Graduate Beth Rodford and current student and sports scholar Tom Aggar both put in stellar performances this week to bag gold medals at the World Rowing Championships in New Zealand.
Tom Aggar, a Sport Sciences student and Sports Scholar, and Britain's unbeaten Paralympic champion, totally dominated the Paralympic-class single scull final to win gold by a sizeable margin of 13 seconds on Thursday [4 Nov]. The medal is Tom's fourth international title in a row.
"It feels fantastic," Tom said. "All the hard work in training and in the gym has paid off. The conditions were tricky out there but it was great for me to come here and get the gold medal I wanted, and great for the team," said Aggar. "It's four years in a row now [that I have won] but it feels just as great as it did the first time."
2005 Sport Sciences graduate Beth Rodford picked up gold today [5 Nov] in the British women's quadruple scull, making up for a slow first half to overhaul reigning champions, Ukraine.
GB Rowing's performance Director described the win as "fabulous", adding, "What a huge step up for the women's quad who were so clever in their race, exhibiting their skill and discipline."
***UPDATE***
Another Brunel Sport Sciences MSc alumnus, Matthew Wells, won silver in the men's double sculls on 7 November, after being chased down just before the finish line by a strong New Zealand duo.