Matthew Wells

Matthew Wells 2012

Matthew "Matt" Ward Wells (born September 14, 1979 in Bradford ) is a retired British rower who won an Olympic bronze medal in double sculls in 2008.

Career

The 1.90 m tall Matthew Wells won the 1997 double scull title at the Junior World Championships . In 1999 he finished third in the One at the Nations Cup, a predecessor of the U23 World Championships . In 2000 he won the Nations Cup. At the Olympic Games in Sydney he also competed in the single and reached ninth place.

Also in 2001 Wells started in the single, at the World Championships in Lucerne he finished 13th. In 2002 Wells rowed in the Rowing World Cup, initially in the quad sculls . At the World Championships in Seville , he reached sixth place in a double scull with Ian Lawson . The following year Wells and Lawson won the World Cup in Munich. At the World Championships in Milan , the two rowed to fifth place. In 2004 Wells rowed a double scull with Matt Langridge . The two took third place at the World Cup in Poznan, and at the Olympic Games in Athens they came in eighth as winners of the B final, as, for once, seven boats had been admitted to the A final.

In 2005 Wells competed in the single and quadruple World Cup. At the World Championships in Gifu , Matthew Wells, Stephen Rowbotham , Alan Sinclair and Matt Langridge finished seventh in the quadruple sculls. In 2006 Wells and Rowbotham formed a double scull. At the World Championships in Eton , the two won the bronze medal behind the French and the Slovenes. A year later, at the 2007 World Championships in Munich, the Slovenes won ahead of the French and Estonians, with Wells and Rowbotham finishing fourth, 0.78 seconds behind the Estonians. At the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 , the Australian double scull won, the Estonian double scull received the silver medal 0.05 seconds ahead of Wells and Rowbotham.

In 2009 Wells and Rowbotham missed the finals at the World Championships in Poznan . In 2010 Wells rowed a double scull with Marcus Bateman , the two of them won two World Cup regattas and came second behind the French in Lucerne. At the World Championships in New Zealand, the New Zealanders won, behind Wells and Bateman won silver in front of the French. In 2011 Wells and Bateman finished sixth at the World Championships in Bled . In 2012 Wells returned to the double foursome. At the Olympic Games in London , the rowing competitions were held in Eton, where Stephen Rowbotham, Charles Cousins , Tom Solesbury and Matthew Wells took fifth place.

Matthew Wells rowed for the University of London Boat Club and later for the Leander Club . After his active career, he became a rowing coach.

Web links

• Matthew Wells at Worldrowing.com ( FISA database )
• Matthew Wells in the Sports-Reference database (archived from the original )

Footnotes

1. ↑ According to the result in the single competition at worldrowing.org he was tenth, according to the result in the single competition at sportsreference, Latvian Andris Reinholds was subsequently disqualified.
2. ↑ Result Double Sculls 2004 at worldrowing.org
3. ↑ Result Double Sculls 2008 at worldrowing.org.