Eleven crews in Olympic class finals
Britain has 11 finalists in Olympic class events at the world cup finals here in Lucerne after some solid semi-final and repechage performances today including semi-final wins for the Siemens-backed men’s double scull of Stephen Rowbotham and Matt Wells alongside the lightweight men’s four.
Britain’s open weight men’s four, the world champions, racing here with Tom James on board in place of the injured Alex Partridge were beaten into second place by New Zealand – not a usual outcome for this Camelot-sponsored boat.
The lead women’s boat, the quadruple scull who are also Camelot-backed and world champions, are already through to tomorrow’s finals having won their heat outright.
There were also pleasing performances from both lightweight doubles, the men’s eight, the women’s pair, women’s double and single sculler Alan Campbell – all Siemens-supported who each picked up second places to move through to the finals.
Anna Bebington and Elise Laverick, in the women’s double, are racing for the first time this season after Bebington’s knee injury kept them out of the previous two world cups.
"These are two pretty accomplished athletes who are ring-rusty and we’re just trying to knock off some of the rust here", said their coach Miles Forbes Thomas today.
"We’ve had a very pleasing afternoon of racing", said GB Performance Director David Tanner. "The lightweight crews have done well once again as have Matt Wells and Stephen Rowbotham. It was also good to see the women’s double scull back in action. Now we need to step up once more tomorrow in what will be some very tough racing".
Four crews meanwhile will contest A Finals of the non-Olympic boat classes this evening. They are the women’s four, lightweight men’s pair and the two lightweight quadruple sculls.
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RACE REPORTS
France are the reigning world champions in the men’s double scull and led today’s second semi-final, raced on Bastille Day, of the world cup in Lucerne until the 1500m with Britain in second.
That’s when Matt Wells and Stephen Rowbotham, in the Siemens-sponsored GB boat, decided to turn on the pace and surge through to take the lead. France counter-attacked but just fell short at the line. Great Britain were also fourth in this event with Bill Lucas and Charles Cousins – still an under 23 pair. Wells and Rowbotham are safely through to the final whilst the young combination will contest the B Final.
"What a fantastic result for the youngsters as well as a polished performance from Matthew and Stephen", said GB Performance Director David Tanner.
"Both crews were pushing us all the way down the course", said Rowbotham afterwards. "I think the French didn’t want to lose to us five times in a row and they came back at us and are back on form. That now sets up a good final".
The British men’s four were beaten for the first time in this Olympiad in an international race when New Zealand, world cup winners in Amsterdam three weeks ago,11 won today’s semi-final in 5:51.77. The Camelot-backed boat, which includes Olympic champion Steve Williams and world champions Andy Hodge and Peter Reed, nicknamed the "commander" because his in the Royal Navy, is racing here with substitute Tom James on board in lieu of the injured Alex Partridge.
New Zealand’s young quartet were fastest out of the blocks and held the lead all the way down the course except for a short moment in front of the grandstands when the British crew, who are sponsored by Camelot, put in a surge only to find their efforts countered to good effect by the Kiwis for whom the margin of victory was just a smidgen over a second.
"We always knew this was going to be a tough regatta", said coach Jurgen Grobler after the race. "We made a good start yesterday, but not perfect, and I thought we were a lot better today. Big respect, though, to the New Zealand four who have shown much more consistency than last year".
The British men’s eight were second today to Canada in a thrilling semi-final with a fast finish. This was a solid performance from a crew, backed by Siemens, who were bronze medallists in Amsterdam three weeks ago and who are competing here without one of their more experienced "players", Robin Bourne-Taylor of the British Army, who is injured.
Alan Campbell was drawn against Olympic champion Olaf Tufte of Norway in today’s semi-finals of the single scull with world champion Mahe Drysdale and current world cup leader Ondrej Synek in the opposing half of the draw.
Unusually for Campbell, in the Siemens-backed boat class, he did not race to take the early lead but allowed Leonid Gulov of Estonia to make the early running. For two-thirds of the race, Campbell tucked into second place Meanwhile, Tufte emerged to take the lead and hold onto it from the 1500m mark onwards and win with Campbell qualifying for tomorrow’s final in second place in 6:52.43.
The ensuing men’s pair semi-finalists of Colin Smith and Matt Langridge, winners in Linz before taking up a spot in the composite, new eight in Amsterdam, have not had a happy regatta here. They were fourth in today’s semi-final, reached via a repechage rather than direct qualification through the heats, and will now race the B final tomorrow.
Renowned for their fast finish, the duo – who have suffered a modicum of illlness since Amsterdam, seemed unable to unleash it here. "They don’t seem to have fired here and we’ll take it back and look at why. We would probably have expected them to finish higher up here", said Tanner afterwards.
The British men’s quadruple scull of Simon Fieldhouse, Alex Gregory, Ian Lawson and Sam Townsend will also contest a B Final aftertaking fourth place in their semi-final after an improved performance for the Siemens-backed crew here in Lucerne.
Anna Bebington, sidelined out of the first two world cup regattas with a knee injury, and Elise Laverick put in a great race to the line alongside Olympic champions and today’s winners from New Zealand to overhaul the USA and take second place in their semi-final i n7:01.29.
The Siemens-backed boat is feeling its way back into the top flight with Bebington having previously won last year’s world cup series with Annie Vernon whilst Laverickis the current Olympic bronze medallist in this boat class. The duo were second in the early phases, dropped back behind New Zealand in the third 500m before coming through strongly past the grandstands.
"These are two accomplished athletes who are a little race-rusty", said a pleased coach Miles Forbes-Thomas after the race. "We’re just trying to knock the rust off here".
Natasha Page has more normally rowed in the GB eight this season. Here she has been racing in the Siemens-sponsored women’s pair with Natasha Howard as a replacement for the injured Alison Knowles. The combination has sparked well here and today they took a strong second place in the repechage, holding off a pressurising German crew in the final 500m to win a place in tomorrow’s final behind Romania.
Lightweight coach Robin Williams was clearly pleased here with the achievements of his two crews – the lightweight men’s four and the lightweight women’s pair. The former were semi-final winners and the latter were second behind Canada.
The four led early before Australia nudged ahead to take over at the 1000m mark. In a controlled performance the British quartet, backed by Siemens and including Richard Chambers, James Lindsay-Fynn, Paul Mattick and James Clarke, regained the lead and held off a late burst from Canada to win in 6:03.08.
"That was a hard race but they were definitely in control", said Williams.
The lightweight double of Helen Casey and Hester Goodsell continue to make strides. This was a good semi-final performance for them. Canada, the winners, are a world medal crew and the British, also sponsored by Siemens, paced their way back up through the field from fifth at 500m to take second in 7:06.29 with Poland third.
Darren Whiter, coach to the lightweight men’s double scull, could also draw pleasure from Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter’s performance in finishing second behind Italy in 6:25.44 after a preparation disrupted by illness which saw Purchase train on the water for several days with the women’s quadruple scull. Purchase and Hunter have already won two world cup silvers in their debut season as a unit.
Finally, in the morning session, Andrea
Dennis found the going tough in her
semi-final of the world cup lightweight
single scull finishing fifth in a time of 8:12.50 in
a race won by France.
Later she contested the B Final and was third overall
in a time of 7:59.17.
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RESULTS
(Races featuring British crews only. Full results
www.worldrowing.com)
SEMI-FINALS
OPEN
WOMEN
Double scull
Semi-final 2
1. Caroline & Georgina Evers-Swindell (New Zealand) 7:01.29
2. Elise Laverick/Anna Bebington (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:02.09
3. Jennifer Kaido/Ala Piotrowski (USA) 7:02.63
4. Larisa Merk/Julia Levina (Russia) 7:09.13
5. Doina Ignat/Aurica Barascu (Romania 2) 7:09.34
6. Martha Helgeland/Marianne Fernholt Nordahl (Norway) 7:15.74
MEN
Pair
Semi-final 1
1. Drew Ginn/Duncan Free (Australia) 6:33.06
2. Erwan Peron/Laurent Cadot (France) 6:35.55
3. Goran Jagar/Nikola Stojic (Serbia) 6:38.13
4. Colin Smith/Matt Langridge (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:41.08
5. Jaroslaw Godek/Piotr Hojka (Poland 2) 6:45.09
5. Bart Sjenitzer/Willem De Graaf (Netherlands) 6:46.77
Four
Semi-final 1
1. New Zealand 5:51.77
2. Steve Wililams/Peter Reed/Tom James/Steve Williams
(GREAT BRITAIN) 5:52.72
3. Czech Republic 6:00.52
4. Ireland 6:02.66
5. Canada 6:04.11
6. Poland 6:11.24
Eight
Semi-final 1
1. Canada 5:33.88
2. Tom Lucy/Tom Stallard/James Orme/Tom Solesbury/
Josh West/Richard Egington/Tom Parker/Alastair Heathcote
(GREAT BRITAIN) 5:35.81
3. Netherlands 5:38.43
4. Switzerland 5:40.17
5. Italy 5:45.86
6. New Zealand 5:45.93
Single scull
Semi-final 1
1. Olaf Tufte (Norway) 6:50.37
2. Alan Campbell (Great Britain) 6:52.43
3. Sjoerd Hamburger (Netherlands) 6:54.42
4. Martin Yanakiev (Bulgaria 2) 7:06.08
5. Marco Geisler (Germany) 7:07.28
6. Loenid Gulov (Estonia) 7:16.60
Double scull
Semi-final 2
1. Matt Wells/Stephen Rowbotham (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:18.49
2. Jean-Baptiste Macquet/Adrien Hardy (France) 6:18.68
3. Ioannis Tsamis/Ioannis Christou (Greece) 6:22.80
4. Charles Cousins/Bill Lucas (GREAT BRITAIN 2) 6:25.18
5. Kestutis Keblys/Mindaugas Griskonis (Lithuania) 6:27.17
6. Stijn Smulders/Christophe Raes (Belgium) 6:37.33
Quadruple scull
Semi-final 1
1. Czech Republic 5:51.31
2. Russia 5:51.43
3. Germany 1 5:54.93
4. Simon Fieldhouse/Sam Townsend/Alex Gregory/Ian Lawson
(GREAT BRITAIN) 5:57.72
5. Canada 5:58.67
6. USA 6:04.79
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull
Semi-final 2
1. Benedicte Dorfman (France) 7:59.09
2. Michaela Taupe (Austria) 8:01.22
3. Laura Tasch (Germany) 8:03.02
4. Kirsten Jespen (Denmark 1) 8:07.62
5. Andrea Dennis (GREAT BRITAIN) 8:12.50
6. Evi Geentjens (Belgium) 8:42.32
Double scull
Semi-final 2
1. Lindsay Jennerich/Tracy Cameron (Canada) 7:06.01
2. Helen Casey/Hester Goodsell (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:06.29
3. Magdalena Kemnitz/Ilona Mokronowska (Poland) 7:08.00
4. Erika Bello/Laura Milani (Italy) 7:09.12
5. Marguerite Houston/Amber Halliday (Australia) 7:15.49
6. Teresa Mas de Xaxars/Sonia Boubeta Curras (Spain) 7:21.31
MEN
Four
Semi-final 1
1. Richard Chambers/James Lindsay-Fynn/Paul Mattick/James
Clarke (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:03.08
2. Canada 1 6:04.16
3. Australia 6:05.09
4. Egypt 1 6:08.73
5. Germany 6:12.19
6. Serbia 6:23.41
Double scull
Semi-final 1
1. Marcello Miani/Elia Luini (Italy) 6:25.29
2. Zac Purchase/Mark Hunter (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:25.44
3. Sam Beltz/Tom Gibson (Australia) 6:26.58
4. Vasileios Polymeros/Dimitrios Mougios (Greece) 6:26.92
5. Takahiro Suda/Daisaku Takeda (Japan) 6:33.23
6. Graham Oberlin-Brown/Peter Taylor (New Zealand) 6:37.96
REPECHAGES
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
Repechage 1
1. Ioana Papuc/Rodica Serban (Romania 2) 7:14.54
2. Natasha Howard/Natasha Page (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:16.07
3. Kerstin Naumann/Silke Guenther (Germany) 7:19.68
4. Simona Roccarina/Samanta Molina (Italy) 7:26.15
5. Nina Wengert/Nadine Scmutzler (Germany 2) 7:27.07
B Final
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull
1. Evi Geentjens (Belgium) 7:54.85
2. Kirsten Jepsen (Denmark 1) 7:57.70
3. Andrea Dennis (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:59.17
4. Orla Duddy (Ireland) 7:59.17
5. Valentina Galmarini (Italy 1) 8:04.09
6. Phuttharaksa Nikree (Thailand) 8:09.33
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GB CREWS FOR THIRD WORLD CUP OF 2007
(Lucerne, July 13-15 )
(NB – listed from bow to stroke with
athlete name followed by club, home town
and date of birth in brackets).
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
Natasha Page (Reading Uni/Hartpury/30.4.85)
Natasha Howard (Tideway Scullers/West Runton/3.9.80)
Four
Rebecca Rowe (Rebecca/Bridgend/16.5.81)/Vicki Etiebet (Auriol Kensington/Ottowa, Canada/12.2.79)/Vicky Myers/Alice Freeman
Eight
Baz Moffat (Thames RC/Bradford/8.4.78)/Carla Ashford (Thames
RC/Northallerton/13.3.79)/Georgina Menheneott (Mortlake,
Anglian & Alpha RC/North Bradley, Wilts /18.12.79)/
Jess Eddie (Uni of London/Durham/7.10.84)/Beth Rodford (Thames
RC/Burton-on-Trent/ 28.12.82)/Rebecca Rowe (Rebecca/Bridgend/16.5.81)/Katie Greves (Uni of London/Oxford/2.9.82)/Louisa Reeve (Leander/London/16.05.84)/Caroline O’Connor
(Oxford Brookes/Ealing/25.4.83)
Double scull
Elise Laverick (Thames RC/Poling, W.Sussex/27.7.75)/
Anna Bebington (Leander Club/Leek, Staffs/13.2.83)
Quadruple scull
Debbie Flood (Leander Club/Leeds/27.2.80)/Annie Vernon
(Thames RC/Wadebridge/1.9.82)/Fran Houghton
(Uni of London/Oxford/19.9.80)/Katherine Grainger
(St Andrews BC/Aberdeen/12.11.75)
MEN
Pair
Colin Smith (Leander/Henley on Thames/23.9.83)/Matt Langridge
(Leander Club/Northwich/20.5.83)
Four
Steve Williams (Leander Club/Cheltenham/15.4.76)/Peter
Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth, Glos/27.7.81)/Tom James
(CUBC/Wrexham/11.3.84)/Andy Triggs Hodge (Molesey BC/Hebden, N.Yorks/3.3.79)
Eight
Tom Parker (OUBC/Winchester/24.10.82)
Tom Solesbury (Molesey BC/Petts Wood, Kent/23.9.80)
Tom Lucy (Oxford Brookes/Monmouth/1.5.88)
Tom Stallard (Leander/Welwyn, Herts/11.9.78)
Josh West (Leander/Santa Fe/25.3.77)
Richard Egington (Leander/Knutsford/26.2.79)
James Orme (Leander Club/Colchester/1.4.84)
Alastair Heathcote (Army RC/London/18.8.77)
Acer Nethercott (OUBC/Harlow/28.11.77)
Single Scull
Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers/Coleraine/9.5.83)
Double Scull – two boats
Matt Wells (Leander Club/Hexham, Northumberland/19.4.79)/
Stephen Rowbotham (Leander Club/Winscombe, Somerset/11.11.81)
Second boat – see U23 section below
Quadruple scull
Simon Fieldhouse (Molesey/Thames Ditton/4.9.76)/Sam Townsend
(Reading Uni/Reading/26.11.85)/Alex Gregory (Reading Uni/
Wormington/11.3.84)/Ian Lawson (Leander/Otley, W.Yorks/4.3.77)
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull
Andrea Dennis (Wallingford RC/Oxford/03.01.82)
Double scull
Helen Casey (Wallingford RC/Oxford/6.2.74)/
Hester Goodsell (Rob Roy/Cambridge/27.6.84)
Quadruple scull
Laura Greenhalgh/Jane Hall (Leander/Caversham/
20.10.73), Mathilde Pauls (Imperial College BC/Berlin &
Putney/26.09.83)/ Sophie Hosking (Durham Uni/
Wimbledon/25.01.86)
MEN
Pair
Matt Beechey (Leander/Worcester/3.4.77)/Daniel
Harte (London/Edinburgh/12.12.75)
Four
Richard Chambers (Oxford Brookes/Coleraine/10.6.85)/
James Lindsay-Fynn (London/Trim/29.9.75)/Paul Mattick
(Wallingford/Oxford/25.4.78)/James Clarke (London RC/
London/13.12.84)
Single scull
Alasdair Leighton-Crawford (Tideway
Scullers/Richmond-upon-Thames/09.12.81)
Double scull
Zac Purchase (Marlow RC/Tewkesbury, Glos/2.5.86)/
Mark Hunter (Leander Club/Romford, Essex/1.7.78)
Quadruple scull
Chris Bartley/Simon Jones/Rob Williams/Dave Currie
UNDER-23 CREWS
OPEN
MEN
Double scull – competing in senior open event
Bill Lucas (Reading Uni/Dartmouth/13.9.87)/Charles Cousins
(Rob Roy/Willingham, Cambs/13.12.88)
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CONTACT DETAILS
For media enquiries about British Rowing please contact:
Caroline Searle
T: (01225) 383518
M: (07831) 755351
GB Rowing website www.biro.org.uk – full biogs available
here.
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