Men’s four one of 15 GB Rowing Team crews into European finals
The GB Rowing Team’s men’s four surged into the final of the European Championships tomorrow in Belgrade with a comprehensive semi-final win.
Andrew Triggs Hodge, George Nash, Mohamed Sbihi and Alex Gregory had a length lead over the opposition by 500m into the 2km course and powered on to win in 5:54.20.
Olympic Champion Triggs Hodge reflected every top rower’s daily search for constant improvement when he underplayed the result:
He said: “We are striving to replicate what we are doing in training. Today we were more than 90% there and it was a good race and something we can learn from”.
Earlier Olympic champion Kat Copeland and Imogen Walsh overcame a somewhat sluggish first half to move safely into the lightweight women’s double final in second place behind Germany – but the equivalent men’s duo were not so lucky, edged down into fifth place.
A further eight GB Rowing Team crews, though, came away from the morning’s session of semi-finals and repechages with a finals spot in their pocket – to join the five that qualified yesterday.
Today’s wave started with some strong lightweight performances in the opening three races involving GB crews. Sam Scrimgeour and Jonno Clegg, the GB pair that had set a new Championships best time yesterday – took second by a smidgen from Holland.
Adam Freeman Pask looked out of it but found an extra gear in the dying metres to take third and nudge Greece out of the final whilst Charlotte Taylor won her semi-final in the same boat class. Remember the name. Just a few years after picking up an oar, she is in a European final and is a talent to watch.
So, too, have been the men’s open-weight double scull of Jonny Walton and John Collins here in Belgrade. Today the young duo found enough in the tank at the end to pip hosts Serbia to the third qualifying spot in their semi in a ding-dong finish.
The GB open weight men’s pair, on the far side of the course, graded their third-placed performance a “B” and an improvement on the heat. To the unbiased onlooker it looked more like an “A” for determined effort and now they have a final to race.
A few spots of rain heralded the start of the men’s quadruple scull final in which GB created and kept a lead over Estonia and a weather eye on Lithuania before winning in 5:45.72.
That left the men’s single sculler, Alan Campbell, and the men’s eight to wrap up the programme for the day and both obliged with solid second place finishes.
“I am pleased to have 15 crews in the A Finals”, said GB Rowing Team Performance Director, Sir David Tanner. “It is a high standard here and we will need to fight for every place we can get tomorrow”.
Tomorrow’s main finals start at 09.33 UK time and conclude at 1.33. There is live coverage of all the finals on the BBC Red Button and a 90-minute programme on BBC 2.
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RACE REPORTS
It might have been a greyish day weather-wise in Belgrade but the GB Rowing Team was in bright form. All bar the lightweight men’s double came away from today’s racing with a place in tomorrow’s finals, bringing the total of GB boats to 15 from 17 possible events here.
It all started today when the lightweight men’s pair led out their semi-final after a fast start. By 600m gone, Sam Scrimgeour and Jonno Clegg had dropped the rest of the field bar the Dutch who tracked them and then pounced past them with only 400m to go and took the verdict by just over half a second.
Adam Freeman-Pask came next. The Windsor man was once a child acting talent but today provided drama of a different kind when he came off he ropes to take third place and qualify for the final of the lightweight men’s single in 7:01.60.
It all happened in the final quarter of the race to when Freeman-Pask again overtook the Greek Panagiotis Magdanis who earlier seemed to have broken him.
Charlotte Taylor is rising up the billing, too. In the equivalent event this relative novice in the sport took top spot in her semi to move into the final. Hers was a composed and steady race. Taylor and Germany’s Leonie Pless made all the running until the 1500m mark when Belgium’s Eveline Peleman joined the stage and eventually took second place with Germany in third.
By way of physical contrast it was the turn of the open weight men’s pair of Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell and Alan Sinclair next. Racing on the far side of the Sava lake course, the duo were in contention but fourth for much of the race. In the final 500m it became an edge-of-seat thriller as the duo pulled themselves back and overhauled France’s Valentin Onfroy and Laurent Cadot to take third by just over a tenth of a second.
As the peloton of British coaches raced back up the towpath to the start on their bicycles Jamie Kirkwood and Will Fletcher, the top two finishers in this year’s GB Rowing Team Senior Team Trials, were out of the blocks and in a place from which they could challenge the early pace-setters Norway, Germany and Greece.
By halfway, though, the story wasn’t quite so appealing. The GB combination had slipped back to fifth and could not find the pace they needed to find a qualifying slot. They now race the B final.
If the British supporters needed a half-time pick-me-up that came in the shape of Imogen Walsh and Kat Copeland. The lightweight women’s double scull might have started modestly but their rhythm and strength meant they “inexorably” as described by the Daily Telegraph rowing expert Rachel Quarrell – who was also having a spell at viewing the action from a bicycle – clawed their way through the field to move up on the shoulders of Germany’s Lena Mueller and Anja Noske. The Germans took the win, though, by just over a second.
There was no equivocation about the men’s four today. Theirs was a tub-thumping performance which saw them lead – just like yesterday’s heat – from the very opening scene.
Alex Gregory, Mohamed Sbihi, George Nash and stroke man Andrew Triggs Hodge had a length and a bit lead over the rest of the field 500m into the race and were dominant until the final curtain which came down after 5:54.20 – a little slower than their 5:49.08 (not 6:49.08 – a slip made by our scribe in Friday’s report) Championship best from yesterday. Italy were second and Germany third.
Yesterday’s heat seemed likely a slightly off-key dress-rehearsal for the GB men’s quad compared to their repechage win today. Graeme Thomas, Sam Townsend, Charles Cousins and Peter Lambert were on-song from the outset today.
They built a lead over Estonia in the first half and, when Lithuania came back on Estonia in the second half, made sure that they held their focus to win in 5:45.72.
After yesterday’s hair-raising ride through their men’s double scull heat, Jonny Walton and John Collins dealt out another dollop of dramatic tension today in the semi-finals. Fifth at the 500m, fourth at halfway they refused to be dropped. In the clattering sprint to the line they snatched third spot by just over two tenths of a second to the dismay of the local supporters as Serbia lost out.
From all that hubris to a calm Alan Campbell in the men’s single scull. Instead of his normal exuberant blast to the front in the early stages of each race, Campbell kept his powder dry for the finale today. He never seemed in danger of not qualifying but saved his best til the final 500m when he took second place behind Lithuania.
A good men’s eight race is often the crowd-pleaser at the end of a regatta’s racing session. Today the British men’s eight made it a coach-pleaser with a solid second place behind Russia in their repechage and now qualify for the final tomorrow.
Of note, the GB combination featuring World Champions Pete Reed, Will Nash and cox Phelan Hill got a much better start than in the heats yesterday. They were in the mix from the outset and when Russia began to show strongly, they were not dropped and began to respond. At the end there was some nervous chattering amongst the Russian contingent on the towpath as the GB boat, which is a new combination this year, took them on before falling just short in 5:34.71.
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RESULTS
(Events featuring GB crews only. Full results: www.worldrowing.com)
SEMI-FINALS
OPEN
MEN
Pair – Semi-final A/B 2
1. Rogier Blink/Mitchel Steenman (Netherlands) 6:28.58
2. Marco Di Costanzo/Matteo Castaldo (Italy) 6:29.52
3. Alan Sinclair/Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:30.46
4. Valentin Onfroy/Laurent Cadot (France) 6:30.58
5. Roman Lomachev/Yuriy Pshenchnikov (Russia) 6:38.42
6. Konrad Wojewodzic/Mateusz Wilangowski (Poland) 6:42.16
Four – Semi-final A/B 1
1. Mohamed Sbihi/George Nash/Alex Gregory/Andy Triggs Hodge (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:54.20
2. Paolo Perino/Giovanni Abagnale/Cesare Gabbia/Guiseppe Vincino (Italy) 5:57.33
3. Bjoern Birkner/Maximilian Munski/Toni Seifert/Kristof Wilke (Germany) 5:57.59
4. Noe Guzman del Castillo/Marcelino Garcia Cortes/Ismael Montes Caamano/Anotonio Guzman del Castillo (Spain) 6:04.34
5. Mario Vekic/Vjekoslav Kolobaric/David Sain/Ante Janjic (Croatia) 6:04.80
6. Matthieu Moinaux/Julien Motet/Benoit Demey/Edouard Jonville (France) 6:10.64
Single scull – Semi-final A/B 2
1. Mindaugas Griskonis (Lithuania) 6:55.10
2. Alan Campbell (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:58.34
3. Hannes Obreno (Belgium) 7:00.81
4. Francesco Cardaioli (Italy) 7:04.56
5. Robert Ven (Finland) 7:05.28
6. Martin Sinkovic (Croatia) 7:09.80
Double Scull – Semi-final A/B 2
1. Nils Jakob Hoff/Kjetil Borch (Norway) 6:15.63
2. Rolandas Mascinskas/Saulius Ritter (Lithuania) 6:16.41
3. John Collins/Jonathan Walton (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:17.27
4. Marko Marjanovic/Aleksandar Filipovic (Serbia) 6:17.51
5. David Aregger/Roman Roeoesli (Switzerland) 6:25.41
6. Juan Garcia/Ruden Padilla Camara (Spain) 6:30.90
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull – Semi-final A/B 2
1. Charlotte Taylor (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:41.66
2. Eveline Peleman (Belgium) 7:43.04
3. Leonie Pless (Germany) 7:44.64
4. Helene Olsen (Denmark) 7:44.74
5. Giulia Pollini (Italy) 7:45.02
6. Adeline Seydoux (Switzerland) 8:08.01
Double scull – Semi-final A/B 1
1. Lena Mueller/Anja Noske (Germany) 7:00.37
2. Imogen Walsh/Katherine Copeland (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:01.69
3. Joanna Dorociak/Weronika Deresz (Poland) 7:05.38
4. Ricky Nencini/Daniela Nachazelova (Czech Republic) 7:12.09
5. Alena Kryvasheyenka/Irina Liaskova (Belarus) 7:12.52
6. Frederique Rol/Patricia Merz (Switzerland) 7:13.49
LIGHTWEIGHT
MEN
Pair – Semi-final A/B 1
1. Tim Weerkamp/Ivo de Graaf (Netherlands) 6:35.00
2. Jonathan Clegg/Sam Scrimgeour (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:35.56
3. Torben Neumann/Can Temel (Germany) 6:38.83
4. Georgios Konsolas/Nikolaos Afentoulis (Greece) 6:41.85
5. Alexander Chernikov/Matthias Taborsky (Austria) 6:45.86
6. Peter Lorinczy/Peter Vermes (Hungary) 6:49.58
Single Scull – Semi-final A/B 1
1. Daniel Lawitzke (Germany) 6:59.76
2. Marcello Miani (Italy) 7:00.00
3. Adam Freeman-Pask (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:01.60
4. Panagiotis Magdanis (Greece) 7:02.93
5. Daniel Matyasovszki (Hungary) 7:04.87
6. Milos Stanojevic (Serbia) 7:19.20
Double scull – Semi-final A/B 1
1. Kristoffer Brun/Are Strandli (Norway) 6:20.38
2. Konstantin Steinhuebel/Lars Hartig (Germany) 6:21.23
3. Tycho Muda/Vincent Muda (Netherlands) 6:22.96
4. Eleftherios Konsolas/Spyridon Giannaros (Greece) 6:26.43
5. William Fletcher/Jamie Kirkwood (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:27.31
6. Paul Sieber/Bernhard Sieber (Austria) 6:36.39
REPECHAGE RESULTS
OPEN
MEN
Eight – Repechage 1
1. Russia 5:32.35
2. Phil Congdon/Oliver Cook/Scott Durant/James Foad/Matthew Gotrel/Pete Reed/Will Satch/Matthew Tarrant/Phelan Hill (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:34.71
3. Spain 5:40.12
4. Ukraine 5:42.68
5. Italy 5:58.39
Quadruple scull – Repechage 2
1. Sam Townsend/Charles Cousins/Graeme Thomas/Peter Lambert (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:45.72
2. Allar Raja/Sten-Erik Anderson/Kaur Kuslap/Kaspar Taimsoo (Estonia) 5:46.38
3. Vytautas Lapatiukas/Dominykas Jancionis/Andrius Lapatiukas/Aurimas
Adomavicius (Lithuania) 5:46.81
4. Petr Buzrla/Jakub Houska/Martin Basl/David Jirka (Czech Republic) 5:50.91
5. Luca Agamennoni/Matteo Stefanini/Gabriele Cagna/Simone Raineri (Italy) 5:54.66
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CREW LISTS (Includes club, home town, date of birth)
GB Rowing Team for the 2014 European Championships,
Belgrade, 30 May – 1 June.
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
Helen Glover (Minerva Bath RC/Penzance/17.06.1986)
Polly Swann (Leander Club/Edinburgh/15.06.1988)
Coaches: Paul Thompson & Robin Williams
Eight
Rosamund Bradbury (Leander Club/Banstead/17.12.1988)
Olivia Carnegie-Brown (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Oxford/28.03.1991)
Jessica Eddie (London RC/Durham/07.10.1984)
Donna Etiebet (Sport Imperial BC/London/29.04.1986)
Katie Greves (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.1982)
Zoe Lee (Imperial College BC/Richmond, N. Yorks/15.12.1985)
Caragh McMurty (Reading Univ BC/Southampton/22.08.1991)
Louisa Reeve (Leander Club/London/16.05.1984)
Zoe de Toledo (cox) (Leander Club/London/17.07.1987)
Coach: James Harris
Double scull
Frances Houghton (Leander Club/Oxford/19.09.1980)
Victoria Thornley (Leander Club/Wrexham/30.11.1987)
Coaches: Paul Thompson & Robin Williams
Quadruple scull
Beth Rodford (Gloucester RC/Gloucester/28.12.1982)
Lucinda Gooderham (Leander Club/Norfolk/09.06.1984)
Victoria Meyer-Laker (Leander Club/Premnay/18.03.1988)
Kristina Stiller (Tees RC/Yarm/23.06.1987)
Coach: Nick Strange
SPARE
Monica Relph (Leander Club/Cambridge/15.01.1988)
OPEN
MEN
Pair
Alan Sinclair (Leander Club/Inverness/16.10.1985)
Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell (Univ of London BC/Durham/13.04.1988)
Coach: Rob Dauncey
Four
Alex Gregory (Leander Club/Wormington/11.03.1984)
Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey BC/Surbiton/27.03.1988)
George Nash (Molesey BC/Guildford/10.02.1989)
Andrew Triggs Hodge (Molesey BC/Hebden, N. Yorks/03.03.1979)
Coach: Jurgen Grobler
Eight
Phil Congdon (Molesey BC/Bury St Edmunds/06.06.1989)
Oliver Cook (Univ of London BC/Windsor/05.06.1990)
Scott Durant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Lancaster/12.02.1988)
James Foad (Molesey BC/Southampton/20.03.1987)
Matthew Gotrel (Leander Club/Chipping Campden/01.03.1989)
Pete Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth, Glos/27.07.1981)
Will Satch (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/09.06.1989)
Matthew Tarrant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Shepperton/11.07.1990)
Phelan Hill (cox) (Leander Club/Bedford/21.07.1979)
Coach: Christian Felkel
Single scull
Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers School/Coleraine/09.05.1983)
Coach: John West
Double scull
John Collins (Leander Club/Twickenham/24.01.1989)
Jonathan Walton (Leander Club/Leicester/06.10.1990)
Coach: Mark Banks
Quadruple scull
Graeme Thomas (Agecroft RC/Preston/08.11.1988)
Sam Townsend (Reading Univ BC/Reading/26.11.1985)
Charles Cousins (Leander Club/Willingham/13.12.1988)
Peter Lambert (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/03.12.1986)
Coach: Paul Stannard
SPARE
Matt Langridge (Leander Club/Northwich/20.05.1983)
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull
Charlotte Taylor (Putney Town RC/Bedford/14.08.1985)
Coach: Tom Evens
Double scull
Imogen Walsh (London RC/Inverness/17.01.1984)
Kat Copeland (Tees RC/Ashington/01.12.1990)
Coach: Paul Reedy
LIGHTWEIGHT
MEN
Pair
Jonathan Clegg (Leander Club/Maidenhead/14.07.1989)
Sam Scrimgeour (Imperial College BC/Forfar/28.01.1988)
Coach: Rob Morgan
Four
Mark Aldred (London RC/London/18.04.1987)
Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/14.03.1990)
Richard Chambers (Leander Club/Coleraine/10.06.1985)
Chris Bartley (Leander Club/Chester/02.02.1984)
Coach: Rob Morgan
Single scull
Adam Freeman-Pask (Reading Univ BC/Windsor/19.06.1985)
Coach: Darren Whiter
Double scull
William Fletcher (Leander Club/Chester-le-Street/24.12.1989)
Jamie Kirkwood (Leander Club/Creswell/30.08.1989)
Coach: Darren Whiter
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EVENT INFORMATION
The provisional timetable for the European Championships can be found here: http://www.worldrowing.com/events/2014-european-rowing-championships
Belgrade is one hour ahead of the UK. An outline schedule is as follows (local Belgrade time):
Friday 30 May: 09.00 Heats; 15.30 Repechages
Saturday 31 May: 09.00 Reps and semi-finals
Sunday 1 June: 08.40 B Finals; 10.30 A Finals
The event will take place on Sava Lake in Belgrade, Serbia. This venue hosted a world cup in 2012. More information can be found here: http://www.erch2014.com/en/
Media accreditation requests should be lodged here: http://www.worldrowing.com/mediacenter
The event will be televised by the BBC. All finals will be live on the Red Button on Sunday 1 June and there will be a 90 minute programme on BBC 2 from 12.00-14.45.
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GB MEDALLISTS 2012 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
The GB Rowing Team last competed at the European Championships when a squad of, then, development rowers took five medals:
Silver
Women’s pair: Caragh McMurtry and Olivia Carnegie Brown
Lightweight men’s four: Adam Freeman-Pask, Jonno Clegg, Sam Scrimgeour/Will Fletcher
Bronze
Lightweight women’s double scull – Imogen Walsh/Ruth Walczak
Lightweight men’s double scull – Chris Boddy/Mikey Mottram
Women’s eight – Leonora Kennedy/Claire McKeown, Monica Relph, Victoria Meyer-Laker/Yasmin Tredell/Zoe Lee/Caragh McMurtry/Olivia Carnegie Brown/Zoe de Toledo
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CONTACT DETAILS
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The GB Rowing Team Press office at Matchtight Ltd on (01225) 384211 or [email protected] or [email protected]
For pictures please e-mail [email protected]
GB Rowing Team website, including full rower biogs: www.gbrowingteam.org.uk
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