Ten more GB Rowing Team crews join Grainger, Watkins and the men’s four in Lucerne finals
Ten more GB Rowing Team crews have joined the already-qualified British finalists – the women’s double scull and men’s four – at the World Rowing Cup in Lucerne from today’s semi-finals and repechages.
Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins won their heat from the front yesterday to move through to tomorrow’s final whilst the men’s four of Alex Gregory, Peter Reed, Tom James and Andrew Triggs Hodge shattered the world’s best time to do the same.
Today’s strong performers were the women’s pair of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning and the lightweight men’s four of Chris Bartley, Richard Chambers, Rob Williams and Paul Mattick. Both crews won their semi-finals in a session of tough and sometimes cruel racing.
“It’s great to get a win in the semi-final and we have some good things we can work on for tomorrow. Also, the conditions have been fun!”, said Stanning after her race.
Only the men’s quadruple scull will race a B final tomorrow from the 13 opportunities that GB had to get to the finals here.
The arrival of full Canadian, Australian and New Zealand teams for this world cup, compared to Belgrade three weeks ago, has certainly intensified the competition on the world cup stage.
“I’m really pleased to have thirteen crews in finals”, said GB Rowing Team Performance Director David Tanner. “We have consistently said that it would get tougher and that’s precisely what has happened here”.
Later this evening there are medal races for the lightweight men’s and women’s single scull – the international class boats. Britain features in both.
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RACE REPORTS
There was an even more palpable sense today on the sparkling Rotsee that the Olympic Games are just around the corner – such was the level of racing in which the odd World Champion or two missed out on making the finals.
Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, though, made no mistake. They are one of the stand-out world crews in their event alongside World Champions New Zealand. In their semi-final today they took a canvas lead by 750m gone over the Americans, Erin Cafaro and Eleanor Logan. As the halfway mark came and went the no.1 GB boat held their position with the Americans, who were also their challengers when they won gold at the last world cup, dropping back by over a second.
Behind them the second GB boat of Jo Cook and Eleanor Carnegie-Brown was involved in a tussle with South Africa for third. As the line approached the Americans put on a final sprint which pressured GB’s top boat but was not enough to take the lustre off the semi-final win for the Penzance-Lossiemouth combination in 6:56.51 to Logan and Cafaro’s 6:57.37.
Agonisingly the South Africans on the Grandstand side held off the second GB boat to take the final qualifying slot. So, despite a stirring effort, Carnegie-Brown and Cook will now race a B Final tomorrow. New Zealand won the opposing semi-final in 7:01.34.
The GB women’s eight are racing here in a much-changed line-up to 2011 and even to Belgrade a few short weeks ago. Debbie Flood and Annabel Vernon – until recently firmly in the GB sculling squad – have made the switch back to sweep rowing here. With Vernon stroking the boat today they took third place in the repechage. They looked like they had an overlap on the winning Dutch crew and were only a second down on Australia.
In an earlier repechage of the women’s quadruple scull Vicky Thornley, Beth Rodford, Frances Houghton and Mel Wilson were determined to consign their pedestrian heats performance of yesterday to the rowing history bin.
They did that in style today by winning the all-important repechage to book a place in tomorrow’s final in 6:19.69. The four women were second to China throughout much of the early phases and only pushed ahead at 1500m. Behind them China were beaten on the line by less than two-tenths by Australia who qualified with Britain for tomorrow’s final.
Cruel fate pitched the World and Olympic Champions Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter against their closest rivals Storm Uru and Peter Taylor on today’s semi-final race-card.
Britain had the edge at 500m by a fraction of a second from Canadians Douglas Vandor and Morgan Douglas with the Kiwis in third and the Greeks also coming into strong contention in the second 500m
At halfway the GB Boat still had a small lead but by 1500m Canada had moved ahead on the far-side and New Zealand came surging through, too. Canada won in 6:15.74 with New Zealand in 6:16.08.
Under threat from the Greeks in the concluding 100m for the only remaining qualifying place Purchase looked across the lanes, saw the danger and added a final push to secure third place in 6:21.46.
“We came here wanting to try some new and different things in racing rather than playing it safe”, said Hunter after the race. “It’s all about developing and challenging ourselves [] so come London we know what works”.
The equivalent women’s boat – featuring 2009 and 2011 World medallist Sophie Hosking and reigning World U23 single scull Champion, Kat Copeland – were tucked into second place behind Canada at the 500m timing point in a close-racing pack.
The British had their bow-ball ahead at halfway but the flurries of pressure to that lead were multiple from Canada, Denmark and Australia.
Anne Thomsen and Juliane Rasmussen of Denmark succeeded in taking over the baton at the head of the field. But Great Britain had the measure of the rest of the field to take second ahead of Canada and Australia who go into the B Final.
The British lightweight men’s four quartet of Paul Mattick, Rob Williams, Richard Chambers and Chris Bartley took the early lead in their semi-final this afternoon and kept it throughout the first half.
Behind them a cheese slicer could not have separated the three pursuing boats of Denmark, Australia and France. As usual the tempo and ferocity of competition was high in this boat class.
Still ahead at 1500m the British, without the injured Peter Chambers, were ahead by a second from France. Did they have enough left in the pot? Yes, Great Britain first in 5:51.63, France second by just two-tenths and Australia, the World Champions, were third.
George Nash and Will Satch made a mark on the world scene in Belgrade by taking silver there. Today they were drawn in the same semi-final and in an adjacent lane as their team-mates Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell and Cameron Nichol.
The Dutch got out to a good start and led at the 500m mark. Nash and Satch came up strongly during the second 500m to take the lead briefly with Canada second.
At halfway the experienced Olympians Dave Calder and Scott Frandsen had nudged ahead of the new Brits on the block in this event. Italy were third with the second GB boat dropping off the pack a little with Greece.
Calder and Frandsen powered on in the third 500m to take a bigger lead, leaving Italy and the leading GB boat to battle it out – a contest won by GB to record 6: 23.08 in second place with the Italians giving up the chase in the final 150m.
Reilly O’Donnell and Nichol came back up to fifth and will now race a B Final. New Zealand won the opposite semi-final.
The GB men’s eight are also safely into the final after a close-fought repechage which was won by Australia and in which the James Foad-stroked combination was coxed to second place by Phelan Hill. The race was nip and tuck between these two nations for much of the track and GB held off Poland and the Netherlands in the final 500m.
This crew will want to step on from there in tomorrow’s final.
Britain’s fresh-looking double scull combination of Bill Lucas and Sam Townsend qualified in second place for today’s semi-final and found themselves pitted against the Germans Knittel and Krueger with whom they had a tough battle for the stop step on the rostrum in Belgrade.
Australia’s Dave Crawshay and Scott Brennan, the re-emerging Olympic champions, were the early leaders. They recorded 3:03.76 at halfway but were being kept at relatively close quarters by Lucas and Townsend in second and Germany in third.
GB had the lead at 1500m but in the tense wind-up to the line Australia and Germany had enough in the tank to pull away with the British duo coming home in third in 6:12.12 just two tenths ahead of the fast-closing Argentines.
Rowing’s version of flat-lining was a feature early doors in the men’s quadruple scull repechage featuring GB’s Tom Solesbury, Matt Wells, Charles Cousins and Stephen Rowbotham. It was hard, as you looked across the bows, to see who had a lead. At 500m it was Estonia but by less than a second, at 1000m the Estonians still had it but again by less than a second from Ukraine and Poland in third and Great Britain still in contention in fifth.
Poland then piled on the pace to take the lead. Estonia and Ukraine were tracking them. Estonia came back on the Poles to take first place. Flying up on the outside, the British quartet found a flying 200m to come up into third in 5:42.86 but with only two qualifying, they will now race a B Final tomorrow.
Alan Campbell is safely through to the final of the men’s single scull here. His semi-final was a race of two halves. Not because of his performance but because the field split very early.
By halfway it was clear that medal pedigree was going to count. World medallist Alan Campbell, World Champion Mahe Drysdale and Olympic silver medallist Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic broke away at the front. Campbell was leading until the final 250m when Drysdale smoothly transitioned up a gear to take victory with Synek in third. In the cat and mouse game of men’s single sculling it is still definitely all to play for tomorrow in a final which will also feature Marcel Hacker of Germany who won the opposing semi-final as well as Belgrade medallist Rodriguez of Cuba.
Earlier Campbell had raced a quarter-final with a cool head leading from the outset and holding off experienced Swede Lassi Karonen and Peter Lambert of South Africa. In the final race to the line Dmitri Weitnauer sprung a significant surprise by taking Karonen on the line and take the third qualifying slot.
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RESULTS
SEMI-FINALS
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair – Semi-final 1
1 Helen Glover/Heather Stanning (GREAT BRITAIN 1) 6:56.61
2 Erin Cafaro/Eleanor Logan (USA 1) 6:57.37
3 Naydene Smith/Lee-Ann Persse (South Africa) 7:07.39
4 Jo Cook/Olivia Carnegie-Brown (GREAT BRITAIN 2) 7:08.83
5 Claudia Wurzel/Sara Bertolasi (Italy) 7:18.52
6 You Wu/Xiaoxia Yan (China 2) 7:34.44
MEN
Pair – Semi-final 2
1 Dave Calder/Scott Frandsen (Canada 1) 6:21.51
2 George Nash/William Satch (GREAT BRITAIN 1) 6:23.08
3 Niccolo Mornati/Lorenzo Carboncini (Italy) 6:27.52
4 Nanne Sluis/Meindert Klem (Netherlands 2) 6:32.05
5 Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell/Cameron Nichol (GREAT BRITAIN 2) 6:32.55
6 Konstantinos Christomanos/Apostolos Lampridis (Greece 2) 6:37.30
Single scull – Semi-final 1
1 Mahe Drysdale (New Zealand) 6:44.30
2 Alan Campbell (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:44.32
3 Ondrej Synek (Czech Republic) 6:48.81
4 Mindaugas Griskonis (Lithuania 1) 6:50.96
5 Kenneth Jurkowski (USA) 6:53.53
6 Mathias Rocher (Germany 3) 6:55.67
Double scull – Semi-final 1
1 David Crawshay/Scott Brennan (Australia 1) 6:10.13
2 Eric Knittel/Stephan Krueger (Germany) 6:11.40
3 Bill Lucas/Sam Townsend (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:12.12
4 Ariel Suarez/Cristian Rosso (Argentina) 6:12.32
5 Dirk Uittenbogaard/Freek Robbers (Netherlands) 6:28.78
6 Moustafa Fathy/Nour El Din Hassanein (Egypt) 6:34.39
LIGHTWEIGHT
MEN
Double scull – Semi-final 2
1 Storm Uru/Peter Taylor (New Zealand) 6:15.74
2 Douglas Vandor/Morgan Jarvis (Canada) 6:18.08
3 Zac Purchase/Mark Hunter (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:21.46
4 Eleftherios Konsolas/Panagiotis Magdanis (Greece) 6:21.60
5 Svein Urban Ringstad/Are Strandli (Norway) 6:23.53
6 Manuel Suarez Barrios/Yunior Perez Aguilera (Cuba) 6:34.45
Four – Semi-final 2
1 Paul Mattick/Rob Williams/Richard Chambers/Chris Bartley (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:51.63
2 France 1 5:51.84
3 Denmark 5:54.07
4 Australia 5:55.83
5 Germany 2 6:06.17
6 Japan 6:17.45
REPECHAGES
OPEN
WOMEN
Eight
1 Netherlands 6:05.44
2 Australia 6:07.15
3 Olivia Whitlam/Debbie Flood/Emily Taylor/Jessica Eddie/Louisa Reeve/Natasha Page/Katie Greves/Annabel Vernon/Caroline O’Connor (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:08.54
4 Germany 6:12.63
5 Belarus 6:14.06
Quadruple scull
1 Beth Rodford/Melanie Wilson/Frances Houghton/Victoria Thornley (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:19.69
2 Australia 6:20.06
3 China 6:20.22
4 USA 2 6:23.72
5 Germany 2 6:25.42
MEN
Eight
1 Australia 5:23.23
2 Greg Searle/Alex Partridge/Marcus Bateman/Tom Ransley/Mohamed Sbihi/Richard Egington/Matt Langridge/James Foad/Phelan Hill (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:23.56
3 Poland 5:24.46
4 Netherlands 5:24.66
5 Ukraine 5:28.68
Quadruple scull
1 Estonia 5:39.80
2 Poland 5:40.79
3 Stephen Rowbotham/Tom Solesbury/Matthew Wells/Charles Cousins (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:42.86
4 Ukraine 5:43.23
5 Switzerland 5:44.55
6 Australia 5:46.23
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Double scull – Repechage 1
1 Anne Lolk Thomsen/Juliane Rasmussen (Denmark) 6:54.33
2 Sophie Hosking/Katherine Copeland (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:55.46
3 Lindsay Jennerich/Tracy Cameron (Canada) 6:58.19
4 Hannah Every-Hall/Bronwen Watson (Australia) 6:58.87
5 Luana De Assis/Fabiana Beltrame (Brazil) 7:09.07
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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).
SAMSUNG WORLD ROWING CUP II
Lucerne, Switzerland 25-27 May, 2012
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair – two boats
Helen Glover/Heather Stanning
(Robin Williams)
Jo Cook/Olivia Carnegie Brown
(Nick Strange)
Eight
Olivia Whitlam/Debbie Flood/Emily Taylor/Jessica Eddie/Louisa Reeve/Natasha Page/Katie Greves/Annabel Vernon/Caroline O’Connor (cox)
(Nick Strange)
Single scull – Olympic qualifying regatta only
Rachel Gamble Flint
(Jane Hall)
Double scull
Anna Watkins/Katherine Grainger
(Paul Thompson)
Quadruple scull
Beth Rodford/Melanie Wilson/Frances Houghton/Victoria Thornley
(Ade Roberts)
MEN
Pair – two boats
George Nash/Will Satch
(Paul Stannard & Christian Felkel)
Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell/Cameron Nichol
(Paul Stannard)
Four
Alex Gregory/Pete Reed//Tom James/Andrew Triggs Hodge
(Jurgen Grobler)
Eight
Greg Searle/Alex Partridge/Marcus Bateman/Tom Ransley/Moe Sbihi/Ric Egington/Matt Langridge/James Foad/Phelan Hill (cox)
(John West & Christian Felkel)
Single scull – two boats
Alan Campbell
(Bill Barry)
Double scull
Bill Lucas/Sam Townsend
(Mark Earnshaw)
Quadruple scull
Stephen Rowbotham /Tom Solesbury/Matt Wells/Charles Cousins
(Mark Banks)
LIGHTWEIGHTS
WOMEN
Single scull
Kathryn Twyman
(Paul Reedy)
Double scull – two boats
Sophie Hosking/Kat Copeland
(Paul Reedy)
MEN
Four
Paul Mattick/Rob Williams/Richard Chambers/Chris Bartley
(Rob Morgan)
Single
Adam Freeman-Pask
(Rob Morgan & Darren Whiter)
Double scull
Zac Purchase/Mark Hunter
(Darren Whiter)
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HOME TOWN LISTS
WOMEN
PAIR (Boat 1)
Helen Glover Minerva Bath Penzance 17/06/86
Heather Stanning Army RC Lossiemouth 26/01/85
Coach: Robin Williams
PAIR (Boat 2)
Jo Cook Leander Club Sunbury-on-Thames 22/03/84
Olivia Carnegie-Brown Oxford Brookes Univ BC Oxford 28/03/1991
Eight
Olivia Whitlam Agecroft RC Warrington 16/09/85
Debbie Flood Leander Club Guiseley, W Yorks 27/02/1980
Emily Taylor Leander Club Lincoln 28/06/87
Jessica Eddie Univ of London BC Durham 07/10/84
Louisa Reeve Leander Club London 16/05/84
Natasha Page Gloucester RC Hartpury 30/04/85
Katie Greves Leander Club Oxford 02/09/82
Annabel Vernon Leander Club Wadebridge 01/09/82
Caroline O’Connor (cox) Oxford Brookes Univ BC Ealing, London 25/04/83
Coach: Nick Strange
Single Scull – Olympic qualifying Regatta only
Rachel Gamble-Flint Leander Club Darlington 13/09/91
Coach: Jane Hall
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 (Boat 1)
George Nash Molesey BC Guildford 02/10/89
Will Satch Leander Club Henley-on-Thames 09/06/89
Coaches: Christian Felkel & Paul Stannard
Pair (Boat 2)
Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell Uni of London BC Durham 13/04/88
Cameron Nichol Molesey BC Glastonbury 26/06/87
Four
Alex Gregory Leander Club Wormington 11/03/84
Pete Reed Leander Club Nailsworth, Glos 27/07/81
Tom James Molesey BC Wrexham 11/03/84
Andrew Triggs Hodge Molesey BC Hebden, N. Yorks 03/03/79
Coach: Jürgen Grobler
Eight
Greg Searle Molesey BC Marlow 20/03/72
Alex Partridge Leander Club Alton, Hants 25/01/81
Marcus Bateman Leander Club Torquay 16/09/1982
Tom Ransley York City RC Cambridge 06/09/85
Mohamed Sbihi Molesey BC Surbiton 27/03/88
Richard Egington Leander Club Knutsford 26/02/79
Matthew Langridge Leander Club Northwich 20/05/83
James Foad Molesey BC Southampton 20/03/87
Cox – Phelan Hill Leander Bedford 21/07/79
Coaches: John West & Christian Felkel
Single Scull (Boat 1)
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
Stephen Rowbotham Leander Club Winscombe, Somerset 11/11/81
Matthew Wells Leander Club Hexham, Northumberland 19/04/79
Tom Solesbury Leander Club Petts Wood, Kent 23/09/80
Charles Cousins Reading Univ BC Willingham, Cambs 13/12/88
Coach: Mark Banks
LIGHTWEIGHTS
WOMEN
Single Scull
Kathryn Twyman Wallingford RC Oxford 29/03/87
Coach: Paul Reedy
Double Scull
Sophie Hosking London RC Wimbledon 25/01/86
Katherine Copeland Tees RC Ingleby Barwick, Stockton-on-Tees 01/12/90
Coach: Paul Reedy
MEN
Single Scull
Adam Freeman-Pask Imperial College BC Windsor 19/06/85
Coaches: Rob Morgan & Darren Whiter
Four
Paul Mattick Leander Club Frome, Somerset 25/04/78
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
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 IN LUCERNE
(Provisional – subject to change dependent on the draw and weather)
Friday 25 May
09.00 – 18.30 Heats and repechages – international and Olympic classes
Saturday 26 May
09.30 – 10.05 Semi-finals of the international classes
13.30 – 16.00 Reps and semi-finals Olympic classes
16.05 – 17.00 Finals of the international classes
Sunday 27 May
09.00 – 10.20 B Finals
10.22 – 14.40 FINALS – Olympic classes
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BBC COVERAGE FROM LUCERNE
Lucerne, Switzerland, 25-27 May (all time – UK Times)
• Red Button – Sunday 27 May, 0920-1045 & 1200-1355
• BBC2 – Sunday 27, May 1800-1900
BBC Radio 5 live and BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra will also be providing coverage during the three rowing World Cup regattas with double Olympic Gold medallist James Cracknell forming part of the commentary team
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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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