Chin shines in debut for GB at World Cup

THE flourishing career of Deganwy rower Rebecca Chin just keeps getting better. Last weekend the 23-year-old was in superb form when she gained her first senior GB vest at the World Cup in Varese, Italy.

She raced in the pairs with Karen Bennett, who was also experiencing her first full senior selection.

Fifteen international crews were entered with Chin and Bennett making up the GB2 entry racing alongside Heather Stanning and Helen Glover, the Olympic and World champions and the top duo from Great Britain.

Last Friday’s heats saw the top two crews qualify for the A-B semi finals.

“We had a tough draw and finished sixth, which meant that we raced again in the repechage later that afternoon,” said Chin.

“Our second race went well and we gained a place in the A-B semis on Saturday.

“In the semi-final, to give us the best chance to qualify for the A final, we tried to make a big technical change but unfortunately we did not quite manage to pull it off and finished sixth, so we qualified for the B final.

“As we are new to the international stage we were not too surprised to find ourselves in the B final and were focused on racing our best on Sunday morning.”

She continued: “We were ranked 12th as we sat on the start line of the final, so Karen and I knew we had nothing to lose and were determined to improve on this position.

“We went hard out of the blocks, crossed the 500m marker in second position and kept contact with China at this point.

“They were in the lane next to us and went on to win the race.

“We had to dig deep and our legs and lungs were burning, but we had a very strong and confident row.

“As we came towards the finish we sprinted strongly for the line and finished fourth in a time of 7.13.74, comfortably in front to Croatia in fifth in Italy in sixth.

“We only missed out on second position by less than a second, as Australia came third in 7.13.12 and Poland second in 7.12.88.”

Chin and Bennett finished the weekend with a ranking of 10th.

“We are pleased with that for our first regatta,” added Chin.

“Overall GB had a very successful weekend and it was great that Helen and Heather won the pairs event.

“It was a great experience to race on the international stage and I am looking forward to racing my next event at the World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland in three weeks.”

Chin won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Rowing Championships last year and her major aim is to compete for GB at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Becca Chin (fourth left) with the Wales rowing team which performed so well in the Commonwealth Championships last year.

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