July 28, 2007 News British Rowing NewsBritish Rowing EventsRowing CommunityGB Rowing TeamCompetitions and ClubsIndoor RowingPartners#YourStoriesArchive Best GB showing in-depth at World U23s GB Rowing Team GB rowers produced Britain’s best in-depth performance to date at any World U23 championships by qualifying 11 from 12 possible boats for tomorrow’s finals due to be held at Strathclyde Park. In choppy and breezy conditions the men’s eight and pair were both semi-final winners today. They will be joined in the finals by three other crews who emerged from semi-finals today alongside six further crews who had already reached the finals through heat wins or placings in yesterday’s repechages. Only Ben Smith, in the men’s single scull, failed to progress after catching a crab seconds before the line in his semi-final today.ADVERT "We’ve had a great regatta so far after some good training at Caversham (GB Rowing’s training centre)", said Drew Robertson, the GB Team Manager. "Conditions have been difficult and all the crews performed well". The British men’s eight caught the eye today. They went out quickly and had a commanding lead by halfway from where they countered attacks mounted by both Estonia and the USA before winning in 5:37.01. Robertson was also pleased with the men’s pair who "raced with great maturity". They put themselves in contention in the early part of the race before moving through the field to win in 6:41.00 ahead of Italy. There were also strong performances from the GB single sculler Ruth Walczak, who led all the way before being pipped in the final metres, and from the lightweight women’s double scull who were not fazed when Greece bolted out of the blocks only to fade further down the course. "They kept their focus and raced their own race", said Robertson. The GB women’s four, who won their heat to qualify, will be amongst the ones to watch tomorrow. They could have a battle in store with Australia. Britain’s men’s double may also have a medal chance after winning their heat to qualify in style. SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE =============================== =============================== SEMI-FINAL RESULTS (Races with GB crews only. Full results www.worldrowing.com) OPEN WOMEN Single scull Semi-final 1 1. Ukraine 7:49.99 2. GREAT BRITAIN 7:50.22 3. Hungary 7:55.69 4. Finland 7:56.98 5. El Salvador 8:19.27 6. Russia 8:24.21 MEN Pair Semi-final 1 1. GREAT BRITAIN 6:41.00 2. Italy 6:42.77 3. Ukraine 6:44.20 4. Slovenia 6:48.51 5. Georgia 6:53.91 6. Switzerland 6:59.67 Four Semi-final 1 1. Serbia 6:04.28 2. GREAT BRITAIN 6:05.89 3. New Zealand 6:06.14 4. Croatia 6:10.97 5. Ukraine 6:12.87 6. Poland 6:14.49 Eight Semi-final 2 1. GREAT BRITAIN 5:37.01 2. Estonia 5:38.65 3. USA 5:38.79 4. Canada 5:41.75 5. Spain 5:47.98 6. Netherlands 5:58.68 Single Scull Semi-final 2 1. Lithuania 7:03.25 2. Germany 7:04.91 3. Monaco 7:06.92 4. GREAT BRITAIN 7:09.06 5. Latvia 7:10.16 6. Mexico 7:11.48 LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN Double scull Semi-final 2 1. Italy 7:12.49 2. Hungary 7:12.95 3. GREAT BRITAIN 7:14.47 4. Greece 7:16.76 5. Switzerland 7:20.00 6. Sweden 7:30.28 SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE =============================== =============================== GB CREWS FOR WORLD U23 CHAMPS (Strathclyde Park, July 26-29 ) (NB – listed from bow to stroke with athlete name followed by club in brackets). WOMEN Pair Olivia Whitlam (Agecroft RC/Warrington)/Heather Stanning (Uni of Bath/Lossiemouth) Coach: Hamish Burrell Four Vicky Bryant (Oxford Brookes/Chester-le-Street)/Emily Taylor (Durham Univ/Lincoln)/Kirsty Myles (Oxford Brookes/Edinburgh)/ Rachel Jefferies (CUWBC/Oxford) Coach: Nick Strange Single scull Ruth Walczak (Hollingworth Lake RC/Rochdale) Coach: Ade Roberts Women’s quadruple scull Tina Stiller (Nottingham RC/Yarm, N.Yorks/23.6.87)/Franki Jus-Burke (Nottingham RC/Nottingham/3.1.87)/Atlanta St John (Reading Uni/North Leigh/Oxon/13.1.87)/Lauren Fisher (Reading Uni/Reading/17.2.86) Coach: Ade Roberts MEN Pair Tom Wilkinson (Leander/Henley)/Charles Burkitt (Leander/Reading) Coach: Chris Collerton Four Cameron Nichol (Uni of London/Glastonbury)/Oliver Moore (Imperial/Burford)/Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey/Surbiton)/Colin Scott (Cambridge Uni/ Malvern) Coach: Peter Sheppard Coxed four Ryan Davies (Oxford Brookes/Henley)/Pete Marsland (Molesey/Hampton)/Alex Holden-Smith(Oxford Brookes/Bewdley)/George Laughton (Newcastle Uni/Douglas, I.O.M)/AndyGraham (cox) (Durham Uni/Walton-on-Thames). Coach: Andy Bird Eight Joshua Davidson (Leander/Richmond)/Matt Tucker (Oxford Brookes/Windsor)/Will Robinson (Oxford Brookes/Reading)/Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell (Uni of London/Durham)/ Tom Ransley (York City RC/Canterbury)/Nick Clark (Leander/Marlow)/Will Laughton (Imperial College/Douglas I.O.M)/Pete Randolph (Bristol Uni/Twickenham)/Seb Stuart (Durham Uni/Salisbury) Coach: Stuart Whitelaw Single scull Ben Smith (Imperial/Oxford) Double scull Bill Lucas (Reading Uni/Dartmouth)/Charles Cousins (Rob Roy/Cambridge) LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN Double scull 1. Emma Steel (Durham Uni/Chester-le-Street)/Frances Fletcher (Durham Uni/Chester-le-Street) Coach: Peter Lee MEN Quadruple scull Henry Chin (Durham Uni/Camberwell)/Bob Hewitt (Scarborough BC/Scarborough)/Adam Freeman-Pask (Imperial College/Windsor)/Chris Boddy (Tees RC/Thornaby-on-Tees) Coach: Nathan Adams SUPPORT STAFF Team Manager: Drew Robertson Doctor: Tom Jenkins Physio: Su Clark Equipment Manager: Maurice Hayes ADVERT