Five Olympic class wins on a blustery Munich day
Five wins in Olympic boat class heats marked GB rowing’s first competitive day at world cup level this season in testing headwind but sunny conditions in Munich.
Reigning world lightweight four champions Richard Chambers, Paul Mattick, James Lindsay-Fynn and James Clarke, sponsored by Siemens, were amongst the winners controlling their race from the outset to mark their return to the scene of last year’s triumph.
The Camelot-backed open men’s four with Tom Lucy, as a late replacement for the injured Tom James racing in the bow seat behind Andy Hodge, Peter Reed and Steve Williams, also took charge early in their heat and went on to secure victory.
Scullers Alan Campbell, in the single, and Matt Wells and Stephen Rowbotham, in the double, and the lightweight double of Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase also impressed whilst winning.
"Our Olympic class boats have done what they should have done", said David Tanner, GB Performance Director. "Today’s conditions were not easy. The serious business begins tomorrow and the next day as we move into quarter-finals and semi-finals".
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RACE REPORTS
AFTERNOON SESSION
The doubly new-look GB men’s four – with Tom Lucy replacing recent newcomer Tom James because of the latter’s injury – looked more than decent on the water this afternoon. The Camelot-sponsored quartet had a length on the field by 500m and, whilst challenged briefly by Slovenia at 1200m, went on to extend their lead again and win comfortably in 6:32.13 to book a semi-final slot on Saturday afternoon.
"That’s a good starter for ten", said strokeman Andy Hodge after their opening heat. "The rhythm wasn’t quite there yet but that’s to be expected".
Matt Wells and Stephen Rowbotham had a winter that was sometimes disrupted by an injury to Wells but they looked smooth together today in winning their heat of the open men’s double scull in 6:53.32. The Siemens-sponsored duo tussled with Italy until the 1250m mark but then gradually drew ahead to win by just over four seconds.
Elise Laverick and Sarah Winckless were bronze medallists at the 2004 Olympic Games. Since then both have been in differing crews. Today they were a little ring-rusty, finishing third behind the USA and China in their women’s double scull heat with only two crews progressing direct to the semi-finals.
The duo let the leaders get away in the first part of the race but finished strongly, giving them some confidence for the repechage.
Baz Moffat and Georgina Menheneott, a new women’s pair for GB this season, were holding third until just before the half-way point of their heat this afternoon before being overhauled by Romania in the inside, and perhaps more sheltered, lane. The duo finished fourth in 8:24.10 in a race won by Germany and now face a repechage if they are to progress to the semi-finals.
Tom Parker and Tom Burton held onto the pack throughout their men’s pair heat to take fourth in 7:14.41 and move into a repechage. The heat was won by the seasoned Skelin brothers from Croatia.
Toby Garbett and Marcus Bateman put in a long surge from 700m out in their heat of the same event. They moved briefly past Germany on their inside but couldn’t sustain the pace and dropped back to fifth in the final 200m in a time of 7:22.29 and will now need the repechage if they are to progress.
Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase won their heat of the lightweight men’s double scull today by exactly six seconds from New Zealand. The Kiwis took the early lead but Purchase and Hunter seemed to be just biding their time. By the halfway mark they had edged ahead and at 1250m they made a big move without seemingly changing gear and the race was won from that point onwards. They now race a quarter-final tomorrow.
Great Britain’s lightweight men’s four also put in a strong performance to win their heat in 6:35.41 from Serbia. The reigning world champions got ahead early and stayed there. By the halfway mark they looked smooth and controlled and already had four seconds over the rest of the field.
Helen Casey and Hester Goodsell, in the top British lightweight women’s double scull combination here, put in a good race in their heat to take second place behind the Dutch winners in a time of 7:46.96 – although their only reward is a repechage place.
In the ensuing heat of the same event the young pairing of Laura Greenhalgh and Sophie Hosking were third in a time of 7:51.67 and will also race a repechage.
The last race of the day featured GB’s open men’s quadruple scull of Simon Fieldhouse, Sam Townsend, Alex Gregory and Bill Lucas. The latter three are still learning their trade as emerging youngsters in the sport whilst Fieldhouse provides the experience in the bow seat. Their performance today, during which they kept fighting in the pack despite an unfavoured lane because of the windy conditions, was pretty solid. "That’s the best I’ve seen them scull so far", commented GB Performance Director David Tanner after the race in which they were fifth in 6:24.16 with Germany as winners.
MORNING SESSION
Charles Cousins produced one of the more eye-catching performances of the morning’s session when he finished second in his heat of the open men’s single scull behind experienced senior rower Sjoerd Hamburger of the Netherlands. Despite making a poor start, Cousins recovered to overhaul the fast-starting but later-fading Bulgarian, to track Hamburger in the final 500m. Cousins, up from the U23s this year, now faces a repechage tomorrow.
Alan Campbell, the Siemens-backed leading GB sculler, was a consummate winner of the next heat. He had a length on the field at 300m and never looked in trouble.
Earlier Kristina Stiller, another emerging but still U23 athlete, qualified for tomorrow’s quarter-finals of the open women’s single scull as fastest finisher in the heats – just rewards for clinging tenaciously to the leading pack despite a strong headwind.
Britain’s two lightweight women’s single scullers are safely through to the semi-finals after finishing second and third in the same heat behind Laura Tibitanzl of Germany. Mathilde Pauls came home ahead of her team-mate Andrea Dennis to take the second place.
Full results: www.worldrowing.com
BBC Coverage: Sunday’s finalsw will be live on interactive, highlights
package from 3-4pm (UK Time) on Sunday.
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RESULTS
(For races featuring GB crews only)
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
Heat 1
1. Lenka Wech/Maren Derlien (Germany 1) 8:03.64
2. Sarah Cook/Kim Crow (Australia) 8:10.19
3. Adelina Cojocariu/NIcoleta Albu (Romania) 8:12.80
4. Baz Moffat/George Menheneott (GREAT BRITAIN) 8:24.10
5. Simona Roccarina/Anna Bonciani (Italy) 8:24.43
Single scull
Heat 2
1. Emma Twigg (New Zealand) 8:29.12
2. Sophie Balmary (France) 8:31.56
3. Sanne Beukers (Netherlands) 8:39.27
4. Kristina Stiller (GREAT BRITAIN) 8:39.27
5. Fabianna Beltrame (Brazil) 8:54.99
Double scull
Heat 4
1. Bin Tang/Jin Ziwei (China) 7:28.90
2. Mega Kalmoe/Ellen Tomek (USA) 7:36.93
3. Elise Laverick/Sarah Winckless (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:40.92
4. Gaelie Buniet/Marie Le Nepvou (France) 7:47.24
5. Katrin Olsen/Juliane Rasmussen (Denmark) 7:52.59
MEN
Pair
Heat 1
1. Sinisa & Niksa Skelin (Croatia) 7:11.18
2. Goran Jagar/Nikola Stojic (Serbia) 7:13.78
3. Yongqiang Zhang/Xiangdang Wang (China 1) 7:14.37
4. Tom Parker/Tom Burton (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:14.41
5. Tom Lehmann/Felix Drahotta (Germany 1) 7:16.08
6. Guiseppe de Vita/Rafaello Leonardo (Italy) 7:20.53
Heat 3
1. Morten Nielsen/Thomas Larsen (Denmark) 7:15.78
2. Jonno Devlin/Neil Casey (Ireland) 7:16.35
3. Stephan Koltzk/Joerg Diessner (Germany 2) 7:18.82
4. Fokke Beckmann/Richard Schmidt (Germany 3) 7:20.61
5. Toby Garbett/Marcus Bateman (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:22.29
6. Ramon di Clemente/Shuan Keeling (South Africa) 7:22.51
Four
Heat 1
1. Tom Lucy/Steve Williams/Peter Reed/Andy Hodge
(GREAT BRITAIN) 6:32.12
2. Germany 2 6:36.13
3. Slovenia 6:37.13
4. Greece 6:44.91
5. Belarus 1 6:49.13
Single scull
Heat 2
1. Sjoerd Hamburger (Netherlands) 7:46.42
2. Charles Cousins (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:49.20
3. Aleksandr Alexksandrov (Bulgaria) 7:56.49
4. Mathias Raymond (Monaco) 8:01.87
5. Dhison Hernandez Echezuria (Venezuela) 8:13.07
Heat 3
1. Alan Campbell (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:40.38
2. Michal Sloma (Poland 1) 7:42.49
3. Gaetan Delhon (France 1) 7:42.60
4. Patrick Loliger Salas (Mexico) 7:44.71
Double scull
Heat 4
1. Matthew Wells/Stephen Rowbotham (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:53.32
2. Simone Venier/Luca Agamennoni (Italy 1) 6:57.56
3. Markus Kuffner/Karsten Brodowski (Germany 2) 7:04.85
4. Wiktor Chabel/Marcin Brzezinski (Poland) 7:08.13
Quadruple scull
Heat 2
1. Germany 6:15.17
2. Italy 1 6:16.56
3. Russia 6:18.24
4. Australia 6:20.57
5. Simon Fieldhouse/Sam Townsend/Alex Gregory/
Bill Lucas (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:24.16
6. Romania 1 6:30.28
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull
Heat 2
1. Laura Tibitanzl (Germany) 8:50.83
2. Mathilde Pauls (GREAT BRTAIN) 8:58.25
3. Andrea Dennis (GREAT BRITAIN) 9:01.75
4. Paschalina Karamytiliou (Greece) 9:23.20
5. Maria Lima (Portugal) 9:29.50
Double scull
Heat 1
1. Kirsten van der Kolk/Marit van Eupen (Netherlands) 7:42.42
2. Helen Casey/Hester Goodsell (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:46.96
3. Pamela Weisshaupt/Eliane Waser (Switzerland) 7:49.66
4. Marie Gottlieb/Sine Christiansen (Denmark) 7:55.03
5. Gabriela Huerta Trillo/Lila Perez Rul (Mexico) 8:05.18
6. Camila Carvalho/Luicana Granato (Brazil) 8:08.70
Heat 2
1. Berit Carow/Marie-Louise Draeger (Germany) 7:45.08
2. Erika Bello/Luara Milani (Italy) 7:48.63
3. Laura Greenhalgh/Sophie Hosking (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:51.67
4. Triantafyllia Kalampoka/Christina Giazitzidou (Greece 2) 8:13.03
5. Kimberlyn Meneses/Ana Santoyo (Venezuela) 8:38.50
MEN
Four
Heat 1
1. Richard Chambers/James Lindsay Fynn/Paul Mattick/
James Clarke (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:35.41
2. Serbia 6:39.03
3. Spain 6:42.91
4. Poland 6:47.48
5. Austria 6:57.87
6. China 2 7:04.66
Double scull
Heat 6
1. Zac Purchase/Mark Hunter (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:12.53
2. Storm Uru/Peter Taylor (New Zealand) 7:18.53
3. Martin Batenburg/Sophus Johannesen (Denmark 2) 7:36.50
4. Jose Guipe/Eduardo Cova (Venezuela) 7:40.87
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GB CREW LISTS (with clubs/home towns/dates of birth)
Munich World Cup 2008
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
Baz Moffat (Thames RC/Bradford/08.04.78)/Georgina Menheneott
(Mortlake, Anglian & Alpha RC/North Bradley, Wilts/18.12.78)
Eight
Olivia Whitlam/Carla Ashford (Oxford Brookes BC/Northallerton/13.03.79)/Alice Freeman (Wallingford RC/Oxford/06.09.78)/ /Louisa Reeve (Leander/London/16.05.84)/Beth Rodford (Thames RC/Burton-on-Trent/ 28.12.82)/Natasha Page (Reading Uni/Hartpury/30.04.85)/Katie Greves (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.82)/Jess Eddie (Uni of London/Durham/07.10.84)/
Caroline O’Connor (Oxford Brookes/Ealing/25.04.83) (cox)
Coach: John Keogh
Single scull
Tina Stiller (Wallingford RC/Yarm, N.Yorks/23.6.87)
Coach: Miles Forbes-Thomas
Double scull
Elise Laverick (Thames RC/Poling, W.Sussex/27.07.75)/Sarah
Winckless (Walbrook & Royal/Henley/18.10.73)
Coach: Miles Forbes Thomas
Quadruple scull
Annie Vernon (Marlow RC/Wadebridge/01.09.82)/Debbie Flood
(Leander Club/Leeds/27.02.80)/Frances Houghton
(Tyrian Club (Uni of London)/Oxford/19.09.80)/Katherine Grainger
(St Andrews BC/Aberdeen/12.11.75)
Coach: Paul Thompson
MEN
Pair (two boats)
Toby Garbett (Leander Club/Woking, Surrey/14.11.76)/Marcus Bateman (Leander Club/Torquay/16.09.82)
Tom Parker (Oxford Brookes/Winchester/24.10.82)/Tom Burton
Spare: Oli Moore (OUBC/Burford/22.12.85)
Coach: Jonny Singfield
Four
Tom Lucy (Oxford Brookes/Monmouth/01.05.88)/Steve Williams (Leander
Club/Cheltenham/15.04.76)/Peter Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth,
Glos/27.07.81)/Andy Triggs Hodge (Molesey BC/Hebden,
N.Yorks/03.03.79)
Coach: Jurgen Grobler
Eight
Alex Partridge (Leander Club/Alton, Hants/25.01.81)/
Tom Stallard (Leander/Welwyn, Herts/11.09.78)/
Matt Langridge(Leander Club/Northwich/20.05.83)/
Tom Solesbury (Molesey BC/Petts Wood, Kent/23.09.80)/
Josh West (Leander/Santa Fe, USA/25.03.77)/
Richard Egington (Leander/Knutsford/26.02.79)/
Robin Bourne-Taylor (Army RC/Oxford/22.07.81)/
Colin Smith (Leander/Henley on Thames/23.09.83)/
Acer Nethercott (University College Oxford BC/Harlow/28.11.77)
(cox)
Coaches: Mark Banks, John West
Single Scull (two boats)
Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers/Coleraine/09.05.83)
Charles Cousins (Reading Uni/Cambridge/13.12.88)
Coach: Bill Barry
Double Scull
Matt Wells (Leander Club/Hexham, Northumberland/19.04.79)/
Stephen Rowbotham (Leander Club/Winscombe, Somerset/11.11.81)
Coach: Mark Earnshaw
Quadruple scull
Simon Fieldhouse (Molesey/Thames Ditton/04.09.76)/Sam Townsend
(Reading Uni/Reading/26.11.85)/Alex Gregory (Reading Uni/
Wormington/11.03.84)/Bill Lucas (Reading Uni/Dartmouth/13.09.87)
Coach: Adrian Cassidy
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull (two boats)
Andrea Dennis (Wallingford RC/Oxford/03.01.82)
Mathilde Pauls (Imperial College BC/Berlin & Putney/26.09.83)
Coach: Karl Offord
Double scull (two boats)
Helen Casey (Wallingford RC/Oxford/06.02.74)/
Hester Goodsell (Reading Uni/Cambridge/27.06.84)
Sophie Hosking (London RC/Wimbledon/25.01.86)/Laura
Greenhalgh (Reading Uni/Oxford/02.09.85)
Coach: Rob Morgan
MEN
Pair
Matt Beechey (Leander/Worcester/4.3.77)/Rob Williams (London
RC/Maidenhead/21.01.85)
Coach: Paul Reedy
Four
Richard Chambers (Oxford Brookes/Coleraine/10.06.85)/
James Lindsay-Fynn (London/Trim/29.09.75)/Paul Mattick
(Wallingford/Oxford/25.04.78)/James Clarke (London RC/
London/31.12.84)
Coach: Robin Williams
Double scull
Zac Purchase (Marlow RC/Tewkesbury, Glos/02.05.86)/
Mark Hunter (Leander Club/Romford, Essex/01.07.78)
Coach: Darren Whiter
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OUTLINE RACING SCHEDULE IN MUNICH
(NB – Germany is one hour ahead of the UK)
Friday 9 May
Repechages – Adaptive classes
Heats, repechages and quarter-finals – all other classes
9.00 – 17.30
Saturday 10 May
FINALS – adpative classes only (9.00 – 9.30am)
Semi-finals – (14.00 – 17.40)
Repechages – 17.48 – 18.28)
Sunday 11 May
FINALS 10.00 – 14.50
NB – may be subject to change. For up-to-date
information visit: www.worldrowing.com
