FISHGUARD and Goodwick Jemima RC's Jerry Owen was in no way out of his depth in a successful weekend for British rowing at the beach sprint finals hosted in Saundersfoot over the weekend.
Jerry was part of the Coastal Mixed Coxed Quadruple Sculls team which finished within the top eight crews in the world.
Strong performances across the board saw silver medals for the British Coastal Mixed Double Sculls and both Coastal U19 solo rowers.
On Saturday, October 15, the first race of the day saw Olympian Charles Cousins (Rob Roy BC) and Clare Jamison (Christchurch RC) in the Coastal Mixed Double Sculls (CMix2x) go head-to-head with Ireland in the Last 16.
A fast start and smooth sculling in relatively benign conditions saw them hit the buzzer 7.8 seconds ahead of the crew from St Michael’s Rowing Club in Limerick, sending them through to the Last 8.
It was electric from that point on, with a nail-biting quarter-final seeing Charles hit the buzzer 0.12 seconds in front of Mohamed Taieb of Tunisia.
A dominant win by over 20 seconds in the semi-finals against Canada took them into the A Final, where, in much harder and more challenging conditions, they battled Spain stroke for stroke until the last 25 metres and brought home a silver medal for Great Britain on home soil.
“It’s really exciting to come here and race some of the world’s best,” said Clare after their medal ceremony.
“There have been interesting conditions across the board, but it’s great to get some waves and wind.”
All photos supplied by Ben Tufnell (@benedict_tufnell)
The first GB medal of the day went to James Cox (Queens Park High School RC), who finished in second place after three spectacular races in the Final 8 of the Coastal U19 Men’s Solos (CJM1x).
Finishing just seconds behind Mohamed Rayen Hafsa from Tunisia, James was more than satisfied with his performance against the world’s best.
“My races were pretty clean," he said
"My first race, I could’ve been a little faster coming back but can’t complain.
"In the final I got a bit unlucky with the waves but I’m really happy with my medal.”
With the rain closing in and the temperature dropping, racing returned at low tide was Isla MacCallum (Stirling RC) and the Final 8 of the Coastal U19 Women’s Solos (CJW1x).
After decisive victories in the quarter and semi-finals, Isla was pipped for gold, bringing home an excellent silver medal.
“I’m so chuffed,” she said. “The conditions picked up so much between each final but I executed my race plan and I’m just so happy.
"It was definitely the best that I could’ve done today, but next time I’ll go smash it.”
The Coastal Mixed Coxed Quadruple Sculls boat (CMix 4x+) of Jerry Owen (Fishguard and Goodwick Jemima RC), Bo Hughes (Cardiff University RC), Jade Lindo (Twickenham RC), Laura McKenzie (University of Glasgow BC) and cox Ryan Glymond (University of St.Andrew’s BC) finished just behind silver medallists New Zealand in their quarter-final.
“A very solid day across the board and fantastic to come away with three silver medals,” said coach Tom Pattichis.
“It was also a really good row with the quad, who, with a different draw, might have been in with a chance for a medal themselves. But that’s racing. We’re all looking forward to tomorrow.”
British Rowing Director of Performance Louise Kingsley was also pleased with the performance.
“We came here to see where we would place on the world stage and we’ve done that," said Louise.
"There’s plenty of room for growth, and an exciting future for this rowing format.”
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