Rowers Sam Courty, Tom Barras and Robbie Massey have a busy time ahead because they have received their second international call up in as many weeks.
The trio will all compete in the World U23 Championships in Varese starting tomorrow and then double up by travelling to the Commonwealth Rowing Championships on August 9th and 10th in Glasgow - the Scottish city that today will be the focus for the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.
Courty, who is part of the same University of Bath-based Start squad through which Olympic Champions Helen Glover and Heather Stanning and Olympian Victoria Thornley all learnt to row, will race in the U23 women's eight in Italy. Barras and Massey, both from Cardiff University, will race in the men's quadruple scull this week.
2013 Henley Royal Regatta finalist Dan Clift, part of the Start programme at Rob Roy BC in East Anglia and originally from Torpoint in Cornwall, completes the open men's line up.
2013 World U23 lightweight men's pair silver medallist Matthew Bedford is joined by Nick Buckle and John Hale as the selected men's lightweights whilst Yamsin Marks and 2014 GB Rowing Team Senior Team Trials semi-finalists Francesca Rawlins and Nicola Spencer are the named women's lightweights.
All twelve selected rowers, named today, will compete for England at the event as part of their growing exposure to international competition through the England performance pathway, supported by Sport England.
"For all of the home nations, It is important that we use these international performance opportunities for our home nations well to give our young rowers the chance to experience racing under pressure. Many leading rowers have used this event in the past as a first rung on the international ladder ", said Sir David Tanner, Performance Director for the GB Rowing Team.
The event on the lake at Strathclyde will be on a 1500m course rather than the standard 2000m course and will test the rowers' versatility. In an interesting and innovative format, each rower will need to be ready to compete in both sculling and sweep-oar events and the open weights will combine with the lightweights to form a men's four and women's quadruple scull boats.
Racing takes place from 07.30- 15.30 on both days with the squad competing in the men's and women's open and lightweight single and double, the men's and women's open pair and the lightweight men's pair. The squad will then mix and match lightweights and open weights to race in the open men's four and the open women's quadruple scull.
ENGLAND PERFORMANCE PATHWAY SQUAD
COMMONWEALTH ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS,
Strathclyde, Scotland, August 9-10.
OPEN
WOMEN
Sam Courty (Bath Univ BC/Alnwick/07.01.1993)
Emily Ford
Pippa Whittaker
Spare: Katie Bartlett (Nottingham RC/Nottingham/02.02.1994)
Coach: Ian Roots
OPEN
MEN
Tom Barras (Cardiff Univ BC/Staines/07.01.1994)
Dan Clift (Rob Roy BC/Torpoint/15.06.88)
Robbie Massey (Cardiff Univ BC /Shrewsbury/14.12.1992)
Spare: Richard Clarke (Univ of London BC)
Coach: Dan Harris
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Yamsin Marks (Nottingham RC)
Francesca Rawlins (Mortlake A&Alpha RC/Uckfield, East Sussex/08.07.86)
Nicola Spencer (Nottingham RC/Nottingham/04.12.86)
Spare: Miriam Jones-Walters
Coach: Ian Roots
MEN
Matthew Bedford (University of London, Maidenhead/21.01.91)
Nick Buckle (Leander Club/24.05.92)
John Hale (Isle of Ely BC/Girton/28.02.88)
Spare: George McKirdy (Nottingham & Union BC/Univ of Nottingham)
Coach: Dan Harris