Crawshay and Brennan will race on the 2011 Australian squad as the men’s double sculls after showing to be clear favourites at the team trials held over an intensive nine-day period at the Penrith Olympic Regatta Course. 

In the last couple of years, Crawshay rowed in his country’s quad while Brennan took time off after the Beijing Olympics to work on his medical studies. Returning to the double has been seamless for Crawshay and Brennan who clicked as soon as they started rowing together again. 

Also coming back after a post-Beijing break is the Olympic Champion men’s pair of Drew Ginn and Duncan Free. Despite being out of the trials due to a rib stress fracture, Ginn was still named in the Australian men’s four along with Free. They will be joined by Joshua Dunkley Smith, 21, and 20-year-old Nicholas Purnell. 

Back together for a second year is Hannah Every-Hall and Alice McNamara in the lightweight women’s double sculls. Every-Hall and McNamara were fourth last year in this event. Also fouth last year and back together for 2011 are Sarah Tait and Phoebe Stanley in the women’s pair. 

The lightweight men’s field turned out to be one of the most competitive groups at the trials with eight top rowers vying for the four spots in the lightweight men’s four. Australia’s lightweight four finished second in 2010 and selectors changed the line-up by one. Ben Cureton joins the boat along with Todd Skipworth, Sam Beltz and 38-year-old Anthony Edwards who is aiming for his fifth Olympic Games. 

The men’s eight has retained Toby Lister as coxwain of the crew that won bronze in 2010. The rest of the crew is a mixture of returnees and new members. The crew is: Fergus Pragnell, Tom Swann, Bryn Coudraye, Matthew Ryan, James Marburg, Josh Booth, Francis Hegerty and Sam Loch. This crew was also very competitive in its selection. The men’s pair will be Tom Larkins and John Linke. 

Remaining in the women’s double sculls are Kerry Hore and Kim Crow. The duo finished in second last year and proved again to be Australia’s best in the double. This leaves Sarah Cook, Amy Ives, Sally Kehoe and Brooke Pratley in the women’s quadruple sculls. 

The men’s quadruple sculls is Daniel Noonan, Karsten Forsterling, James McRae and Chris Morgan moving into the spot vacated by Crawshay in the boat that took bronze in 2010. Nicholas Hudson is in the men’s single and will also act as a sculling reserve. 

National team trials this year was dominated by 2000m racing. The sweep men had the most races with the majority of their 2000m races carried out in fours and sometimes more than once a day. Those selected got a week off before having to reconvene, sometimes in other parts of the country, to join their chosen coaches. Crews are training in different parts of the country often decided by where the coach is based. The men’s four will divide its time on training camps in a number of locations to adapt to both Ginn and Free having families.