GB Rowing Team spares test-drive World Champs course
Thunder and lightning delayed the start of today’s curtain-raising races featuring official team reserves on the World Rowing Championships course on Amsterdam’s Bosbaan.
The action, when it began, provided some close racing. World Junior Champion Jess Leyden was first up for the GB Rowing Team in the women’s single scull.
Germany, in lane five, streaked off the start to build more than a two-length lead by halfway. Burnley’s Leyden, fourth in the recent World U23 Championships, emerged as the best of the chasing field after halfway. In the final 600m Leyden closed what seemed to be an impossibly big gap and looked ready to push past the German only for her opponent to find a last-gasp turn of pace which Leyden countered to win in 7:36.40.
Jack Beaumont, a World U23 medallist from Maidenhead, was up next and produced a great second half to catch and then overhaul Australia and win. Both young scullers acquitted themselves well and will continue to learn from the experience here.
The GB women’s reserves, Monica Relph and Olivia Carnegie Brown, without any opposition in their own event, found themselves in a time trial on the same piece of water as the Italian lightweight men’s pair as neither had opposition in their own events. It gave both crews the chance to savour the course at race pace whilst battling the clock.
The final race of the day, featuring a GB crew, was just as exciting as the first two. Phil Congdon and Oliver Cook in the men’s pair were in a group tracking the leading American crew through the first 1500m of the race before drawing level and, seemingly, nudging through only to be pipped on the line.
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For British viewers, the event will be televised by the BBC with two hours of programming on Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 August on BBC 2. Transmission times are currently:
Saturday 30 August: BBC2 12.15 – 14.15 (UK time)
Sunday 31 August: BBC 2 11.50 – 13.45 (UK time)
There is a live race-tracker on www.worldrowing.com including video coverage in the latter stages of the event.
GB results and information will be tweeted via @gbrowingteam with the day’s round-ups at www.gbrowingteam.org.uk
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RESULTS
OPEN
WOMEN
Single scull
1. Jessica Leyden (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:36.40
2. Catherine-Marie Arnold (Germany) 7:36.50
3. Linda Matthews (New Zealand) 7:40.99
4. Fiona Albert (Australia) 7:41.79
5. Margriet Lantink (Netherlands) 7:42.44
6. Laura Basadonna (Italy) 8:21.48
OPEN
MEN
Pair
1. Eick David/James Ross (USA) 6:23.20
2. Oliver Cook/Phil Congdon (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:23.62
3. Thijs Lengkeek/Stefan Broenink (Netherlands) 6:40.43
4. Alessandro Laino/Filippo Mondelli (Italy) 7:04.91
Single scull
1. Jack Beaumont (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:55.18
2. John Inke (Australia) 6:55.54
3. Andre Sieber (Germany) 6:59.03
4. Giacomo Thomas (New Zealand) 7:03.98
5. Nicolai Fernandez (Argentian) 7:23.12
JOINT TIME TRIAL
Women’s pair/lightweight men’s pair
Olivia Carnegie-Brown/Monica Relph (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:17.69
