News

Posted: 26 July 2022

Eight Scottish rowers and two Scottish coaches are part of a strong GB Rowing Team set to compete at this week’s combined U19 and U23 World Rowing Championships in Varese, Italy.

             Photo credit: AllMarkOne

This includes a record number of Scottish junior athletes (6) in the U19 GB Rowing Team from four different Scottish clubs highlighting the growing strength of the junior pathway in Scotland.

The under 23 team get their campaigns underway today with the opening heats and medal finals scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

Two former ASRA (Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association) athletes – Miles Beeson (men’s coxless four) and Abigail Topp (women’s eight) will get the Scottish contingent underway in today’s racing.

Miles has previously represented the GB Rowing Team on three occasions including a silver medal in the junior men’s coxless four in 2019 and a gold medal last year in the under 23 men’s eight.

This will be Abigail’s debut at under 23 level however she was selected to the junior women’s pair at the 2019 World Rowing Junior Championships in Tokyo, the official test event for the 2020 Olympics.

All the Scottish junior athletes will be making their Great Britain debuts when racing for the under 19 crews gets underway on Wednesday.

Alloa’s Josh Matthews, representing Strathclyde Park Rowing Club, goes in the junior men’s quad scull which is coached by Tom Young, his coach from the British Rowing Start programme.  Tom coached the same boat class at the European Rowing Under 23 Championships in 2021.

All five of the junior women in the GB Rowing Team have come through the first-ever Scottish Rowing Junior Academy this season, a programme created to support talented junior rowers to reach their potential.

The junior women’s coxless four features three Scots who won gold medals earlier this season at the Munich International Junior Regatta.  Maisie Aspinall and Zoe Beeson (both ASRA) also raced the junior women’s pair at the European Rowing U19 Championships (where they finished 5th), and they are joined in the four by Amy Newton from George Heriot’s School Rowing Club.

The British junior women’s four will be coached by Holly Reid, coach at ASRA who has led her crews this season to successes at national events including the National Schools Regatta and Henley Women’s Regatta.

Isla Bathgate, also representing George Heriot’s School Rowing Club, and Isla Wilding, from George Watson’s College Boat Club, team up as part of a strong line-up in the junior women’s eight.

Lee Boucher, Scottish Rowing’s Head of Performance Pathway, said:

“We are delighted to see strong Scottish representation on the GB Rowing Team across Under 19 and Under 23 teams.

“It is encouraging to see a good spread of clubs represented, including four current and former ASRA athletes, as well as five athletes from the inaugural Scottish Rowing Junior Academy programme.

“It is also important to acknowledge the support provided by our clubs and coaches and it is fantastic to see both Holly and Tom represented on the team in a coaching capacity.

“Our athletes have worked incredibly hard for this opportunity and I’m sure the Scottish Rowing community will be right behind them as they get their campaigns underway.”

Racing gets underway on Tuesday and you can follow all of the action on the World Rowing website.

Read the British Rowing team announcement in full.

GB Rowing Team crews for the 2022 World Rowing U19/U23 Championships
Scots highlighted in bold 

U23 Men’s four (BM4-) 

Theo Darlow (Molesey BC) 
Calvin Tarczy (Tideway Scullers School / Harvard) 
Miles Beeson (Molesey BC / Yale) 
Douwe De Graaf (Tideway Scullers School / Harvard) 
Coach: Franz Imfeld (Molesey BC)

U23 Women’s eight (BW8+) 

Abigail Topp (Leander Club) 
Phoebe Snowden (University of London BC) 
Hannah Medcalf (Molesey BC / Texas) 
Natasha Morrice (Durham University BC) 
Katherine Kalap (Tideway Scullers School / Princeton) 
Zoë Scheske (Tideway Scullers School / Princeton) 
Daisy Bellamy (Leander Club) 
Lizzie Witt (Imperial College BC) 
Sam Shuker (cox) (Newcastle University BC) 
Coach: Paddy Ryan (Cambridge University BC)

U19 Men’s quad (JM4x) 

Jacob Ioras (The Windsor Boys School) 
Josh Matthews (Strathclyde Park RC) 
Harry Ruinet (Claires Court School BC) 
Matt Long (Kingston RC) 
Coach: Tom Young (Strathclyde Park RC START)

Women’s four (JW4-) 

Maisie Aspinall (Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association) 
Amy Newton (George Heriots School) 
Izzie Magee (Headington School) 
Zoe Beeson (Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association) 
Coach: Holly Reid (Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association)

Women’s eight (JW8+) 

Megan Johnston (Surbiton High School) 
Isla Bathgate (George Heriots School) 
Alice Baker (King’s School Worcester) 
Isabel Llabres Diaz (St Edwards School) 
Madeleine Greenstock (Surbiton High School) 
Annalisa Janss Lafond (Tideway Scullers School) 
Isla Wilding (George Watsons College) 
Martha Shepherd (Hinksey Sculling School) 
Sophie Wrightson (Cox) (Headington School) 
Coach: Ryan Demaine (Headington School)