Lancaster rowers stake claims for Olympic spots
Polly Swann, along with partner Jessica Eddie came second to reigning Olympic, World and European champions Helen Glover and Heather Stanning in the women’s pairs at Caversham.
The strong pre-race favourites led from the first stroke with Swann and Eddie recovering from a poor start to finish as runners-up, needing a strong last quarter to move up from third to second.
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Hide AdFormer Lancaster Royal Grammar School pupil Scott Durant was sixth in a very strong men’s pairs final with Tom Ransley.
The outstanding field was reflected in a closely-fought race won by Alex Gregory and Moe Sbihi.
The racing will give selectors plenty to ponder ahead of the European Championships team announcement in April and this summer’s Olympics in Brazil.
GB Rowing Team Performance Director Sir David Tanner said: “We’ve had an exceptional set of trials which is suitable for an Olympic year.
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Hide Ad“We’ve had some great racing and it was good to see the standard of our Olympians stepping up with some top-level performances.
“We still have some questions as we move towards our crew formation. We have good information from these trials as we start putting together our boats for the European Championships in May and then, later in the year, for the Olympics.”