Quad, eight and some young crews are the focus
Great Britain’s Camelot-sponsored women’s quadruple scull became the first GB crew to qualify for an Olympic class final at the season’s opening world cup in Munich when they won today’s opening heat by a strong margin. They were swiftly followed by the Siemens-backed men’s eight who shrugged off Australia to win their heat, too.
Elsewhere there were wins for the lightweight men’s double in the quarter-finals and the lightweight men’s pair in the heats – also putting the latter into a final, albeit non-Olympic.
[img_assist|nid=1632|title=Men’s Quad Repechage|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=160|height=106]And there were forward strides made by several of the younger GB crews. The men’s quadruple scull, whose second place was good enough to put them through to the semi-final, produced a storming first half to their race. Sophie Hosking and Laura Greenhalgh won their lightweight women’s double scull repechage. Tom Burton and Tom Parker were repechage winners in the men’s pair whilst Charles Cousins took no prisoners in winning a repechage of the open men’s single scull.The women’s double also moved into the semis but the women’s eight will face a repechage tomorrow.
"There were excellent performances today from the women’s quad and men’s eight and it’s also been a day of good stepping stones for some of our younger crews", said GB Rowing’s performance director, David Tanner today.
Full results: www.worldrowing.com
BBC Coverage: Sunday’s finalsw will be live on interactive, highlights
package from 3-4pm (UK Time) on Sunday.
NB – Pictures available on request via e-mail contact details below.
***********************************************************************
*CAMELOT is the lead sponsor of GB Rowing
(as such they currently sponsor the men’s four and the women’s
quadruple scull)
*SIEMENS is the high performance partner of the GB Rowing Team
(as such they currently sponsor the men’s and women’s single and
double sculls, pair and eight as well as the lightweight men’s and
women’s double sculls, the lightweight men’s four and all the
adaptive boats)
*GB Rowing is LOTTERY FUNDED through UK Sport
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RACE REPORTS
HEATS
The women’s quadruple scull turned on a headline performance in their opening heat here in Munich to move smoothly into the final. They had their race under control from the early stages, leading at all the timing points and were never challenged.
""Always for the first race of the world cup it feels like it’s been such a long time since we last competed", said Katherine Grainger. "No matter how well you think you’ve been going in training, there’s always some apprehension. There’s a lot of ways we can
still go faster. It wasn’t a perfect race by any means. It’s a very exciting time".
The men’s eight were the next GB crew to steal the limelight. They were very marginally ahead of a tight field at 500m, slipped momentarily behind Australia on the inside in the second 500m and then turned on the power to move ahead in the next third of the race and could not be caught from there.
"They did exactly what we told them to do", said a pleased coach Mark Banks afterwards. "That was a strong performance".
The British women’s eight were not so fortunate. They were slow to start and left themselves a mountain to climb. Urged on by cox Caroline O’Connor they recovered their pace and moved up from fifth to third by the end but Australia, challenged closely by the Netherlands, were the heat winners and booked the only final place on offer. All the other crews will now fight out repechages tomorrow.
Matt Beechey and Rob Williams knew they could qualify direct to Sunday’s final if they won their heat today. They duly obliged, leading the field from the outset and fending off the multiple challenges posed by the second-placed French crew. In the final 200m the GB crew had a length over the French.
REPECHAGES
2004 Olympic bronze medallists Elise Laverick and Sarah Winckless looked set to show some of the old magic in their double scull repechage when they moved swiftly to a length lead off the start and kept the rest of the field at bay to the mid-way point. Only then did a Swiss double pass them to hold onto the lead to win by just over two seconds. Laverick and Winckless’ second place in 7:52.53 was good enough, though, to book a semi-final place.
In the equivalent lightweight event Hester Goodsell and Helen Casey were leading the "battle of the Brits" as the repechage approached the 1750m mark, with the British crews far ahead of the rest of the field when Goodsell caught a slight crab to interrupt the boat’s rhythm. The younger duo of Laura Greenhalgh and Sophie Hosking, who led the early part of the race, seized the advantage to move ahead and race to victory at the line. Both crews will now contest tomorrow’s semi-finals.
Tom Burton and Tom Parker were amongst GB Rowing’s repechage winners today and also move into tomorrow’s semi-finals. The duo, brought together very recently, swapped the lead in the early part of their men’s pair race with Americans Jason Read and Bryan Volpenhein but emerged to win comfortably in the final 300m. Charles Cousins, of Cambridge, also won his open weight single scull repechage in style overtaking Belarussian, Aliaksandr Novikau, just after the half-way mark to win in 8:10.71 – a lead of eight seconds – and book his semi-final place.
The GB men’s quadruple scull had one of their best races yet when they took a strong second place in today’s repechages to progress to the semi-finals. They took the race from scruff of the neck and led until the 1250m before being bested by the Ukraine in the final 500m.
"The difference today was that they all committed to the first half of the race and put themselves in contention", said coach Adrian Cassidy. "Now they’ve got to try and do the same tomorrow".
Baz Moffat and Georgina Menheneott are still a very new combination in the women’s pair and today they battled hard with the Italians on their inside. Briefly, the GB pair led in the final 500m and looked as if they might succeed before the Italians upped the rate and moved into the third and final qualifying slot behind repechage winners, the USA, and Denmark.
Marcus Bateman and Toby Garbett, the lead GB men’s pair here, were today withdrawn from the regatta after Bateman fell ill. The Devon rower had been feeling unwell yesterday during the heats but worsened overnight.
QUARTER-FINALS
Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase’s win in this afternoon’s quarter-final of the lightweight men’s double scull was somewhat emphatic. They went off like rockets, got a length and more over the field by the 500m mark and stayed there to the line, never dropping the pace despite a strong headwind.
GB U23 athlete Tina Stiller set out strongly in her women’s single scull quarter-final today. She led the field until 450m before Iva Obradovic of Serbia surged ahead followed by Michelle Guerette of the USA. That left Stiller and Zhang Xiuyun of China fighting for the third semi-final qualifying slot – a battle the Chinese won by just under two seconds. Stiller will now race a C final but will have benefitted from the race experience at senior world cup level.
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RESULTS
(For races featuring GB crews only)
HEATS
OPEN
WOMEN
Eight
Heat 1
1. Australia 6:38.36
2. Netherlands 6:40.26
3. Olivia Whitlam/Carla Ashford/Alice Freeman/Louisa Reeve/
Beth Rodford/Natasha Page/Katie Greves/Jess Eddie/
Caroline O’Connor (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:51.47
4. New Zealand 6:54.61
5. Belarus 6:58.34
Quadruple scull
Heat 1
1. Annie Vernon/Debbie Flood/Fran Houghton/Katherine Grainger
(GREAT BRITAIN) 7:08.77
2. China 2 7:13.91
3. Germany 2 7:17.56
4. Ukraine 7:17.65
MEN
Eight
Heat 1
1. Alex Partridge/Tom Stallard/Matthew Langridge/Tom
Solesbury/Josh West/Richard Egington/Robin Bourne-Taylor/
Colin Smith/Acer Nethercott (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:06.04
2. Australia 6:08.53
3. Croatia 6:11.38
4. Poland 6:11.99
5. Switzerland 6:12.54
LIGHTWEIGHT
MEN
Pair
Heat 1
1. Matt Beechey/Rob Williams (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:35.13
2. Jeremy Pouge/Vincent Faucheux (France) 7:37.24
3. Christian Scherhag/Bjoern Steinfurth (Germany) 7:43.79
4. Michele Savrie/Giorgio Tuccinardi (Italy 2) 7:47.60
5. Sergio Perez Moreno/Javier Gonzalez Nieto (Spain) 7:52.24
REPECHAGES
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
Repechage 1
1. Zsuzsanna Francia/Anna Goodale (USA2) 8:17.78
2. Lea Jakobsen/Fie Graugaard (Denmark) 8:24.26
3. Simona Roccarina/Anna Bonciani (Italy) 8:24.26
4. Baz Moffat/Georgina Menheneott (GREAT BRITAIN) 8:26.83
5. Kathrin Thiem/Katrin Reinert (Germany) 8:30.22
Double scull
Repechage 2
1. Regina Naunheim/Nora Fietcher (Switzerland) 7:50.24
2. Elise Laverick/Sarah Winckless (GREAT BRITAIN) 7;52.53
3. Martha Helgeland/Tine Choeyen (Norway) 7:59.55
4. Tatsiana Narelik/Volha Ustsinenka (Belarus 2) 8:00.49
5. Zsofia Bende/Lidia Veroci (Hungary) 8:01.24
6. Sinead Jennings/Caroline Ryan (Ireland) 8:02.59
MEN
Pair
Repechage 2
1. Tom Parker/Tom Burton (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:28.27
2. Jason Read/Bryan Volpenhein (USA) 7:29.29
3. Ramon di Clemente/Shaun Keeling (RSA) 7:32.49
4. Matej Rodela/Bostjan Bozic (Slovenia) 7:41.61
5. Jonno Devlin/Neil Casey (Ireland) 7:46.93
Single scull
Repechage 9
1. Charles Cousins (GREAT BRITAIN) 8:10.71
2. Aliaksandr Novikau (Belarus) 8:18.15
3. Kristian Oestergaard (Denmark) 8:23.67
Quadruple scull
Repechage 1
1. Ukraine 6:24.34
2. Simon Fieldhouse/Sam Townsend/Alex Gregory/Bill Lucas
(GREAT BRITAIN) 6:24.34
3. Estonia 6:26.58
4. Russia 6:39.63
5. Romania 2 6:50.37
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Double scull
Repechage 1
1. Laura Greenhalgh/Sophie Hosking (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:59.13
2. Helen Casey/Hester Goodsell (GREAT BRITAIN) 8:01.85
3. Anja Svecarovski/Mirna Rajle Brodanac (Croatia) 8:17.81
4. Camila Carvalho/Luciana Granato (Brazil) 8:35.88
5. Teresa Mas de Xaxars/Sonia Boubeta Curras (Spain) 8:35.88
QUARTER-FINALS
OPEN
WOMEN
Single scull
Quarter-final 3
1. Iva Obradovic (Serbia) 8:34.39
2. Michelle Guerette (France) 8:37.22
3. Zhang Xiuyun (China) 8:38.17
4. Tina Stiller (GREAT BRITAIN) 8:40.26
5. Nuria Dominguez Asensio (Spain) 9:06.57
6. Fabiana Beltrame (Brazil) 9:13.78
LIGHTWEIGHT
MEN
Double scull
Quarter-final 2
1. Zac Purchase/Mark Hunter (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:15.83
2. Lars Wichert/Joerg Lehnigk (Germany 2) 7:19.28
3. Marko Kusurin/Nikola Tomic (Croatia) 7:19.83
4. Juan Guimerans Zunzunegui/Jesus Gonzalez Alvarez (Spain) 7:22.04
5. Kazushige Ura/Daisaku Takeda (Japan) 7:28.52
6. Wouter van der Fraenen/Kristof Dekeyser (Belgium 1) 7:39.86
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GB CREW LISTS (with clubs/home towns/dates of birth)
Munich World Cup 2008
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
Baz Moffat (Thames RC/Bradford/08.04.78)/Georgina Menheneott
(Mortlake, Anglian & Alpha RC/North Bradley, Wilts/18.12.78)
Eight
Olivia Whitlam/Carla Ashford (Oxford Brookes BC/Northallerton/13.03.79)/Alice Freeman (Wallingford RC/Oxford/06.09.78)/ /Louisa Reeve (Leander/London/16.05.84)/Beth Rodford (Thames RC/Burton-on-Trent/ 28.12.82)/Natasha Page (Reading Uni/Hartpury/30.04.85)/Katie Greves (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.82)/Jess Eddie (Uni of London/Durham/07.10.84)/
Caroline O’Connor (Oxford Brookes/Ealing/25.04.83) (cox)
Coach: John Keogh
Single scull
Tina Stiller (Wallingford RC/Yarm, N.Yorks/23.6.87)
Coach: Miles Forbes-Thomas
Double scull
Elise Laverick (Thames RC/Poling, W.Sussex/27.07.75)/Sarah
Winckless (Walbrook & Royal/Henley/18.10.73)
Coach: Miles Forbes Thomas
Quadruple scull
Annie Vernon (Marlow RC/Wadebridge/01.09.82)/Debbie Flood
(Leander Club/Leeds/27.02.80)/Frances Houghton
(Tyrian Club (Uni of London)/Oxford/19.09.80)/Katherine Grainger
(St Andrews BC/Aberdeen/12.11.75)
Coach: Paul Thompson
MEN
Pair (two boats)
Toby Garbett (Leander Club/Woking, Surrey/14.11.76)/Marcus Bateman (Leander Club/Torquay/16.09.82)
Tom Parker (Oxford Brookes/Winchester/24.10.82)/Tom Burton
Spare: Oli Moore (OUBC/Burford/22.12.85)
Coach: Jonny Singfield
Four
Tom Lucy (Oxford Brookes/Monmouth/01.05.88)/Steve Williams (Leander
Club/Cheltenham/15.04.76)/Peter Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth,
Glos/27.07.81)/Andy Triggs Hodge (Molesey BC/Hebden,
N.Yorks/03.03.79)
Coach: Jurgen Grobler
Eight
Alex Partridge (Leander Club/Alton, Hants/25.01.81)/
Tom Stallard (Leander/Welwyn, Herts/11.09.78)/
Matt Langridge(Leander Club/Northwich/20.05.83)/
Tom Solesbury (Molesey BC/Petts Wood, Kent/23.09.80)/
Josh West (Leander/Santa Fe, USA/25.03.77)/
Richard Egington (Leander/Knutsford/26.02.79)/
Robin Bourne-Taylor (Army RC/Oxford/22.07.81)/
Colin Smith (Leander/Henley on Thames/23.09.83)/
Acer Nethercott (University College Oxford BC/Harlow/28.11.77)
(cox)
Coaches: Mark Banks, John West
Single Scull (two boats)
Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers/Coleraine/09.05.83)
Charles Cousins (Reading Uni/Cambridge/13.12.88)
Coach: Bill Barry
Double Scull
Matt Wells (Leander Club/Hexham, Northumberland/19.04.79)/
Stephen Rowbotham (Leander Club/Winscombe, Somerset/11.11.81)
Coach: Mark Earnshaw
Quadruple scull
Simon Fieldhouse (Molesey/Thames Ditton/04.09.76)/Sam Townsend
(Reading Uni/Reading/26.11.85)/Alex Gregory (Reading Uni/
Wormington/11.03.84)/Bill Lucas (Reading Uni/Dartmouth/13.09.87)
Coach: Adrian Cassidy
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Single scull (two boats)
Andrea Dennis (Wallingford RC/Oxford/03.01.82)
Mathilde Pauls (Imperial College BC/Berlin & Putney/26.09.83)
Coach: Karl Offord
Double scull (two boats)
Helen Casey (Wallingford RC/Oxford/06.02.74)/
Hester Goodsell (Reading Uni/Cambridge/27.06.84)
Sophie Hosking (London RC/Wimbledon/25.01.86)/Laura
Greenhalgh (Reading Uni/Oxford/02.09.85)
Coach: Rob Morgan
MEN
Pair
Matt Beechey (Leander/Worcester/4.3.77)/Rob Williams (London
RC/Maidenhead/21.01.85)
Coach: Paul Reedy
Four
Richard Chambers (Oxford Brookes/Coleraine/10.06.85)/
James Lindsay-Fynn (London/Trim/29.09.75)/Paul Mattick
(Wallingford/Oxford/25.04.78)/James Clarke (London RC/
London/31.12.84)
Coach: Robin Williams
Double scull
Zac Purchase (Marlow RC/Tewkesbury, Glos/02.05.86)/
Mark Hunter (Leander Club/Romford, Essex/01.07.78)
Coach: Darren Whiter
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OUTLINE RACING SCHEDULE IN MUNICH
(NB – Germany is one hour ahead of the UK)
Saturday 10 May
FINALS – adpative classes only (9.00 – 9.30am)
Semi-finals – (14.00 – 17.40)
Repechages – 17.48 – 18.28)
Sunday 11 May
FINALS 10.00 – 14.50
NB – may be subject to change. For up-to-date
information visit: www.worldrowing.com
