More progress for GB crews

There was further progress for GB’s crews on day four of the Rowing World Championships – sponsored by Siemens – at Eton Dorney lake. In the lightweight repechages, the men’s four put in a solid performance to win their heat, whilst the women’s double finished runners-up to Canada. Both boats progress to Friday’s semi-finals, which are likely to be competitive affairs.
The weather conditions put an early end to the day’s racing, which will see the women’s eight compete first thing tomorrow morning in their quest for a final spot on Sunday.

David Tanner, Performance Director for GB Rowing reflected on the day’s action, "We’ve had good results today – an excellent race from our light men’s four and a good one also from our light women’s double. They are all progressing – especially the light four, with today’s performance being a big improvement on their race on Monday.

"Our women’s eight were a little disappointed having got onto the start not to be able to race, but I completely support the decision of the FISA Fairness Commission to postpone racing today. The wind was looking tricky and although it’s calmed down since, I think it was a very good call."

WEDNESDAY’S RACING IN FULL

The lightweight men’s four produced a well-earned win in their repechage. Initially content to stay in touch with early pace setters Egypt and Greece, they raised their rate just after the halfway mark and extracted a lead over the field with 500m to go. From there on it was a case of managing the emerging threat from the Dutch crew. This they did to huge encouragement from the grandstands, securing a semi-final berth for Friday in the process.

Paul Mattick explained that the crew took heart from the fact that they had successfully managed to raise their game, "Today was significantly better, it was just more coordinated and controlled. It was a stepping stone – not our best race – but a big step up from last time."

Another crew through to Friday’s semi- inals was the lightweight double sculls of Jane Hall and Helen Casey. The Canadian crew were the first to edge out of the pack, and Hall and Casey followed them resolutely. Though they mounted a challenge in the last 500m, the GB boat was never quite able to close the gap, but comfortably sealed second place and the semi-final berth.

Jane Hall put the race in perspective, "Today we had a job to do and while the top spot would have been nice, the Canadians have had a good season, winning in Lucerne, so I think on the whole we performed creditably. We’ve definitely closed the gap between ourselves and the Canadians and the times suggest that it’s going to be a bun-fight in the semi-final!"

"We’ll take heart from the fact that we’ve beaten all but one of the crews at some stage during the season, so we’ve just got to raise our game and we do seem to be a crew that performs better under pressure."

The women’s eight will now have to wait until tomorrow for their chance to progress to the final as racing was suspended for the day prior to their repechage.

LOOKING AHEAD TO THURSDAY

The competition begins gets towards the business end of the regatta with the first series of semi-finals on Thursday. A total of 8 GB crews will be seeking to progress to Saturday’s ‘A’ finals. On the men’s side there will be both sweep and sculling action featuring the men’s pair and four, as well as the men’s single and double. The women’s squad will be represented in the form of the women’s double and the delayed repechage for the women’s eight.

There is also lightweight action, which will involve both the men’s and women’s single.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ETON, GREAT BRITAIN RESULTS DAY FOUR (Races involving British crews only)

OPEN

MEN

Coxed four – race for lanes
1. Simon Fieldhouse/Marcus Bateman/Tom Parker/Hugo Lee/Seb Pearce
   (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:19.87
2. Canada 6:20.27
3. Germany 6:22.49
4. USA 6:22.56
5. New Zealand 6:23.39
6. Italy 6:29.48

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Double Sculls – Repechage
1. Mara Jones/Tracy Cameron (Canada) 7:15.78
2. Jane Hall/Helen Casey (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:17.85
3. Yuki Tamagawa/Akiko Iwamoto (Japan) 7:24.90
4. Siu Man Tong/Ka Yan Yung (Hong Kong) 8:05.93

MEN

Four – Repechage
1. Matt Beechey/Daniel Harte/Paul Mattick/James Clarke
    (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:13.12
2. Holland 6:15.85
3. Egypt 6:17.10
4. Greece 6:17.14
5. Portugal 6:49.90

Coxed four – Race for lanes
1. Italy 6:06.69
2. Germany 6:08.08
3. France 6:08.44
4. Tim Male/Alisdair Leighton-Crawford/Ross Hunter/Dave Currie
    (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:12.94
5. USA 6:19.12