Tanner urges caution despite 17 finalists
David Tanner, GB Performance Director, was anxious that his team’s
results – albeit “pleasing” so far at this season’s opening of three
world cups in Banyoles, Spain – should be treated with caution and
context even though 16 GB crews will feature in finals here and one
crew has already won a bronze medal.
“Yes, it’s been pleasing here and we have some good crews who have
performed well but there are more crews and more nations to enter the
scene later in the season either in Munich, the next World Cup in June,
or Lucerne in July”, he said.
Meanwhile, Pete Reed and Andy Triggs Hodge showed their potential as a
pair once more today, winning their semi-final comfortably.
“It’s been a good start and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s
final”, said Reed. “We’ll be looking for that same strong rhythm in the
boat that we had today”.
GB Rowing won their semi-finals in the men’s single and double sculls
and qualified a second boat, of Katie Greves and Beth Rodford, into
tomorrow’s women’s double scull final which already features Anna
Bebington and Annabel Vernon. All four women will also race in the
final of the women’s quadruple scull.
Tomorrow will play witness to a debut final for Katherine Grainger in
the women’s single scull and a first final for the new-look men’s four
and quadruple scull, lightweight four and double scull – amongst others.
Adam Freeman-Pask won GB’s first medal of the regatta today when he
took bronze in the lightweight men’s single scull – his first senior
medal in this international rather than Olympic boat class.
“I had a bit of a ropey heat but a good repechage and that gave me the
confidence going into the final today”, he said. “It’s a bit scary to
get a medal with all these big names around”.
Laura Greenhalgh won the B Final of the equivalent women’s boat class
this afternoon, having narrowly missed out on a final place in this
morning’s repechages.
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RACE REPORTS
A FINAL
Adam Freeman-Pask said he surprised even himself by taking bronze in
the international rather than Olympic class lightweight men’s single
scull final in one of the last races today.
He started his regatta here with a heat he described as “ropey” but
went on to race strongly in the repechage this morning and then
produced a good performance in today’s final, moving up from fourth to
a medal position in the second half of a race won by Greece in 7:09.12.
SEMI-FINALS
Pete Reed and Andy Triggs Hodge continued their winning ways on the
world cup stage in Banyoles, Spain, this afternoon with a semi-final
win in 6:34.46 – about four seconds ahead of the opposition today.
South Africa won the second semi-final in 6:35.63 and also had a clear
margin over the chasing pack from which Greece emerged to take second
and Serbia third.
Reed and Hodge had their bowball a whisper ahead by the 250m mark in
their semi-final and gradually stretched out their lead to two lengths
by 750m. Behind them France were quick in the first half but were
overtaken for second place by Canada with 500m to go.
“We got a better start today and I could feel the strength in the boat
and that gave me confidence in the second half”, said Hodge.
Reed said: “After two strokes it was a case of keeping going as we
were. We didn’t need to make too many moves. Tomorrow we will want to
keep workingon that same rhythm”
Stephen Rowbotham and Matt Wells – the latter having become a father
for the first time in the past month – came into today’s semi-finals
from a hotly-contested heat of the men’s double scull. The duo. who
took Beijing bronze, looked strong from the outset and set the pace by
leading at each of the three official timing points.
At the finish, it looked as if France might take second pace until
Croatia put in a finishing burst up the inside to finish just over two
seconds behind the British with France in third.
“Today we stepped up a gear and probably made it look a bit easier but
it was just that we got out front and made sure we were in control”,
said Rowbotham.
“Tomorrow I’m sure that the Croatians and French will be tough”, said
Wells. “The Croatians in particular have been nibbling away at us in
the races so far.
“As a crew we’re benefitting from the experience of training and racing
together over the past three years””, said Wells of the Siemens-backed
double.
Alan Campbell took his victory in the men’s single scull semi-final
today with his customary style of leading from the front. His winning
time of 6:52.99 was testament to a great start to his season as the
field today included Olympic champion Olaf Tufte who was second, five
seconds behind Campbell. Eariler in the race, Iztok Cop of Slovenia had
been holding third place but he was beaten to a spot the final by Angel
Fournier Rodriguez of Cuba.
However Campbell was quick to play down today’s result. “You shouldn’t
read too much into it”, he said. “It was obvious at one point that Olaf
and I were going to qualify so he didn’t really challenge me.
“I had a good one today, though, it’s fair to say. And the British
supporters in the crowd were awesome. You can really hear them above
all the others”.
Rob Williams and Paul Mattick have significant shoes to fill in the
British squad at this regatta. They are racing in the lightweight men’s
double scull, a boat category monopolised throughout 2009 by Zac
Purchase and Mark Hunter who went onto take Olympic gold.
Mattick and Williams showed their talent today as a new combination
when they were a close second in their semi-final to Canada. Less than
a second separated the crews at the finish in a race during which both
crews were closely in contention with each other. The Canadians built a
two second lead by the 1000m but the British clawed it back as the race
unfolded.
“Rob and I work well together. We’ve shared ideas when training in our
singles and when racing in pairs. I’m really excited about tomorrow’s
final as we’ve pushed both of today’s semi-final winners quite hard
here”, said Mattick.
“I think today and yesterday we raced bits of both races well – but
they were different bits. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow”, said
Williams.
Adam Freeman-Pask was GB’s contestant in the lightweight men’s single
scull semi-final. 1400 into his race this morning he was holding onto
third place in the inside lane behind Denmark and Italy. In a dramatic
last 500m Freeman-Pask pushed hard, created a strong finish and took
second in 7:15.48 just a few tenths of a second behind the winner Mads
Rasmussen of Denmark. His prize was to book a place in the final from
where he won a bronze medal.
REPECHAGES
GB Rowing had a world champion crew in the lightweight men’s four in
2007 who were also Olympicfinalists. This, though, is a season to
rebuild this boat with a new crew which features some interesting
rowers from the Siemens-backed and lottery-funded world class start
scheme which identifies raw talent at school or first year University.
Today Chris Boddy, Chris Bartley, Bob Hewitt and Stephen Feeney showed
their racing mettle by booking a place in tomorrow’s finals with a
second place in the repechage in a time of 6:15.51 behind the winners
Denmark who clocked 6:14.03.
Beth Rodford and Katie Greves knew that a top two placing in the
women’s double scull repechage would also book passage into tomorrow’s
final to join the already- qualified Annabel Vernon and Anna Bebington.
They set about the task with gusto this afternoon and battled with
Poland in the opening half of the race. Behind them the Danish double
were clinging onto contention. By 1500m Poland still held the lead with
Rodford and Greves in second. As the crews raced past the grandstand –
somewhat loaded in favour of GB’s vocal, travelling army of spectators
– the Danes pushed hard but Rodford and Greves prevailed to take second
in 7:15.55 behind Poland in 7:12.95
GB Rowing’s lightweight women’s double of Andrea Dennis and Sophie
Hosking, brought together very recently because of injury to Hester
Goodsell, put in a strong showing in today’s repechage and claimed
second spot in their race and, with it, a place in the final.
The British duo tracked the leading Greek double throughout the first
half of the race. In a final 500m battle the GB double briefly took the
lead and even though they were second at the line, the margin was
within two tenths of a second.
Laura Greenhalgh made the pace in the opening 900m of her lightweight
women’s single repechage in the morning, pushing to a one length lead
over Sara Karlsson of Sweden. The Dane and the French sculler were also
in contention.
At 1300m Karlsson responded to a push from Juliane Rasmussen on her
outside and both boats overhauled Greenhalgh with the Dane taking the
verdict by a length from Karlsson. Greenhalgh held onto third and now
races a B Final tomorrow.
SEEDING RACES
There were also seeding races today for lanes in tomorrow’s finals of
the women’s pair and single scull, the men’s and women’s quadruple
sculls and eights. GB showed well in the women’s pair winning a tight
contest with Russia to the line. The GB U23 duo of Monica Relph and
Jacqui Round were fourth in the same race. Olivia Whitlam and Louisa
Reeve’s victory was swiftly followed by a confident debut win in the
women’s single scull from Katherine Grainger who has now put herself
into pole position for tomorrow’s final.
Grainger’s old boat, the women’s quadruple scull were the next to race
and, equally, looked good in winning their race. GB Rowing has an
emerging men’s quadruple scull who looked confident this morning in
taking second place behind the Olympic champions. Their men’s eight
team-mates are also a new combination and were fourth today whilst the
women won their race.
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RESULTS
A Finals
LIGHTWEIGHT
MEN
Single scull
1. Vasileios Polymeros (Greece) 7:09.12
2. Lorenzo Bertini (Italy 2) 7:12.15
3. Adam Freeman-Pask (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:14.14
4. Mads Rasmussen (Denmark) 7:16.36
5. Timothee Heijbrock (Netherlands) 7;16.76
6. Jeremie Azou (France 2) 7:16.79
SEMI-FINALS
OPEN
MEN
Pair
1. Pete Reed/Andy Triggs Hodge (GREAT BRITAIN) 6;34.46
2. James Dunaway/Derek O’Farrell (Canada) 6:38.88
3. Germain Chardin/Dorian Mortelette (France 1) 6:41.22
4. Lukasz Kardas/Dawid Paczes (Poland) 6:48.81
5. Mostafa Zeidan/Yehia El Bakry (Egypt 1) 6:55.85
6. Andrei Dzemyanenka/Yauheni Nosau (Belarus 1) 7:00.53
Single scull
1. Alan Campbell (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:52.99
2. Olaf Tufte (Norway 1) 6:57.02
3. Angel Fournier Rodriguez (Cuba) 7:01.19
4. Iztok Cop (Slovenia) 7:05.03
5. Sergey Fedorovtsev (Russia 2) 7:07.40
6. Lassi Karonen (Sweden) 7:13.81
Double scull
1. Matt Wells/Stephen Rowbotham (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:23.28
2. David Sain/Damir Martin (Croatia 2) 6:25.45
3. Jean-Baptiste Macquet/Adrien Hardy (France 3) 6:25.50
4. Luca Ghezzi/Romano Battisti (Italy 2) 6:30.41
5. Ahmed Khamis/Mostafa El Bestawy (Egypt 1) 6:30.86
6. Matteo Stefanini/Simone Raineri (Italy) 6:38.28
LIGHTWEIGHT
MEN
Single scull
1. Mads Rasumussen (Denmark) 7:15.09
2. Adam Freeman-Pask (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:15.48
3. Lorenzo Bertini (Italy 2) 7:15.96
4. Daniele Gilardoni (Italy 1) 7:17.98
5. Frederic Dufour (France 1) 7:27.92
6. Jonathan Winter (USA) 7:34.05
Double scull
Semi-final 1
1. Douglas Vandor/Cameron Sylvester (Canada) 6:30.92
2. Rob Williams/Paul Mattick (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:31.44
3. Tommaso Sacchini/Davide Babboni (Italy) 6:34.79
4. Jaap Schouten/Paul Drewes (Netherlands) 6:35.70
5. Ilias Pappas/Dimitios Mougios (Greece) 6:35.73
6. Yunior Perez Aguilera Perez/Liosbel Hernandez (Cuba) 6:54.58
REPECHAGES
OPEN
WOMEN
Double scull
1. Magdalena Fularczyk/Natalia Madaj (Poland 2) 7:12.95
2. Beth Rodford/Katie Greves (GREAT BRITAIN 2) 7:15.55
3. Fie Graugaard/Lea Jakobsen (Denmark 1) 7:16.58
4. Nienke Kingma/Femke Dekker (Netherlands) 7:21.67
5. Lisbet Jakobsen/Tanja Ehlers (Denmark 2) 7:39.12
6. Heba & Eman Hassan (Egypt) 7:48.72
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull
1. Juliane Rasmussen (Denmark) 8:05.97
2. Sara Karlsson (Sweden) 8:07.78
3. Laura Greenhalgh (GREAT BRITAIN) 8:17.96
4. Elise Maurin (France 3) 8:19.71
5. Coralie Ribeil (France 2) 8:22.66
Double scull
1. Triantafyllia Kalampoka/Christina Giazitzidou (Greece) 7:07.51
2. Andrea Dennis/Sophie Hosking (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:07.70
3 Rianne Sigmond/Maaike Head (Netherlands) 7:10.24
4. Helle Tibian/Marie Gottlieb (Denmark 1) 7:24.56
5. Helene Olsen/Mia Espersen (Denmark 2) 7:34.21
MEN
Four
1. Denmark 6:14.03
2. Bob Hewitt/Stephen Feeney/Chris Boddy/Chris Bartley (GREAT
BRITAIN) 6:15.51
3. Switzerland 6:16.00
4. Netherlands 6:24.04
SEEDING RACES FOR LANES
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
1. Louisa Reeve/Olivia Whitlam (GREAT BRITAIN 1) 7:27.98
2. Mayya Zhuchkova/Alevtina Podvyazkina (Russia) 7:29.04
3. Samanta Molina/Enrica Marasca (Italy) 7:41.62
4. Monica Relph/Jacqui Round (GREAT BRITAIN 2) 7:42.88
5. Marie Le Nepvou/Stephanie Dechand (France) 7:44.80
Single scull
1. Katherine Grainger (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:56.55
2. Brett Sickler (USA) 7:58.52
3. Nuria Dominguez Asensio (Spain) 8:00.11
4. Frida Svensson (Sweden) 8:00.51
5. Nienke Groen (Netherlands) 8:16.10
6. Roxane Gabriel (France) 8:29.27
Quadruple scull
1. Katie Greves/Beth Rodford/Anna Bebington/Annabel Vernon
(GREAT BRITAIN) 6:41.98
2. Netherlands 6:44.77
3. Italy 6:51.97
MEN
Eight
1. Italy 5;37.75
2. Poland 5:40.19
3. Netherlands 5:41.57
4. Tom Wilkinson/James Foad/James Orme/Tom Burton/
Mohamed Sbihi/Tom Solesbury/Tom Ransley/James
Clarke/Phelan Hill (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:42.45
Quadruple scull
1. Poland 5:54.77
2. Charles Cousins/Marcus Bateman/Bill Lucas/Sam Townsend
(GREAT BRITAIN) 5:56.15
3. Russia 6:03.85
4. Canada DNS
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CREW LISTS
(club/home town/d.o.b in brackets)
WORLD CUP, BANYOLES, SPAIN
May 29-31
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
Olivia Whitlam (Agecroft/Warrington/16.09.85)/Louisa Reeve (Leander Club/London/16.05.84)
Single scull
Katherine Grainger (St Andrew BC/Aberdeen/12.11.75)
Double scull – two boats
Annabel Vernon (Marlow RC/Wadebridge/01.09.82)/Anna
Bebington (Leander Club/Leek, Staffs/13.02.83)
Katie Greves (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.82)/
Beth Rodford (Gloucester RC/Burton-on-Trent/ 28.12.82)
Quadruple scull
Katie Greves (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.82)/
Beth Rodford (Gloucester RC/Burton-on-Trent/ 28.12.82)/
Anna Bebington (Leander Club/Leek, Staffs/13.02.83)/
Annabel Vernon (Marlow RC/Wadebridge/01.09.82)
Eight
Alice Freeman (Wallingford RC/Oxford/06.09.78)/
Jennie Farmer (Molesey BC/Isleworth/26.03.85)
Jo Cook (Leander/Nottingham/22.03.84)/
Lindsey Maguire (Wallingford/Edinburgh/15.01.82)/
Olivia Whitlam (Agecroft/Warrington/16.09.85)/
Louisa Reeve (Leander Club/London/16.05.84)/
Natasha Page (Reading Uni BC/Hartpury/30.04.85)/
Jess Eddie (Uni of London BC/Durham/07.10.84)/
Caroline O’Connor (Oxford Brookes Uni BC/Ealing/25.04.83) (cox)
Additional U23 Pair
Jacqui Round (Nottingham RC/St Neots/01.07.87)/
Monica Relph (Nottingham RC/Cambridge/15.01.88)
MEN
Pair
Peter Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth, Glos/27.07.81)/Andy Triggs Hodge
(Molesey BC/Hebden, N.Yorks/03.03.79)
Four
Matt Langridge(Leander Club/Northwich/20.05.83)/Richard
Egington (Leander Club/Knutsford/26.02.79)/Alex Gregory (Reading
Uni BC/Wormington/11.03.84)/Alex Partridge (Leander Club/Alton, Hants/25.01.81)
Eight
Tom Wilkinson (Leander Club/Reading/04.07.85)/
James Foad (Molesey BC/Southampton/20.03.87)
James Orme (Leander Club/Colchester/01.04.84)/
Tom Burton (Leander Club/Barton-le-Clay, Beds/24.05.80)/
Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey BC/Surbiton/27.03.88)/
Tom Solesbury (Isis BC/Petts Wood, Kent/23.09.80)/
Tom Ransley (Cambridge University BC/ Ashford, Kent/06.09.85)/
James Clarke (London RC/London/31.12.84)/
Phelan Hill (cox) (Leander Club/Bedford/21.07.79)
Single scull – two boats
Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers/Coleraine/09.05.83)
Ian Lawson (Leander Club/Otley, W Yorks/04.03.77)
Double scull
Matt Wells (Leander Club/Hexham, Northumberland/19.04.79)/
Stephen Rowbotham (Leander Club/Winscombe, Somerset/11.11.81)
Quadruple Scull
Charles Cousins (Reading Univ BC/Cambridge/13.12.88)/
Marcus Bateman (Leander Club/Torquay/16.09.82)/
Bill Lucas (Reading Univ BC/Kingswear/13.09.87)/
Sam Townsend (Reading Uni BC/Reading/26.11.85)
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull
Laura Greenhalgh (London RC/Oxford/02.09.85)
Double scull
Andrea Dennis (London RC/Oxford/03.01.82)/
Sophie Hosking (London RC/Wimbledon/25.01.86)
MEN
Single scull
Adam Freeman-Pask (Imperial College BC/Windsor/19.06.85)
Double scull
Rob Williams (London RC/Maidenhead/21.01.85)/Paul Mattick
(Leander Club/Frome, Somerset/25.04.78)
Four
Bob Hewitt (Tees RC/Scarborough/27.04.87)/
Stephen Feeney (London RC/Coleraine/12.05.85)/
Chris Boddy (Tees RC/Stockton-on-Tees/16.11.87)/
Chris Bartley (Leander Club/Chester/02.02.84)
