2005 World Rowing Championships

The 2005 World Rowing Championships took place in Gifu, Japan from 29 August to 4 September on the Nagaragawa (Nagara River). This proved to be a less than ideal venue as the flow rate of the river was not stemmed as had been promised, leading to new world best times that were then disallowed.

100 women’s crews raced – 59 openweight and 41 lightweight – from 38 countries. This was the smallest entry at a full World Championships since 1994, and would only have been marginally impacted by the removal of the lightweight pair from the programme after 2003. The number of countries represented was typical for the time and included first-time participations for Singapore and Serbia and Montenegro, which both entered single scullers.

Coaching, squad formation and sponsorship

For the first time since women’s rowing was included in the Olympic programme in 1976, the GB women’s team’s Chief Coach, Paul ‘Thommo’ Thompson, remained the same for a second Olympiad. Thompson’s full remit included both men’s and women’s lightweights too. He was assisted by Nick Strange, High Performance Coach Trainee Coach. Once final crews were formed, club-based coaches Mark Banks of Leander and Gary Stubbs of Thames RC worked with individual boats, as did Ron Needs, who had been a volunteer coach since the 1970s, and Miles Forbes-Thomas.

Four long-serving members of the GB team retired after the 2004 season; Olympic silver medallists Alison Mowbray and Cath Bishop, and the lightweights Tracy Langlands and Sarah Birch. But this left six of the eight Athens medallists still rowing – and desperate to get that first British women’s Olympic gold rowing medal, which became their aim. Thommo was clear that the strategy to achieve this would focus on sculling crews.

Almost as soon as training started again, Athens bronze medalist Elise Laverick was knocked off her bike by a white van in a disgracegul hit-and-run incident, suffering serious facial as well as other injuries.

Membership of the openweight squad had stayed largely static throughout the 2001-2004 Olympiad. A benefit of this was that the athletes who raced at the Athens Games had years of top-level training and racing experience behind them as well as a certain consistency in terms of crew members. However, as there had been no GB eight – often used as the ‘development’ boat — since 2001 it also meant that the next generation of athletes, including products of the World Class Start programme launched in 2001, who would be needed to replace those retiring, were at best still waiting at the under-23 level of the development pathway. It was time for the next step to be opened up to them, and it was.

In May 2005, the National Lottery operator Camelot became the lead sponsor of GB Rowing (men’s and women’s) for a four year period through the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Winter racing

British Indoor Rowing Championships (21 November 2004)

Debbie Flood won the BUSA (Student) event in 6:47.9 while 2004 under-23 bronze medallist Annie Vernon took the openweight title in 6:48.5.

Women’s Eights Head of the River Race (5 March 2005)

For the only time in the event’s history (to date) there was a tie for the headship between two squad-dominated crews, one with Katherine Grainger and Sarah Winckless at stroke and six and the other led by Debbie Flood and Rebecca Romero.

Final Trials (11-12 April 2005)

These took place in Hazewinkel, as usual.

NOTE: Names shown in italics denote those who have previously represented GB at senior level and those in bold are women who went on to be selected for the senior World Championship team in 2005.

18 openweight squad members raced in single sculls including the six remaining Athens medallists who won all of the places in the A final. The results were:

Katherine Grainger
Sarah Winckless
Debbie Flood
Rebecca Romero
Frances Houghton
Elise Laverick
Annie Vernon
Natasha Page
Carla Ashford
Florence Temple
Katie Greves
Anna Bebington

The results of pairs racing by the sweep group were:

Beth Rodford/Alison Knowles
Alice Freeman/Hilary Powell
Jo Cook/Ann Allin
Lucinda Gooderham/Marsaili Scott

Lightweight single sculls results:

Jo Hammond
Helen Casey
Naomi Hoogesteger
Hester Goodsell
Lorna Norris
Tanya Brady
Laura Greenhalgh
Antonia van Deventer
Laura Ralston
Mel Court
Liz Barker
Julia Warren
Helen Ralston
Sally Orr

Crew formation

The top crew was the quad of Katherine Grainger, Sarah Winckless, Frances Houghton and Rebecca Romero, who were the top two, fourth and fifth scullers at final trials.

Katherine Grainger records in her autobiography Dreams Do Come True that the quad was the first crew to be selected and would, “Lead the golden charge.” Back in the autumn, she had told Thommo that she wanted a new challenge in what was now her third Olympiad, and they had decided that this would be to take on stroking for the first time.

Debbie Flood was doing university exams and, as others remember it, took herself out of the quad mix for that season and single sculled, at least initially. Elise Laverick and Annie Vernon – scullers six and seven at final trials – formed the double.

As there was no event for lightweight quads at the first two World Cup regattas, they initially formed various doubles combinations as well as racing in singles.

Early season racing

World Cup I: Eton Dorney (26-28 May 2005)

The first World Cup regatta of the season was the first Britain had hosted; the last time Olympic-class racing had last taken place in the UK had been 18 years earlier at the 1986 World Rowing Championships in Nottingham. The Dorney World Cup was awarded to GB as a package with the 2006 World Championships and was the only major UK sporting event that would take place in the run up to the IOC’s June 2005 decision to award the 2012 Olympic Games to London, whose bid included Dorney as the rowing venue.

The women’s quad won their four-boat straight final ahead of two Russian and one Ukrainian crew.

The bronze medal-winning eight (also from a four-boat straight final) was made up of the remaining five scullers from the B final at Final Trials; Natasha Page, Carla Ashford, Florence Temple, Katie Greves and Anna Bebington plus Beth Rodford and Alison Knowles from the fastest pair, and Natasha Howard. It was coxed by Charlotte Ware of Thames RC. Beth and Alison doubled up to finish seventh in the pairs too.

Elise Laverick and Annie Vernon finished fourth in the double sculls, while Debbie Flood was sixth in quite a spread out field in the singles.

Naomi Hoogesteger came fourth in the lightweight single sculls with Jennifer Goldsack 12th, Hester Goodsell 15th and Antonia van Deventer 16th. GB’s multiple entries in the lightweight doubles saw Jo Hammond and Helen Casey finish eighth followed 1.36 seconds later by Tanya Brady and Lorna Norris in ninth position.

World Cup II: Munich (17-19 June 2005)

The quad won another four-boat straight final again, this time rather more comfortably ahead of Ukraine and in the absence of the Russian crew that had pushed them hard in Dorney.

Debbie was sixth again in the single sculls, but Elise and Annie Vernon slipped down to eighth place as more countries had entered.

None of the GB sweep group raced.

In the lightweight single sculls, the top two British scullers reversed the results from Dorney with Jen Goldsack finishing fourth and Naomi Hoogesteger seventh. Jo Hammond and Helen Casey were eighth again but these four were the only GB lightweight women to race this time.

World Cup III: Lucerne (8-10 July 2005)

The quad’s event finally attracted a decent entry of nine crews. The British boat had a small change in line up because Rebecca Romero had a minor back issue; Annie Vernon subbed for her. They were disappointed to finish second although they won the World Cup overall.

Debbie Flood, who had now finished her exams, had become Elise’s doubles partner. In a red-hot event, the GB crew was third behind the Bulgarian crew that had won the previous two World Cup regattas and contained Olympic bronze medallist Rumyana Neykova, winner of the Princess Royal trophy at Henley Royal Regatta the week before, and the Evers-Swindell sisters from New Zealand. Writing in Regatta magazine, Chris Dodd described the “new double” of Elise and Debbie as one of the crews that “impressed most”.

A four of Natasha Page, Beth Rodford, Natasha Howard and Alison Knowles won bronze in the five-boat non-Olympic coxless fours event, as did Katie Greves and Carla Ashford in the pair where Jess Eddie and Anna Watkins were eighth. GB didn’t enter an eight.

The entire British team wore black ribbons on their racing tops in remembrance of the victims of the London terrorist bombings on 7 July.

Final selection

Eight

B: Carla Ashford (Oxford Brookes University BC)
2: Anna Bebington (Rob Roy BC)
3: Jessica Eddie (University of London BC)
4: Katie Greves (University of London BC)
5: Natasha Howard (Tideway Scullers School)
6: Alison Knowles (Thames RC)
7: Natasha Page (Reading University BC)
S: Beth Rodford (Thames RC)
Cox: Caroline O’Connor (Oxford Brookes University BC)

Coaches: Gary Stubbs (Thames RC High Performance Coach)/Ron Needs

Apart from Jess Eddie, who had been in the GB coxless four the previous year, the eight were all racing at their first senior World Championships. That said, Jess, along with Natasha Page, Beth Rodford and Katie Greves had followed the pathway from being members of the GB Junior and Under-23 teams. Anna and Alison had also represented GB at Under-23 level.

Anna and single sculler Annie Vernon were products of the World Class Start programme although both had learned to row in Cambridge before joining it.

Quad

B: Rebecca Romero (Leander Club)
2: Sarah Winckless (Walbrook and Royal Canoe Club)
3: Frances Houghton (University of London BC)
S: Katherine Grainger (St Andrew BC)

Coach: Paul Thompson

Double Scull

B: Elise Laverick (Thames RC)
S: Debbie Flood (Leander Club)

Coach: Mark Banks

Single Scull

Annie Vernon (Rob Roy BC)

Coach: Nick Strange

Annie was initially named as the sculling reserve although it was reported at the time of the team announcement that she might be allowed to race in the single sculls.

Sweep reserves

Rachel Loveridge (Thames RC)
Florence Temple (Thames RC)

Lightweight quad scull

B: Lorna Norris (Mortlake Anglian and Alpha BC)
2: Tanya Brady (Wallingford RC)
3: Hester Goodsell (York University BC)
S: Naomi Hoogesteger (Durham University BC)

Coach: John Keogh

Lightweight double scull

B: Helen Casey (Wallingford RC)
S: Jennifer Goldsack (Wallingford RC)

Coach: Miles Forbes-Thomas

Lightweight single scull

Jo Hammond (Kingston RC)

Coach: Nick Strange

Lightweight reserve

Antonia van Deventer (Rob Roy BC)

Adaptve LTA (Legs, Trunk and Arms) Mixed Coxed Four

B: Alistair McKean (Herne Bay RC)
2: Naomi Riches (Royal Docks RC)
3: Katie-George Dunlevy (Southampton Institute)
S: Alan Crowther (Derby RC)
Cox: Loretta Williams (York City RC)

Coach: Simon Goodey

At the Championships

Sarah Winckless remembers getting the bullet train from the airport to Gifu and spotting a rather fast flowing river through the window as they neared their destination. “I remember laughing and saying to someone, ‘Oh, is that where we’re going to be training?’ and they said, ‘No, that’s where the race is, Sarah’. It was a river that was dammed at one end and the idea was that the dam would stop any stream flowing, but it didn’t, so we all got on with it. We were pretty focused on what we wanted to achieve as a group.”

Nevertheless, their training was interrupted by a weather warning that threw into question the wisdom of choosing Japan as a venue for the Championships. Sarah continues, “We heard that a typhoon was coming so we had to derig all the boats and put them in a shipping container. David Tanner, who was International Manager, managed to source loads of ergos for us to train on for four or five days and our scores were horrific because we were jet lagged. When we got back on the river it was in complete flood, an absolutely complete flood with trees coming past but it eventually calmed down enough though all of the times were ridiculously fast and didn’t count for world best times.”

Quad Scull (1st out of 9)

Although the GB crew arrived at the Championships as clear World Cup winners, they knew that they faced a strengthened German crew. The back story to this was that since international women’s quads had become coxless in 1985, Germany had won the event at 13 of the 15 World Championships and all five Olympic Games. Since Lucerne, Kathrin Boron (who had four Olympic golds in doubles and quads to her name) had been moved into the quad after singling earlier in the season. Sarah Winckless remembers, “We suddenly heard that Boron had been moved into the quad to try and match what we were achieving but I think we felt, “OK, great, bring it on. We get to race the best quad that there will be.”

The GB crew got off to an good start as expected when they won heat by a comfortable 3.67 seconds.

They and the Germans had been deliberately placed on opposite sides of the draw so they only met in the final. Frances, who was opposite Boron in the three seat, had mentioned in advance in a press interview she’d look across when they were sitting on the start. She did so very deliberately and coolly (and quite coincidentally, exactly at the point the TV comentator happened to mention that she’d said she woudl do this). The stage was set.

It was an epic race with the two crews side by side with Germany the whole way. Katherine explained in Dreams Do Come True, “The German style was to come out fast but not too fast; their devastating move was in the second quarter of the race… so the decision was mad eto beat them at their own game. We would attack in the second quarter.” Once the race started, she continued, “We were leading the Germans at 500m and this was our move… We effectively entered a tunnel and shut down any awareness of the crews around us. For 500m… we would bury ourselves and make the necessary impact… I’ll never forget getting to 1,000m, looking up and realising the Germans had not only drawn level but had actually moved through and ahead of us. They had gone from fourth to first. Becs gave a shout of dismay. The plan had failed.

“We were in unknown territory, not having planned for this part to go wrong. We reverted to the roles we had painstakingly gone through in the months before. None of us worried about each other, we homed in even more sharply on raising our own individual standards. By 1500m we had marginally closed the gap.”

As they approached the line, Sarah remembers, “Becs, who sat behind me noticed that the Germans had made a mistake – Boron hit a buoy and dropped her blade for a fraction of a second, caught a tiny crab but not properly, and we pushed again when Becs called it and we won by 0.34 seconds, so it was an extraordinary race.”

Beating the Germans was really, really significant. Crucial to their success was a commitment to focus entirely on their own roles in the boat. This meant, for instance, that Katherine committed everything to setting a solid rhythm and doing whatever Rebecca (who was responsible for reading the race) called for.

A photo of the quad celebrating immediately the result was confirmed can be seen here.

Katherine adds in her autobiography that she was selected for a random drugs test after the race and was delighted to find that the Japanese had made beer available as well as the customary water and juice to help the athletes ‘produce’ the required sample, turning what was usually a tedious wait into a minor party with a free bar.

Lightweight Quad Scull (3rd out of 7)

The lightweight quad’s selection was only announced on 11 August, nearly a month after the rest of the team, and they had no opportunity to test their speed internationally before the Championships. Only Tanya (who happened to be a serving Army Captain) had raced at a World Championships before.

They finished second in their heat, 3.39 seconds behind the Canadian crew that was the only one to qualify directly to the final, but then won the repechage by 1.67 seconds to book their place in the last six.

After a close final in which they were sometimes in second place, they crossed the line 1.8 seconds behind silver medallists Denmark and 2.62 seconds behind Canada, who won.

A photo of them taken off the start in their repechage can be seen here.

Lightweight single scull (4th out of 19)

Jo – the reigning World silver medallist – won her heat by 0.42 seconds, putting her straight into the A/B semi-final where she finished third and therefore qualified for the A final.

In the final she was sixth after 500m, but then moved up into fourth where she stayed, finishing just 0.9 seconds off bronze.

Double Scull (5th out of 11)

Elise and Debbie were second in their heat, some 7 seconds behind the Bulgarians who had beaten them at Lucerne but 1.72 seconds ahead of Germany. They then qualified for the final by winning their repechage.

The final quickly developed into two separate races with New Zealand and Bulgaria well out in front and the other four crews battling for the bronze medal. The GB double was third at 500m and fourth through the next two markers, before Germany passed them, pushing them into fifth place at the line, 8.34 seconds off bronze.

Eight (5th out of 8)

After finishing fourth in their heat of four crews, the eight came second out of six in the repechage to secure their place in the A final.

A thrilling race saw the second, third and fourth crews all finishing within 0.33 seconds of each other with Britain just 1.46 seconds further back in fifth place.

Regatta magazine reported Paul Thompson to be delighted with the new crew’s performance, saying “To be three and a half seconds down from the leader – we’re a year ahead of the project and in Olympic qualifying position.”

Lightweight double scull (8th out of 15)

Helen and Jen came fourth in their heat but then won their repechage by over three seconds to reach the semi-final. There, despite moving up a position in the final 500m, their fourth place put them in the B final where they finished second, just 0.01 seconds ahead of the Italians.

A photo of them racing can be seen here.

Single Scull (9th out of 15)

Annie finished third in her heat of five from which she progressed to the A/B semi-final where she was fourth. She then came third in the B final.

A photo of her racing can be seen here.

LTA Coxed Four (1st out of 6)

As reported in the Almanack, “The crew… found a tougher level of competition this year as one would expect in a sport which gained Paralympic status last April.” They reached the 500m maker in second place behind Portugal before moving ahead into what became a commanding lead of over 10 seconds at the finish line.

World Rowing Junior Championships

These took place in Brandenburg, Germany from 3-6 August.

Eight (3rd out of 7)

B: Louise Connell (Headington School Oxford BC)
2: Rachael Jeffries (Headington School Oxford BC)
3: Victoria Bryant (Chester-le-Street ARC)
4: Helen Blevins (Durham ARC)
5: Hayley Crombie (Reading RC)
6: Danielle Graham (Molesey BC)
7: Stephanie McDowall (George Heriot’s School BC)*
S: Frances Fletcher (Tyne RC)
Cox: Zoe de Toledo (St Paul’s Girls School BC)

Coach: Andy Bird

* Indicates a previous participation at the World Rowing Junior Championships.

Quad scull (3rd out of 13)

B: Fern Cotterill (Wycliffe Sculling Centre)
2: Jacqueline Round (St Neots BC)
3: Kristina Stiller (St Peter’s School BC)*
S: Francesca Jus-Burke (Nottinghamshire County RA)*

Coach: Ade Roberts

World Rowing Under-23 Championships

These took place at the Bosbaan in Amsterdam in the Netherlands from 21-24 July.

Coxless Four (5th out of 11)

B: Jo Cook (Nottinghamshire County RA)*
2: Louisa Reeve (Durham University BC)
3: Lucinda Gooderham (Oxford Brookes University BC)
S: Ann Allin (Durham University BC)

Coach: Emma Hall-Craggs

* Indicates a previous participation at the World Under-23 Regatta.

A photo of the four racing can be seen here.

Coxless Pair (3rd out of 10)

B: Jessica Eddie (University of London BC)*
S: Anna Bebington (Rob Roy BC)*

Coach: Rusty Williams

Here’s a photo of Jess and Anna with their medals.

Jess and Anna also raced in the GB eight at the senior World Championships a few weeks later.

Lightweight double scull (4th out of 10)

B: Helen Ralston (Rob Roy BC)
S: Laura Greenhalgh (Rob Roy BC)*

Coach: Adrian Cassidy

Helen and Laura had won Elite Lightweight Doubles at Henley Women’s Regatta where Helen had also won the equivalent Single Sculls event.

Lightweight single scull (1st out of 19)

Hester Goodsell (York University BC)

Coach: Don McLachlan

Hester won the final by 5.21 seconds. Like the openweight pair, she also went on to compete at the senior World Championships.