August 30, 2007 News British Rowing NewsBritish Rowing EventsRowing CommunityGB Rowing TeamCompetitions and ClubsIndoor RowingPartners#YourStoriesArchive Close call and a sizzling sprint finish GB Rowing Team A close call for the GB men’s four and a sizzling sprint from the men’s pair caused a stir with British spectators today at the World Championships in Munich on a day when eight British boats qualified for Saturday’s finals from semi-finals – five in Olympic, two in Paralympic and one in international classes. The Camelot-backed men’s four, who are defending world champions, were winners of their semi-final after being tested by France, Italy and the USA. "We wanted to win but not use up too much fuel", said Olympic champion Steve Williams afterwards of the split-second victory.ADVERT Meanwhile, the Siemens-sponsored men’s pair, part of Jurgen Grobler’s "coxless six" of the leading GB men, looked out of their semi with 600m to go before unleashing an almost unbelievable sprint to take second behind New Zealand and qualify for the final. Both British open double sculls – sponsored by Siemens – will also feature in the finals after a win for Elise Laverick and Anna Bebington in the women’s semi-finals and a second place for Matt Wells and Stephen Rowbotham in the men’s. They will be joined by Siemens-backed single sculler Alan Campbell whose semi-final performance today was described as "perfect all the way" by GB Performance Director David Tanner. Campbell capitalised on a good start and held off a challenge from Sweden to win a race which included the Olympic champion Olaf Tufte of Norway. Beth Rodford and Natasha Page missed out on a place in the final of the women’s pair but can still gain an Olympic quota place by finishing in the top two of Saturday’s B Final. Andrea Dennis was within half a second of reigning world champion Marit van Eupen to take third place in the international class lightweight women’s single to qualify for the A final but Alasdair Leighton-Crawford narrowly missed out in fourth. Tom Aggar continued to impress in winning his Paralympic or "adaptive" class single scull semi. The Siemens-sponsored sculler will be joined in the finals by the British defending world champions in the mixed adaptive coxed four who also won today whilst the adaptive double will race a B final after a fourth place in their semi-final. Tomorrow will see semi-finals featuring GB boats in the lightweight men’s four and double as well as the men’s eight and the lightweight women’s double as well as a repechage for the lightweight men’s pair. Racing for these boats starts at 10.30 UK time and finishes at 12.40pm. SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE =============================== =============================== RACE REPORTS The British men’s four, sponsored by Camelot, were better pleased today with the first half of their semi-final than they were with the same phase of their heat here at the World Championships. "That was a much better first half", said Andy Hodge. "We just put in some really long and good strokes", added Peter Reed of today’s race on a morning characterised by strong head winds. The start put the British four ahead of the field by 500m where they were chased by the USA. By the 1500m mark the Americans had closed the gap to under a second with the Italians not far behind. Yet it was the French who got within a whisker of an upset with a big sprint to bring them up to second at the line by just over a tenth of a second. Italy were third, again by a split second, leaving the USA in fourth. Matt Wells and Stephen Rowbotham were philosophical after today’s semi-final second place to the seasoned Itzok Cop and Luka Spik of Slovenia. The latter duo went out hard from the start and put a length between them and the British by the 750m mark. Wells and Rowbotham dug in and closed the gap but the Slovenians held on to win in 6:40.81. "We knew that we were coming back at them", said Matt Wells afterwards, "but probably let them get a bit too far out front". "It’s going to be a tight final and whoever has the best day is going to win it", he added. Estonia and France from the opposing semi-final are also likely to be contenders. Alan Campbell once more gave a demonstration of his growing race maturity. He got a good start, coped with the pressure to his early lead from Lassi Karonen of Sweden and kept a weather eye on Olympic champion Olaf Tufte in third. "I was surprised it was Lassi who was pushing hard early in the race", said Campbell afterwards. "In the final 500m, though, I felt that maybe he had overcooked it earlier on and I was able to hold on and win". Karonen’s early efforts also meant that Norway’s Tufte was able to take second place. By contract Britain’s Colin Smith and Matt Langridge, in the Siemens-back men’s pair, were in no danger of overcooking the first half of their semi-final today. Even the normally silent and sanguine Jurgen Grober, their coach, was moved to exhort them from the bank to close the gap on the leading four boats from Serbia, Croatia, the USA and New Zealand. With just 550m to go, stroke Matt Langridge turned to look at the race leaders and, perhaps, realised that they needed something special so that when most observers felt the duo had been left for dead they surged through to second place, overhauling the USA and Serbia in the final few metres to take second behind the New Zealanders. This was one of the more exciting races of the day. "We felt comfortable we could do it", said Smith afterwards. "We knew that the Americans had used up a lot of cookies to get where they were and that we could come through". After the drama of the men’s pair, the women’s double scull performance was more serene. Elise Laverick and Anna Bebington, sponsored by Siemens, were behind Romania for some of the opening 500m before moving out of the chasing to take the lead only for the Romanians to respond and move out to a lead again. "Bebo (Anna Bebington) is really strong, especially in a head wind", said Laverick afterwards. "So we knew we could come back". With perfect timing the British did just that, moving past the Romanians in the final phase to take victory in 7:30.86. After a season blighted by injury to Bebington this late-flourishing combination have now put themselves in Saturday’s medal zone with China and New Zealand the main threats. Natasha Page and Beth Rodford, brought together latterly in the Siemens-backed women’s pair because of injuries to their team-mates, were in contention for the first half of today’s race before fading marginally in the second phase to take fifth place and move to the B final where they will want to take one of the top two slots to qualify a GB boat in this category for Beijing. Belarus won today’s race with New Zealand second. Andrea Dennis became GB’s first qualifier for Saturday’s finals today when she took third place behind the USA and the Netherlands in a well-fought lightweight women’s single scull semi-final. The Wallingford sculler was fifth at 500m but gradually worked her way up through to tuck in behind the leaders and hold on at the line ahead of France. Alasdair Leighton-Crawford, though, narrowly missed out in the equivalent men’s semi. He was well-placed in a tight leading pack of four boats until, at 1300m, the lead boats made a move he could not cover. He finished fourth in 7:48.91 with the race won by the host nation. Three of Britain’s adaptive boat classes were also in action today in semi-finals. Tom Aggar won the arms-only men’s single scull from Israel whilst the mixed adaptive coxed four were also winners. Karen Cromie and James Roberts will now race a B final after finishing fourth today. "The competition is stepping up and we are trying to keep ahead of it. We are learning from each race and, hopefully, we’ll peak at just the right time", said Vicky Hansford of the mixed adaptive coxed four. Finally, the men’s quadruple scull raced their consolation semi-final today and won. They were race leaders by the 1000m mark and held off China and Croatia to win by half a length. SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE =============================== =============================== RACING TIMETABLE Racing in Munich from now on takes place as follows (full timetable at www.worldrowing.com): 31 August Semi-finals – Featuring four British boats Repechage – Lightweight men’s pair only. FINALS 1 and 2 September (Full details: www.worldrowing.com and click on media center before selecting events). SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE =============================== =============================== RESULTS – Day five/30 August (races featuring GB crews only. Full results: www.worldrowing.com) SEMI-FINALS OPEN WOMEN Pair 1. Yullya Bichyk/Natallia Helakh (Belarus) 7:45.38 2. Juliette Haigh/Nicola Coles (New Zealand) 7:46.45 3. Yago Zhang/Yulan Gao (China) 7:47.08 4. Portoa McGee/Anna Mickelson (USA) 7:47.93 5. Beth Rodford/Natasha Page (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:57.12 6. Vera Pochitaeva/Alevtina Podvyazigna (Russia) 8:04.30 Double scull 1. Elise Laverick/Anna Bebington (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:30.86 2. Ioana Papuc/Simona Musat (Romania) 7:33.11 3. Gabriela Varekova (Czech Republic) 7:34.14 4. Jennifer Kaido/Ala Piotrowski (USA) 7:40.70 5. Laura Schiavone/Elisabetta Sancassani (Italy) 7:46.58 6. Ailz Konya/Lidia Verci (Hungary) 7:52.89 MEN Pair 1. Nathan Twaddle/George Bridgewater (New Zealand) 7:07.25 2. Colin Smith/Matthew Langridge (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:08.49 3. Goran Jagar/Nikola Stojic (Serbia) 7:11;66 4. Morten Nielsen/Thomas Larsen (Denmark) 7:15.54 5. Jason Read/Kyle Larson (USA) 7:16.18 6. Sinisa Skelin/Niksa Skelin (Croatia) 7:38.92 Four 1. Steve Williams/Peter Reed/Alex Partridge/Andy Hodge (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:16.44 2. France 6:16.56 3. Italy 6:16.68 4. USA 6:17.11 5. Czech Republic 6:36.82 6. Belarus 6:45.94 Single scull 1. Alan Campbell (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:27.22 2. Olaf Tufte (Norway) 7:28.14 3. Lassi Karonen (Sweden) 7:28.27 4. Sjoerd Hamburger (Netherlands) 7:44;71 5. Peter Hardcastle (Australia) 7:55;15 6. Andre Vonarburg (Switzerland) 8:01.63 Double scull 1. Luka Spik/Iztok Cop (Slovenia) 6:40.81 2. Matthew Wells/Stephen Rowbotham (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:41.92 3. Dziania Mihal/Stanislau Shcharbachenia (Belarus) 6:45.31 4. Stijn Smulders/Christophe Raes (Belgium) 6:49.37 5. Christian Schreiber/Rana Burmeister (Germany) 6:52.56 6. Michal Sloma/Marcin Brzezinski (Poland) 6:57.31 LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN Single scull 1. Jennifer Goldsack (USA) 8:37.49 2. Marit van Eupen (Netherlands) 8:42.01 3. Andrea Dennis (GREAT BRITAIN) 8:42.32 4. Benedicte Dorfman (France) 8:48.23 5. Laura Tasch (Germany) 8:50.64 6. Valentina Galmarini (Italy) 8:57.31 MEN Single scull 1. Jonathan Koch (Germany) 7:42.76 2. Ivan Baldychev (USA) 7:45.18 3. Takahiro Suda (Japan) 7:46.91 4. Alasdair Leighton-Crawford (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:48.91 5. Timothy Colsn (Canada) 7:51.95 6. Valeri Prosvirnin (Estonia) 8:05.26 ADAPTIVE (1000m course) MEN Single scull 1. Tom Aggar (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:40.94 2. Eli Nawi (Israel) 5:45.46 3. Patrick Laureau (France) 5:56.20 4. Simone Miramoti (Italy) 5:59.61 5. Tibor Serenyi (Hungary) 6:15.93 6. Luis Miguel Castro Carmona (Spain) 6:18.96 MIXED Four 1. Vicky Hansford/Alan Crowther/Alastair Mckean/Naomi Riches (GREAT BRITAIN) 3:51.56 2. Canada 3:52.50 3. Netherlands 4:03.69 4. Israel 4:19.70 5. China 4:38.85 6. Ukraine 4:44.79 Double scull 1. Lucas Pagani/Josiane Lima (Brazil) 4:40.47 2. Stefania Toscano/Daniele Stefanoni (Italy) 4:45.38 3. Dmytro Ivanov/Iryna Kyrychenko (Ukraine) 4:49.18 4. Karen Cromie/James Roberts (GREAT BRITAIN) 4:58.00 5. Evangelios Karelis/Konstantina Gkaratsa (Greece) 5:12.42 6. Igor & Mary Kogan (Israel) 5:13.94 SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE =============================== =============================== GB CREWS FOR THE 2007 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (Munich, August 26 – September 2, 2007) (NB – listed from bow to stroke as on the day of the selection announcement – with athlete name followed by club, home town and date of birth in brackets. NB some seat order changes have taken place – see above results each day). OPEN WOMEN Pair Beth Rodford (Thames RC/Burton-on-Trent/ 28.12.82)/ Natasha Page (Reading Uni/Hartpury/30.4.85) Coach: John Keogh Four Georgina Menheneott (Mortlake, Anglian & Alpha RC/North Bradley, Wilts/18.12.79)/Rebecca Rowe (Rebecca/Bridgend/16.5.81)/ Vicki Etiebet (Auriol Kensington/Ottowa, Canada/12.2.79)/ Vicky Myers (Leander/Cheshire/31.3.81) Coach: Nathan Williams Eight Carla Ashford (Thames RC/Northallerton/13.3.79)/Baz Moffat (Thames RC/Bradford/8.4.78)/Alice Freeman (Wallingford RC/Oxford/ 6.9.78)/Louisa Reeve (Leander/London/16.05.84)/Natasha Howard (Tideway Scullers/West Runton/3.9.80)/Alison Knowles (Thames RC/ Bournemouth/27.3.82)/Katie Greves (Uni of London/Oxford/2.9.82) Jess Eddie (Uni of London/Durham/7.10.84)/Caroline O’Connor (Oxford Brookes/Ealing/25.4.83) (cox) Coaches: John Keogh Double scull Elise Laverick (Thames RC/Poling, W.Sussex/27.7.75)/ Anna Bebington (Leander Club/Leek, Staffs/13.2.83) Coach: Miles Forbes Thomas Quadruple scull Annie Vernon (Thames RC/Wadebridge/1.9.82)/Debbie Flood (Leander Club/Leeds/27.2.80)/Fran Houghton (Uni of London/Oxford/19.9.80)/Katherine Grainger (St Andrews BC/Aberdeen/12.11.75) Coach: Paul Thompson MEN Pair Colin Smith (Leander/Henley on Thames/23.9.83)/ Matt Langridge(Leander Club/Northwich/20.5.83)/ Coach: Jurgen Grobler Four 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/3.3.79) Coach: Jurgen Grobler Coxed four Oli Moore (Imperial/Burford)/James Orme (Leander Club/ Colchester/1.4.84)/Marcus Bateman (Leander Club/Torquay/ 16.9.82)/Tom James (CUBC/Wrexham/11.3.84)/Phelan Hill (London RC/London/21.7.79) – cox Coach: Richard Tinkler Eight Tom Parker (OUBC/Winchester/24.10.82)/Tom Stallard (Leander/Welwyn, Herts/11.9.78)/Tom Lucy (Oxford Brookes/ Monmouth/1.5.88)/Tom Solesbury (Molesey BC/Petts Wood, Kent/23.9.80)/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/18.8.77)/Acer Nethercott (OUBC/Harlow/28.11.77) (cox) Coaches: Mark Banks, John West Single Scull Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers/Coleraine/9.5.83) Coach: Bill Barry Double Scull Matt Wells (Leander Club/Hexham, Northumberland/19.4.79)/ Stephen Rowbotham (Leander Club/Winscombe, Somerset/11.11.81) Coach: Mark Earnshaw 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/Otley, W.Yorks/4.3.77) Coach: Steve Gunn LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN Single scull Andrea Dennis (Wallingford RC/Oxford/03.01.82) Coach: Rob Dauncey Double scull Helen Casey (Wallingford RC/Oxford/6.2.74)/ Hester Goodsell (Rob Roy/Cambridge/27.6.84) Coach: Robin Williams Quadruple scull Sophie Hosking (Durham Uni/Wimbledon/25.01.86)Laura Greenhalgh (Rob Roy/Oxford/2.9.85)/Mathilde Pauls (Imperial College BC/Berlin & Putney/26.09.83)/ Jane Hall (Leander/Caversham/20.10.73), Coach: Rob Dauncey MEN Pair Matt Beechey (Leander/Worcester/3.4.77)/Daniel Harte (London/Edinburgh/12.12.75) Coach: Paul Reedy 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) Coach: Robin Williams Single scull Alasdair Leighton-Crawford (Tideway Scullers/Richmond-upon-Thames/ 09.12.81) – racing spare. Double scull Zac Purchase (Marlow RC/Tewkesbury, Glos/2.5.86)/ Mark Hunter (Leander Club/Romford, Essex/1.7.78) Coach: Darren Whiter Quadruple scull Simon Jones (Leander/Henley/8.6.78)Rob Williams (London RC/Maidenhead/21.1.85)//Chris Bartley (Wallingford/Chester/ 2.2.84)/Dave Currie (Leander/Bridgend/10.1.82) Coach: Rob Morgan ADAPTIVE CREWS WOMEN Single scull Helene Raynsford (Guildford RC/Frimley/29.12.79) Coach: Chad King MEN Single scull Tom Aggar (Royal Docks/Barnet, London/24.5.84) Coach: Chad King MIXED Mixed adaptive coxed four Naomi Riches (Marlow RC/Harrow Weald/15.6.83)/ Alastair Mckean (Herne Bay ARC/Whitstable/14.4.79)/ Alan Crowther (Nottingham BC/Derby/29.7.65)/ Vicki Hansford (Guildford RC/Lewisham/31.10.79)/ Alan Sherman (cox) Coach: Chad King Double scull Karen Cromie (Royal Docks BC/Ballinamalllard, Co.Fermanagh/ 24.9.79)/James Roberts (Swansea/11.5.86) Coach: Chad King SPARES Olivia Whitlam (Agecroft RC/Warrington/16.9.85) Tom Wilkinson (Leander/Henley/4.7.85) Charles Burkitt (Leander/Reading/28.4.86) Bill Lucas (Reading Uni/Dartmouth/13.9.87) Atlanta St John (Reading Uni/North Leigh, Oxon/13.1.87) TEAM MANAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Team Manager: David Tanner Assistant Team Manager: Maggie Netto Doctor: Ali Sanders Chief Coach Men: Jurgen Grobler Chief Coach Women and Lightweights: Paul Thompson Logistics Manager: Maurice Hayes Adaptive boats coordinator: Louise Kingsley Lead Physio: Mark Edgar Physios: Pam Gardiner, Gill Edmondson, Mike Chisholm Physiologist: Al Smith Pyschologist: Chris Shambrook Nutritionist: Wendy Martinson Sponsorship Liaison Manager: Fran Bullock Drivers: Phil Tinsley, John Brockway Press Officer: Caroline Searle SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE =============================== =============================== OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC QUALIFYING DETAILS Each nation competing in Munich will be seeking to qualify for Olympic Games’ quota places, available for each event. It is important to remember, though, that it is the "boats" that qualify in Munich and at the later regattas (see below). In Britain’s case the individual "rowers’ names" will not be put to the places in each boat until late June, 2008. Events (with quota places available in Munich) MEN Single scull (11) – qualified (30/08/07) Pair (11) – qualified (30/08/07) Double scull (11) – qualified (30/08/07) Four (11) – qualified (30/08/07) Quadruple scull (11) – will seek to qualify in June 2008 Eight (7) WOMEN Single scull (9) Pair (8) Double scull (8) – qualified (30/08/07) Quadruple scull (7) – GB qualified (27/08/07) Eight (5) LIGHTWEIGHT MEN Double scull (11) Four (11) LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN Double scull (8) If British boats do not gain a quota place in any given event in Munich, there will be one further chance via the final qualifying regatta in June of 2008 in Lucerne, Switzerland where a small number of further quota places will be available but for which the competition will be fierce. ADAPTIVE BOAT CLASSES Each adaptive boat class has eight spaces available in Munich for Beijing 2008. For those who do not qualify in Munich there will be a second-chances at the world cup from 9-11 May, 2007. Women’s arms only single scull – qualified 28/08/07 Men’s arms only single scull – qualified 30/08/07 Mixed coxed four – qualified 30/08/07 ADVERT