Olympic single scull gold medallist Kim Brennan has announced she will be taking a seat in the 2016 Head of the Charles Women’s Great Eight – this event clashes with the Australian Boat race so Kim will be unavailable to race this year.
Meanwhile, Sydney University’s 2016 silver medallists from the Rio men’s quad, Sasha Belonogoff and Cam Girdlestone have indicated they will be available for selection in the Sydney men’s eight.
In recent years “Great Eights” have been formed in both the men’s and women’s championship eights – usually by inviting the 8 best scullers in the world to come together in one boat as entry in the Championship Eight.
The “Great Eight” tradition is a relatively new concept but the performance of these crews since the inception of the concept has been outstanding and the prestige associated with rowing in this boat has quickly led to it containing the best in the world.
This year as Olympic Champion 2016 and World Champion in 2015, Kim is effectively the highest ranked athlete in this crew.
Joining Kim will be her Trans Tasman rival Emma Twigg from New Zealand who was World Champion in 2014 along with the leading women’s scullers of the world.
The Head of the Charles is the largest Time Trial Regatta in the world. Held each year on the Charles River in the heart of Boston, around 11,000 competitors will row over two days in categories over the 4.8 kilometre course from Boston University’s DeWolfe boathouse to a finish line just past Cambridge Rowing Club and just before the Northeastern University Boatshed.
The course can be tricky to navigate with quite a few curves and bridges and at the start of autumn can sometimes be hit with winter weather including snow.
You can join the 2016 Australian Boat Race on the Race Ferry on 23rd October
Book HERE.