Trio of Griffith students to row at world championships

Maddie Edmunds is one of three Griffith University students who will compete at the World Rowing Championships.
Maddie Edmunds is one of three Griffith University students who will compete at the World Rowing Championships.

A trio of Griffith University students will represent Australia at the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Bulgaria during the coming week.

Maddie Edmunds, Molly Goodman and Georgie Gotch are among more than 900 athletes from 62 nations who will be competing for world champion status from Sunday in 14 Olympic, six international and nine para-rowing boat classes.

Bachelor of Business student, Maddie Edmunds, will race the Women’s Single Scull. The Brisbane native is a five-time national champion and competed in Rio at the 2016 Olympics.

Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice student, Molly Goodman, will compete with the Australian Women’s Four. Molly was part of the Women’s Eight which was handed belated qualification for Rio in 2016 after Russia was ejected from the Games. She had been on holiday in Doha and Thailand when the unexpected call came.

Bachelor of Business student, Georgie Gotch, was also part of that squad, travelling to Rio in reserve. She goes to Bulgaria next week with Australia’s Women’s Eight squad, a return to the country where she won silver in the women’s quad at the Under 23 World Championships.

Olympic gold medal rower and Director, Griffith Sports College, Duncan Free, congratulated the three Griffith representatives.

“Rowing is a demanding sport. The commitment required to compete on a world stage is phenomenal,” he said. “If you factor in their focus on progressing their studies at the same time, it’s a considerable achievement for all three to be in Bulgaria this week.

“The Griffith Sports College is in regular contact with Maddie, Molly and Georgie to ensure they are suitably supported from an academic point of view while they work towards also representing their country at the highest level.”

The 2108 World Rowing Championships run from September 9-16.