Stong World Cup Opener for Great Britain

June 1, 2007

Great Britain’s rowers were quick out of the blocks in the opening heats of the first world cup of the season today in Linz, Austria, recording seven heat wins and qualifying for seven semi-finals and four quarter-finals – all bar two of these coming in the Olympic class boats.

"This morning’s racing has been a very positive start to the season", said GB Rowing’s Performance Director, David Tanner. "It will get harder from here but it shows that our crews are capable of sucess".

The Camelot-backed men’s four and the Siemens-sponsored men’s single scull, men’s double scull, men’s pair, women’s pair, lightweight men’s double scull and lightweight men’s four were all heat winnners.

Perhaps the most thrilling win of the morning came from the lightweight men’s four of Richard Chambers, James Lindsay-Fynn, Paul Mattick and James Clarke. This new combination held off stiff opposition to win in 6:12.07 in one of the toughest Olympic boat classes.

Britain’s men’s and women’s eights and the women’s quadruple scull are yet to race. They will have their heats tomorrow.

SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================== ===============================
RACE REPORTS

HEATS

Racing in today’s morning heats took place in sunny and still conditions on the sheltered course which is part of a lake off the Danube.

FISA are testing a new progression system here in Linz and many events now have quarter-finals as well as semi-finals depending on the number of entries in each event, others still have repechages and semi-finals. For more details of this new system see: www.worldrowing.com

The British men’s four of Steve Williams, Alex Partridge, Peter Reed and Andy Hodge made light work of their opening race of the season in the heats here. The Camelot-sponsored quartet were ahead by 500m then moved to a two-length lead over the next 300m and won in 6:16.44 from Denmark (6:21.09) to secure a place in tomorrow’s semi-finals.

"It’s good to start racing", said Olympic champion Williams afterwards. "We worked on our pace, length and rhythm in the middle of the race today and didn’t make any signficant moves".

Britain’s second men’s four of James Orme, Marcus Bateman, Kieran West and Tom Parker were fourth in a time of 6:19.77 and now face a repechage this evening.

Colin Smith and Matthew Langridge, world cup debutantes as a men’s pair and part of Jurgen Grobler’s "coxless six" for this season, made a mark by winning their heat in 6:52.83 by leading throughout. Poland were second, five seconds behind, and move through to tomorrow’s semi-finals with the British combination.

Matt Wells and Stephen Rowbotham were also heat winners in the men’s double scull – an event in which they were world championships bronze medallists last year. They also moved out after the 500m mark to take a commanding lead and won in 6:37.55 from Estonia. The victory puts them through to tomorrow’s semi-finals.

Alan Campbell, the overall world cup winner from last season, put himself a boat length ahead of the rest in his opening men’s single scull heat this morning. Norway became his nearest rival in the first half of the course but Zhang Liang, a Chinese youngster, moved up to take second behind Campbell in the latter stages. The man from Coleraine is now into
tomorrow’s semi-finals in a qualifying time of 7:04.18.

"He did exactly what he was asked to do", said his coach Bill Barry today. "He got in front and then did only what was needed to win. All the other big names in the event did the same".

Tom Solesbury, who has spent some of the later Winter and early Spring recovering from injury, was third in his heat of the men’s single scull in 7:28.34 and was chasing second-placed Frenchman Pierre-Jean Peltier at the finish. He will now race a repechage later this afternoon.

Britains’ newly-formed men’s quadruple scull of Simon Fieldhouse, Sam Townsend, Alex Gregory and Ian Lawson, were the last GB open weight GB men’s crew to race in the heats this morning under suddenly thundery skies. They were third and now race in a repechage this evening.

Alison Knowles and Natasha Howard made a storming start to their 2007 world cup campaign in the women’s pair this morning by winning their heat in 7:36.92. By the 750m mark they were a length up and took control. Australia were second. The duo now race in this afternoon’s quarter-finals.

Helen Casey and Hester Goodsell are also a new world cup combination for Britain this season. They were in contention for the lead early in their heat before finishing a strong second in 7:25.75 to qualify for this evening’s quarter-finals.

Mathilde Pauls, making her world cup debut for GB, and Jane Hall will join them there after finishing third in their heat in a time of
7:34.43.

Britain’s two lightweight men’s Olympic-class boats had a good morning. Both won their heats. For the lightweight men’s four of Richard Chambers, James Lindsay-Fynn, Paul Mattick and James Clarke, who impressed the experts with the progress they have made over the winter, this means a move into tomorrow’s semi-finals. They won today in 6:12.07 from Denmark who fought to get back at the British quartet all the way down the course without any ultimate success.

Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter, in the lightweight men’s double scull, are through to the quarter-finals this evening, courtesy of a winning time of 6:44.05 ahead of Austria in second.

Matt Beechey and Daniel Harte put their experience to good purpose in the heats of the lightweight men’s pair in Austria this morning. They gradually moved up the field from third place at 500m to win in 6:52.15 and book a place in tomorrow’s semi-finals. Italy were second and Spain third.

Sophie Hosking led from the outset of her lightweight women’s single and has qualified for tomorrow’s semi-finals.

Andrea Dennis, meanwhile, came third in the fastest heat of the day to move into the afternoon’s repechages.

Alisdair Leighton-Crawford also races a repechage this afternoon. He led his heat in the first 500m but was overhauled by Jaap Schouten of the Netherlands, with only the winner qualifying for the semi-final.

Britain’s men’s and women’s eights and women’s quadruple scull all open their campaign here with heats tomorrow.

SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================== ===============================
RESULTS

HEATS

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair

Heat 2
1. Natasha Howard/Alison Knowles (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:36.92
2. Sonia Mills/Phoebe Stanley (Australia 1) 7:41.17
3. Kerstin Naumann/Marlene Sinnig (Germany 2) 7:45.66
4. Joannie Lafez/Elodie Rubaud (France2) 7:50.64
5. Yu Fei/Mu Suli (China) 7:53.38

MEN

Pair

Heat 2
1. Colin Smith/Matthew Langridge (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:52.83
2. Dawid Paczes/Lukasz Kardas (Poland) 6:57.33
3. Wu Lin/Zhang Ningtao (China) 7:00.24
4. Anderson Nocetti/Allan Bitencourt (Brazil) 7:02.23
5. Sebastian Kosiorek/Slawomir Kruszkowski (Poland 2) 7:14.89
6. Donatas Buivydas/Einaras Siaudvytis (Lithuania) 7:22.77

Four

Heat 1
1. Steve Williams/Peter Reed/Alex Partridge/Andy Hodge
(GREAT BRITAIN) 6:16.44
2. Denmark 6:21.09
3. Croatia 2 6:25.14
4. Italy 1 6:28.44
5. Serbia 6:31.79
6. Brazil 6:33.41

Heat 4
1. France 6:12.19
2. Slovenia 6:14.94
3. Croatia 1 6:16.74
4. James Orme/Marcus Bateman/Kieran West/Tom Parker
(GREAT BRITAIN) 6:19.77
5. Spain 6:24.66
6. China 6:26.25

Single scull

Heat 4
1. Alan Campbell (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:05.18
2. Zhang Liang (China) 7:07.70
3. Nils-Torolv Simonsen (Norway) 7:15.46
4. Joao Santos (Portugal) 7:39.12

Double scull

Heat 3
1. Matthew Wells/Stephen Rowbotham (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:37.55
2. Igor Kuzmin/Allar Raja (Estonia 2) 6:42.67
3. Tomasz Kucharski/Robert Sycz (Poland 2) 6:47.60
4. Jean Smerghetto/Pier Giorgio Negrini (Italy) 6:52.16
5. Kestutis Keblys/Mindaugas Griskonis (Lithuania) 6:54.65
6. Saim & Sami Kaya (Turkey) 6:58.28

Quadruple scull

Heat 3
1. Italy 1 5:54.14
2. France 5:55.05
3. Simon Fieldhouse/Sam Townsend/Alexander Gregory/
Ian Lawson (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:03.88
4. Ireland 6:08.19.
5. Italy 2 6:12.19

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Single scull

Heat 2
1. Sophie Hosking (GREAT BRITAIN 2) 8:09.19
2. Daniela Reimer (Germany 2) 8:10.57
3. Daniela Nachazelova (Czech Republic) 8:14.51
4. Erika Bello (Italy 1) 8:14.83
5. Ibtissem Trimech (Tunisia) 8:19.63
6. Carola Tamboloni (Italy 2) 8:23.37

Heat 3
1. Laura Tasch (Germany 1) 7:59.99
2. Ismaray Aria Marrero (Cuba 1) 8:02.53
3. Andrea Dennis (GREAT BRITAIN 1) 8:03.80
4. Yaima Velazquez (Cuba 2) 8:12.48
5. Anne Touminet (France) 8:13.10

Double scull

Heat 1
1. Katrin Olsen/Juliane Rasmussen (Denmark 1) 7:23.15
2. Helen Casey/Hester Goodsell (GREAT BRITAIN 1) 7:25.75
3. Fan Xuefei/Liu Jing (China 4) 7:28.29
4. Analicia Ramirez/Lila Perezrul (Mexico) 7:29.16
5. Elizabeth-Anne Sparg/Catherine Shaw (South Africa 1) 7:39.23

Heat 4
1. Chen Haixia/Yu Hua (China) 7:26.42
2. Sinead Jennings/Niamh Cheilleacher (Ireland) 7:32.12
3. Jane Hall/Mathilde Pauls (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:34.43
4. Lena & Sara Karlsson (Sweden) 7:41.56

MEN

Pair

Heat 3
1. Matt Beechey/Daniel Harte (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:52.15
2. Andrea Caianiello/Armando Dell’Aquila (Italy 1) 6:57.80
3. Javier Gonzalez Nieto/Juan Luis Tomas Fernandez (Spain)
7:00.26
4. Olexiy Martynov/Luka Djordjevic (Serbia) 7:22.86

Four

Heat 2
1. Richard Chambers/James Lindsay-Fynn/Paul Mattick
James Clarke (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:12.07
2. Denmark 6:14.95
3. Italy 2 2 6:24.89
4. Czech Republic 6:35.03
5. Poland 2 6:39.96
6. Guatemala 6:46.27

Single scull

Heat 3
1. Jaap Schouten (Netherlands 1) 7:15.86
2. Alasdair Leighton-Crawford (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:23.10
3. Rolandas Kazlaurkas (Hong Kong 2) 7:24.97
4. Luca Moncada (Italy 1) 7:27.02
5. Matti Jaeaeskelainen (Finland) 7:28.08
6. Mohamed Mhenni (Tunisia) 7:45.58

Double scull

Heat 4
1. Zac Purchase/Mark Hunter (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:44.05
2. Julisuz Madecki/Sebastian Sageder (Austria 1) 6:47.44
3. Ahmet Yumrukaya/Cem Yilmaz (Turkey) 6:53.42
4. Rodolfo Collazo Tourn/Javier Angel Garcia (Uruguay) 6:55.08
5. Bernd Wakolbinger/Max Grass (Austria 2) 6:59.81

SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================== ===============================
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

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)