Four semi wins and two medals for GB Rowing Team on day two in Belgrade
The GB Rowing Team – spearheaded by semi-final victories in the men’s and women’s pair, the lightweight men’s double scull and the men’s four – had a buoyant day on the water at the season’s opening world cup in Belgrade.
In the non-Olympic classes, a silver from Kathryn Twyman in the lightweight women’s single scull and a gold from Paul Mattick and Adam Freeman-Pask in the lightweight men’s pair put the seal on the day.
Helen Glover and Heather Stanning paved the way in winning their women’s pair semi. George Nash and Will Satch followed suit in the men’s pair.
Stroke Andrew Triggs Hodge set the pace for the men’s four, also featuring Tom James, Pete Reed and Alex Gregory, to win their semi-final.
Later in the afternoon, in warm and fast racing conditions, Olympic champions Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter definitely had a good day at the office in winning their semi-final of the lightweight men’s double scull.
Sam Townsend and Bill Lucas impressed in the GB Rowing Team’s men’s double scull. Although second to Germany, this was a very close and exciting race.
Alan Campbell progressed by taking third place in the open-weight men’s single scull.
“I’m very, very pleased with today’s semi-finals. I think it’s all to play for tomorrow. We’ve come here to learn how we have emerged from the winter and as the start of our Olympic campaign rather than to come here as the fully-ready Olympic team as yet”, said GB Rowing Team Performance Director David Tanner.
“I think it’s been perfect in terms of opposition here and we should enjoy tomorrow and I am sure we will have some good results”, he added.
“As to the two first-string crews who did not get through to the final, Rachel Gamble-Flint who was sixth today in the single scull, is an U23 and learning here in good company and the men’s quadruple scull is finding its feet after some changes. A boat like this takes some time to settle and the winning time in that semi-final was very quick. So I’m not unhappy”, said Tanner.
Andrea Dennis and Imogen Walsh, racing here in GBR 2, were clearly disappointed as they missed out narrowly in third place in their repechage of the lightweight women’s double scull.
Tomorrow the GB Rowing Team will have 12 finalists from a possible 14 with racing in the A Finals starting at 09.43 UK Time. Racing will be live on the red button on the BBC.
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RACE REPORTS
Helen Glover and Heather Stanning enjoyed some fast racing conditions here to record a quick time and win their semi-final of he women’s pair.
The World Silver medalists were in the pack at 250m gone but emerged strongly after 500m to hit the front and take a lead of over a length by halfway. The early race leaders, Holland, faded back.
“It was our first opportunity to race the Romanians. I think some people went out quickly, like the Dutch, in the beginning but paid
for it towards the end today”, said Stanning.
The men’s pair were also strong winners of their semi-final. Perhaps more surprisingly in their case as Will Satch and George Nash are a very new pairing for the GB Rowing Team.
They made sure they were in the right place 300m into the race, then moved up into the lead and stepped on further ahead of local favourites Nenad Bedik and Jovan Popovic of Serbia and the second-ranked Dutch pair.
Nash and Satch went on to hold that lead, dispelling fears of potentially fatal over-exuberance in the first half of the race, and to win in 6:33.33.
Satch said: “I think we have done what we wanted to do and it’s been pretty exciting but we haven’t won anything yet”.
Nash added: “Once we got to the 1k mark, it was all about limiting the damage from the other crews but also about our own bodies, trying to conserve as much as we could for tomorrow’s final without giving the race away. There is certainly more in the tank”.
Expectations are always high when a GB Rowing Team men’s four take to the water to race. Today was no exception and the quartet of Andrew Triggs Hodge, Pete Reed, Tom James and Alex Gregory did not disappoint
750m into their semi-final it was clear that the combination was going to win – and probably comfortably. Today they started better than in yesterday’s heat. They were in the thick of the race after the first 250m and then pushed out into that comfortable lead.
By 1200m the crew looked quick and connected and comfortable and went onto win in 5:54.34 from the Netherlands in second and France third.
Needless to say there was no complacency afterwards. This is a crew on a mission to get to know each other and grow together.
Alex Gregory said: “It was much more in the right direction today. We were actually really happy with yesterday, too.
“Not every time you get in a crew, does it work immediately. But we’re not stressed about it and we’re building slowly and gradually within ourselves and that race today showed that we have moved on”.
Andy Triggs Hodge: “It is definitely a work in progress. We really wanted to step on with each race and we’re doing that. The other semi was a lot faster though and even though we looked better today it was still not fast enough”.
Sam Townsend and Bill Lucas found themselves in a tough tussle with Germany behind the early leaders Italy in their men’s double scull semi-final. As Italy faded, around the 750m mark, Germany and GB went bow-ball to bow-ball for the lead. As the crews raced past the grandstands Germany held onto the marginal lead that they held from 1500m to win in 6:09.28 to Britain’s 6:09.79.
Nonetheless, this was an eye-catching performance from the new British combination.
Townsend said: “We rowed a pretty solid race. Our race profile was pretty good, you’d say spot on if we weren’t half a canvas down at the end!
“Our objective was make sure you qualify and be competitive at the front of the field. We know we’re capable of winning tomorrow and we don’t shy away from that but we have to get every aspect of the race right in all four quarters”.
Mindaugas Griskonis might sound, to the language-shy British, like he should be a character in J K Rowling’s Harry Potter. Today, though, he won the semi-final of the open-weight men’s single scull with a storming final 500m to beat Olympic Champion Ondrej Synek and three-times World Championships medalist Alan Campbell.
The Lithuanian’s victory meant that the experienced Swede Lassi Karonen was consigned to the B final in fourth place.
Campbell looked comfortable in qualifying behind Synek. Both men are great friends but fierce rivals and Synek is renowned as a wily racer.
The new-look GB Rowing Team men’s quadruple scull are still in learning mode. They were fourth in today’s semi-final, unable to find enough in the final surge to the line to take one of the top three slots in a race won by Croatia, in a time just shy of a world’s best, with Estonia second and Russia third.
“It was a very quick time today and when you turn things round it takes a little time with boats like a quad”, said GB Rowing Performance Director after the race. “They are still finding their feet”.
Perhaps their best came in the third quarter when Marcus Bateman, Matt Wells, Charles Cousins and Stephen Rowbotham were challenging strongly for third.
Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter, the Olympic and World Champions, were slow away at the start in the semi-final of the lightweight men’s double scull today but soon recovered. They were leading at halfway from Greece and Hungary with China, the fastest crew from yesterday’s heats, slipping gradually back off the pace in fourth.
Once ahead the British duo were never challenged and crossed the line a length in front in a very good performance against a tough field.
Paul Mattick and Adam Freeman-Pask were leading virtually from starter’s buzzer to the finish buoy-line in Belgrade in the lightweight
men’s pair final today.
Mattick, 2010 World Champion in the lightweight men’s four, looked across with 350m to go from his bow-seat. He would have seen that the remainder of the field were trying to come back strongly.
He could also see that barring accidents, the British duo would take gold – as they duly did in 6:36.22 from the Czech Republic in second and France in third.
“That felt very quick from the start today”, said Freeman Pask. “It all seems to have come together. We’ve had some pretty dark days trying to get it right so it was really enjoyable today”.
Kathryn Twyman was in close contention in the final of the lightweight women’s single scull – an international rather than Olympic class – as the sun began to go down over the Sava lake in Belgrade.
“I didn’t quite have the legs today but I really, really enjoyed that final”, said Twyman. “In the team the standard is really high so I knew I had a chance today”.
Imogen Walsh and Andrea Dennis were so close to qualifying into tomorrow’s final of the lightweight women’s double scull that the British supporters, here in numbers, must have hoped their shouts of support in the final 500m would work magic for them. It wasn’t to be and they fell agonizingly short, just two tenths behind the Dutch second-paced crew.
Rachel Gamble Flint was also unable to qualify but is definitely here to learn her trade in the single scull. As an emerging U23 she has acquitted herself well here.
The women’s eight raced for a lane draw in tomorrow’s final and were second.
Mike Mottram (known pretty universally as “Mikey) was tucked into third place in his semi-final of the non-Olympic lightweight single scull semi-final today. Peter Galambos of Hungary was the clear leader from Livio Padula of Italy in second.
The positions remained unchanged through half-way but in the final phases, Mottram stepped up the pace and secured qualification for tonight’s final in second where he finished out of the medals in fifth place. It was a good first regatta at this level for him.
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RESULTS
FINALS
FINALS
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull
1 Michaela Taupe-Traer (Austria 1) 7:48.45
2 Kathryn Twyman (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:50.11
3 Pamela Weisshaupt (Switzerland) 7:52.83
4 Cecilia Lilja (Sweden 1) 7:57.17
5 Claire Lamb (Ireland) 8:03.47
6 Helena Pavkovic (Croatia) 8:09.51
MEN
Single scull
1 Pietro Ruta (Italy1) 6:56.94
2 Peter Galambos (Hungary) 6:58.56
3 Jeremie Azou (France 1) 7:01.06
4 Stany Delayre (France 2) 7:08.64
5 Michael Mottram (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:12.57
6 Svein Urban Ringstad (Norway 3) 7:13.56
Pair
1 Paul Mattick/Adam Freeman-Pask (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:36.22
2 Jiri Kopk/Miroslav Vrastil Jnr (Czech Republic) 6:38.22
3 Fabien Tilliet/Jean-Christophe Bette (France) 6:40.50
4 Arnoud Greidanus/Joris Pijs (Netherlands 2) 6:42.1
5 Li Lei/Zhongwei Li (China) 6:46.30
6 Chiu Mang Tng/Cheong Kwan Ki (Hong Kong) 6:48.08
SEMI-FINALS
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
Semi-final 2
1 Helen Glover/Heather Stanning (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:57.50
2 Claudia Belderbps/Chantal Achterberg (Netherlands 1) 6:59.59
3 Kerstin Hartmann/Marlene Sinnig (Germany) 7:00.60
4 Georgeta Andrunache/Viorica Susanu (Romania 1) 7:05.88
5 Carline Bouw/Annemiek de Haan (Netherlands 2) 7:09.73
6 Victoria Nencheva/Iskra Angelova (Azerbaijan)
Single scull
Semi-final 2
1 Iva Obradovic (Serbia 1) 7:22.98
2 Frida Svensson (Sweden) 7:29.06
3 Nataliya Mustafayeva (Azerbaijan) 7:30.61
4 Tale Gjoertz (Norway) 7:32.62
5 Donata Vistartaite (Lithuania) 7:38.12
6 Rachel GambleFlint (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:38.33
MEN
Pair
Semi-final 2
1 George Nash/William Satch (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:33.33
2 Nenad Bedik/Jovan Popovic (Serbia 1) 6:35.18
3 Nanne Sluis/Meindert Klem (Netherlands 2) 6:35.65
4 Diego Lopez/Joaquin Iwan (Argentina) 6:37.35
5 Derk Noordhuis/David Kuiper (Netherlands 1) 6:45.93
6 Adrian Juhasz/Bela Simon Jnr (Hungary) 6:49.72
Four
Semi-final 1
1 Alex Gregory/Pete Reed/Tom James/Andrew Triggs Hodge
(GREAT BRITAIN) 5:54.34
2 Netherlands 5:57.19
3 France 5:57.85
4 Russia 5:58.00
5 Germany 6:00.69
6 Serbia 6:00.69
Double scull
Semi-final 1
1 Eric Knittel/Stephen Krueger (Germany 1) 6:09.26
2 Bill Lucas/Sam Townsend (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:09.79
3 Alessio Sartori/Romano Battisti (Italy 1) 6:10.78
4 Ariel Suarez/Christian Rosso (Argentina) 6:13.30
5 Dmytro Mikhai/Artem Morozov (Ukraine 1) 6:20.00
6 Milos Vasic/Marko Marjanovic (Serbia) 6:22.12
Quadruple scull
Semi-final 1
1 Croatia 5:36.64
2 Estonia 5:37.65
3 Russia 5:38.64
4 Matt Wells/Stephen Rowbotham /Charles Cousins/Marcus Bateman (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:39.11
5 Ukraine 5:41.26
6 Poland 5:43.32
LIGHTWEIGHT
MEN
Double scull
Semi-final 2
1 Zac Purchase/Mark Hunter (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:14.84
2 Zsolt Hirling/Tamas Varga (Hungary 1) 6:16.28
3 Panagiotis Magdanis/Eleftherios Konsolas (Greece) 6:18.37
4 Chongkui Wu/Fangbing Zhang (China) 6:20.28
5 Paul Sieber/Bernhard Sieber (Austria 4) 6:32.26
6 Jan Vetesnik/Ondrej Vetesnik (Czech Republic 1) 6:32.82
REPECHAGES
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Double scull
Repechage 2
1 Anne Lolk Thomsen (Denmark) 6:55.67
2 Rianne Sigmond/Maaike Head (Netherlands) 6:56.02
3 Imogen Walsh/Andrea Dennis (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:56.25
4 Christina Sperrer/Sara Karlson (Austria) 7:06.83
5 Olga Arkadova/Natalia Varfolomeeva (Russia) 7:08.71
RACE FOR LANES
OPEN
WOMEN
Eight
1 Romania 6:01.87
2 Jo Cook/Olivia Carnegie-Brown/Olivia Whitlam/Victoria Meyer-Laker/
Jessica Eddie/Emily Taylor/Katie Greves/Lindsey Maguire/Caroline O’Connor (cox) 6:03.84
3 Ukraine 6:10.04
Netherlands DNS
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CREW LISTS
SAMSUNG WORLD ROWING CUP I
Belgrade, Serbia, 4-6 May, 2012
GB ROWING TEAM CREWS LIST
(See home-towns, clubs and dates of birth in list below. Named here in crews bow to stroke unless indicated. (Coach in brackets).
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
Helen Glover/Heather Stanning
(Robin Williams)
Eight
Jo Cook/Olivia Carnegie Brown/ Olivia Whitlam/Vicki Meyer-Lake/Jess Eddie/Emily Taylor/Katie Greves/Lindsey Maguire/Caroline O’Connor (cox)
(Nick Strange)
Single scull – Two boats
Rachel Gamble Flint
(Jane Hall)
Natasha Page
(Jane Hall)
Double scull
Anna Watkins/Katherine Grainger
(Paul Thompson)
Quadruple scull
Beth Rodford/Melanie Wilson/Frances Houghton/Victoria Thornley
(Ade Roberts)
MEN
Pair
George Nash/Will Satch
(Paul Stannard & Christian Felkel)
Four
Tom James/Alex Gregory/Peter Reed/Andrew Triggs Hodge
(Jurgen Grobler)
Eight
Nathaniel Reilly O Donnell/Alex Partridge/Ric Egington/Tom Ransley Greg Searle /Moe Sbihi/James Foad/Matt Langridge/ /Phelan Hill (cox)
(John West & Christian Felkel)
Single scull – two boats
Alan Campbell
(Bill Barry)
Tom Solesbury
(Mark Banks)
Double scull
Bill Lucas/Sam Townsend
(Mark Earnshaw)
Quadruple scull
Matt Wells/Stephen Rowbotham /Charles Cousins/Marcus Bateman
(Mark Banks)
LIGHTWEIGHTS
WOMEN
Single scull
Kathryn Twyman
(Paul Reedy)
Double scull – two boats
Sophie Hosking/Kat Copeland
(Paul Reedy)
Imogen Walsh/Andrea Dennis
(Paul Reedy)
MEN
Pair
Paul Mattick/Adam Freeman-Pask
(Rob Morgan)
Four
Peter Chambers/Rob Williams/Richard Chambers/Chris Bartley
(Rob Morgan)
Single
Mike Mottram
Double scull
Zac Purchase/Mark Hunter
(Darren Whiter)
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HOME TOWN LISTS
WOMEN
PAIR
Helen Glover Minerva Bath Penzance 17/06/86
Heather Stanning Army RC Lossiemouth 26/01/85
Coach: Robin Williams
Eight
Jo Cook Leander Club Sunbury-on-Thames 22/03/84
Olivia Carnegie-Brown Oxford Brookes Univ BC Oxford 28/03/1991
Olivia Whitlam Agecroft RC Warrington 16/09/85
Vicki Meyer-Lake Leander Club Premnay 18/03/1988
Jessica Eddie Univ of London BC Durham 07/10/84
Emily Taylor Leander Club Lincoln 28/06/87
Katie Greves Leander Club Oxford 02/09/82
Lindsey Maguire Wallingford RC Edinburgh 15/01/82
Caroline O’Connor (cox) Oxford Brookes Univ BC Ealing, London 25/04/83
Coach: Nick Strange
Single Scull (Boat 1)
Rachel Gamble-Flint Leander Club Darlington 13/09/91
Coach: Jane Hall
(Boat 2)
Natasha Page Gloucester RC Hartpury 30/04/85
Double Scull
Anna Watkins Leander Club Leek, Staffs. 13/02/83
Katherine Grainger St Andrew BC Aberdeen 12/11/75
Coach: Paul Thompson
Quadruple Scull
Beth Rodford Gloucester RC Gloucester 28/12/82
Melanie Wilson Imperial College BC London 25/06/84
Frances Houghton Leander Club Oxford 19/09/80
Victoria Thornley Leander Club Wrexham 30/11/87
Coach: Ade Roberts
MEN
Pair
George Nash Molesey BC Guildford 02/10/89
Will Satch Leander Club Henley-on-Thames 09/06/89
Coaches: Christian Felkel & Paul Stannard
Four
Tom James Molesey BC Wrexham 11/03/84
Alex Gregory Leander Club Wormington 11/03/84
Pete Reed Leander Club Nailsworth, Glos 27/07/81
Andrew Triggs Hodge Molesey BC Hebden, N. Yorks 03/03/79
Coach: Jürgen Grobler
Eight
Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell Uni of London BC Durham 13/04/88
Alex Partridge Leander Club Alton, Hants 25/01/81
Richard Egington Leander Club Knutsford 26/02/79
Tom Ransley York City RC Cambridge 06/09/85
Greg Searle Molesey BC Marlow 20/03/72
Mohamed Sbihi Molesey BC Surbiton 27/03/88
James Foad Molesey BC Southampton 20/03/87
Matthew Langridge Leander Club Northwich 20/05/83
Cox – Phelan Hill Leander Bedford 21/07/79
Coaches: John West & Christian Felkel
Single Scull
Alan Campbell Tideway Scullers School Coleraine 09/05/83
Coach: Bill Barry
Double Scull
Bill Lucas London RC Kingswear 13/09/87
Sam Townsend Reading Univ BC Reading 26/11/85
Coach: Mark Earnshaw
Quadruple Scull
Matthew Wells Leander Club Hexham, Northumberland 19/04/79
Stephen Rowbotham Leander Club Winscombe, Somerset 11/11/81
Charles Cousins Reading Univ BC Willingham, Cambs 13/12/88
Marcus Bateman Leander Club Torquay 16/09/1982
Coach: Mark Banks
LIGHTWEIGHTS
WOMEN
Single Scull
Kathryn Twyman Wallingford RC Oxford 29/03/87
Coach: Paul Reedy
Double Scull (Boat 1)
Sophie Hosking London RC Wimbledon 25/01/86
Katherine Copeland Tees RC Ingleby Barwick, Stockton-on-Tees 01/12/90
Coach: Paul Reedy
Double Scull (Boat 2)
Imogen Walsh London RC Inverness 17/01/84
Andrea Dennis Imperial College BC Oxford 03/01/82
Coach: Paul Reedy
MEN
Pair
Paul Mattick Leander Club Frome, Somerset 25/04/78
Adam Freeman-Pask Imperial College BC Windsor 19/06/85
Coaches: Rob Morgan & Darren Whiter
Four
Peter Chambers Oxford Brookes Univ BC Coleraine 14/03/90
Rob Williams London RC Maidenhead 21/01/85
Richard Chambers Leander Club Coleraine 10/06/85
Chris Bartley Leander Club Chester 02/02/84
Coach: Rob Morgan
Single
Mike Mottram Leander Club Stoke Mandeville 08/06/1990
Double Scull
Zac Purchase Marlow RC Tewkesbury 02/05/86
Mark Hunter Leander Club Romford, Essex 01/07/78
Coach: Darren Whiter
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TIMETABLE OF RACING
FINALS (International classes only)
17.00 – 18.00
Sunday 6 May
09.20 – 10.30
B Finals – (Olympic classes)
FINALS – (Olympic classes)
The dates and venues for the other two world cups are:
SAMSUNG ROWING WORLD CUP II
Lucerne, Switzerland, 24-26 May
SAMSUNG ROWING WORLD CUP III
Munich, Germany, 15-17, June
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CONTACT DETAILS
For media enquiries about this event please contact:
Caroline Searle on (01225) 443998 or e-mail us on [email protected]
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and Twitter: @gbrowingteam
Pictures available for media editorial use via: [email protected]
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