Twelve crews in finals
Britain had another successful day at the world cup in Linz with twelve crews – ten from the Olympic classes – reaching finals.
Britain’s men’s four, sponsored by Camelot, and the lead women’s boat, the quadruple scull, also sponsored by Camelot, are through to their finals without being troubled.
There were also wins for the new lightweight double and men’s four combinations, sponsored by Siemens, as well as for Alan Campbell in the men’s single scull, Colin Smith and Matt Langridge in the men’s pair and Stephen Rowbotham and Matt Wells in the men’s double scull – all Siemens-backed.
"We’ve had a pretty good day but tomorrow is going to be tough given the number of countries entered here. We’ve definitely got some medal chances, though", said GB Performance Director David Tanner after racing today.
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RACE REPORTS
SEMI-FINALS
On the banks, just beyond the Danube in Linz, Austria, it felt momentarily as if the British men’s four, sponsored by Camelot, had a race on their hands from the Dutch who tracked them hard all of last season.
At 500m there was not much to choose between the crews. But anxious GB supporters need not have worried. The quartet of Andy Hodge, Peter Reed, Steve Williams and Alex Partridge seemed to ease into another gear to put distance between themselves and the chasing pack. At the line they were two seconds ahead of the Dutch with Slovenia third. Britain’s winning time was 6:00.93 and their unbeaten run over two seasons has been extended.
"It felt good out there today", said Olympic and world champion Steve Williams. "I think we put in a pretty solid performance and we’re looking forward to tomorrow’s final".
Colin Smith and Matt Langridge are still getting to know each other in racing mode. Today was only their second race as a pair. Depsite losing their early lead to Canada and Germany the duo kept their focus in a mature race to come through and win in a time of 6:38.77.
"We are still on a learning curve", said Smith later of the Siemens-sponsored combination. "It was a world-class semi-final today and I’m pleased we came through and we’re excited about being in the final".
They were followed down the course by world bronze medallists Stephen Rowbotham and Matt Wells who chased after the early leaders from France to get their bow ahead at around the half-way point. By 1250m they were a canvas ahead and then raced in controlled fashion to the line and victory in 6:23.14
"We had a really solid row. We didn’t want to show all our cards today", said Stephen Rowbotham afterwards.
Further sign of the growing strength of British sculling was shown when Alan Campbell, sponsored by Siemens, won his men’s single scull semi-final today. He believes he has "learnt lessons over the winter and matured as a person as well as a sculler". Today he looked very strong. Tomorrow, though, he faces most of the top single scullers in the world bar world champion Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand. Campbell’s winning time today was 6:53.40 and he led the race throughout.
Britain’s men’s quadruple scull – a newly formed boat – were nudged into fourth place in their semi-final today and a B final placing tomorrow but showed signs that they have the potential to progress.
They kept into contention after the Chinese made a dramatic starting surge and were challenging for a final place all the way.
The British men’s eight, stroked by Alastair Heathcote and featuring young newcomer 19 year old Tom Lucy, are through to the final after a second place in the repechage today behind the winners Belarus. The British combination held their place firmly throughout the race.
"We’re a new crew and quite a blend of ages, backgrounds and rowing experience", said Heathcote afterwards.
Natasha Howard and Alison Knowles, making their world cup senior debut as a pair here, are through to tomorrow’s final in a time of 7:17.21. They finished third behind two American crews. The British combination kept in the fight in the first 500m, pressing USA 1 hard.
As the Americans pulled away, though, the British engaged the second American pair in a tussle which lasted from 750m onwards. Eventually they missed out by two seconds at the line.
"We had a solid race today and learnt from yesterday. It was a good start to a season-long project", said Knowles.
Britain’s lighweight men’s double of Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter raced with poise to win their semi-final in 6:29.83 from Greece and Canada who were second and third respectively. Hunter and Purchase bided their time and came through with perfect timing in the latter stages to win.
Their victory and the manner of the lightweight men’s four win has impressed the experts in Linz. One media commentator was moved to say that GB was on the "cusp of a lightweight revolution". Perhaps a touch hyperbolic but nonetheless there has been a significant step up.
Richard Chambers, from the same school, club and town (Coleraine) in Northern Ireland as Alan Campbell was part of the winning lightweight four. Their victory in 6:09.82 came at the expense of Italy and USA who were second and third. Once again the crew emerged with good timing to take top
No such joy transpired for Britain’s lightweight women’s double scull of Hester Goodsell and Helen Casey. They probably put in one of their best performances but were pipped at the line in a tough semi-final by the Chinese duo of Chen Haixia and Yu Hua. The margin was less than a second but it consigned GB to a B final whilst Canada and two Chinese crews progressed to the final.
Daniel Harte and Matt Beechey gamely attacked the lead set by the Dutch crew in the adjacent lane in today’s semi-final of the lightweight men’s pair but had to settle for second place in a time of 7:01.24 – just two second adrift of the winners.
Just minutes after this race the organisers were forced to suspend racing because of severe thunderstorms over the course.
Andrea Dennis put in a strong finish in lane one to qualify in second place for the final of the lightweight single scull behind Cuba. Her compatriot Sophie Hosking was fourth and now in the B final tomorrow.
Alasdair Leighton-Crawford came home sixth in his semi-final, also raced in stair-rods rain, and will be in a B final tomorrow.
REPECHAGES
HEATS
"We’re here to lay down our mark", said Frances Houghton of the world champion women’s quadruple scull’s heat victory today. "We wanted to show the rest of the world what we can do".
If the heats are a sample of things to come in tomorrow’s final then Houghton’s words may well come true. The GB quartert of Houghton, Katherine Grainger, Debbie Flood and Annie Vernon were a length up very early in the race. They extended their lead to two lengths by 750m and never let up. Romania, briefly at the beginning, and France, equally briefly towards the end looked as if they might stage somewhat of a comeback but neither succeeded. GB’s win in 6:31.17 puts them firmly into tomorrow’s final. The other heat was won by China 1 in 6:29.95.
Meanwhile the British women’s eight can be pleased with their performance in today’s heats in which they finished third in 6:19.51. Holland made all the pace in this race and were eventual winners in 6:16.27. Australia came slowly through the field to take second but the British combination made a good start and produced a solid performance to the finish.
The British men’s eight were also third. They came home in 5:39.80, just half a second behind China with Canada winning in 5:37.12. China blasted out early but were caught by Canada before the 500m mark. Britain kept in contention and moved from fourth to third by halfway. At the end they had a seven second margin over fourth-placed Switzerland.
Tom Solesbury had a busy morning for GB. He raced a consolation final in the men’s single scull and two hours later raced for the second GB men’s four in their consolation final.
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RESULTS
SEMI-FINALS
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
1. Megan Cooke/Anna Mickelson (USA 1) 7:12.96
2. Susan Francia/Caroline Lind (USA 2) 7:15.19
3. Natasha Howard/Alison Knowles (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:17.21
4. Zhang Yage/Yang Cuiping (China 1) 7:21.06
5. Sonia Mills/Pheobe Stanley (Australia 1) 7:22.60
6. Nadine Schmutzler/Lenka Wech (Germany 1) 7:23.69
MEN
Pair
Semi-final 2
1. Colin Smith/Matthew Langridge (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:38.77
2. Scott Frandsen/Barney Williams (Canada) 6:41.25
3. Andreas Penkner/Jochen Urban (Germany 1) 6:43.31
4. Gregor Novak/Bostjan Bozic (Slovenia) 6:47.97
5. Anderson Nocetti/Allan Bitencourt (Brazil) 6:48.43
6. Nikola Stojic/Jovan Popovic (Serbia) 6:59.85
Four
Semi-final 1
1. Steve Williams/Peter Reed/Alex Partridge/Andrew Triggs Hodge (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:00.93
2. Netherlands 6:02.80
3. Slovenia 6:05.08
4. Germany 2 6:06.08
5. Greece 6:08.54
6. Romania 6:12.38
Single scull
Semi-final 1
1. Alan Campbell (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:53.40
2. Sjoerd Hamburger (Netherlands) 6:55.40
3. Zhang Liang (China) 7:00.58
4. Luka Spik (Slovakia) 7:00.88
5. Nils-Torolov Simonsen (Norway 2) 7:05.80
6. Tim Maeyens (Belgium) 7:08.20
Double scull
Semi-final 1
1. Matthew Wells/Stephen Rowbotham (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:23.14
2. Jean-Baptiste Macquet/Adrien Hardy (France) 6:24.65
3. Igor Kuzmin/Allar Raja (Estonia) 6:25.77
4. Ioannis Tsamis/Ioannis Christou (Greece) 6:28.95
5. Tomasz Kucharski (Poland 2) 6:34.48
6. Michal Sloma/Marcin Brzezinski (Poland 1) 6:34.58
Quadruple scull
Semi-final 2
1. Germany 2 5:51.44
2. Italy 1 5:53.39
3. Romania 5:55.26
4. Simon Fieldhouse/Sam Townsend/Alex Gregory/Ian Lawson (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:57.44
5. Hungary 6:03.18
6. China 6:05.73
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull
Semi-final 2
1. Ismaray Aria Marrero (Cuba) 8:22.23
2. Andrea Dennis (GREAT BRITAIN) 8:24.44
3. Orla Duddy (Ireland) 8:27.91
4. Sophie Hosking (GREAT BRITAIN) 8:30.06
5. Yaima Velazquez (Cuba 2) 8:32.15
6. Ibtissem Trimech (Tunisia) 8:37.83
Double scull
Semi-final 1
1. Lindsay Jennerich/Tracy Cameron (Canada) 7:08.71
2. Dongxziang Xu/Shimin Yan (China 1) 7:10.23
3. Haixia Chen/Hua Yu (China 3) 7:10.26
4. Helen Casey/Hester Goodsell (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:11.00
5. Laura Milani/Erika Mai (Italy) 7:20.87
6. Sinead Jennings/Niamh Ni Cheilleacher (Ireland) 7:22.97
MEN
Pair
Semi-final 1
1. Roeland Lievens/Paul Drewes (Netherlands) 6:59.20
2. Matt Beechey/Daniel Harte (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:01.24
3. John Sasi/Terence McKall (Canada) 7:04.70
4. Javier Gonzalex Nieto/Juan Luis Fernandez Tomas
(Spain) 7:08.82
5. Olexiy Martynov/Luka Djordjevic (Serbia) 7:16.34
6. Liolios Athanasios/Evangelos Tsourtoulas (Greece) 7:20.31
Four
Semi-final 2
1. Richard Chambers/James Lindsay-Fynn/Paul Mattick/James Clarke (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:09.82
2. Italy 2 6:11.15
3. USA 6:11.38
4. Poland 1 6:11.62
5. France 6:11.83
6. Germany 2 6:13.56
Single scull
Semi-final 1
1. Ilias Papas (Greece) 7:30.31
2. Jaap Schouten (Netherlands 1) 7:32.17
3. Alwin Snijders (Netherlands 2) 7:35.86
4. Rolandas Kazlauskas (Hong Kong 2) 7:41.88
5. Song Zhenggang (China) 7:42.94
6. Alasdair Leighton-Crawford (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:44.29
Double scull
Semi-final 2
1. Zac Purchase/Mark Hunter (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:29.83
2. Vasileios Polymeros (Greece) 6:30.56
3. Matt Jensen/Douglas Vandor (Canada) 6:30.69
4. Fabrice Moreau/Frederic Dufour (France 1) 6:31.40
5. Maxime Goisset/Remi Di Girolamo (France 2) 6:36.11
6. Wouter Van der Fraenen/Kristof Dekeyser (Belgium 1) 6:42.62
REPECHAGES
OPEN
WOMEN
Eight
Repechage 2
1. Germany 1 6:17.03
2. Baz Moffat/Carla Ashford/Georgina Menheneott/Jessica
Eddie/Beth Rodford/Natasha Page/Katie Greves/Louisa
Reeve/Caroline O’Connor (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:18.49
3. China 2 6:26.44
4. Russia 6:27.74
MEN
Eight
Repechage 2
1. Belarus 5:41.65
2. Jonno Devlin/Tom Stallard/Tom Lucy/Hugo Lee/Josh West/
Richard Egington/Robin Bourne-Taylor/Alastair Heathcote/
Acer Nethercott (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:41.95
3. Switzerland 5:43.31
4. Italy 5:43.60
HEATS
OPEN
WOMEN
Eight
Heat 1
1. Netherlands 6:16.27
2. Australia 6:16.87
3. Baz Moffat/Carla Ashford/Georgina Menheneott/Jessica
Eddie/Beth Rodford/Natasha Page/Katie Greves/Louisa
Reeve/Caroline O’Connor (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:19.51
4. China 1 6:23.21
5. Russia 6:42.86
Quadruple scull
Heat 1
1. Annie Vernon/Debbie Flood/Frances Houghton/Katherine
Grainger (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:31.17
2. France 6:34.87
3. Romania 6:37.23
4. Canada 6:38.38
5. Brazil 7:01.44
MEN
Eight
Heat 1
1. Canada 5:37.12
2. China 5:39.37
3. Jonno Devlin/Tom Stallard/Tom Lucy/Hugo Lee/Josh West/
Richard Egington/Robin Bourne-Taylor/Alastair Heathcote/
Acer Nethercott (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:39.80
4. Switzerland 5:46.51
5. France 5:48.18
6. Poland 5:50.20
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GB CREWS FOR FIRST WORLD CUP OF 2007
LINZ, AUSTRIA, 1-3 JUNE
(listed bow to stroke with club/home town/date of birth
in brackets after name)
OPEN
WOMEN
WOMEN
Pair
Alison Knowles (Thames RC/Bournemouth/27.3.82)/
Natasha Howard (Tideway Scullers/West Runton/3.9.80)
Eight
Baz Moffat (Thames RC/Bradford/8.4.78)/Jess Eddie (Uni of
London/Durham/7.10.84)/Georgina Menheneott (Mortlake, Anglian & Alpha
RC/North Bradley, Wilts /18.12.78)
Louise Reeve (Leander/…./16.05.84)/Beth Rodford (Thames
RC/Burton-on-Trent/
28.12.82)/Carla Ashford (Thames RC/Northallerton/13.3.79)/
Katie Greves (Uni of London/Oxford/2.9.82)/Natasha Page
(Reading Uni/Hartpury/30.4.85)/Caroline O’Connor (Oxford Brookes/
Ealing/25.4.83)
Quadruple scull
Debbie Flood (Leander Club/Leeds/27.2.80)/Annie Vernon
(Thames RC/Wadebridge/1.9.82)/Fran Houghton
(Uni of London/Oxford/19.9.80)/Katherine Grainger
(St Andrew BC/Aberdeen/12.11.75)
MEN
Pair
Colin Smith (Leander/Henley on Thames/3.9.83)/Matt Langridge
(Leander/Northwich/20.5.83)
Four – two boats
Steve Williams (Leander Club/Cheltenham/15.4.76)/Peter
Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth, Glos/27.7.81)/Alex
Partridge (Leander Club/Alton, Hants/25.1.81)/Andy
Triggs Hodge (Molesey BC/Hebden, N.Yorks/3.8.79)
Marcus Bateman (Leander/Torquay/16.9.82)/Tom Parker
(OUBC/Winchester/24.10.82)/Kieran West (CUBC/West Byfleet/
18.9.77)/James Orme (Leander/Colchester/1.4.84)
Eight
Jonno Devlin (Oxford Brookes/Putney/17.3.76)/Tom Stallard
(Leander/Welwyn, Herts/11.9.78)/Tom Lucy (Oxford Brookes/
Monmouth/1.5.88)/Hugo Lee (Oxford Brookes/Jedburgh/5.3.84)/
Josh West (Leander/Santa Fe/25.3.77)/Richard Egington
(Leander/Knutsford/26.2.79)/Robin Bourne-Taylor (Army
RC/Oxford/22.7.81)/
Alastair Heathcote (Army RC/London/18.08.77)/Acer Nethercott
(OUBC/Harlow/28.11.77)
Single Scull
Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers/Coleraine/9.5.83)
Double Scull
Matt Wells (Leander Club/Hexham, Northumberland/19.4.79)/
Stephen Rowbotham (Leander Club/Winscombe, Somerset/11.11.81)
Quadruple scull
Simon Fieldhouse (Molesey/Thames Ditton/4.9.76)/Sam Townsend
(Reading Uni/Reading/26.11.85)/Alex Gregory (Reading Uni/
Wormington/11.3.84)/Ian Lawson (Leander/Oltey, W.Yorks/4.3.77)
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull (two boats)
Andrea Dennis (Wallingford RC/…../03.01.82)
Sophie Hosking (Durham Uni/Wimbledon/25.01.86)
Double scull (two boats)
Helen Casey (Wallingford RC/Oxford/6.2.74)/
Hester Goodsell (Rob Roy/Cambridge/27.6.84)
Jane Hall (Leander/Caversham/20.10.73)/
Mathilde Pauls (Imperial College BC/…../26.09.83)
MEN
Pair
Matt Beechey (Leander/Worcester/3.4.77)/Daniel
Harte (London/Edinburgh/12.12.75)
Four
Richard Chambers (Oxford Brookes/Coleraine/10.6.85)/
James Lindsay-Fynn (London/Trim/29.9.75)/Paul Mattick
(Wallingford/Oxford/25.4.78)/James Clarke (London RC/
London/13.12.84)
Single scull
Alasdair Leighton-Crawford (Tideway
Scullers/Richmond-upon-Thames/09.12.81)
Double scull
Mark Hunter (Leander Club/Romford, Essex/1.7.78)/
Zac Purchase (Marlow RC/Tewkesbury, Glos/2.5.86)
