2009 World Junior Championships– Brive-la-Gaillarde France

Selection was undertaken differently this year with targetted boats and identified talent being the focus. Also, all athletes stayed in their home states and came to Canberra for a series of camps.

The Rowing Australia website posted the following reports on this very successful team.

Men's Quad Scull

The junior men's quad scull has finished third in the B final to round out their regatta. Louis Snelson, Cameron Smith, Benjamin Morley and David Prosser only missed out on the A Final by nine hundredths of a second last night in one of the strongest fields the junior world championships has ever witnessed. In the B Final Australia held third place through all 500m splits to complete the race in a time of 6:06.71. This left them four seconds adrift of the Italian crew, with the Netherlands finishing second.

Women’s Four

Anna Kaszycki, Hannah Vermeersch, Peta White and Jessica Molsher-Jones have won the gold medal in the women's four after a commanding row in the final. They were the quickest quaifiers for the final from their heat on the opening day and always looked in control of the final, leading from start to finish. The girls broke out to over a second lead after the first 500m over Great Britain and extended this during the middle part of the race. The Australian girls, cheered on by their support crew, powered to the line to win in a time of 6:48.18, three seconds clear of Great Britain with China claiming the bronze medal. Stroke of the women’s four crew, Jessica Molsher-Jones, was ecstatic with the performance after the race. “We have been training really hard for this and we were able to pull off a great race on the day,” she said. “We didn’t expect to have such a good lead through the first 500m but were able to build on it and had over a boat length over Great Britain at the line. It is a great feeling.”

Men’s Coxed Four

The men’s coxed four of Angus Moore, Joshua Hicks, Samuel Collins and Thomas Amies, coxed by Nicholas Allen-Ducat, won silver to continue the strong Australian results on finals day. Germany was in control of the race, building to a three quarter boat length lead through 1000m, while Australia and Italy had a tussle all the way down the course, racing bow ball to bow ball over the closing stages. Australia held a canvas lead over Italy with 300 metres and fought bravely to hold off the notoriously fast finishing Italian crew on the line by just under half a second in a time of 6:22.44.

Men's Four

The Australian junior men’s four won a bronze medal behind Great Britain and Romania. Daniel Brighthope (VIC), Michael Poulter (VIC), Thomas Chapman (TAS) and Tom Gatti (WA) were in second place through the 1000m mark but were overtaken by the Romanians in the third quarter of the race. Australia crossed the line in a time of 6:08.29.

Women's Quad Scull

The Australian women’s quad scull also claimed a silver medal after leading the field through the first 1000m. Jessica Hall (QLD), Maddie Edmunds (QLD), Amy Fowler (ACT) and Alexandra Hagan (WA) were unable to hold off the fast finishing Chinese crew who led through the last 500m and recorded a 1.5 second victory. Australia crossed the line in a time of 6:37.52, with New Zealand only 0.15 seconds behind in bronze position.

Men's Results

Men's Scull

Final A results
Final B results
Final C results

Men's Double Scull

Final A results
Final B results
Final C results

Men's Quad Scull

Final A results
Final B results
Final C results

Men's Pair

Final A results
Final B results
Final C results

Men's Four

Final A results
Final B results
Final C results

Men's Coxed Four

Final A results
Final B results

Men's Eight

Final A results
Final B results