Three more GB Rowing Team crews reach world championships finals

Britain’s tally of finalists at the world championships in Karapiro rose briefly to 15 today, 12 of them from Olympic class boats, when Alan Campbell and the lightweight men’s four won their semi-finals and Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge joined them by taking second place in their semi of the men’s pair.

Campbell looked strong in a controlled victory over a field that included Olympic champion Olaf Tufte. Richard Chambers, Paul Mattick, Rob Williams and Chris Bartley also produced an impressive performance to win today.

The men’s double scull of Marcus Bateman and Matt Wells as well as Peter Chambers the lightweight single sculler both still have chances to progress from tomorrow’s semi-final.

David Tanner, GB Rowing’s Performance Director said: “So far our team has been exceptional.  Across the  board we have demonstrated a high standard. Of course, we have step up now for the finals.  I’m very proud of our team and its preparations here.

“I’d also like to pay tribute to the Organising Committee on making teams very welcome here and constructing a first-class organisation and venue.  It’s been a pleasure to be part of this Championships as we head towards the final phases”.

The tally of finalists dropped back to 14 earlier today when Helene Raynsford was withdrawn from racing in today’s final of the women’s arms and shoulders-only single scull by the GB Rowing Team doctor.  Today the Paralympic champion has a respiratory dysfunction.

The British team here will race all its finals wearing black ribbons in memory of Andy Holmes, a double Olympic gold medallist from the 1980s who died suddenly in the UK just before the Championships began.

Full racing schedule can be found at: www.worldrowing.com

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

Great Britain were ahead in the lightweight men’s four semi-final  by 250m gone. By 500m they had a second’s advantage over Germany with Italy in third.  The racing, as usual in this boat category, was tight.

Gradually the leading trio seemed to drop the USA and France with initially the former and then the latter rallying to get back into contention in the later phases of the race.

Great Britain held onto the lead. At 1500m they were still just over a second ahead of Germany with Italy in third.  Nothing changed, despite a massive French charge in the final 500m, at the line. Having a length lead over last year’s world champions will have boosted the confidence of the British quartet going into Saturday’s final.

“We had a great race today”, said Richard Chambers. “We got out in front and controlled the race from there”.

“Semi-finals are challenging things at world championships and in our minds we had to get through and not mess up. Now we are in the final we can see how good we can be”, said Williams.

Alan Campbell will also feature on Saturday’s finals race-card after winning his semi-final with some aplomb.

He was the early race leader with Luka Spik – one half of the former world-class Slovenian double scull with  Itzok Cop – chasing him.  Spik came close at 750m gone but Campbell made another break to stay ahead with Lassi Karonen of Sweden in third and the Olympic champion Olaf Tufte of Norway in fourth.

Spik, Cop and Tufte tussled with each other but Campbell made another push and with 650m to go he had clear water over the rest of the field and went on to win by a length in 7:10.07. Tufte came up to take second with Spik in third – just five tenths of a second separating the second and third places. As predicted world champion Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand and Ondrej Synek of the  Czech Republic took the top two spots in the other semi-final with Zhang Liang of China third.

“I’m really excited. That was a good race for me. I’m now looking forward to the final. It’s a quality field here.  Steve Redgrave said it before so I’m  going to say it here, too. I want to win gold”, said Campbell.

You could have been forgiven for thinking that today’s men’s pair semi-final, featuring Britain’s Andrew Triggs Hodge and Pete Reed alongside New Zealand’s world champions Eric Murray and Hamish Bond, was a mere dress-rehearsal for the real thing – a time for the two best crews in the  world to go through the motions before facing each other again in the Saturday’s final.

In reality, to the halfway mark at least, both crews locked horns to test whether the pecking order had changed since they last raced, and the New Zealanders won, in Lucerne in July.

Italy set the early pace to which Great Britain responded with New Zealand down but not by much.

In the second quarter of the race, the New Zealanders made a push to draw level with GB and Italy began to drop back.  So, the front of the race was left to the two main contenders to trade strokes as the halfway mark approached.  At 1000m less than three-tenths of a second separated the two.

That was the signal for a home-crew surge. They moved swiftly out to a half length and then three-quarter length lead before opening up to more than a length at 1700m over the  British to win in 6:50.88. Italy finished a distant third and South Africa were fourth.  The scene is now set for a retake of the same episode in the final with Greece, Germany and France qualifying from the second semi-final.

“We are happy. They are fast and we are fast. We learnt a lot out there today”, said Reed.

“We train every day to be at our peak on a given day. That day is Saturday”, said Hodge.

Katie Solesbury, one of the GB Rowing Team’s reserves  here in Karapiro, qualified well for today’s semi-final but knew that the going would be tough to get any further. At 500m gone she was back in fifth, rallied to fourth by halfway but she was well down – more than eight seconds – on the leading three.  Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus won the semi with Solesbury in fourth in 8:23.25. She now contests a  B Final on Saturday.

SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================== ===============================
RESULTS
(Events featuring GB crews only.  For full results visit:  www.worldrowing.com)

OPEN

WOMEN

Single scull

1.  Ekaterina Karsten (Belarus) 8:06.95
2.  Mirka Knapkova (Czech Republic) 8:09.51
3.  Emma Twigg (New Zealand) 8:15.64
4.  Katie Solesbury (GREAT BRITAIN) 8:23.25
5.  Lindsay Meyer (USA) 8:25.13
6.  Tetiana Kolesnikova (Ukraine) 8:43.19

MEN

Pair

1.  Eric Murray/Hamish Bond (New Zealand) 6:50.88
2.  Pete Reed/Andrew Triggs Hodge (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:57.43
3.  Lorenzo Carobinici/Niccolo Mornati (Italy) 7:05.72
4.  Peter Lambert/Ramon Di Clemente (South Africa) 7:13.43
5.  Deaglan McEarchan/Ryan Monaghan (USA) 7:20.64
6.  Nicolas Silvestro/Sebastian Claus (Argentina) 8:04.51

Single scull

1.  Alan Campbell (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:10.07
2.  Olaf Tufte (Norway) 7:12.32
3.  Luka Spik (Slovenia) 7:12.83
4.  Lassi Karonen (Sweden) 7:18.71
5.  Kenneth Jurkowski (USA) 7:23.36
6.  Mindaugas Griskonis (Lithuania) 7:23.57

LIGHTWEIGHT

MEN

Four

1.  Richard Chambers/Paul Mattick/Rob Williams/Chris Bartley
(GREAT BRITAIN) 6:20.48
2.  Germany 6:22.10
3.  Italy 6:23.03
4.  France 6:23.49
5.  USA 6:30.00
6.  South Africa 6:38.16

SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================== ===============================
GB ROWING TEAM CREW-LISTS
2010 World Rowing Championships, Lake Karapiro,
New Zealand, October 31-November 7, 2010
(listed bow to stroke plus cox)

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair

Helen Glover (Reading Uni BC/Penzance/17.06.86)/
Heather Stanning (Army RC/Lossiemouth/26.01.85)

Coach: Miles Forbes Thomas

Eight

Jo Cook (Leander Club/Sunbury-on-Thames/22.03.84)/
Louisa Reeve (Leander Club/London/16.05.84)/
Jessica Eddie (Uni of London BC/Durham/07.10.84)/
Victoria Thornley (Minerva Bath RC/Wrexham/30.11.87)/
Natasha Page (Reading Uni BC/Hartpury/30.04.85)/
Lindsey Maguire (Wallingford RC/Edinburgh/15.01.82)/
Olivia Whitlam (Agecroft RC/Warrington/16.09.85)/
Alison Knowles (Thames RC/Bournemouth/27.03.82)/
Caroline O’Connor (Oxford Brookes Uni BC/Ealing/25.04.83) (cox)

Coach: Miles Forbes Thomas

Double scull

Anna Watkins (Leander Club/Leek, Staffs/13.02.83)/
Katherine Grainger (St Andrew BC/Aberdeen/12.11.75)

Coach:  Paul Thompson

Quadruple scull

Debbie Flood (Leander Club/Guiseley/27.02.80)/
Beth Rodford (Gloucester RC/Gloucester/28.12.82)/
Frances Houghton (Tyrian Club, Uni of London/Henley/19.9.80)/
Annabel Vernon (London RC/Wadebridge/01.09.82)

Coach:  Ade Roberts

RESERVES:

Ro Bradbury (Jesus College BC/Banstead/17.12.88)
Katie Solesbury (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.82) – racing spare W1x
Melanie Wilson (Molesey BC/London/25.06.84)

OPEN

MEN

Pair

Pete Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth, Glos/27.07.81)/
Andrew Triggs Hodge (Molesey BC/Hebden, N.Yorks/03.03.79)

Coach:  Jurgen Grobler

Four

Alex Partridge (Leander Club/Alton, Hants/25.01.81)/
Richard Egington (Leander Club/Knutsford/26.02.79)/
Alex Gregory (Leander Club/Wormington, Glos/11.03.84)/
Matthew Langridge (Leander Club/Northwich/20.05.83)/

Coach: Mark Banks

Eight

Tom Broadway (Leander Club/Newport Pagnell/21.08.82)/
James Clarke (London RC/London/31.12.84)/
Cameron Nichol (Molesey BC/Glastonbury/26.06.87)/
James Foad (Molesey BC/Southampton/20.03.87)/
Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey BC/Surbiton/27.03.88)/
Greg Searle (Molesey BC/Marlow/20.03.72)/
Tom Ransley (York City RC/Cambridge/06.09.85)
Dan Ritchie (Herne Bay RC/Herne Bay/06.01.87)/
Phelan Hill (cox) (Leander Club/Bedford/21.07.79)

Coaches:  Christian Felkel/John West

Single scull

Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers/Coleraine/09.05.83)

Coach: Bill Barry

Double scull

Matthew Wells (Leander Club/Hexham, Northumberland/19.04.79)
Marcus Bateman (Leander Club/Torquay/16.09.82)/

Coach: Mark Earnshaw

Quadruple scull

Charles Cousins (Reading Uni BC/Cambridge/13.12.88)/
Sam Townsend (Reading Uni BC/Reading/26.11.85)/
Bill Lucas (Reading Uni BC/Kingswear/13.09.87)/
Stephen Rowbotham (Leander Club/Winscombe, Somerset/11.11.81)

Coach: Mark Earnshaw

RESERVES

Brendan Crean (Agecroft RC/Lewes/07.02.85)
Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell (Uni of London BC/Durham/13.4.88)
Tom Wilkinson (Leander Club/Reading/04.07.85)/

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Double scull

Hester Goodsell (Reading Uni BC/London/27.06.84)/
Sophie Hosking (London RC/Wimbledon/25.01.86)

Coach:  Paul Reedy

Quadruple scull

Jane Hall (Leander Club/Surbiton/20.10.73)/
Stephanie Cullen (London RC/Bury, Lancs/27.11.80)/
Laura Greenhalgh (London RC/Cuddeson,Oxon/2.9.85)/
Andrea Dennis (Reading Uni BC/Oxford/03.01.82)

Coach: Tom Gale

LIGHTWEIGHT

MEN

Pair

Adam Freeman-Pask (Imperial College BC/Windsor/19.06.85)
Chris Boddy (Leander Club/Stockton-on-Tees/16.11.87)/

Coach:  Rob Morgan

Four

Richard Chambers (Leander Club/Coleraine/10.06.85)/
Paul Mattick (Leander Club/Frome, Somerset/25.04.78)/
Rob Williams (London RC/Maidenhead/21.01.85)/
Chris Bartley (Leander Club/Chester/02.02.84)

Coach:  Rob Morgan

Single scull

Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes Uni BC/Coleraine/14.03.90)

Coach:  Darren Whiter

Double scull

Zac Purchase (Marlow RC/Tewkesbury/02.05.86)/
Mark Hunter (Leander Club/Romford, Essex/01.07.78)

Coach:  Darren Whiter

ADAPTIVE BOATS

AS Men’s Single scull

Tom Aggar (Royal Docks RC/London/24.05.84)

Coach: Tom Dyson

AS Women’s Single scull

Helene Raynsford (Guildford RC/Farnborough/29.12.79)

Coach:  Tom Dyson

LTA Mixed Coxed four

Kelsie Gibson (Maidstone Invicta RC)
James Roe (Reading Uni BC/Stratford-upon-Avon/28.03.88)/
Ryan Chamberlain (King’s College London BC/Wandsworth, London/03.04.86)
Kate Jones (Aberdeen BC/Eskdale Green, Cumbria/28.02.86)
Rhiannon Jones (cox) (Reading Uni BC/Hereford/16.09.87)

Coach:  Mary McLachlan

MANAGEMENT AND SUPPORT STAFF

Performance:

Team Manager and Performance Director: David Tanner
Chief Coach Men:  Jurgen Grobler
Chief Coach Women & Lightweights: Paul Thompson
Assistant Team Manager/Adaptives:  Louise Kingsley

Medical and Sports Science:

Doctor: Ann Redgrave
Lead Physiotherapist: Mark Edgar
Physiotherapist:  Liz Arnold
Physiotherapist:  Sally Brown
Psychologist:  Chris Shambrook
Physiologist: Mark Homer
Nutritionist: Wendy Martinson

Media/Admin/Logistics:

Assistant Team Manager (admin): Jo Bates
Assistant Team Manager (logistics): Judi Read
Sponsorship liaison Manager:  Francesca Bullock
Resources Manager:  Maurice Hayes
Boatman:  John Tetley
Press Officer: Caroline Searle

SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================== ===============================
TIMINGS OF FINALS IN KARAPIRO
(Events featuring GB crews only)

Thursday 4 November (local NZ time* 15.30 – 16.30)

Adaptive (“Paralympic”):  Men’s and women’s single, mixed coxed four

Friday 5 November (local NZ time* 14.03 – 15.33)

Open Men:   Four and quadruple scull
Open Women: Quadruple scull
Lightweight: Men’s pair, men’s and women’s double scull

Saturday 6 November (local NZ time* 14.03 – 15.48)

Open Men:  Pair and single scull
Open Women:  Pair and single scull
Lightweight:  Men’s four and women’s quadruple scull

Sunday 7 November (local NZ time* 14.03 – 15.33)

Open Men:  Double and eight
Open Women: Double and eight
Lightweight:  Men’s single

*All times are subject to change. NZ is 13 hours ahead of the UK