JO WRATTEN achieved the biggest success of her senior career as she helped Britain’s women’s eight claim a silver medal at the World Rowing Cup in Poznan.

Wratten, who is from Middlesbrough, is enjoying her first full season in the senior ranks, having previously been a silver medallist at the World Junior Championships.

The Tees RC oarswoman was part of the senior eight crew that finished fourth at the recent European Championships, and last weekend’s performance in Poland represented another major step forward ahead of September’s Senior World Championships in the United States.

The British eight pushed the gold medallists from New Zealand all the way before finishing a second behind the winners, and finished almost two second clear of the United States crew who took the bronze medal in third.

The make-up of the British eight has changed markedly since a crew containing Durham’s Jess Eddie won a silver medal at last summer’s Olympics in Rio, and Wratten now looks certain to remain part of the boat throughout the rest of this season.

Northallerton para-rower Laurence Whiteley was also celebrating a World Cup silver medal in Poznan, after resuming his relationship with Lauren Rowles, who he partnered to a Paralympic gold in Rio last summer.

The pair were racing together for the first time this season, and finished behind the Dutch pairing of Annika van der Meer and Corne de Koning in the final of the PR2 mixed double sculls.

“The podium is where we want to be, and it’s good to do that in the first international race since the Paralympics,” said Whiteley. “We didn’t have any aims or expectations coming to this regatta, so to be on the podium is great.

“We’ve certainly got a lot of work to do before the Worlds, but now we know exactly what we have to do.”

Stokesley’s Kat Copeland continued her partnership with Emily Craig in the lightweight double sculls, with the pair finishing in fourth position in a closely-fought final.

Having come through a repechage to make the final, Copeland and Craig missed out on a bronze medal by less than two seconds as they narrowly failed to overhaul the Chinese duo of Cuiming Chen and Feihong Pan.

The British team claimed five medals in Poland, with the men’s quadruple sculls crew of Jack Beaumont, Jonny Walton, John Collins and Pete Lambert leading the way as they won gold.

“The team have produced some fine and encouraging results, and it’s great to see us hold on to our lead at the top of the World Rowing Cup standings,” said performance director Sir David Tanner. “To come away with seven medals, five in the Olympic classes, is very pleasing for the squad.

“The performances certainly bode well for the final World Cup of the season in Lucerne, and then ultimately for the World Championships in three months’ time.”


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BIRTLEY boxing trio Calum French, Pat McCormack and Luke McCormack have qualified for this summer’s World Boxing Championships in Germany after making it through to the quarter-finals of the European Championships in Kharkiv.

Anyone making it to the last eight of their respective weight categories at the Europeans is guaranteed a place at the Worlds, and the North-East trio are among ten British boxers to have booked their spot.

The Northern Echo:

Pat and Luke McCormack had to win two fights apiece to make it to the quarter-finals, with welterweight Pat living up to his reputation as one of the most exciting boxers on the British team.

The North-Easterner followed up an emphatic 5-0 win over Lithuania’s Saimonas Banys with another unanimous win over Sweden’s Adolphe Silva.

Luke faced more of a battle in his opening fight against Ukraine’s Mger Oganisian, but eventually came through win a narrow 3-2 win. His second contest was more one-sided as he cruised to a 5-0 victory over Spainiard Johan Eduardo Orozco Ojeda.

French is fighting at lightweight, and only needed one victory to make it through the quarter-finals as he comprehensively out-fought Finland’s Arslan Khatev.


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RICHARD KILTY has withdrawn from the British 4x100m relay team for this weekend’s European Athletics Team Championships in order to focus on the British Championships, which begin in Birmingham a week tomorrow.

The Northern Echo:

The British Championships are the trials for this summer’s World Championships in London, and Stockton sprinter Kilty wants to give himself the best possible opportunity of making the sprint relay team for the Worlds.

Adam Gemili and Imani Lansiquot also withdrew from the European Team competition in order to fine-tune their preparations for the trials.

Meanwhile, Crook middle-distance runner Markhim Lonsdale has been named in the British squad for next month’s European Junior Championships in the 800m.


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FOUR acrobatic gymnasts from Deerness Gymnastics Academy beat the world’s best as they claimed gold medals at the Geneva World Cup in Switzerland.

Jesse Heskett, Finn Gavin, Paul Dixon and Stephen Dixon were competing as a men’s group, and were up against the reigning world champions from China.

However, the County Durham quartet, who were competing in their first international competition together, triumphed with a score of 29.43.

Deerness Gymnastics Academy were also represented in the women’s pair in the 12-18 age category, with Tatiana and Katerina Dubov joining up to win bronze, and Cara Winship and Georgia Hewison finishing a place behind them in fourth position.

“It’s always great to win gold, but even more so when it’s unexpected,” said Stuart Thompson, head of acrobatics at Deerness Gymnastics Academy, which is based in Ushaw Moor. “We entered the competition not expecting to win, but to benchmark ourselves against the other acrobats from around the world.

“The results are great for all of the gymnasts, coaches and parents, but also for the hundreds of younger gymnasts back at the club who will hopefully be inspired by this success.”