Twenty-two crews are announced for World Cup 2 in Linz, Austria, including the return of Zoe Lee in the women’s quad – making her first appearance since winning silver in Rio

hero__image(L-R) Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne, Zoe Lee, Jess Leyden and Melissa Wilson will race in the women's quad in Linz
Olympic silver medallist Zoe Lee is set to race on the international stage for the first time since she stood on the podium with the women’s eight at Rio 2016, making her comeback from a knee injury at World Cup 2 in Linz, Austria.

Lee was sidelined for the 2017 season but returned for the Winter Assessments, finishing first and third in the November and February time trials respectively, before finishing fourth in the single at Trials in April.

She will row in the quadruple sculls, a boat that won a fantastic bronze at the World Championships in Sarasota-Bradenton in 2017, joining Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne, Jess Leyden and Melissa Wilson.

A total of 22 GB crews have been announced to compete in Linz, with one more to be decided after testing on Wednesday.

The men’s quad is unchanged following their gold medal at World Cup 1 in Belgrade at the start of June. Tom Barras, Jonny Walton, Graeme Thomas and John Collins will be looking to continue their strong start to the season with another podium place.

Both the men’s and women’s eights won silver in Belgrade but undergo changes to their respective crews.

Olympic champion Tom Ransley returns to the men’s eight in the bow seat, with recent Princeton graduate Tom George returning after completing his studies in the US. They replace James Rudkin and Josh Bugajski, who will race in one of two men’s pairs in Linz.

In the women’s eight, Katherine Douglas and Holly Hill will make their first appearances of the season, with only cox Matilda Horn remaining from the silver medal-winning crew from Belgrade. Emily Ashford and Emily Ford move across from the pair, while Becca Chin, Sara Parfett, Caragh McMurtry and Jo Wratten come in from racing the four in Serbia.

Fiona Gammond, Holly Norton, Karen Bennett and Rebecca Shorten will row in the four, having doubled up in the eight as well in Belgrade. Anastasia Chitty and Rebecca Girling will row in the pair, having finished fourth at the first World Cup.

Angus Groom and Jack Beaumont will continue their silver medal-winning partnership in Linz in the double scull, with Harry Leask in the single scull. Olympic silver medallist Victoria Thornley was edged out of the medals in the women’s single in Belgrade but will look to continue her season’s progression in Linz.

Andy Houghton will hope to make up more ground on Ukrainian Paralympic champion Roman Polianskyi in the PR1 single scull, in which he won silver in Belgrade, setting a new PB in the heat. Houghton is one of three Para-rowing crews named in the squad, with Laurence Whiteley in the PR2 single and Ollie Stanhope and Dan Brown in the PR3 pair.

Emily Craig and Ellie Piggott also retain their positions in the lightweight women’s double scull, having won bronze in Belgrade.

British Rowing’s Director of Performance, Brendan Purcell, said: “It’s great to announce a strong team for World Cup 2 off the back of some encouraging results in Belgrade. We’re looking to continue building throughout the summer ahead of the European Championships in Glasgow and World Championships in Plovdiv. With Olympic and Paralympic qualification taking place at the World Championships in Linz next year, this gives us the chance to test the conditions and facilities ahead of that important regatta.”

World Cup 2, Linz
Men’s squad
Pair
GBR1

James Rudkin (Newcastle University BC/ Litchborough)

Josh Bugajski (Oxford Univ BC/ Stockport)

Coach: Steve Trapmore

GBR2

Oliver Cook (Univ. of London BC/ Oxford)

Matthew Rossiter (Leander Club/ Newbury)

Coach: Steve Trapmore

Four
GBR1

Harry Glenister (Leander Club/ Princes Risborough)

Morgan Hellen (Molesey BC/ Maidstone)

Callum McBrierty (Leander Club/ Edinburgh)

George Rossiter (Leander Club/ Newbury)

Coaches: Christian Felkel/ Steve Trapmore

GBR2

James Johnston (Leander Club/ Henley-on-Thames)

Adam Neill (Leander Club/ Peterborough)

Jacob Dawson (Leander Club/ Plymouth)

Tom Ford (Leander Club/ Holmes Chapel)

Coaches: Christian Felkel/ Steve Trapmore

Eight
Tom Ransley (Leander Club/ Ashford, Kent)

Tom George (Leander Club/ Oxford)

Tom Jeffery (Leander Club/ Plymouth)

Alan Sinclair (Leander Club/ Inverness)

Moe Sbihi (Molesey BC/ Surbiton)

Oliver Wynne-Griffith (Leander Club/ Guildford)

Matthew Tarrant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/ Shepperton)

Will Satch (Leander Club/ Henley-on-Thames)

Henry Fieldman (cox) (Leander Club/ London)

Coach: Jürgen Grobler

Single Scull
Harry Leask (Leander Club/ Edinburgh)

Coach: Dan Moore

Double Scull
Angus Groom (Leander Club/ Glasgow)

Jack Beaumont (Leander Club/ Maidenhead)

Coach: Dan Moore

Quadruple Scull
Tom Barras (Leander Club/ Staines)

Jonny Walton (Leander Club/ Leicester)

Graeme Thomas (Agecroft RC/ Preston)

John Collins (Leander Club/ Twickenham)

Coach: Paul Stannard

Lightweight Single Scull
James Temple (Edinburgh Univ BC/ Kew)

Coach: Colin Williamson

Lightweight Double Scull
GBR1

Zak Lee-Green (Agecroft RC/ Cardiff)

Sam Mottram (Leander Club/ Stoke Mandeville)

Coach: Hamish Burrell

GBR2

Gavin Horsburgh (Edinburgh Univ BC/ Lochwinnoch)

Jamie Copus (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/ Watlington)

Coach: Hamish Burrell/Colin Williamson

Women’s squad
Pair
GBR1

Anastasia Chitty (Leander Club/ Oxford)

Rebecca Girling (Molesey BC/ Fareham)

Coach: Jane Hall

GBR2

Hattie Taylor (Leander Club/ Sunningdale)

Rowan McKellar (Leander Club/ Glasgow)

Coach: Jane Hall

Four
Fiona Gammond (Leander Club/ Bicester)

Holly Norton (Leander Club/ Johannesburg)

Karen Bennett (Leander Club/ Edinburgh)

Rebecca Shorten (Imperial College BC/ Belfast)

Coach: James Harris

Eight
Caragh McMurtry (Coalporters ARC/ Southampton)

Sara Parfett (University of London BC/ Rochester)

Holly Hill (Cambridge Univ. Women’s BC/ Gossington)

Rebecca Chin (Agecroft RC/ Deganwy)

Jo Wratten (Leander Club/ Middlesbrough)

Katherine Douglas (Leander Club/ Edinburgh)

Emily Ford (Leander Club/ Holmes Chapel)

Emily Ashford (Leander Club/ Buckfastleigh)

Matlida Horn (cox) (University of London BC/ Windsor)

Coach: Tom Pattichis

Single Scull
Victoria Thornley (Leander Club/ Wrexham)

Coach: Paul Reedy

Quadruple Scull
Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne (Reading Univ. BC/Hereford)

Zoe Lee (Imperial College BC/ Richmond, N. Yorks)

Jessica Leyden (Leander Club/ Todmordon)

Melissa Wilson (Cambridge Univ. Women’s BC/ Edinburgh)

Coach: Paul Thompson

Lightweight Double Scull
GBR1

Ellie Piggott (Wallingford RC/ Bedford)

Emily Craig (University of London BC/ Mark Cross)

Coach: Darren Whiter

GBR2

Maddie Arlett (Edinburgh Univ. BC/ Selkirk)

Gemma Hall (Wallingford RC/ Wargrave)

Coach: Darren Whiter

Spares
Sam Courty (Bath Univ. BC/ Alnwick)

Georgia Francis (Imperial College BC/ Newbury)

Para squad
PR1 Men’s Single Scull
Andy Houghton (Maidenhead RC/ Newbury)

Coach: Tom Dyson

PR2 Men’s Single Scull
Laurence Whiteley (Tees RC/ Northallerton)

Coach: Tom Dyson

PR3 Men’s Pair
Oliver Stanhope (Molesey BC/ Hampton)

Daniel Brown (Henley RC/ Reading)

Coach: Nick Baker