June 20, 2008 News British Rowing NewsBritish Rowing EventsRowing CommunityGB Rowing TeamCompetitions and ClubsIndoor RowingPartners#YourStoriesArchive Four heat wins in Poznan GB Rowing Team Four GB Rowing crews won their heats today at the season’s final world cup in Poznan, Poland, booking three berths in Sunday’s final and one semi-final place tomorrow. The GB men’s four, racing for the first time here in the chosen line-up of Tom James, Steve Williams, Peter Reed and Andy Hodge were amongst the winners and are now in Sunday’s final.ADVERT With James and Hodge back after injuries the decision to race the Camelot-sponsored combination was finally taken yesterday. "We could have done with another week together but it wouldn’t have felt right to sit at home. I think the amount of work we have done has put us in a competitive place", said Williams. "It’s a good start", added Grobler. "It was a pressure for them to race the world champions and world silver medallists in their heat". Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter beat the reigning world champions in their heat to reach the semi-finals here. The Siemens-backed lightweight men’s double now race in tomorrow’s semi-finals. Anna Bebington and Elise Laverick were the other GB Olympic category boat winners today in the open double scull. And Daniel Harte and Chris Bartley won through to the final of the lightweight men’s pair. GB’s men’s and women’s eights and the two lightweight quadruple scull boats open their accounts here tomorrow and GB will feature in repechages of the men’s pair, four and lightweight women’s double scull and men’s four as well as the final of the lightweight men’s pair and the semi-final of the lightweight men’s double. SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE =============================== =============================== RACE REPORTS Steve Williams, Olympic gold medallist in the four in 2004, described his crew’s performance today in winning their heat in tricky water and wind conditions in Poland as putting them in a "competitive place". He was clearly pleased with the effort – during which the Camelot-backed quartet of Williams, Peter Reed, Andy Hodge and Tom James took a length out of the opposition by 600m and had enough in the tank to repel any advances to the line – as this was the first race this season for GB’s chosen line-up due to injuries to both James and Hodge. Reed, too, was buoyant after the victory. "It was a big race and a good race. I felt full of beans and Stevie (Williams) called a good race". The win puts them through to Sunday’s final. "But we need to be realistic", cautioned Williams. "The other heat looked as hard if not harder". Elise Laverick and Anna Bebington were winners of their heat of the women’s double scull by two tenths of a second from the Czech Republic in a tight final 500m. The British duo, sponsored by Siemens, were quick off the start and led at both the 500m and 1000m marks. In the third 500m, the Czechs came back at them and moved through to lead at 1500m – but by just two tenths. Both boats battled bow-to-bow in that final 500m with Laverick and Bebington holding their rhythm to take the honours at the line and a place in Sunday’s final. To reach that stage of the regatta Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter contest a semi-final tomorrow after winning their heat of the lightweight men’s double scull today in an extremely tight tussle with the world champions from Denmark. Hunter and Purchase led from the early stages with Germany pushing them initially before Denmark came through strongly. The margin at the line was under a second. GB Rowing’s lightweight men’s four, world champions last year, were locked in a battle with France for much of their heat today and eventually came off second best and must now race a repechage tomorrow as only one crew qualified direct for the final. In the latter stages of a race which GB led for some of the middle section, it looked as if the British crew had the legs to come back at France but they faded in the final 250m. Robin Bourne-Taylor and Tom Solesbury put in a solid world cup debut in this morning’s heats. They were third behind South Africa and France, allowing the latter back through them by just two hundredths of a second at the line. The duo are feeling their way in this event, after the past two seasons in the eight and look as if they have more firepower to give in tomorrow’s repechages. Helen Casey and Hester Goodsell will also race a repechage tomorrow after finishing third in their lightweight women’s double scull heat which was won by Australia with Germany second. Germany went out early but were caught by Australia. Chris Bartley and Daniel Harte , submitted by GB as a late entry for the regatta, were tucked in second place after the first quarter of today’s lightweight men’s pair heat. In pouring rain they bided their time and then pushed past the top Japanese crew at halfway. In the finishing 250m the Japanese made a concerted effort to get back on terms but failed. Bartely and Harte’s win puts them direct into tomorrow’s final. The second GB men’s four, composed of Cambridge University rowers, were sixth in their opening heat and now face a repechage tomorrow. SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE =============================== =============================== RESULTS (Races featuring GB crews only – full results: www.worldrowing.com). HEATS OPEN Double scull Heat 1 1. Elise Laverick/Anna Bebington (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:54.60 2. Gabriela Varekova/Jitka Antosova (Czech Republic) 6:54.80 3. Tatsiana Narelik/Volha Ustsinenka (Belarus) 7:07.92 4. Adelina Cojocariu/Ana Maria Apachitei (Romania) 7:09.32 5. Janine Hanson/Krista Guloien (Canada) 7:10.91 MEN Pair Heat 1. 1. Ramon di Clemente/Shaun Keeling (South Africa) 6:29.63 2. Erwan Peron/Laurent Cadot (France 1) 6:34.23 3. Robin Bourne-Taylor/Tom Solesbury (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:34.25 4. Morten Nielsen/Thomas Larsen (Denmark) 6:34.40 5. Martin Veit/Jan Dehoust (Germany 2) 6:50.53 6. Dmitry Filimonov/Grigoriy Feklistov (Kazakhstan) 6:54.40 Four Heat 1 1. Tom James/Steve Williams/Peter Reed/Andy Hodge (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:55.06 2. Italy 5:58.69 3. Belarus 5:59.02 4. New Zealand 5:59.79 5. Egypt 6:03.14 6. Argentina 6:35.73 Heat 2 1. Germany 5:47.97 2. Czech Republic 5:47.98 3. Netherlands 5:49.35 4. Slovenia 5:50.60 5. Ireland 5:55.73 6. Tobias Garnett/Henry Pelly/Peter Marsland/Tom Ransley (GREAT BRITAIN 2) 5:59.90 LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN Double scull Heat 1 1. Amber Halliday/Marguerite Houston (Australia) 6:57.12 2. Berit Carow/Marie-Louise Draeger (Germany) 7:00.20 3. Hester Goodsell/Helen Casey (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:03.21 4. Misaki Kumakura/Akiko Iwamoto (Japan) 7:08.00 5. Eun Yeong Ko/Jin Yoo Jin (Korea) 7:50.27 MEN Pair 1. Chris Bartley/Daniel Harte (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:38.49 2. Yusuke Imai/Yoshinori Sato (Japan 1) 6:39.25 3. Tatsuya Mizobe/Yu Kataoka (Japan 2) 6:55.12 Four Heat 2 1. France 5:55.38 2. Richard Chambers/James Lindsay-Fynn/Paul Mattick/ James Clarke (GREAT BRITAIN) 5;57.86 3. Poland 6:02.87 4. Netherlands 6:06.56 Double scull Heat 2 1. Zac Purchase/Mark Hunter (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:14.16 2. Mads Rasmussen/Rasmus Quist (Denmark) 6:14.99 3. Jonatha Koch/Manuel Brehmer (Germany) 6:33.21 4. Francois Libois/Kristof Dekeyser (Belgium) 6:37.90 5. So Sau Wah/Chow Kwong Wing (Hong Kong 1) 6:421.3 6. Mohamed Garidi/Kamel Ait Daoud BUW* *Boat under weight SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE =============================== =============================== GB CREW LISTS (with clubs/home towns/dates of birth) Poznan World Cup 2008 OPEN WOMEN Eight (NB – new seat order) Beth Rodford (Thames RC/Burton-on-Trent/ 28.12.82)/Carla Ashford (Oxford Brookes BC/Northallerton/13.03.79)/Natasha Howard (Tideway Scullers/West Runton/3.9.80)/Natasha Page (Reading Uni/ Hartpury/30.04.85)/Jess Eddie (Uni of London/Durham/07.10.84)/ Sarah Winckless (Walbrook & Royal/Henley/18.10.73)/Alison Knowles (Thames RC/ Bournemouth/27.3.82)/Katie Greves (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.82)/Caroline O’Connor (Oxford Brookes/Ealing/ 25.04.83) (cox) Coach: John Keogh Double scull Elise Laverick (Thames RC/Poling, W.Sussex/27.07.75)/ Anna Bebington (Leander Club/Leek, Staffs/13.2.83) Coach: Miles Forbes Thomas MEN Pair Robin Bourne-Taylor (Army RC/Oxford/22.07.81)/Tom Solesbury (Molesey BC/Petts Wood, Kent/23.09.80) Four (two boats) Senior Tom James (Molesey/Wrexham/11.3.84)/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 Under 23s (Includes clubs/schools) Toby Garnett (CUBC/London/29.07.87)/Henry Pelly (CUBC/London/30.07.83)/ Pete Marsland (CUBC/London/06.03.85)/Tom Ransley (CUBC/Ashford, Kent/06.09.85) Eight: Alex Partridge (Leander Club/Alton, Hants/25.01.81)/ Tom Stallard (Leander/Welwyn, Herts/11.09.78)/ Tom Lucy (Oxford Brookes/Monmouth/01.05.88)/ Richard Egington (Leander/Knutsford/26.02.79)/ Josh West (Leander/Santa Fe, USA/25.03.77)/ Alastair Heathcote (Army RC/London/18.8.77)/ Matt Langridge(Leander Club/Northwich/20.05.83)/ Colin Smith (Leander/Henley on Thames/23.09.83)/ Acer Nethercott (University College Oxford BC/Harlow/28.11.77) (cox) Spare: Tom Parker (Oxford Brookes/Winchester/24.10.82) Coaches: Mark Banks, John West, Jonny Singfield Coach: Mark Earnshaw LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN Double scull Helen Casey (Wallingford RC/Oxford/06.02.74)/ Hester Goodsell (Reading Uni/Cambridge/27.06.84) Coach: Rob Morgan Quadruple scull Sophie Hosking (London RC/Wimbledon/25.01.86)/Andrea Dennis (Wallingford RC/Oxford/03.01.82)/Laura Greenhalgh (Reading Uni/Oxford/02.09.85)/Jane Hall (Leander/Caversham/20.10.73) MEN Pair Daniel Harte (London/Edinburgh/12.12.75)/Chris Bartley (Wallingford/Chester/2.2.84) 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 Quadruple scull Simon Jones (Leander/Henley/8.6.78))Alasdair Leighton-Crawford (Tideway Scullers/Richmond-upon-Thames/09.12.81)/ Rob Williams (London RC/Maidenhead/21.01.85)/Matt Beechey (Leander/Worcester/ 4.3.77) ADVERT