KAT COPELAND admits a ‘weight has been lifted from her shoulders’ after she was confirmed in Great Britain’s lightweight double sculls line-up for next month’s European Championships.
Selection for the Europeans, which will be staged in Germany between May 6-8, does not guarantee a place in the squad for this summer’s Olympics, but there are unlikely to be too many changes to the team that will compete in Brandenburg once attention switches to Rio.
Copeland, who is from Stokesley and a member of Tees RC, is the reigning Olympic champion after triumphing alongside Sophie Hosking at the 2012 Games in London, but has been involved in a fierce three-way battle for a place in this year’s lightweight double.
She finished second at the main pre-season trials, and that performance has helped secure her selection with Charlotte Taylor, who she partnered as she won a silver medal at last year’s World Championships.
“It’s been the hardest selection process I’ve ever been through,” said Copeland. “So it’s a relief now it’s over and the team has been confirmed. I feel quite revived now, as though I can finally look forward to competing.
“I obviously wasn’t too happy about finishing second (at the trials), but the ideal scenario is probably to be in the boat with someone faster than you, and that’s where I find myself with Charlotte.
“I think we complement each other really well. She’s incredibly strong, and I think our natural rhythm clicks. Now, we’ll have a bit of time to build on that and properly get used to being in the boat together.
“The Europeans are an important event in their own right, and it’ll be good to begin to get an idea of where we’re standing in relation to some of the other crews. But the whole of the season is obviously geared around being right for Rio. That’s the target that’s firmly in our sights now.”
Durham’s Jess Eddie is in line for her third Olympic appearance after being named in the women’s eight crew for the European Championships along with Richmond’s Zoe Lee.
Eddie made the final at both the 2008 Games in Beijing and London 2012, and is set to make her final competitive appearance in Rio. She will be joined in the eight by Frances Houghton, who is poised to compete in her fifth Olympics after switching from sculling to the sweep squad.
“This definitely has the potential to be the best eights crew I’ve been part of,” said Eddie. “The depth in the squad right now is incredible, and there are some hugely talented rowers who have missed out on the team. It’s been a cut-throat few months, but that’s how you need it in an Olympic year.”
Chester-le-Street’s Will Fletcher should be an Olympic medal contender in the men’s lightweight double, and having triumphed at the recent trials, the North-Easterner resumes the partnership with Richard Chambers that proved so productive last season. The pair won a world silver medal as their debut summer together proved a huge success.
Cresswell’s Jamie Kirkwood has missed out on selection in an Olympic-class category, and will compete in the lightweight single scull at both the European Championships and this month’s World Cup in Varese.
“We are clearly ambitious to do well in Rio,” said GB Rowing performance director Sir David Tanner. “We will race and then review the Europeans combinations.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here