Across the first day of racing, all 11 British crews were in action on the iconic Lago di Varese in Northern Italy.
This year’s Championships provide a final racing opportunity within training camps as the Women’s and Para squads continue their preparations for the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam. While the Men selected to race at the end of August continue their training at altitude in Silvretta, the team are represented by a strong development team, hungry to test themselves against Europe’s best.
The first British race on the docket was Benjamin Pritchard. The reigning World and Paralympic Champion started his European title defence in the best possible way. A heat win with a 12 second victory over France’s Alexis Sanchez saw him progress straight through to Sunday’s race for medals.
“It’s great to get started,” said the defending European Champion.
“I’m battling a bit of a niggle so it’s nice to get out there and get the first race done. It was a good proof of concept, and we’ll see what happens come Sunday. I have a couple more days to get this niggle out the way so we’ll see how it all goes then.”
Success in the Single Sculls was an early morning theme. Much like Pritchard, 2024 Olympic Champion Lauren Henry opened her account with a win. It was a dominant, seven-second victory over Ukraine’s Kateryna Dudchencko and Henry’s time of 07:18.11 was the fastest across all three heats.
“I’m looking forward to stepping on through the rounds,” said Henry, who won 2024 gold in the Women’s Quadruple Sculls.
“For us, this is very much a stepping stone towards Amsterdam. It’s really nice though to have a race that breaks up our training camp and I’m really enjoying it. Varese is a great venue, and hopefully, I’m going to have a good weekend of racing.”
Credit: Benedict Tufnell
20 minutes later, Jamie Gare was involved in one of the races of the day. After switching from the Double to the Single at short notice, Gare attacked his heat with gumption and gusto. The heat was led out by Germany’s Olli Zeidler, the 2024 Olympic Champion, but the race behind for the final automatic qualifying spot was superb. Gare went toe to toe in the last 250m with Sweden’s Samuel Oskarsson, with the Brit prevailing by a second, having been two seconds back on the Swede with 500 to go.
“There was a point where I thought I’d just have to hope that I’m going to get through on time when I thought I was going to get third,” said Gare.
“Then, I was closing in on second, and I thought I might as well go for it! I’m really happy, it’s very exciting, and I’m excited for tomorrow.”
Credit: Benedict Tufnell
The heat of the Men’s Pair saw 2024 Olympic Champion Tom Digby return to racing for the first time since winning gold two years ago. Alongside Jake Wincomb, the two were fourth in their heat, six seconds back on Romania who won silver at World Rowing Cup I. The two had to wait for the second heat to see if they would advance through to the A Final, but confirmation came moments later as their time of 06:25.66 was three seconds quicker than Slovenia, who were third in the second heat.
“It was a bit rough and ready, and I didn’t think we were quite on it,” said Wincomb.
“I love Varese, it’s my favourite venue. Today wasn’t quite the perfect day, but we’re into the A Final, and we can still learn lots. I’m happy with our overall row, but there are a few things we got wrong here and there. Pairs racing is brutal, and I’m glad we got stuck into it today.”
Credit: Benedict Tufnell
On the subject of small boats marching on, the Women’s Double of Sarah McKay and Cam Nyland continued the run of form from the morning. Much like the Men’s Pair, the duo were fourth in their heat, with AIN and Lithuania claiming the top two spots in the heat. However, the British time of 06:53.01 would have seen them place second in the next heat, and as such, they head the A Final based on their time.
“I feel like it’s shown the changes we’ve made since Lucerne that I trust Sarah no matter what,” explained Nyland.
“She’ll call when we have to do anything, and all I have to do is respond to that call in the best way that I can, which sets us both up better. There was one point when Sarah went, ‘Woooo,’ and I thought if she’s got energy for that at 1250m, then we’ve got energy for a sprint as well,” said Nyland with a laugh.
“I can just follow Cam because I really trust what she’s doing. I can feel when she responds to me, which in return gives me energy,” added McKay.
“We wanted to execute today, and we did that no matter the result. To get the A Final was the win, so we’ll keep stepping on, and we’re excited to see what tomorrow brings.”
Credit: Benedict Tufnell
After bronze at World Rowing Cup III, the Women’s Four stepped on and won their heat against Germany and Denmark. Like some of the other British crews, the time that Sarah Marshall, Eleanor Brinkhoff, Angharad Broughton, and Holly Youd posted, 06:28.66, was the fastest across the two heats as Romania won the other.
“It felt a bit odd that there were only three crews in our heat; it felt a bit more like Henley, much more like match racing,” said Youd, racing at her first European Rowing Championships.
“We hadn’t raced that Germany crew before so we had no idea how fast they were going to be. They were quick out the blocks, but I think we stayed loose, which we’ve been working on since Lucerne. We also moved the order around a little. We wanted to stay in control, and I think we did that pretty well.”
Credit: Benedict Tufnell
The Men’s Four had a quartet of senior debuts to remember. Theo Bell, Sam Ford, Josh Brangan, and Tom O’Sullivan have been racing and training in the United States of America, with each of them finishing in one of the top four crews at the IRA National Championships back in May.
They’ve come together back on British soil and kicked off their first European campaign with a heat win over Lithuania, Ukraine, and Denmark. They will race in tomorrow’s A Final.
“I think it’s good to be part of a system where, when you do it for the first time, it feels like you’ve been drilled into this sort of pressure situation the entire time in training,” said Ford.
“It’s such an amazing environment to be put in. They are amazing athletes. I went up against one of the brothers of my close friend at the University of Washington in the Lithuanian boat. It’s a very close-knit community, and it’s fun to finally be a part of that.
“It’s an honour to wear the GB vest. Any situation where you get to put it on is special. I never did Juniors or U23s, so this is special, and a big moment.”
Credit: Benedict Tufnell
After an injury to Finn Stratton, super-sub Becky Wilde stepped into the Women’s Quadruple Sculls. The 2024 Olympic bronze-medallist joined Lola Anderson, Hannah Scott, and Imogen Grant as they powered to victory, straight into tomorrow’s A Final after beating Greece into second place.
“We’re at home on our training camp so the water is familiar. We’re in the middle of a pretty heavy workload, but it’s good to test ourselves out there and test ourselves against some of Europe’s fastest,” said Olympic Champion Anderson.
“At any level you’re at in this sport, no matter what country you’re from, you’re doing hard, hard training for 90% of the year and the racing is the fun part. This is the reward. We’re excited to see what we can build on tomorrow and take that further into Amsterdam.”
Credit: Benedict Tufnell
In the afternoon session, the PR3 Mixed Coxed Four got racing back underway for the GB Rowing Team. Despite a fast start from the Italians, the British bows hit the front by 500m as the crew went on to win their Preliminary Race. It was more of the same for Paralympic Champions Josh O’Brien and Frankie Allen, but, for Jonty Ridley, Charlotte Coburn, and cox Omar Al-Miqdadi, this was their first senior international race for their country.
“It’s so exciting to make my debut for Great Britain. It’s been a lot of years in sport and to finally be out here racing for GB means a whole lot,” said Al-Miqdadi after the race.
“The Italians got out fast, but we were expecting that. We knew that if we could get onto our base pace, we’d be able to come through the field and we did that really well in pretty tricky conditions.”
Credit: Benedict Tufnell
Strong performances on debut kept on coming as the Varese sun beat down on the Lake. Ben Parsonage made his international debut for Great Britain and came from behind to win his heat of the Lightweight Men’s Single Scull. Despite a rocky start in the fast conditions, Parsonage rowed through an old rival to win on Lago di Varese.
“It’s a dream come true. It was my first race for GB, and it couldn’t have gone better. Well, I lost my blade in the first 500m as it was pretty wavy, but that’s normal for me so I’ll take it,” said the Clydesdale ARC rower.
“I raced Luca [Borgonovo] earlier this year, and he beat me every time. Coming into the last 500m, I saw I was level and thought, ‘Right. Here we go, the rematch.’ I’m so glad I pulled through. I’ll see him again in the final but, as an opening race, I’m thrilled.”
Credit: Benedict Tufnell
Great Britain’s Women’s Eight set the fastest time ever by a British Women’s Eight. While racing in their Preliminary Race, the crew clocked 05:53.87, less than one second off the World Best Time set by Romania in the opening round of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The Preliminary race was actually won by Romania in an exceptional European Best Time of 05:49.79.
Lizzie Witt, Megan Slabbert, Amelia Standing, Katherine George, Lauren Irwin, Eve Stewart, Heidi Long, Annie Campbell-Orde, and cox Jack Tottem beat the previous British best by nearly three seconds, set in the heat of World Rowing Cup II back in 2015.
The record was previously held by Katie Greves, Olivia Carnegie-Brown, Jess Eddie, Donna Etiebet, Victoria Meyer-Laker, Louisa Reeve, Rosamund Bradbury, Zoe Lee, and cox Zoe De Toledo.
“It was fast and furious, probably about as good as conditions get for the Eights,” said Tottem.
“It was choppy; we had a few blades clip, and I’m sure the smaller boats would have struggled in those conditions more than the big boats. I feel like we learned a lot and now we have a good 48 hours or so to move things on for Sunday.
“We’ve had a really good training block, and this weekend is an opportunity and a reward for all those miles while at the same time, being a good demonstration of where the bar is and where we need to get to for Amsterdam.”
Credit: Benedict Tufnell
“It is hard to argue with a day where all crews progress successfully to their next round,” said Interim Performance Director Tom Dyson.
“It is a sign of the team’s quality to be in that position. That said, crews will no doubt be looking for more from their next races. While some crews have one eye on Amsterdam in four weeks time, it is always special to have the opportunity to contest for a European Championships title.”
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