Hall-Sullivan excited for international debut

CORIO Bay Rowing Club will have one its own wear the green and gold in a month’s time at July’s World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Varese, Italy.

20-year-old rower Xavier Hall-Sullivan made it through several hoops and both major state and national regattas earlier this year to be selected to Australia’s best squad of rowers under 23-years-old.

Hall-Sullivan will feature in the quad scull event alongside three other national crew members competing against the best 23-year-olds from around the world.

“I’m feeling good heading into the championships, you’ve just got to have a lot of confidence in yourself and do the best preparation you can ahead of the event, but I’m super excited,” Hall-Sullivan said from a training centre in Sydney.

Hall-Sullivan said the under 23 regatta will be the biggest event of his career given it will be his first time representing the country in the sport he loves.

“I can’t wait to put the uniform on and compete,” Hall-Sullivan said.

“I’ve been training for this since I was 15 and now, I’ve finally got my hands on it.

“I plan to go as far as I can in the sport, but I’m just taking it step-by-step right now ahead of the worlds.”

Not having to work at a Torquay-based real estate agency ahead of the under 23 championships, Hall-Sullivan is keeping his training as his sole focus, getting in the boat three times a day six days a week.

Xavier will leave Sydney to meet the rest of the national squad in Canberra for a week of training from July 4, before heading to Italy on July 11, giving he and his team two weeks to acclimatise to the European time zone.

“The local clubs were proud I would say when I found out I had been selected, they helped day-in and day-out during my training,” Hall-Sullivan said.

“They would have been happy to see the hard work pay off.”

Fellow Corio Bay Rowing Club member, 21-year-old Charlie Batrouney, will also be attending the champonships, but in the four event.