Will powers way into GB team

July 24, 2014

MONMOUTH School rower Will will be going for gold when he launches out for Great Britain at the World Junior Rowing Championships in Hamburg, Germany, next month.

The 18-year-old, who was the school’s Head Boy last year, finished joint top oarsman on stroke side at the final trials at the national team’s Caversham headquarters and will stroke the GB eight.

And he’ll be following in the stroke puddles of two former world junior champions from the school, in the shape of Richard Rogers, who landed gold in the GB coxless four in 1991 in Barcelona, and Tom Lucy, who took the title in the same boat in 2006 in Amsterdam before going on to claim Olympic silver in the GB 8 in Beijing.

Four more Monmouth School rowers will also be racing for Wales and England this weekend in the Home Countries Regatta in Cork, Ireland.

Will’s school rowing coach Robin Fletcher said: “He’s worked his socks off and we’re really proud of him.

“He’s only 12 stone racing 15 stone guys, but he’s been right at the top of the pile all the way through the season’s trials and won the pairs at April’s GB junior squad regatta.

“Will’s got a great power to weight ratio and fantastic determination and heart. He’s a cool customer and a great racer who never gets phased by the pressure of racing or trialling.

“We are absolutely delighted and hopefully he can medal like Richard and Tom before him.”

Will, who lives in Monmouth, raced for GB last year in the Coupe de la Jeunesse 12-nation team competition in Switzerland and won two bronze medals in the pair.

This year he helped his coxed four win Monmouth School’s first Championship title in exactly 30 years at the National Schools Regatta.

And he is one of just 30 rowers in seven boats who will represent GB in the five-day world junior championships when it gets under way on August 6.

Meanwhile school clubmates Alex, Rory and Morgan will be rowing for Wales and will line up against school cox Gabriel who goes for England in the Home Countries Regatta.

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