Nine medals for Britain at Poznan World Cup

Great Britain won nine medals at the  season’s second world cup which finished in Poznan, Poland, today. Six of them came in the Olympic classes and both Camelot-backed flagship crews took golds. The men’s four and women’s quadruple scull both dominated their races – the women coming back to beat the Chinese who defeated them in the heats.
Alan Campbell, Britain’s new-find single sculler took silver behind world champion Mahe Drysdale, of New Zealand. There were bronzes for the open weight and lightweight men’s doubles and for the women’s eight who beat the 2005 World champions, Australia, to make the podium.

Today’s tally of six medals came on top of  three lightweight men’s medal from yesterday’s finals, including two golds.

"We knew this would be a tougher regatta", said GB Team Manager David Tanner, after racing. "We have less golds but some exceptional result across the team. Once again our flagship crews have delivered but watch out, too, for Alan Campbell in the single and our doubles who have
established themselves on the world stage here as well as our women’s eight".

The next world cup is in Lucerne, Switzerland, in a month’s time.

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RACE REPORTS

In contrast to yesterday’s hot, windless conditions, today’s racing in Poland took place under grey skies, intermittent rain and with an inconsistent cross to cross-tail wind.

The British men’s four, tested in Munich last month, dominated here in Poznan.

Peter Reed described the Camelot-backed crew’s performance as "better, cleaner and more organised". His crew-mate Andy Hodge echoed the sentiment.  "We’ve made
good improvements since Munich", he said after a win in 5:44.92 ahead of Slovenia in second with New Zealand third.

"The other crews have been probably  studying our times", added Reed.  "I know we have a quick start but I was also aware that Slovenia and New Zealand were still  with us at the beginning. They are human beings, too, though, so I knew they would pay for that effort later".

By the 1500m mark, the British were three seconds up on Slovenia and eight ahead of New Zealand. From there the result was pretty much foregone.

Katherine Grainger, Fran Houghton, Sarah Winckless
and Debbie Flood in the British women’s quadruple scull, also supported by Camelot, were loathe to fall to the same fate as they suffered in the opening heats here when the Chinese took the reigning world champions by surprise in the final 500m.

They began strongly today and had a lead of over two seconds on the Chinese by the midway point with Germany in third.

As the raced moved into its third quarter Germany had marginally moved ahead of China to take second position.  The British still had a lead of over two seconds.

Just as in the heat, though, the Chinese mounted a counter-attack with Germany also showing strongly in the far-side lane.

As the Chinese came back to within half a length, the British combination went up a gear and surged ahead to win by just over a second.

"It felt good from the start", said. "We knew where our pushes were coming and we felt confident".

As the women’s quadruple scull moved out from the medal ceremony pontoon they had a prime slot to cheer on their counterparts  in the women’s eight who were flying past to take bronze in their final ahead of the 2005 World Champions, Australia.

The GB eight moved steadily up from fifth place at the 500m mark putting in a surge in the second 500m to move up into third. It was a position they held onto despite a big push from Australia. Ahead of the British, Romania were the race winners with China in second.

"We nearly left it too late, perhaps we were a bit relaxed on the start but it was a good result in the end", said stroke Elise Laverick.

New single sculling talent Alan Campbell blasted away from the start of his final today. By 500m he was a length up on Mahe Drysdale the World Champion from New Zealand  – the man who beat him in yesterday’s semi-finals and who is often his training partner at London’s Tideway Scullers club.

By 1500m, though, the experienced Drysdale had reeled him back in and overtaken.  Did Campbell have a finishing sprint left after the initial effort?

Yes, but it was not quite enough.  Drysdale took victory by around three-quarters of a length on the line. The winning time of 6:39.12 was just three seconds off the world best time set by Marcel Hacker, today’s bronze medallist, four years ago in a raging tail wind at the world championships in Seville.

"It really was a good battle today", said Campbell afterwards. "I knew Mahe was going to be the strongest competition. He deserved to win. He’s the one to beat".

The men’s double scull combination of Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham made a good start and were in third by the 500m mark with Slovenia and France leading the race at that stage.

In a closely bunched leading pack the British duo were fourth, just a whisker behind Germany in third, at the mid-way point but still in touch ahead of Hungary and the Ukraine.

By 1500m they were just four tenths behind Germany and battling for bronze. As the line approached France were the clear leaders but a huge battle broke out behind them.  Britain overhauled the Germans and held off a finishing burst by the Hungarians to take bronze with Slovenia in silver medal position.  France’s winning time was a world best time.

"It’s incredible what’s happening to British sculling",  said Stephen Rowbotham after the race.  "First Alan in the single and now we’re going well, too".

"We were aware of everything that was going on
around us at the end. It was a good race, especially as Steve came out of his seat on the first stroke at the start", said Wells.

Their lightweight men’s double scull team-mates were not to be outdone on this fast Poznan course today.  James Lindsay-Fynn and Mark Hunter took world cup bronze in a race won by Denmark with Italy second.

The British duo put themselves into contention early in the race. They battled hard with Australia who overhauled them to move into second place in the second 500m but who dropped back down after a strong GB push in the third 500m.

In the race for the line, Britain held onto bronze despite a final effort from the Australians.

"We knew we were capable of doing it today", said Lindsay-Fynn after the race.  "We just needed to tick over at a higher rate", added Hunter.  "It’s important that we keep stepping up in this  tough Olympic class", concluded Lindsay-Fynn.

The lightweight men’s four were next on the course.
Egypt made the best start in this final with Great Britain in second. Ireland moved through to take the lead at the midway point.  In a superbly contested finish the British quartet were rowed out of the medals in the dying metres by a superb spurt from both Australia, eventual silver medallists, with Egypt coming back to take bronze ahead of Germany.

The result, though, was a significant step forward for this British crew.

Annie Vernon and Anna Bebington, world cup winners last month, found themselves facing world and Olympic champions, the Evers-Swindell sisters also of New Zealand, in their final today in Poznan as well as stiffer Australian and Chinese opposition.

Today the New Zealanders and the Chinese got off to the best starts, leaving Vernon and Bebington in fifth place at the 500m mark behind two Australian crews.

In the second 500m they attempted to mount a fightback but were still fifth at 1000m and at 1500m and, whilst they still looked relatively  strong in the final 500m they made no impression on the leaders to finish fifth in 6:51.82.

Helen Casey and Jane Hall have been newly-formed as a combination in the lightweight women’s double scull this season.

With every race they have made improvements. Today they raced in their first major final. Whilst they were sixth overall in 7:05.20 they were not out of touch at the line in a race won by China in 6:49.77 – a world’s best time.

In the morning’s B Finals, U23 squad member Alex Gregory put in a storming final 300m to finish third.  His result put him in the top nine single scullers in the world this weekend.

In a tightly-bunched finish to the men’s  eight B final, Britain’s second-ranked crew, composed largely of U23s and world class start athletes, emerged briefly into second place but could not quite hold off the faster-finishing Estonian crew and were nudged into third place on the line.

Britain’s lightweight women’s doubles crews of Hester Goodsell/Jenny Goldsack and Lindsay Dick/Antonia van Deventer were third and fourth respectively in their B final. For each crew, their participation here represented a battle to come back from injuries.

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RESULTS – POZNAN WORLD CUP
FINALS DAY – Saturday 17th, 2006

(Crews bow to stroke – plus cox – clubs
in brackets. GB crews only.  Full results
at:  www.worldrowing.com)

FINALS

OPEN

WOMEN

Eight
1.  Romania 6:04.22
2.  China 6:08.00
3.  Baz Moffat/Alison Knowles/Vicki Etiebet/Carla Ashford/
     Natasha Howard/Natasha Page/Katie Greves/Elise
     Laverick (GREAT BRITAIN)  6:09.63
4.  Australia 6:10.33
5.  France 6:16.03
6.  Belarus 6:16.20

Double scull
1.  Georgina & Caroline Evers-Swindell (New Zealand)  6:42.96
2.  Dana Faletic/Sally Kehoe (Australia)  6:44.16
3.  Catriona Sens/Sonia Mills (Australia) 6:44.28
4.  Li Qin/Tian Ling (China 3)  6:45.46
5.  Annie Vernon/Anna Bebington (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:51.82
6.  Yana Dementieva/Natalia Ryzhkova (Ukraine)  6:55.38

Quadruple scull
1.  Debbie Flood/Sarah Winckless/Frances Houghton/
     Katherine Grainger (GREAT BRITAIN)  6:15.32
2.  China 6:16.60
3.  Germany 6:18.75
4.  Denmark 6:21.74
5.  Romania 6:26.12
6.  Australia 6:27.35

MEN

Four
1. Alex Partridge/Steve Williams/Peter Reed/Andy Hodge
     (GREAT BRITAIN)  5:44.92
2.  Slovenia 5:47.81
3.  New Zealand 5:51.07
4.  Czech Republic 5:51.93
5.  Ireland 5:56.22
6.  Poland 6:02.52

Single scull
1.  Mahe Drysdale (New Zealand)  6:39.12
2.  Alan Campbell (GREAT BRITAIN)  6:41.82
3.  Marcel Hacker (Germany)  6:44.70
4.  Lassi Karonen (Sweden)  6:46.34
5.  Olaf Tufte (Norway)  6:46.51
6.  Ariel Suarez (Argentina)  7:04.19

Double scull
1.  Jean-Baptiste Macquet/Adrien Hardy (France)  6:03.25
2.  Luka Spik/Iztok Cop (Slovenia)  6:04.44
3. Matthew Wells/Stephen Rowbotham (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:04.57
4.  Akos Haller/Tibor Peto (Hungary)  6:04.82
5.  Rene Bertram/Robert Sens (Germany)  6:05.76
6.  Zaitsev Kostyantyn/Hennadii Zakhachenko (Ukraine 1)  6:14.93

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Double scull
1.  Xu Dongxiang/Yan Shimin (China)  6:49.77
2.  Fan Xuefei/Chen Haixia (China 2)  6:52.78
3.  Sinead Jennings/Niamh Ni Cheilleachair (Ireland)  6:57.38
4.  Magdalena Kemnitz/Ilona Mokronowska (Poland)  7:00.36
5.  Sanna Sten/Minna Nieminen (Finland)  7:02.06
6.  Jane Hall/Helen Casey (GREAT BRITAIN)  7:05.20

MEN

Four
1.  Ireland  5:55.23
2.  Australia 5:56.70
3.  Egypt 5:56.80
4.  Germany 5:57.22
5.  Matt Beechey/Daniel Harte/Paul Mattick/James
     Clarke (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:57.62
6.  China 5:59.90

Double scull
1.  Mads Rasmussen/Rasmus Quist (Denmark)  6:13.52
2.  Marcello Miani/Elia Luini (Italy)  6:17.04
3.  James Lindsay-Fynn/Mark Hunter (GREAT BRITAIN)  6:19.92
4.  Tom Gibson/Sam Beltz (Australia) 6:21.62
5.  Yunior Perez/Eyder Batista (Cuba)  6:24.00
6.  Nuno Mendes/Pedro Fraga (Portugal)  6:31.17

B FINALS

OPEN

MEN

Eight

1.  Egypt 5:38.19
2.  Estonia 5:39.93
3.  Matthew Tucker/Ryan Davies/Nick Lloyd/James Orme/
     Sam Townsend/Tom Parker/Marcus Bateman/Simon
     Fieldhouse/Seb Pearce (GREAT BRITAIN)  5:40.63
4.  Ukraine 5:42.81

Single scull
1.  Yoennis Hernandez Arruez (Cuba)  6:57.74
2.  Gabor Bencsik (Hungary) 7:00.43
3.  Alex Gregory (GREAT BRITAIN 2)  7:01.70
4.  Daniel Frateanu (Romania)  7:03.25
5.  Christof Uhl (Austria 1)  7:05.05
6.  Loenid Gulov (Estonia 1)  7:13.63

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Double scull
1.  Daniela Reimer/Marie-Louise Draeger (Germany)  7:01.47
2.  Liu Jing/Chen Lihong (China)  7:03.95
3.  Hester Goodsell/Jennifer Goldsack (GREAT BRITAIN 2)  7:07.44
4.  Lindsay Dick/Antonia van Deventer (GREAT BRITAIN 3) 7:07.64
5.  Lena & Sara Karlsson (Sweden)  7:12.88
6.  Ola Ahmed/Manal Hassan (Egypt)  8:02.37

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GB ROWING SQUADS = HOME TOWNS LIST

BRITISH ROWING SQUADS

NAME            D.O.B/PLACEofBIRTH/HOMETOWN/LIVING/ROWING CLUB

Carla Ashford        13.3.79/Northallerton, N.Yorks/Masham, N.Yorks/Brentford/
Chris Bartley        2.284/Farndon, Cheshire/Nottingham/Notts Uni
Marcus Bateman    16.9.82/Bermuda/Torquay/Henley on Thames/Reading Uni
Anna Bebington    13.2.83/Leek, Staffs/Leek/Crowthorne, Berks/Leander
Matt Beechey        3.4.77/Worcester/Worcester/Henley on Thames/Leander
Nick Brodie        6.8.96/Oxford    /Oxford/Oxford/OUBC
Alan Campbell        5.9.83/Coleraine/Coleraine/Mortlake/Tideway Scullers
Helen Casey        6.2.74/Stockport/Oxford/Oxford/Wallingford
Richard Chambers    10.6.85/??/??/Oxford/Oxford Brookes
James Clarke        13.12.84/London/London/Durham/Durham Uni
Ryan Davies        16.2.85/??/Henley on Thames/Oxford Brookes
Jonno Devlin        17.3.76/South Africa/Oxford/Putney/Oxford Brookes
Lindsay Dick        27.7.71/Strathaven/??/??Glasgow RC
Jess Eddie        7.10.84/Durham/Durham/Chiswick/Uni of London
Richard Egington    26.2.79/Knutsford/n/a/Henley on Thames/Leander
Robin Ejsmond-Frey    14.3.86/London/Hammersmith/Oxford/OUBC
Nick English        11.5.78/Coventry/Whitley Bay/Nottingham/Notts&Union
Simon Fieldhouse    4.9.76    n/a/n/a/Thames Ditton, Sy/Molesey
Debbie Flood        27.2.80/Harrogate/Leeds/Henley on Thames/Leander
Toby Garbett        14.11.76/Chertsey, Sy/West Byfleet/Ascot, Berks/Leander
Hester Goodsell    27.6.84/London/London/Cambridge/Rob Roy
Katherine Grainger    11.12.75/Glasgow/Aberdeen/Bisham, Bucks/St Andrew
Alex Gregory        11.3.84n/a/Wormington/Reading/Reading Uni
Katie Greves        2.9.82/London/Oxford/Mortlake/Uni of London
Joanna Hammond    28.1.80/Leamington Spa/Leamington/Cambridge/Leander
Daniel Harte        12.12.75n/a/n/a/Putney/London
Mike Hennessy        24.12.76/London/Deptford/Chiswick/Tideway Scullers
Rob Hollis        14.2.84/Wendover/Monmouth/Cowley/Oxford Brookes
Naomi Hoogesteger    22.5.81n/a/Wells/Spennymoor/Durham Uni
Frances Houghton    19.9.80/Oxford/Oxford/Putney/Uni of London
Natasha Howard    3.9.80/Harare, Zimbabwe/West Runton/Chiswick/Tideway Scullers
Mark Hunter        1.7.78/Forest Gate, London/Romford/Cadmore End, Bucks/Leander
Tom James        3.11.84/Cardiff/Wrexham/Cambridge/CUBC
Simon Jones        8.6.78n/a/n/a/Cropwell Butler/Leander
Alison Knowles        27.3.82/Bournemouth/Bournemouth/Putney, London/Thames Matthew Langridge    20.5.83/Northwich, Cheshire/Northwich/Henley on Thames/Leander
Elise Laverick        27.7.75/Rustington, Sx/Poling, W Sx/Putney/Thames
Ian Lawson        4.3.77/Bradford/Otley, W.Yks/Henley on Thames/Leander
Hugo Lee        5.3.84/Guildford/Jeburgh, Scottish Border/Oxford/Oxford Brookes
James Lindsay-Fynn    29.9.75/Dublin/Trim, Ireland/London/London
Rachel Loveridge    7.5.80/Swindon/Hayling Island/Putney/Thames
Tim Male        9.7.75/Yeovil, So/Yeovil/Chiswick/Tideway Scullers
Paul Mattick        25.4.78n/a/Oxford/Wallingford
Acer Nethercott    28.11.77/Newmarket/Harlow, Ex/Oxford/OUBC
Lorna Norris        23.12.75n/a/na/a/Mortlake/Mortlake Anglian
Caroline O’Connor    25.4.83Ealing/Ealing/Ealing/Oxford Brookes   
Natasha Page        30.4.85n/a/Hartpury/Reading/Reading Uni
Charlie Palmer        25.10.78/Melbourne    Hagley, Tasmania/Cambridge/CUBC
Tom Parker        24.10.82/Hammersmith/Winchester/Oxford/OUBC
Alex Partridge        25.1.81/San Francisco/Alton, Hants/East Sheen/Leander
Seb Pearce        10/5/82/?/Bromsgrove/Oxford/OUBC
Peter Reed        27.7.81/Seattle, USA/Nailsworth/Oxford/Leander
Beth Rodford        28.12.82/Burton/Trent/Gloucester/Cowley/Thames   
Steve Rowbotham    11.11.81n/a/Winscombe/West Molesey/Leander
Rebecca Rowe        16.5.81/Bridgend/Cardiff/Cardiff/Rebecca
Phil Simmons        6.2.75/Wimbledon/Thames Ditton/Thames Ditton/Molesey
Colin Smith        3.9.83/ Harare, Zimbabwe/Henley on Thames/Oxford/OUBC
Tom Stallard        11.9.78/London/Welwyn, Herts/London/Leander
James Stephenson    4.4.77/n/aChipstead/Thames Ditton    /Molesey
Florence Temple    11.3.79/Harlow/Northampton/Putney/Thames
Sam Townsend    n/a/ Reading/Reading/Reading/Reading Uni
Andrew Triggs Hodge    3.8.79/Aylesbury/Hebden, Skipton/East Molesey/Molesey
Matt Tucker        5.1.85/??/Winkfield, Nr Windsor/Oxford Brookes
Antonia van Deventer    23.7.78/?/London/Rob Roy
Annie Vernon        1.9.82n/a/Wadebridge, Cornwall/Marlow, Bucks/Thames
Matthew Wells        19.4.79/Bradford/Hexham, Northumberland/East Sheen/Uni of London
Josh West        25.3.77/Santa Fe, USA/Santa Fe/Oxford/Leander
Kieran West MBE    18.9.77/Kingston-upon-Thames/W. Byfleet/Mortlake/CUBC
Steve Williams        15.4.76/Warwick/Cheltenham/Henley/Leander
Sarah Winckless    18.10.73/Reading/Hurley, Bucks/Marlow, Bucks/Walbrook