Men’s Four: Tom Ford, Jacob Dawson, Adam Neill, James Johnston

Men’s Eight: Tom George, Tom Jeffery, Oliver Wynne-Griffith, Tom Ransley, Moe Sbihi, Alan Sinclair, Matthew Tarrant, Will Satch (cox: Henry Fieldman)

Men’s Single Scull: Harry Leask

Lightweight Men’s Single Scull: Sam Mottram

Men’s Double Scull: Angus Groom, Jack Beaumont

Lightweight Men’s Double Scull: Jamie Copus, Zak Lee-Green

Men’s Quadruple Scull: John Collins, Jonny Walton, Graeme Thomas, Tom Barras

Women

Women’s Pair: Rowan McKellar, Harriet Taylor

Women’s Four: Sara Parfett, Caragh McMurtry, Emily Ashford, Jo Wratten

Women’s Eight: Anastasia Chitty, Katherine Douglas, Holly Hill, Rebecca Girling, Fiona Gammond, Holly Norton, Karen Bennett, Rebecca Shorten (cox: Matilda Horn)

Women’s Single Scull: Victoria Thornley

Lightweight Women’s Double Scull: Ellie Piggott, Emily Craig

Women’s Quadruple Scull: Mathilda Hodgkins Byrne, Melissa Wilson, Jessica Leyden, Zoe Lee Sportsbeat 2018