George helps GB eight to take gold
NORTHLEACH rower Tom George was part of the Great Britain eight which took gold in the European Championships in Varese.
In the heat, they pulled out to a solid lead by the halfway mark and held off the rest of the pack to finish in first place.
Racing for lanes against Germany, Netherlands, Italy and Romania, the commanding performance laid down a strong marker ahead of the medal final on Sunday - and they did not disappoint.
Crew member Oliver Wynne-griffith said: “That felt really composed. We didn’t get out to the best start, but no one panicked and we found a rhythm.
“We know what worked for us from the race for lanes, and the boys just dug in.
“There were some really good shouts from the middle of the boat, Henry coxed it really well and kept letting us know where we were, and we just built as we went down the track.
“It’s nice to get a win in the first race of the season - obviously it’s been 20 months.”
“Overall the team has done really well - the boys in the four obviously absolutely smashed it, so it just seems like everyone’s gone away and put in the hard work over lockdown and right now we’re seeing it come to fruition.
“Obviously this is only the start though, and we’ve just got to keep building.”
George had been training at home in the Cotswolds during lockdown and was alongside Josh Bugajski, Jacob Dawson, Mohamed Sbihi, Charles Elwes, Wynne-griffith, James Rudkin, Thomas Ford and cox Henry Fieldman.
The 26-year-old has been part of the men’s eight since the 2018 season, winning two World Cup silver medals, European silver, two World Championships bronze medals and World Cup gold.
Former Hartpury students Charlotte and Matilda Hodgkins-byrne won silver in the women’s quadruple sculls alongside Hannah Glover.
The pair learned to row at Hartpury College and Gloucester RC and Charlotte won bronze in the women’s quadruple sculls at the 2014 World Junior Championships and won three World Under-23 Championships medals in a row.
In 2016 she won silver in the women’s eight in Rotterdam, while sister Mathilda, 26, won double sculls gold.
The following year Charlotte stepped into the women’s quad as the crew powered to gold and in 2018, she won the double sculls.
Mathilda represented her country as a junior at the Coupe de la Jeunesse and at three successive World Under23 Championships – winning gold in the double sculls.
She has also won World Cup bronze in the women’s quad crew, following it up with bronze at the European Championships.
The quartet topped off their year with a bronze medal at the World Championships in Sarasota-bradenton.
Another ex-hartpury student, Chloe Brew, was in the women’s eight, which came fourth in Varese.
Scott and Lucy