Nevitt was one of six British men asked to trial, following his success in the British Rowing beach sprints this year.
Last weekend he took part in a three-day British Rowing development and selection camp in Devon, aimed at selecting the GB team for next year’s championships.
Nevitt, who won silver in the men’s single scull class at the 2021 British Rowing offshore championships, is the holder of all but one of the Island men’s single scull records.
‘Being asked to trial for GB was a surprise and is exciting. The trials went well and I learnt loads from one weekend with the squad and professional coaches. The water was choppy mostly, which made for fun and interesting results,’ he said.
‘The training camp consisted of timing all parts of the race, broken down into sections, to build athlete profiles and see where most time could be gained. I had the fastest in two sections and challenged well in the others.
‘Going forwards, I will try my best and keep working for my new goal.’
Former JRC captain Ian Blandin also attended the camp as Nevitt’s coach and GB boat handler.
Blandin said: ‘Des was really flying at the weekend and JRC are all very proud of him. It’s great to see a local rower getting into this elite group.’
He added that training was intensive, with 5.30am starts, through to 8pm debriefs. The first day of camp was beach sprints and Nevitt produced the quickest time on three timed runs.
The following day the winds came up to a force four and were blowing straight onto the beach, which made for challenging transitions for both rowers and boat handlers.
The third day of the camp was aimed at finding the fastest rowers. Current British champion Jerry Owens and Bo Hughes, for whom Blandin was acting as boat handler, were separated by just 0.5 seconds, with Hughes winning, much to Blandin’s delight.
Nevitt finished fourth in this section, which means a place in the GB squad, with assessments continuing.
The next training camp will run from 3 to 5 September in Saundersfoot in Wales.
