Rowing
Italian job for Evesham siblings in GB development crew

EVESHAM rower Yasmin Tredell has been selected to be part of the Great Britain rowing team for the European Championships in Italy this week, along with her older brother Lance.

Yasmin, 19, a world junior gold medallist, will race in the women's eight whilst Lance, 24, will race in the men's equivalent at the event on Lake Varese.

The Europeans has become a traditional 'baptism' at a top level championship for new and young GB rowers aspiring to gain selection to the senior squads and this is their first opportunity in the Rio 2016 cycle, with the long selection process soon to start for the 2013 World Championships in Korea next summer.

None of the 47 GB rowers who raced at the 2012 Olympic Games will compete at the event between September 14-16 as the GB team continue the practice of blooding upcoming talent against leading crews from other nations - many of which will have featured at London 2012.

For most of the 33 GB rowers making the trip to Italy, it will be their first senior championship, with Imogen Walsh, Adam Freeman-Pask, Kieren Emery and Dan Ritchie the few exceptions.

Several of the lottery-funded team, such as Caragh McMurtry, Olivia Carnegie-Brown, Emery and Matthew Tarrant, won medals at the World U23 Championships in Trakai, Lithuania, in July.

McMurtry, from Southampton, and Carnegie-Brown, from Oxford, claimed silver in the women's pair whilst Newcastle rower Emery and Tarrant, from Shepperton in Surrey, won gold in the men's pair.

Significantly, a number of the squad have also come through the Siemens-sponsored START talent identification and development programme.

The START programme locates and fast-tracks rowers with potential to represent their country, such as Matt Gotrel from the START centre in Nottingham, Claire McKeown from the Glasgow centre and Preston's Graeme Thomas from the Manchester centre.

The future of the GB rowing team is also being supported by High Performance Programmes at rowing clubs across the county, funded by the National Lottery and sponsored by Siemens.

Yasmin was identified via the START centre at Evesham and is now part of the GB rowing team's High Performance Programme at Oxford Brookes University Boat Club.

Other members of the squad bound for Varese have come from similar HPPs at Molesey BC, Leander, Imperial College, London RC and Durham University.

The senior experience in the team includes London Rowing Club's Imogen Walsh who won world gold in the non-Olympic class lightweight women's quadruple scull last summer, Dan Ritchie from Herne Bay in Kent, a 2011 world silver medallist in the GB men's eight who was ruled out of possible selection for the Games by injury earlier this year, and Adam Freeman-Pask, from Windsor, a 2011 world finalist in the non-Olympic class lightweight men's single scull.

The squad also includes Monica Relph from Henley-on-Thames, whose sister Pam won gold in the mixed coxed four at the Paralympic Games on Sunday, and twin brothers rowing together in the men's eight in the shape of Mason and Scott Durant from Lancaster.

"We expect the standard to be high as many nations will be entering boats who raced at this year's Olympics so, while it will be a great experience for our crews, we will be keeping our aspirations realistic," said Pete Sheppard, team manager and lead coach of the GB squad for the championships.

Racing starts today (Friday) and the 'A' finals for the top six of each event will take place on Sunday, September 16.

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