Ready to row for Aus
Geelong teens selected
FIERCE rivals Geelong College and Geelong Grammar will put aside their differences to cheer on a pair of schoolboy rowers at this year’s Junior World Rowing Championships in Racice, Czech Republic.
Jack Thornton (Geelong College) and Hamish WynnPope (Geelong Grammar) have partnered up to compete on the world stage, and will represent Australia in August at the prestigious regatta.
Geelong College’s Andrew Cleary, who’s also a Barwon Rowing Club member, will support the pair as coach.
Cleary, the father of Olympic rower Jennifer Cleary, identified the pair as a potential match made in heaven and, in less than three weeks of training together, the duo narrowly finished second at the national trials. But Cleary said Rowing Australia saw the upside in the pair and they were rewarded with selection.
“The finish of the final in the pairs, they were beaten by 0.6 of a second by a pair that had been rowing together for two years,” Cleary said.
“Rowing Australia saw the potential in these two boys to say, ‘Well, you’ve only had two-and-a-half weeks together, the time you’ve put down here is close to a time that will get you a medal at the world championships, so we think you deserve a chance to improve over the next 15 weeks and we’d like you to represent Australia’.
“To my knowledge it’s the first national crew we’ve had from Geelong since 1986, which would have been a lightweight four back in the day. It’s pretty exciting that, and to have two schools come together, two schools that oppose each other on the water through the Head of the River. But to get the two of them together is an exciting thing to do.”
Australia will send a team of eight to the Czech Republic, with a coxed four, a single sculler and an emergency joining Thornton and Wynn-Pope at the championships.
Cleary said it was also a thrill to join his daughter and son as an Australian representative on the world stage.
“’I’ve had both my children represent Australia. My son rowed in the quad in 2013 at the under-23 world championships, and of course my daughter Jennifer represented Australia at Rio in the women’s quad at the Olympics,” he said.
“To be able to now stand beside them and say their dad has been able to do the same, as a family thing it’s really terrific.
“But it’s all about what the boys can achieve ... so I’m thrilled to be part of the journey with them.”