Rowing duo in GB call-up
Club hail sponsor for support after season’s success
Two Renfrewshire rowers are among 56 athletes named in the Great Britain team for next week’s World Rowing under-23 Championships in Bulgaria.
Gavin Horsburgh and Fiona Bell have been selected in the side as they gun for glory in Plovdiv.
Horsburgh, from Lochwinnoch, is looking for his third consecutive World Championships title, having won gold with the lightweight men’s quadruple scull in Rotterdam last August and gold in the quad as a junior in 2015.
This time around, he joins forces with his fellow Edinburgh University student Matthew Curtis — another member of the victorious 2016 quad —in the lightweight double.
Few are more delighted than Edinburgh University head of rowing, Colin Williamson, who will travel to Plovdiv as coach to the men’s single and lightweight double.
“I’m really pleased for this exciting group of athletes,”said Williamson.
“Gavin and Matt are already quite experienced at world level, despite their age, and this year have progressed on to the most competitive events in Olympic boat classes.”
While it comes as no surprise that Edinburgh is well represented in this year’s under-23 GB team, it was less expected that Bell, from Kilmacolm, would make such a rapid improvement this season and be selected for the women’s eight.
“I’ve never competed at GB level before and this is my first year trialling, so I really wasn’t expecting anything at the start,”said 20-year-old Bell.
“I just wanted to get to know the system, work hard and see what happened. So to come through this year does show you your potential and it’s amazing to have been told you are worthy of being in the GB team.”
Bell lands in the women’s eight, along with experienced GB rowers from last year’s silver medal-winning boat, together with newcomers like her pairs partner, Isobel Powell, who will sit in the seat behind her.
“Izzy and I are in the middle of the eight, which I really like,”continued Bell.“We were the underdogs in trials, but we have made it into the crew.
“So you have the reminder that you are new to this, but also that you are valuable to the boat and you each have an individual role in the boat.”
Lee Boucher, Scottish Rowing’s head of performance pathway, added: “I am delighted to see such strong Scottish representation on the Great Britain team heading to the World Rowing under-23 Championships next week.
“Already this season we have seen young Scottish rowers competing for Great Britain at a senior world level and this opportunity in Bulgaria will allow these athletes to test themselves against the best in the world in their own age group.”