HEAD OF THE RIVER 2009
For the past three years Bill Barry has been working towards bringing together the world's best single scullers to race as an eight. This eight comprises the top seven finalists from the Beijing Olympics, together with Iztok Cop, the most-medalled oarsman in international competition, and will start in fifth position in the Head of the River Race on 21st March. Crew change: Owing to a training injury Lassi Karonen will not be able to race. He will be replaced by Andre Vonarburg of Switzerland, who finished ninth overall in Beijing and has been a member of the Swiss senior team since 1997. The crew is sponsored by Deloitte UK. Their strategy is to hire the best people in the world, so supporting us is a great fit!
The members of the 2009 eight are:
Bow: Tim Maeyens (Belgium) - 4th Beijing
2: Andre Vonarburg (Switzerland) - 9th Beijing
3: Alan Campbell (Great Britain) - 5th Beijing
4: Marcel Hacker (Germany) - 7th Beijing (winner B Final) World Champion 2002
5: Mahe Drysdale (New Zealand) - Bronze medal Beijing, World Champion 2005-07
6: Olaf Tufte (Norway) - Gold medal Beijing, Gold medal Athens 2004, World Champion 2001, 2003
7: Ondrej Synek (Czech Republic) - Silver medal Beijing
Stroke: Iztok Cop (Slovenia) - World Champion 1995 (and see below)
Cox: Alison Williams
Coach: Bill Barry
Injured: Lassi Karonen (Sweden) 6th Beijing
Itztok Cop history:
Olympic Games: Gold Sydney (2x), Silver Athens (2x), Bronze Barcelona (2-)
World Championships: Gold 1995 (1x), 1995, 2005 and 2007 (2x); Silver 1991 (2-), 2001, 2002 (1x), 2005 (4x), 2006 (2x); Bronze 1993 (2-), 1994 and 2003 (1x)
World Cup: 16 medals
EVENTS DIARY
15/3 - Crew arrives in London
18/3 - TSS v Cambridge University, Putney to Hammersmith, 3.30pm
19/3 - Q&A session and dinner at TSS, 7pm
21/3 - Head of the River Race