GB Senior and U23 Trials
For athletes looking for GB senior and U23 selection this year a 2k Ergo test and 5km Time Trial on Saturday the 4th and Sunday the 5th of November formed their 1st assessment for 2018 selection.
In the 2km Ergo test, the stand out performance from NUBC was James Robson who came second in the Open Men’s category while also beating the Newcastle 2km record in the process, coming away with a PB of 5:49.6. In the lightweight men James Stevenson and Dom Jackson took 3rd and 4th place respectively, again both with PB’s. Oli Varley came in tenth place in the ergo meaning Newcastle athletes took three out of the top ten places.
In the Women’s Open 2km Kathryn Eccles performed well and came back with a PB while in the Lightweight category Fiona Chestnutt placed in 14th with 7:22.8.
On Sunday 5th of November there was a 5km time trial in singles or pairs. In the Men’s Openweight pair James Robson rowed with Ed Grisedale from Oxford Brookes after illness caused Will Stewart to drop out. Despite the minor setback they put in a strong performance and James came back with a tenth place finish. In the Openweight Men’s singles Oliver Costley came in 10th place while Cormac Molloy came in 19th. In the Lightweight Men’s singles Dom Jackson performed well again placing 2nd overall. Also in the top ten for Lightweight Men were Rob Fuller and James Stevenson who came 8th and 9th respectively with Oli Varley just outside the top ten in 14th.
In the Women’s Openweight pair, Kathryn Eccles and Amy Bowman ranked 16th overall while in the Women’s Openweight single Lola Anderson came 20th, Lauren Kay came 43rd and Harriet Aubrook came 46th. In the Women’s Lightweight single Fiona Chestnutt came 28th.
As well as GB trials the results also counted as the BUCS Small Boats Head with Newcastle winning the Men’s Championship Single and the Men’s Championship Lightweight Single. With Newcastle coming fourth in the Men’s team event and the Women’s Team coming 5th this put Newcastle in second place behind the University of Edinburgh.
Words and Photos by David Stephenson
