Two to row in World Championships and a third on stand-by

Call-ups for Andy and Matt and reserve spot for Georgia

NEWBURY rowers Matt Rossiter and Andy Hougnhton have been named in the Great Britian team to take part in the World Rowing Championships in Sarasota-Bradenton in Florida next month.
And Another Newbury rower – Georgia Francis – has been named among the women’s team reserves and is odds-on to earn a late place in one of the boats.
For Houghton, it is another step forward after he returned to the sport only last year. The paralympic hopeful put away his oars four years ago after narrowly missing out on a spot in the London Olympics, and has since turned attention to motor sports.
But a chance meeting with his former coach last year led to the 35-year old returning to the sport, and he has now earned his targeted spot in the World Champoinship squad.
That will contain 14 Olympians, including four gold medallists, and two Rio 2016 Paralympic champions among its 64 members.
Houghton has been chosen in the PR1 single scull for his first World Rowing event since winning bronze at the World Cup in London in 2013. He made his return to the pre-championship squad this year after the retirement of Paralympic champion Tom Aggar, and took two silvers in Gavirate.
Rossiter will line up in the the men’s four that won the Lucerne World Cup regatta in July and will team up with Moe Sbihi, Matthew Tarrant and Will Satch. They came together for World Cup II in Poznan, winning a silver medal before beating European champions Italy at the Henley Royal Regatta and World Cup III in Lucerne.
British Rowing oerformance director Sir David Tanner said: “The 2017 World Championships come at the end of a long, but rewarding season for the GB Rowing Team.
“We have seen some exceptional performances over the course of the summer to win a number of European Championships and World Cup medals and we were, of course, pleased to win the overall World Cup title.
“These Championships are what we’ve built our season around and we plan to be at our peak in Sarasota at the end of September.”
The championships run from September 24 until October 1.