Paralympic champion Rowles claims World Rowing Cup II silver

Paralympic champion Lauren Rowles hailed the atmosphere in Poznan after she claimed Great Britain’s first medal of World Rowing Cup II.

The 21-year-old, who won gold with Laurence Whiteley in the TA mixed double sculls at Rio 2016, took the silver medal in the PR2 women’s single scull.

She was unable to improve on her huge personal best of 09:34.73 on the opening day of the event as Annika van der Meer of the Netherlands pipped her to the top of the podium.

And while Rowles was disappointed not to come away with gold, she relished every moment of being out on the water and vowed to learn from the event having been forced into a late switch of event prior to competition.

“This regatta’s been awesome,” said Rowles. “I always love Poznan, it’s a great course and I love the atmosphere here. It’s unfortunate not to come away with the win.

“I really did hope that I would but you’ve got to take lessons from your losses and that’s what I’m going to implement in training as we go towards World Championships.”

Elsewhere, GB’s PR1 men’s single scullers Ben Pritchard and Andy Houghton went head to head in their semi-final and qualified for the final in second and third place, respectively.

Reflecting on the second day of action in Poznan, British Rowing director of performance Brendan Purcell was delighted with the performances from GB’s rowers against tough opposition.

“This competition has been a real step up from Europeans with the addition of the rest of the world and has made the semi-finals very cut throat,” he said. “All of our crews put their best effort in.”