Quads, eights and para-rowers start Brit Champs campaign

Day two of the British Rowing Senior Championships is under way at the Holme Pierrepont National Water Sports Centre, with the quads, eights and para-rowers in action.

Day two of the British Rowing Senior Championships is under way at the Holme Pierrepont National Water Sports Centre, with the quads, eights and para-rowers in action.

The morning time trials took place under grey skies in Nottingham but with slightly less of a tail-wind than Saturday.

Less than a second separated the front three in what looks set to be a well-contested men’s quad competition.

Leading the way was the Leander Club A crew featuring the GB men’s double of John Collins and Jonny Walton, Peter Lambert of the men’s quad and Nick Middleton, a late replacement for Charles Cousins.

It is the second day that Middleton has stepped in following a late withdrawal and he will be hoping for a similar result to Saturday, when he won men’s double scull gold with Alan Sinclair.

Sam Townsend and Reading University crew-mates Dominic Tope, Sam Twine and Oliver Dix were second fastest in 5:44.0, two-tenths of a second ahead of a composite four of Zak Lee-Green, Alan Campbell, Harry Shimmin and Chris Lawrie.

Setting the pace in the women’s quad was the Leander Club A crew of Vicky Thornley, Holly Nixon, Jess Leyden and Polly Swann, the latter a bronze-medallist in the women’s double on Saturday.

Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne, who won gold in that event with Georgia Francis, was part of a Reading RC and Isle of Ely RC U23 composite that went second fastest in the quad time trial. She was joined by Alice Bowyer and World U23 women’s four bronze-medallists Sam Courty and Holly Hill.

Leading the way in the women’s eight time trial was an Imperial College Crew featuring Donna Etiebet and Melanie Wilson, who represented GB in the eight and quad respectively last season, as well as double scull winner Francis.

An Oxford University Women’s BC eight coxed by Morgan Baynham-Williams was second-fastest, just ahead of an Oxford Brookes University A crew including Olivia Carnegie-Brown.

The men’s eight time trial saw Leander Club A go quickest in 5:28.8, a couple of seconds faster than an Oxford Brookes University A crew featuring Jamie Copus, Matt Tarrant, Scott Durant and Joel Cassells.

Just a tenth of a second behind them in third place was the University of London A eight, which included three gold-medallists from last month’s World Championships – Paul Bennett, Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell and para-rower James Fox.

Dan Brown, a crew-mate of Fox in the LTA mixed coxed four, was among the para-rowers who concluded the morning with single scull time trials.

He is through to the A final along with Jordan Beecher, Samuel Murray, Rose Linden, Ben Marsden and Scott Meenagh.

The semi-finals get under way at 11.45am, with the finals starting at 1.20pm. Spectators are welcome at the Holme Pierrepont National Water Sports Centre – visit http://www.britchamps.org/seniors for more information, as well as full results from the weekend.