Evesham’s eight win GB honours

3:10pm Friday 18th July 2008

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EVESHAM Rowing Club can put out one of the best eights in the country — after exactly that number were selected for Great Britain juniors.

While junior rowing has traditionally been dominated by the big public schools, the club has rocked the boat with one of the top junior set-ups.

Twin brothers Jon and Ben Farrar, plus Yasmin Tredell and Ruth Whyman, raced for the GB under 16s team against France in Valenciennes.

Four more pull on under 18s British rowing suits at the European team Coupe de Jeunesse competition in Cork, Ireland, this weekend and the junior world championships in Linz, Austria, next week.

The Worcestershire club’s coaching efforts are led by Arran O’Dell, Paul Crumpton and Alistair Bryan.

Last year, nine of the club’s boys raced for GB under 16s against France in the quad scull and coxed four with both crews taking the British titles.

At just 15 years old, the Farrar twins were on board the GB coxed four last year.

This time, they avenged their narrow defeat to the French by helping the British eight to victory by a length.

Club-mates Tredell, 15, who still has a year to go at under 16s level, and Whyman had less luck in the girls’ double sculls, losing out to the French on the 1,500-metre course.

All four head to the National Water Sports Centre, Nottingham, this weekend looking to add National Championships titles to their collections.

Oli Staite and Rory Sullivan, who also raced for GB under 16s last year, are on board the GB flagship coxless four at the two-day team Coupe competition in Ireland this weekend.

They go for gold in seperate regattas and points from each race go to the overall national ranking, where GB look to win back the title they won on the London 2012 lake in 2006.

Rowing is certainly in Oli Staite’s blood and not just because his father Neil is a former GB rower.

Neil’s step-grandfather was Monty Collins, former Evesham RC chairman, and Oli’s mother Laura is descended from a Mr Fletcher who in 1863 rowed in a race from Glover’s Island at the rugby club to Abbey Park, which kick-started Evesham RC into existence.

But, after an exhausting trial selection regatta at Nottingham, club-mates Will Tew and Josh Pendry have won the ultimate honour of racing at the junior worlds next week.

Tew races the pair in a 26-boat field and Pendry goes in the GB eight in a strong 14-boat field.

Meanwhile, Jordan Bunyan, who narrowly missed out on a GB under 16s vest, faces a 33-boat singles field at the National Championships.

Whyman faces a 15-boat under 16s singles field, while Tredell will look to add to her national schools’ silver medal in the under 15s singles.