Record number of Lucerne world cup finalists for GB Rowing Team
Britain has a record number of Olympic-class finalists at rowing’s annual world cup finals in Lucerne. 12 crews are already through to tomorrow’s finals with the previous record standing at 11.
The men’s quadruple scull have a chance to add to the tally in their delayed semi-final later today. They raced 1400m of their race earlier before a buoy-line failure meant a re-row was called.
Britain goes into tomorrow’s finals session knowing that it has already won the world cup overall trophy. No other nation can overtake them no points, pointing to a consistency of delivery this season.
However, GB Rowing’s Performance Director David Tanner is convinced that winning golds will be tough tomorrow. ‘This is the biggest world cup ever. No significant nations are missing and because of that racing will be very tight tomorrow”.
Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins are potentially Britain’s best chance of gold. They race the women’s double scull in which Australia look likely to be their main rivals before taking on the additional challenge of also racing the women’s quad with Beth Rodford and Annabel Vernon.
“We had a good semi today and got out front quickly but tomorrow’s final should be one heck of a race”, said Watkins of the double scull final.
Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge will continue their head-to-head series with the New Zealand world champions whilst the men’s open and lightweight fours looked in form in today’s semi-finals.
The GB Rowing Team’s non-Olympic classes were in finals action in the late afternoon racing session. Andrea Dennis battled hard in the lightweight women’s single scull but finished fourth.
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RACE REPORTS
Debbie Flood produced one of the more gutsy races of her career today to take third place in today’s semi-finals of the women’s single scull and reach tomorrow’s final. She went off well and was second in the early part of the race before dropping back to fourth. In the final 200m she came back on Canada’s Isolda Penney to qualify by just two-hundredths of a second in a race won by Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic.
No wonder Britain’s Beijing quadruple scull silver medallist, who is coming back into full training and racing after a year out working with HM Prison Service, needed to ask the media whether she had succeeded or not, having not heard the official race announcement.
Alan Campbell was the race leader for the first half of his men’s single scull semi-final, closely tracked by Sweden’s Lassi Karonen. The Swede took the initiative in the third 500m before Campbell moved up a gear once more to win in 6:55.18 with Canada’s Malcolm Howard producing a lightning finish to move from fourth to second and Karonen qualifying in third.
In the opposing semi-final Mahe Drysdale, Olaf Tufte and Ondrej Synek – on paper the world’s top three racers – all qualified as expected but not before Cuba had given them a little scare on the outside.
The GB Rowing Team’s men’s eight are racing in Lucerne with Tom Wilkinson back in the boat for the first time since he missed the final in Bled due to injury. They raced today in the repechage and needed to finish in the top two o make the final with Italy and the USA the main rivals.
Coxed by Phelan Hill and stroked by Dan Ritchie the GB combination got a great start and were in a comfortable lead by halfway. That set the platform for victory in 5:37.30 despite a fast-fnishing attempt from the USA who were second in 5:41.77.
“It’s great to control a race from the front for a change”, said a clearly-pleased Greg Searle after the race.
Adam Freeman-Pask looked longingly across the water of the Rotsee towards the end of today’s lightweight men’s pair final but what he saw wouldn’t have pleased him. In the sprint for the medals, the GB combination just didn’t have the speed to catch the race leaders. He and his strokeman Chris Bartley were fourth in 6:47.88 in a hotly-contested race won by France.
Andrea Dennis had also fallen agonisingly short of the medals in her lightweight single scull final. She was fourth in a time of 7:57.47 in a race won by Marie-Louise Draeger of Germany.
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RESULTS
FINALS
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull
1. Marie-Louise Draeger (Germany 1) 7:48.92
2. Alexandra Tsiavou (Greece) 7:50.69
3. Fabiana Beltrame (Brazil) 7:53.16
4. Andrea Dennis (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:57.47
5. Erika Bello (Italy) 7:58.14
6. Siobhan McCrohan (Ireland) 8:04.60
MEN
Pair
1. Fabien Tilliet/Jean-Christophe Bette (France 1) 6:43.35
2. Matt Jensen/Rares Crisan (Canada) 6:44.39
3. Nicolas Moutton/Thomas Baroukh (France 2) 6:45.45
4. Adam Freeman-Pask/Chris Boddy (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:47.88
5. Fabian Zbinden Ouyarzun/Miguel Cerda Silva (Chile) 6:48.44
6. Joris Pijs/Paul Drewes (Netherlands) 6:53.19
SEMI-FINALS
OPEN
WOMEN
Single scull
Semi-final 1
1. Mirka Knapkova (Czech Republic) 7:36.44
2. Frida Svensson (Sweden) 7:39.28
3. Debbie Flood (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:42.28
4. Isolda Penney (Canada) 7:42.30
5. Annick De Decker (Belgium) 7:51.75
6. Sophie Dunsing (Germany 1) 8:05.61
MEN
Single scull
Semi-final 2
1. Alan Campbell (GREAT BRITAIN 1) 6:55.18
2. Malcolm Howard (Canada) 6:56.27
3. Lassi Karonen (Sweden) 6:56.45
4. Mindaugas Griskonis (Lithuania) 6:56.73
5. Falko Nolte (Germany 2) 7:22.61
6. Tim Maeyens (Belgium 1) 7:54.75
REPECHAGES
OPEN
MEN
Eight
Repechage 2
1. Tom Wilkinson/James Clarke/James Orme/James Foad/Mohamed Sbihi/Gregory Searle/Thomas Broadway/Daniel Ritchie/Phelan Hill (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:37.30
2. USA 5:39.03
3. Italy 5:41.77
4. Turkey 5:53.25
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GB ROWING TEAM ENTRIES
2010 Rowing World Cup, Lucerne, Switzerland (9-11 July)
(listed bow to stroke plus cox)
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
Helen Glover (Reading Uni BC/Penzance/17.06.86)/
Heather Stanning (Army RC/Lossiemouth/26.01.85)
Eight
Jo Cook (Leander Club/Sunbury-on-Thames/22.03.84)/
Louisa Reeve (LeanderClub/London/16.05.84)/
Natasha Page (Reading Uni BC/Hartpury/30.04.85)/
Victoria Thornley (Minerva Bath/Wrexham/30.11.87)/
Jessica Eddie (Uni of London BC/Durham/07.10.84)/
Lindsey Maguire (Wallingford RC/Edinburgh/15.01.82)/
Olivia Whitlam (Agecroft RC/Warrington/16.09.85)/
Alison Knowles (Thames RC/Bournemouth/27.03.82)/
Caroline O’Connor (Oxford Brookes Uni BC/Ealing/25.04.83) (cox)
Single scull
Debbie Flood (Leander Club/Guiseley/27.02.80)/
Double scull – two boats
Katherine Grainger (St Andrew BC/Aberdeen/12.11.75)/
Anna Watkins (Leander Club/Leek, Staffs/13.02.83)
Beth Rodford (Gloucester RC/Gloucester/28.12.82)
Annabel Vernon (Marlow RC/Wadebridge/01.09.82)
Quadruple scull
Annabel Vernon (Marlow RC/Wadebridge/01.09.82)/
Beth Rodford (Gloucester RC/Gloucester/28.12.82)/
Anna Watkins (Leander Club/Leek, Staffs/13.02.83)/
Katherine Grainger (St Andrew BC/Aberdeen/12.11.75)
OPEN
MEN
Pair – two boats
Peter Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth, Glos/27.07.81)/
Andrew Triggs Hodge (Molesey BC/Hebden, N.Yorks/03.03.79)
Cameron Nichol (Molesey/Glastonbury/26.6.87)/
Tom Burton (Leander Club/Barton-le-Clay, Beds/24.05.80)
Four
Alex Partridge (Leander Club/Alton, Hants/25.01.81)/
Richard Egington (Leander Club/Knutsford/26.02.79)/
Matt Langridge(Leander Club/Northwich/20.05.83)/
Alex Gregory (Leander Club/Wormington/11.03.84)/
Eight
Tom Wilkinson (Leander Club/Reading/04.07.85)/
James Clarke (London RC/London/31.12.84)/
James Orme (Leander Club/Colchester/01.04.84)/
James Foad (Molesey BC/Southampton/20.03.87)/
Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey BC/Surbiton/27.03.88)/
Greg Searle (Molesey BC/Marlow/20.03.72)/
Tom Broadway (Leander Club/Newport Pagnell/21.08.82)
Daniel Ritchie (Herne Bay RC/Herne Bay/06.01.87)/
Phelan Hill (cox) (Leander Club/Bedford/21.07.79)
Single scull – two boats
Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers/Coleraine/09.05.83)
Brendan Crean (Agecroft/Lewes/07.02.85)
Double scull
Matthew Wells (Leander Club/Hexham, Northumberland/19.04.79)
Marcus Bateman (Leander Club/Torquay/16.09.82)/
Quadruple scull
Charles Cousins (Reading Uni BC/Cambridge/13.12.88)/
Sam Townsend (Reading Uni BC/Reading/26.11.85)/
Bill Lucas (Reading Uni BC/Kingswear/13.09.87)/
Stephen Rowbotham (Leander Club/Winscombe, Somerset/11.11.81)/
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull
Andrea Dennis (Reading Uni BC/Oxford/03.01.82)
Double scull
Hester Goodsell (Reading Uni BC/London/27.06.84)/
Sophie Hosking (London RC/Wimbledon/25.01.86)
LIGHTWEIGHT
MEN
Pair
Chris Boddy (Leander Club/Stockton-on-Tees/16.11.87)/
Adam Freeman-Pask (Imperial College BC/Windsor/19.06.85)
Four
Richard Chambers (Leander Club/Coleraine/10.06.85)/
Paul Mattick (Leander Club/Frome, Somerset/25.04.78)/
Rob Williams (London RC/Maidenhead/21.01.85)/
Chris Bartley (Leander Club/Chester/02.02.84)
Double scull
Zac Purchase (Marlow RC/Tewkesbury/02.05.86)/
Mark Hunter (Leander Club/Romford, Essex/01.07.78)
