Campbell, Hunter and Purchase lead the way
Alan Campbell, sponsored by Siemens, looked strong in winning his semi-final of the men’s single scull in Lucerne this afternoon despite the presence in the race of Olympic champion Olaf Tufte. His victory was backed by one from the lightweight men’s double scull of Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase.
They are amongst eight Olympic category boats to reach tomorrow’s finals but it was, nonetheless, a challenging day for GB – one during which the Camelot-backed men’s four, rowing here with changes to the line-up due to injury, missed out on a place in the final by mere inches, something that has not happened to GB’s flagship boat for more than a decade.
Britain’s other finalists are the women’s quadruple scull, lightweight men’s four, men’s and women’s doubles and the men’s and women’s eights.
"It’s been a tough day today and world standards, as we anticipated, have moved on even since Munich three weeks ago", said GB Performance Director David Tanner today. "It’s now all to play for tomorrow for our eight finalists".
There were also finals in the non-Olympic boat classes this evening in which Rob Williams and Chris Bartley and Andrea Dennis both came home fourth in the lightweight men’s pair and women’s single respectively.
Full results: www.worldrowing.com
Alan Campbell led from start to finish of his men’s single scull semi-final this afternoon in Lucerne – rowed in stair-rods rain as the weather closed in over the mountains surrounding the Rotsee. He was five seconds ahead at the midway point over a field which included Olaf Tufte, the Olympic champion and the 2007 world silver medallist, and went on to win in 7:42.40.
"He’s looking very strong and the race today went better than planned", said his coach Bill Barry after the race. "Our race strategies have been much more consistent this season and Alan’s looking a good chance tomorrow for gold".
Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter, in the Siemens-backed lightweight men’s double scull, were also semi-final winners this afternoon. They were ahead by the 500m mark and, challenged very closely by New Zealand, still had a narrow margin at the halfway point. China meanwhile, were moving up past Germany to take third place. By 1500m the GB lead had eased out to almost a second and victory came in 6:30.97.
GB’s lightweight men’s four might be world champions but this is one of the sport’s most competitive boat categories. Today’s semi-final featuring Richard Chambers, James Lindsay-Fynn, Paul Mattick and James Clarke proved no exception. In one of the tightest contests of the day the GB quartet were bested by France by just 0.05 of a second with Ireland in third. The British combination had led throughout but lost out in the finishing sprint for the line. Tomorrow’s final looks set once more to be a challenging race.
Elise Laverick and Anna Bebington have renewed their 2007 world medal-winning partnership here in Lucerne with Bebington returning to the sport after an illness-enforced absence of some length. Today the signs were good for their progress in the event as they took a strong third place behind two top Chinese crews in their semi-final in a time of 7:29.03.
"It’s all about improvements for us here rather than overall outcomes", said coach Miles Forbes Thomas after the race. "We’re involved in a project of coming back into racing and things like recovery after racing are particularly important".
The GB women’s eight did not open their semi-final campaign with the best of starts. By the 500m mark they were already over two seconds down on the lead and were lying in fifth place with four to qualify for tomorrow’s final. So, the task in hand became to catch and beat China to take the fourth slot. Just past the halfway point GB picked up the pace and pushed a few vital feet ahead of the Chinese in a race eventually won by Canada with Germany second. By the grandstands it became clear that GB were going to hold on ahead of the Chinese to take fourth in 6:17.47.
With a strengthened line-up since 2007, slightly slicker things might be expected of the GB men’s eight than than today’s performance in which they qualified for tomorrow’s final in second place just three tenths of a second up on third-placed Germany but more than a second behind the winners China. This, though, is a crew that has had its fair share of injuries and is racing here with Al Heathcote back for the first time this year after a wrist injury.
Somewhat painfully for them and GB’s supporters in a rain-soaked Lucerne this afternoon – as the crew’s performance today was a considerable step up from yesterday’s heats – the Camelot-backed GB men’s four of Tom Lucy, Steve Williams, Peter Reed and Colin Smith were rowed out of a place in tomorrow’s final after leading for the opening 1500m of their semi-final today.
The USA, France and the world champions, New Zealand, were all closing fast in the finishing stages and with just 100m to go the GB quartet – racing here with two changes because of injury – were overhauled.
"I think it was the right thing to come here to race despite the crew changes forced by injury", said GB Rowing Performance Director David Tanner. "Every race is a learning opportunity and, despite the disappointment, the guys will be stronger on the road to Beijing".
"We came here and put our necks on the line with two new guys in the crew", said Peter Reed, "and we were only beaten by the world champions by two tenths of a second. Although we’re knackered now we’ll come back with a vengeance".
The new GB Rowing women’s pair of Olivia Whitlam and Louisa Reeve made a good impression on their world cup debut here in Lucerne. The duo rowed a good opening half to be in third place at the midway point and went on to finish fifth in today’s semi-final and will now race a B Final but the result was commendable, given their minimal time together in the boat. The race was won by the USA in 7:58.26.
Tina Stiller, still an U23 athlete, has been soaking up the experience of major, senior international regattas this season. The talented 20 year-old athlete reached the semi-finals here, started well and was still challenging for the minor placings in the race in the final 300m until finishing sixth in 8:01.58 in a race won by China.
China, so far, look the dominant force in the world cup here. The lightweight women’s double scull semi-finals were no exception this afternoon with Xu and Yan, holders of the world’s best time, winning in 7:12.80 in a race in where Helen Casey and Laura Greenhalgh, representing GB, were fourth in 7:28.30. The Chinese led throughout and, from the outset, the others were fighting for the minor places. Casey and Greenhalgh now race in a B Final tomorrow.
For all bar the final 100m it looked as if Rob Williams and Chris Bartley had bronze within their reach in the final of the lightweight men’s pair. But with their focus on a Dutch crew on their outside they perhaps didn’t see the storming finish constructed by the French on the Grandstand side to take the bronze away.
Andrea Dennis came through an interesting repechage of the lightweight women’s single scull to win in 7:49.73. Her closest rival throughout the race was Jo Hammond, racing now for Belgium but who once represented GB at world cup level. The duo went on to face each other in the evening session featuring the finals of the non-Olympic boat classes – a race won by Canada and with Dennis beaten to the bronze by China. Hammond was fifth.
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RESULTS
(Races featuring GB crews only)
A Finals
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull
1. Lindsay Jennerich (Canada) 7:59.25
2. Pamela Weisshaupt (Switzerland) 8:02.23
3. Chen Haixia (China) 8:07.05
4. Andrea Dennis (GREAT BRITAIN) 8:09.05
5. Jo Hammond (Belgium) 8:09.59
6. Magdalena Kemnitz (Poland) 8:21.00
MEN
Pair
1. Kasper Winther/Morten Joergensen (Denmark) 6:49.49
2. Roeland Lievens/Paul Drewes (Netherlands 1) 6:52.13
3. Jeremy Pouge/Vincent Faucheux (France) 6:54.86
4. Chris Bartley/Rob Williams (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:56.87
5. Vincent & Tycho Muda (Netherlands 2) 6:58.71
6. Juliusz Madecki/Paul Ruttmann (Austria) 7:02.79
SEMI-FINALS
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
1. Eleanor Logan/Caroline Lind (USA) 7:58.26
2. Kim Crow/Sarah Cook (Australia 1) 8:02.05
3. Inene Pascal-Pretre (France) 8:03.82
4. Kaylan Vander Schilden/Sabrina Kolker (Canada) 8:04.56
5. Louisa Reeve/Olivia Whitlam (GREAT BRITAIN) 8:08.25
6. Yan Yanfeng/Zhao Yuqin (China 2) 8:11.91
Single scull
1. Zhang Xiuyun (China) 7:42.22
2. Rumyana Neykova (Bulgaria) 7:47.35
3. Emma Twigg (New Zealand) 7:48.97
4. Sophie Balmary (France0 7:58.50
5. Annick De Decker (Belgium) 8:00.20
6. Kristina Stiller (GREAT BRITAIN2) 8:01.58
Double scull
1. Li Qin/Tian Liang (China 1) 7:21.95
2. Zhu Weiwei/Zhang Yangyang (China 2) 7:23.95
3. Elise Laverick/Anna Bebington (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:29.03
4. Catriona Sens/Sonia Mills (Australia 1) 7:34.57
5. Regina Naunheim/Nora Fietcher (Switzerland) 7:39.62
6. Tatsiana Narelik/Volha Ustsinenka (Belarus) 7:50.04
MEN
Four
1. USA 6:04.72
2. France 6:04.91
3. New Zealand 6:05.32
4. Tom Lucy/Steve Williams/Peter Reed/Colin Smith (GREAT
BRITAIN) 6:05.55
5. Canada 6:12.70
6. Egypt 6:20.11
Single scull
1. Alan Campbell (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:42.40
2. Olaf Tufte (Norway) 7:45.35
3. Andre Vonarburg (Switzerland) 7:46.68
4. Kenneth Jurkowski (USA) 7:51.35
5. Sjoerd Hamburger (Netherlands) 7:56.09
6. Chen Zheng (China) 7:59.14
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Double scull
Semi-final 2
1. Xu Dongxiang/Yu Hua (China) 7:12.80
2. Kirsten van der Kolk/Marit van Eupen (Netherlands) 7:17.95
3. Weronika Deresz/Ilona Mokrononowska (Poland) 7:21.49
4. Laura Greenhalgh/Helen Casey (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:28.30
5. Marie Gottlieb/Sine Christiansen (Denmark 2) 7:30.07
6. Cecilia Lilja/Karin Hoegberg (Sweden) 7:31.46
MEN
Four
Semi-final 2
1. France 6:07.71
2. Richard Chambers/James Lindsay-Fynn/Paul Mattick/
James Clarke (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:07.76
3. Ireland 6:08.43
4. Australia 6:09.65
5. Switzerland 6:18.66
6. Canada 6:23.46
Double scull
Semi-final 2
1. Zac Purchase/Mark Hunter (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:30.97
2. Storm Uru/Peter Taylor (New Zealand) 6:32.15
3. Zhang Guolin/Sun Jie (China) 6:35.22
4. Jonathan Koch/Manuel Brehmer (Germany) 6:41.45
5. Samuel Beltz/Thomas Gibson (Australia) 6:43.69
6. Jan Vetesnik/Ondrej Vetesnik (Czech Republic) 6:52.75
REPECHAGES
OPEN
WOMEN
Eight
1. Canada 6:13.10
2. Germany 6:13.28
3. Netherlands 6:13.78
4. Beth Rodford/Carla Ashford/Alice Freeman/Natasha Page/
Natasha Howard/Alison Knowles/Katie Greves/Jess Eddie/
Caroline O’Conner (cox) 6:17.47
5. China 6:17.89
6. New Zealand 6:24.50
MEN
Eight
1. China 5:38.79
2. Robin Bourne-Taylor/Tom Stallard/Matthew Langridge/Tom
Solesbury/Josh West/Rick Egington/Alex Partridge/Alastair
Heathcote (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:40.15
3. Germany 5:40.42
4. Poland 5:42.97
5. Netherlands 5:44.84
6. France 5:48.08
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull
Repechage 2
1. Andrea Dennis (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:49.73
2. Jo Hammond (Belgium) 7:52.68
3. Ana Santoyo (Venezuela) 8:02.28
4. Helle Tibian (Denmark) 8:09.64
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GB CREW LISTS (with clubs/home towns/dates of birth)
Munich World Cup 2008
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
Olivia Whitlam( Agecroft/Warrington 16.09.85)/Louisa
Reeve (Leander/London/16.05.84)
Coach Rob Morgan
Eight
Beth Rodford (Thames RC/Burton-on-Trent/ 28.12.82)/Carla Ashford (Oxford Brookes BC/Northallerton/13.03.79)/Alice Freeman
(Wallingford RC/Oxford/06.09.78)/Natasha Page (Reading Uni/
Hartpury/30.04.85)/(Tideway Scullers/West Runton/3.9.80)/Natasha
Howard (Tideway Scullers/Norfolk)/Alison Knowles (Thames RC/
Bournemouth/27.3.82)/Katie Greves (Leander Club/Oxford/
02.09.82)/Jess Eddie (Uni of London/Durham/07.10.84)/Caroline
O’Connor (Oxford Brookes/Ealing/25.04.83) (cox)
Coach: John Keogh
Single scull (two boats)
Sarah Winckless (Walbrook & Royal/Henley/18.10.73)
Coach: Eira Parry
Tina Stiller (Nottingham/Yarm, N.Yorks/23.6.87)
Coach: Miles Forbes-Thomas
Double scull
Elise Laverick (Thames RC/Poling, W.Sussex/27.07.75)/
Anna Bebington (Leander Club/Leek, Staffs/13.2.83)
Coach: Miles Forbes Thomas
Quadruple scull
Annie Vernon (Marlow RC/Wadebridge/01.09.82)/Debbie Flood
(Leander Club/Leeds/27.02.80)/Frances Houghton
(Tyrian Club (Uni of London)/Oxford/19.09.80)/Katherine
Grainger (St Andrew BC/Aberdeen/12.11.75)
Coach: Paul Thompson
MEN
Pair (two boats)
Toby Garbett (Leander Club/Woking, Surrey/14.11.76)/Marcus
Bateman (Leander Club/Torquay/16.09.82)
Oli Moore (OUBC/Burford/22.12.85)Tom Parker (Oxford
Brookes/Winchester/24.10.82)
Coach: Jonny Singfield
Four (2 boats)
Senior
Tom Lucy (Oxford Brookes/Monmouth/01.05.88)/Steve Williams
(Leander Club/Cheltenham/15.04.76)/Peter Reed (Leander Club/
Nailsworth, Glos/27.07.81)/Colin Smith (Leander/Henley on
Thames/23.09.83)
Under 23s
Will Laughton (Uni of London/Douglas IOM/18.6.87) Cameron
Nichol (Uni of London/London/26/06/87) Dan Ritchie (Reading Uni/
Herne Bay Kent/06/01/87) Moe Sbihi (Molesey BC/Surbiton/27.03.88)
Coach: Jurgen Grobler
Eight
Robin Bourne-Taylor (Army RC/Oxford/22.07.81)
Tom Stallard (Leander/Welwyn, Herts/11.09.78)/
Matt Langridge(Leander Club/Northwich/20.05.83)/
Tom Solesbury (Molesey BC/Petts Wood, Kent/23.09.80)/
Josh West (Leander/Santa Fe, USA/25.03.77)/
Richard Egington (Leander/Knutsford/26.02.79)/
Alex Partridge (Leander Club/Alton, Hants/25.01.81)/
Alastair Heathcote (Army RC/London/18.8.77)/
Acer Nethercott (University College Oxford BC/Harlow/28.11.77)
(cox)
Coaches: Mark Banks, John West
Single Scull (two boats)
Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers/Coleraine/09.05.83)
Coach: Bill Barry
Double Scull
Matt Wells (Leander Club/Hexham, Northumberland/19.04.79)/
Stephen Rowbotham (Leander Club/Winscombe, Somerset/11.11.81)
Coach: Mark Earnshaw
Quadruple scull
Simon Fieldhouse (Molesey/Thames Ditton/04.09.76)/Sam Townsend
(Reading Uni/Reading/26.11.85)/Alex Gregory (Reading Uni/
Wormington/11.03.84)/Charles Cousins (Reading Uni/Cambridge/
13.12.88)
Coach: Adrian Cassidy
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull
Andrea Dennis (Wallingford RC/Oxford/03.01.82)
Double scull
Helen Casey (Wallingford RC/Oxford/06.02.74)/
Laura Greenhalgh (Reading Uni/Oxford/02.09.85)
Coach: Rob Morgan
MEN
Pair
Chris Bartley (Leander/Chester 2.2.84)/Rob Williams
(London RC/Maidenhead/21.01.85)
Coach: Robin Williams
Four
Richard Chambers (Oxford Brookes/Coleraine/10.06.85)/
James Lindsay-Fynn (London/Trim/29.09.75)/Paul Mattick
(Wallingford/Oxford/25.04.78)/James Clarke (London RC/
London/31.12.84)
Coach: Robin Williams
Double scull
Zac Purchase (Marlow RC/Tewkesbury, Glos/02.05.86)/
Mark Hunter (Leander Club/Romford, Essex/01.07.78)
Coach: Darren Whiter
