Men’s coxed pair and eight bookend morning session

The GB Rowing Team men’s coxed pair and eight bookended the morning’s session of racing at the World Championships with heat wins.

The GB Rowing Team men’s coxed pair and eight bookended the morning’s session of racing at the World Championships with heat wins.

Cox Phelan Hill and stroke Will Satch brought the men’s eight crew home in the concluding race ahead of the challenge from the Dutch and Russians in the quicker of the two eights’ heats. Germany won the opposing race.

Double World Champion Pete Reed, the three-seat today, said: “We knew it was going to be a hard heat and the field didn’t disappoint. We are quietly pleased and now need to get on and prepare for the final. There is more to come”.

Mat Tarrant, Nathaniel Reily O’Donnell and cox Henry Fieldman dominated the first race of the day.

Between the two GB performances the temperature soared into the thirties on France’s Lake Aiguebelette. Both crews now move direct into the finals.

The open men’s squad rounded off a good morning when John Collins and Jonny Walton raced to second place and a quarter-final slot in the men’s double.

Katherine Grainger and Vicky Thornley, in the equivalent women’s boat, will race a repechage tomorrow for a place in those quarters on Thursday. They were third to European silver medalists Lithuania and Australia in their heat.

“Today proved just how competitive our event is here. Now we have a race every other day and we will take every one as it comes. We always knew that it would be tough”, said Grainger.

The GB women’s eight were also third in a very fast heat won by the Olympic and World Champions, the USA, with the Dutch in second. Jess Eddie explained: “We are still one of the fastest crews here and we are ready to go for that repechage”.

Earlier, the light men’s four were second to double 2015 world cup winners New Zealand with only one crew qualifying for the semi-finals. With a new line-up since the Lucerne world cup last month, the quartet were relatively pleased with the pressure they applied. 2012 Olympic silver medallist Peter Chambers said: “We knew it would be tough to win that one today and we are happy where we came. It was a realistic position for our first regatta”.

On a very positive day for the lightweights, the pair of Joel Cassells and Sam Scrimgeour smashed their heat to qualify for the semis and the lightweight women’s quad of Brianna Stubbs, Emily Craig, Ruth Walczak and Ellie Piggott were in commanding form to book at place in Friday’s finals when they won their heat in style.

Frances Houghton, Melanie Wilson, Jess Leyden and Tina Stiller will race a women’s quad repechage after taking fourth place in a race won by Germany. The same applies for the light men’s quad who are all World Championships rookies in their event and who were third today.

This afternoon’s session will see the start of the para-rowing programme here. GB has crews in the two arms-shoulders single sculls, the mixed double scull and the mixed coxed four.

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RACE REPORTS

Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell, Mat Tarrant and cox Henry Fieldman provided a rip-roaring start on Aiguebelette’s sunny lake today for the GB Rowing Team with a dominant performance in the opening heat of the men’s coxed pair.

They crossed the line in 6:52.53 to win and become the first GB crew to qualify for the finals here. By halfway they were six seconds ahead of the chasing pack, led by Belarus and the gap did not narrow.

Not to be outdone, the lightweight men’s pair of Joel Cassells and Sam Scrimgeour were the next GB crew in action and stamped their authority all over their heat to win ahead of Germany and Australia. These top three finishers now progress to the semi-finals on Thursday morning with GB’s win coming with a margin of five seconds.

Jamie Copus, Steve Parsonage, Sam Mottram and Zak Lee Green are newly-minted as the lightweight GB men’s quad. All have age-group pedigree and have moved up here to race at senior World level in this boat for the first time. Today, they produced a good first 500m before dropping behind the race leaders from France who went on to win and qualify for the final.

The GB quartet came home in third in 6:04.35 and will now race a repechage on Wednesday.

The lightweight women’s quadruple scull of Brianna Stubbs, Ruth Walczak, Emily Craig and Ellie Piggott were in commanding form as they won their opening heat in 6:32.59. They moved ahead early and repelled all attempts from China and then the Dutch to catch them.

In the finishing 500m, the Chinese were overhauled by the Dutch who, like GB, are now through to Friday’s final.

In the opening half of the open women’s quadruple scull heat the GB crew of Melanie Wilson, Frances Houghton, Jess Leyden and Tina Stiller were tucked in fourth in a race being led by Germany who are the European Champions.

As Germany increased their lead the GB crew were in the mix with the chasing pack but could not find enough pace in the final 500m to get any cut-through on the top three places. Victory to Germany with the Dutch second and the Poles third, mirroring the European Champs podium. GB now races a repechage on Wednesday.

Katherine Grainger and Vicky Thornley faced the European silver medallists Lithuania and Olympia Aldersley and Sally Kehoe of Austarlia in their open double scull heat. Such was the tightness of the field that the Lithuanians, British and Australians all held the lead at various stages of the first half with only two-tenths of a second between them all.

Just after halfway the battle continued in its intensity with Grainger and Thornley now in third – but only by 100th of a second from Lithuania with Australia ahead. That’s the moment when the Lithuanians put the foot on the gas and moved into a race-winning lead. GB and Australia battled to the line where Australia took second in 6:51.67 to GB’s 6:53.58.

Grainger said: “That just shows how competitive our event is. In the first half when we got in front and then Australia and then Lithuania and then us, that was when our boat felt the best. But we didn’t respond to Lithuania, so I guess that it was disappointing. We didn’t want to finish third in our heat.

“But we always knew it was going to be tough and now we have a race every other day and we will take each day as it comes”.

John Collins and Jonny Walton made sure they were in a comfortable position to qualify for the quarter-finals of the men’s double scull. They took second in 6:16.49 behind winners Italy but knocked back the pace in the final 250m as they were sure of going through.

Behind them Slovenia came up to take third and Hungary were fourth. Italy made the quicker start and then held onto the lead throughout.

“Job done”, said Collins, a sentiment echoed by Walton: “The main thing was qualifying. We will save the fireworks for later in the regatta. That was a good start”.

Jono Clegg, Peter Chambers, Mark Aldred and stroke Chris Bartley were chasing a single semi-final qualifying place in their heat with New Zealand as the early leaders and with the Czech Republic also in contention.

At halfway the gap between the GB and New Zealand was less than a second. As the crews came into the view of the grandstands it was clear that the Kiwis, already twice world cup gold winners this season, had put in a big push to ease out into a bigger lead. In the finishing 20 strokes the Czech Republic generated a final fizzing sprint but could not catch the GB quartet.

Clegg said: “Since we came together after Lucerne, we have worked very hard with our coach Rob [Morgan] to put something together and today we executed that and we are still learning”.

Chambers was also relatively pleased with the performance: “We are happy enough. That was a reasonable start. We knew it would be tough to win that one today and we are happy where we came. It was a realistic position for our first regatta”.

In the heat of the women’s eight, featuring the GB crew, Russia made the quickest start but the Olympic and World champions, the USA, soon moved ahead with the Dutch in second.

Katie Greves, Louisa Reeve, Jess Eddie, Donna Etiebet, Vicky Meyer-Laker, Olivia Carnegie-Brown, Rosamund Bradbury, Zoe Lee and cox Zoe de Toledo were in holding third and seeking to make an impact on the leading duo. In the final 500m the GB crew still looked strong and had a quarter-length overlap on the Dutch. With only two boats qualifying direct to the final, the British crew now race a repechage on Wednesday.

Eddie said: “Our row was solid but we got a bit blind-sided by the Dutch in the second 500. We are still one of the fastest crews in the competition and we are ready to go in the repechage”.

Hardly a sliver separated the crews in the opening 350m of the ensuing men’s eight heat, featuring GB”s Matt Gotrel, Constantine Louloudis, Pete Reed, Paul Bennett, Mohamed Sbihi, Alex Gregory, George Nash, Will Satch and cox Phelan Hill.

Russia, perhaps, had the slightest of a lead – just two tenths separated the crews as the race passed the halfway point. New Zealand was in third and the Dutch in fourth.

With only one place available for the final, the GB supporters in the grandstand held their breath before breaking out into a big supporting cheer, urging their crew to victory. The verdict still wasn’t clear as the crews came in sight of the grandstand. Only with 150m to go did it become evident that GB would take the win in 5:27.82 with the Dutch second and Russia in third.

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RESULTS

(Bow to stroke plus cox)

OPEN

WOMEN

Eight – heat 2

1. USA 5:59.58
2. Netherlands 6:02.12
3. Katie Greves, Louisa Reeve, Jess Eddie, Donna Etiebet, Victoria Meyer-Laker, Olivia Carnegie-Brown, Rosamund Bradbury, Zoe Lee, Zoe de Toledo (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN)
6:03.72
4. Russia 6:07.51
5. China 6:11.34

Double scull – heat 3

1. Donata Vistartaite/Milda Valciukaite (Lithuania) 6:48.29
2. Olympia Aldersley/Sally Kehoe (Australia) 6:51.67
3. Katherine Grainger/Vicky Thornley (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:53.58
4. Ievgenia Nimchenko/Daryna Vrekhogliad (Ukraine) 7:02.21
5. Aimee Hernandez Delgado/Yariulvis Cobas Garcia (Cuba) 7:04.14
6. Jeon Seoyeong/Kim Yeji (Korea) 7:25.94

Quadruple scull

1. Annekatrin Thiele/Carina Baer/Marie-Christine Arnold/Lisa Schmilda (Germany)
6:15.24
2. Nicole Beukers/Chantal Achterberg/Inge Janssen/Caroline Bouw (Netherlands)
6:17.00
3. Kobus Agnieszka/Joanna Leszcynska/Maria Springwald/Monika Ciacuch (Poland)
6:17.50
4. Frances Houghton/Jess Leyden/KirsTina Stiller/Melanie Wilson (GREAT BRITAIN)
6:20.96
5. Maria Antsiferova/Elena Oryabinskaya/Natalia Bodnuk/Iuliia Volgina (Russia) 6:32.76
6. Natalia Kovalova/Olena Buryak/Anna Kravchenko/Diana Dymchenko (Ukraine)
6:34.52

MEN

Coxed Pair – Heat 1

1. Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell/Matthew Tarrant/Henry Fieldman (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN)
6:52.53
2. Siarhei Valadzko/Dzmitry Vyberanets/Piotr Piatrynich (Belarus) 7:02.70
3. Romain Dleachaume/Jean-Baptiste Macquet/Benjamin Manceau (France) 7:06.52
4. Luca Parlato/Emanuele Liuzzi/Andrea Riva (Italy) 7:31.99

Eight

1. Matt Gotrel/Constantine Louloudis/Pete Reed/Paul Bennett/Mohamed Sbihi/Alex
Gregory/George Nash/Will Satch/Phelan Hill (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:27.82
2. Netherlands 5:28.90
3. Russia 5:30.67
4. New Zealand 5:34.33
5. Italy 5:34.65
6. Australia 5:36.93

Double scull

1. Giacomo Gentili/Romano Battisti (Italy) 6:12.62
2. John Collins/Jonny Walton (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:16.49
3. Janez Zupan/Gasper Fistravec (Slovenia) 6:24.11
4. Gergely Papp/Bendeguz Petervari-Molnar (Hungary) 6:27.19
5. Tomer Shvartsman/Oleg Gonorovski (Israel) 6:34.62
6. Saad Rettali/Hfid Anmitchi (Morocco) 7:41.70

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Quadruple scull

1. Brianna Stubbs/Ruth Walczak/Emily Craig/Eleanor Piggott (GREAT BRITAIN) 6;32.59
2. Netherlands 6:34.45
3. China 6:37.28
4. Italy 6:44.51
5. Denmark 6:45.43

MEN

Pair

1. Joel Cassells/Sam Scrimgeour (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:45.83
2. Jonas Kilthau/Matthias Arnold (Germany) 6:45.83
3. Nicholas Silcox/Darryn Purcell (Australia) 6:50.95
4. Masato Kobayashi/Osamu Suyama (Japan) 6:58.26
5. Dominik Sigl/Markus Lemp (Austria) 7:06.44

Four

1. New Zealand 5:56.57
2. Jono Clegg/Peter Chambers/Mark Aldred/Chris Bartley (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:59.57
3. Czech Republic 5:59.73
4. Greece 6:10.13
5. Uzbekistan 6:13.13
6. Chile 6:18.37

Quadruple scull

1. France 5;50.61
2. Denmark 5:53.40
3. Jamie Copus/Steven Parsonage/Samuel Mottram/Zak Lee Green (GREAT BRITAIN)
6:04.35
4. Russia 6:06.97
5. Hong Kong 6:17.89

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CREW LISTS
(bow to stroke plus cox, name, club, hometown)

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair

Helen Glover (Minerva Bath RC/Penzance/17.06.86)
Heather Stanning (Army RC/Lossiemouth/26.01.85)
Coach: Robin Williams

Four

Rebecca Chin (Agecroft RC/Deganwy/11.12.91)/
Karen Bennett (Leander Club/Edinburgh/05.02.89)
Lucinda Gooderham (Leander Club/Garboldisham/09.06.84)
Holly Norton (Leander Club/Johannesburg, SA/01.01.93)
Coach: Jane Hall

Eight

Katie Greves (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.82)
Louise Reeve (Leander Club/London/16.05.84)
Jessica Eddie (London RC/Durham/07.10.84)
Donna Etiebet (Sport Imperial/London/29.04.86)
Victoria Meyer-Laker (Leander Club/Premnay/18.03.88)
Olivia Carnegie-Brown (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Oxford/28.03.91)
Rosamund Bradbury (Leander Club/Banstead/17.12.88)
Zoe Lee (Imperial College BC/Richmond/15.12.85)
Zoe de Toledo (Cox) (Leander Club/London/17.07.87)
Coach: James Harris

Double scull

Katherine Grainger (St Andrew BC/Glasgow/12.11.75)
Victoria Thornley (Leander Club/Wrexham/30.11.87)
Coach: Paul Thompson

Quadruple Scull

Frances Houghton (Univ of London Tyrian Club/Oxford/19.9.80)
Jessica Leyden (Leander Club/Todmorden/22.02.95)
KrisTina Stiller (Tees RC/Yarm/23.06.87)
Melanie Wilson (Imperial College BC/London/25.06.84)
Coach: Nick Strange

Sculling Spare

Beth Rodford (Gloucester RC/Gloucester/28.12.82)

OPEN

MEN

Pair

James Foad (Molesey BC/Southampton/20.03.87)
Matt Langridge (Leander Club/Northwich/20.05.83)
Coach: Rob Dauncey

Coxed Pair

Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell (Univ of London BC/Durham/13.04.88)
Matthew Tarrant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Shepperton/11.07.90)
Henry Fieldman (cox) (Molesey BC/Barnes/25.11.88)
Coach: John West

Four

Scott Durant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Lancaster/12.02.88)
Alan Sinclair (Leander Club/Munlochy/16.10.85)
Tom Ransley (Leander Club/Ashford/06.09.85)
Stewart Innes (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/25.05.91)
Coach: Christian Felkel

Eight

Matt Gotrel (Leander Club/Chipping Campden/01.03.89)
Constantine Louloudis (OUBC/London/15.09.91)
Pete Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth/27.07.81)
Paul Bennett (Univ of London BC/Leeds/16.12.88)
Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey BC/Surbiton/27.03.88)
Alex Gregory (Leander Club/Wormington/11.03.84)
George Nash (Molesey BC/Guildford/02.10.89)
Will Satch (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/09.06.89)
Phelan Hill (cox) (Leander Club/Bedford/21.07.79)
Coach: Jurgen Grobler

Sweep Spares:

Oliver Cook (Univ of London BC/Windsor/05.06.90)
Callum McBrierty (Leander Club/Edinburgh/13.08.92)

Single Scull

Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers School/Coleraine/09.05.83)
Coach: John West

Double Scull

John Collins (Leander Club/Twickenham/24.01.89)
Jonny Walton (Leander Club/Leicester/06.10.90)
Coach: Mark Banks

Quadruple Scull

Graeme Thomas (Agecroft RC/Preston/08.11.88)
Sam Townsend (Reading Univ BC/Reading/26.11.85)
Charles Cousins (Leander Club/Willingham, Cambs, 13.12.88)
Peter Lambert (Leander Club/Maidenhead/03.12.86)
Coach: Paul Stannard

Sculling Spare:

Angus Groom (Leander Club/Glasgow/16.06.92)

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Single scull

Imogen Walsh (London RC/Inverness/17.01.84)
Coach: Paul Reedy

Double Scull

Charlotte Taylor (Putney Town RC/Bedford/14.08.85)
Kat Copeland (Tees RC/Ingleby Barwick/01.12.90)
Coach: Paul Reedy

Quadruple Scull

Brianna Stubbs (Wallingford RC/Poole/13.07.91)
Ruth Walzcak (Molesey BC/Rochdale/15.09.88)
Emily Craig (Univ of London BC/Mark Cross/30.11.92)
Eleanor Piggott (Wallingford RC/Bedford/16.05.91)
Coach: Ben Reed

LIGHTWEIGHT

MEN

Pair

Joel Cassells (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/15.06.94)
Sam Scrimgeour (Imperial College BC/Kirriemuir/28.01.88)
Coach: Rob Morgan

Four

Jono Clegg (Leander Club/Maidenhead/14.07.89)
Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/14.03.90)
Mark Aldred (London RC/Birmingham/18.04.87)
Chris Bartley (Leander Club/Chester/02.02.84)
Coach: Darren Whiter

Single Scull

Jamie Kirkwood (Leander Club/Cresswell/30.08.89)
Coach: Rob Morgan

Double Scull

Will Fletcher (Leander Club/Chester-le-Street/24.12.89)
Richard Chambers (Leander Club/Coleraine/10.06.85)
Coach: Darren Whiter

Quadruple scull

Jamie Copus (Oxford Brookes Univ/BC/Watlington/30.01.93)
Steve Parsonage (Norwich RC/Norwich/16.01.96)
Sam Mottram (Leander Club/Stoke Mandeville/14.11.94)
Zak Lee Green (Agecroft RC/Cardiff/05.02.91)
Coach: Hamish Burrell

PARA-ROWING

MIXED

Coxed four (LTA 4+)

Grace Clough (Nottingham RC/Sheffield/21.06.91)
Daniel Brown (Upper Thames BC/Reading/29.11.82)
Pamela Relph (Leander Club/Aylesbury/14.11.89)
James Fox (Univ of London/Peterborough/02.05.92)
Oliver James (cox) (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/05.01.90)
Coach: Tom Dyson

Trunk/-arms double scull (TA2x)

Laurence Whiteley (Tees RC/Northallerton/29.08.91)
Lauren Rowles (Marlow RC/Birmingham/ 24.04.98)
Coach: Nick Baker

MEN

Arms/-shoulders single scull (ASM 1x)

Tom Aggar (Marlow RC/Maidenhead/24.05.84)
Coach: Nick Baker

WOMEN

Arms/-shoulders single scull (ASW 1x)

Rachel Morris (Guildford RC/Farnham/25.04.79)
Coach: Tom Dyson

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OUTLINE TIMETABLE
(all times CET, the UK is one hour behind, key to boat classes is at foot of this section. NB – all times provisional, rowing is an outdoor sport. Please follow www.worldrowing.com for up-to-date schedules).

Monday 31 August

15.40 – 17.16

Heats of the: ASW1x, ASM1x, TAMix2x, LTAMix4+

Tuesday 1 September

10.00 – 11.15

Repechages of the: LM2-, LW1x, W2-, M4-, M4x, W2x, M2x

Race for lanes: LM8+

13:00 – 13:56

Repechages of the: ASW1x, ASM1x, TAMix2x, LTAMix4+

Wednesday 2 September

10.55 – 13.45

Repechages of the: M2+, LM4x, LW4x, W4x, LM4-, W8+, M8+

Quarter-finals of the: LM1x, M2-, LM2x, LW2x, M1x, W1x

15.55 – 16.51

Semi-finals of the: ASW1x, ASM1x, TAMix2x, LTAMix4+

Thursday 3 September

10.14 – 11.59

Semi-finals of the: LM2-, LM1x, LW1x, W2-, M2-, LM2x, LW2x, M4-, M4x

12.11 – 12.46

Quarter-finals of the: W2x, M2x

16.08 – 17.25

B and A FINALS of the: ASW1x, ASM1x, TAMix2x, LTAMix4+

Friday 4 September

09.41 – 10.16

B Finals of the: M2+, LM2-, LM1x, LW1x, LM4x, LW4x

10.23 – 11.40

Semi-finals of the: W2x, M2x, LM4-, M1x, W1x, M8+

11.50 – 13.36

A FINALS of the: W4-, M2+, LM2-, LM1x, LW1x, LM4x, LW4x

Saturday 5 September

12.00 – 13.00

B Finals of the: W2-, M2-, LM2x, LW2x, M4-, W4x, M4x

13.15 – 14.45

A FINALS of the: W2-, M2-, LM2x, LW2x, M4-, W4x, M4x

Sunday 6 September

12.00 – 13:00

B Finals of the: W2x, M2x, LM4-, W8+, M1x, W1x, M8+

13.15 – 14.45

A FINALS of the: W2x, M2x, LM4-, W8+, M1x, W1x, M8+

Key:

M1x, M2x, M4x – men’s single, double and quadruple sculls
M2-, M4-, M8+ – men’s pair, four and eight
W1x, W2x, W4x – women’s single, double and quadruple sculls
W2-, W4-, W8+ – women’s pair, four and eight
LM1x, LM2x, LM4x – lightweight men’s single, double and quadruple sculls
LM2-, LM4-, LM8+ – lightweight men’s pair, four and eight
LW1x, LW2x, LW4x – lightweight women’s single, double and quadruple sculls
ASW1x, ASM1x – arms-shoulders women’s and men’s single scull (para-rowing)
TAMix2x – Trunk-arms mixed double scull (para-rowing)
LTAMix4+ – Legs-trunks-arms mixed coxed four

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