Men’s four headlines five-win semi-final performance from GB Rowing Team in Lucerne
Alex Gregory, Tom James, Ric Egington and Matt Langridge headlined a five-win semi-finals session for the GB Rowing Team in Lucerne at the world cup today.
They were dominant in winning ahead of an Australian combination featuring three-times Olympic champion Drew Ginn.
Matt Langridge said of the unbeaten Siemens-sponsored GB men’s four: “It was a good race. We got away well, dominated from the front and didn’t have to sprint at the end”.
GB’s other semi-final wins came from its men’s and women’s pairs, women’s double and lightweight men’s four – the latter featuring Coleraine brothers Richard and Peter Chambers.
Their wins were backed by qualifying semi-final performances from the men’s double and quadruple scull and the lightweight women’s double scull who now join the women’s quadruple scull who qualified directly to the final from yesterday’s heat.
Britain’s two eights also progressed to the finals by way of repechages, the women taking third spot today and the men in second place.
“We’ve had another cracking good day at the office with a full World Championships-style field here. So to notch up five wins on top of yesterday’s A final qualification is tremendous. We have some great chances of medals tomorrow and a really good spirit in our camp”, said GB Rowing Team Performance Director David Tanner.
Only Mark Hunter and Adam Freeman Pask will feel a little sore. The recently-formed lightweight men’s double scull combination who are together because Hunter’s Olympic gold medal-winning crew-mate Zac Purchase is recovering from a post-viral episode, came close to qualifying for tomorrow’s final but fell just short.
“It was a tough semi today, finishing fourth but a really good weekend of racing so far with Adam [Freeman-Pask]”, said Hunter.
The finals start tomorrow at 9.22 UK time and are being broadcast live on the BBC red button.
*SIEMENS is the high performance partner of the GB Rowing Team
(as such they sponsor all the Olympic and Paralympic Class
boats in the senior squad and add value to the GB Rowing
Teams’ Start and High Performance Programme in Clubs Schemes)
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================== ===============================
RACE REPORTS
The GB Rowing Team women’s pair of Helen Glover, 25, and Heather Stanning, 26, winners of world cup gold in Munich and from Penzance and Lossiemouth respectively, were drawn in the opposing semi-final today to the World Champion New Zealanders Juliette Haigh and Rebecca Scown, the World Champions but they still faced two good American pairs.
In the early phases of today’s race the duo, who both learnt to row as part of the GB Rowing Team’s Start programme based at the University of Bath when Paul Stannard was the coach there, held a lead over the Americans with the Australians in third and the second USA boat not far behind. By halfway the positions remained unchanged.
At 1500m the British had extended their lead to more than three seconds with Australia moving up the pack behind them. In the final 500m the British duo continued to row in a controlled fashion to take the win had of the fast-finishing Americans.
“It was a good solid performance”, said Glover afterwards. “We still didn’t have to race full-out which is good given the heat of the day”, said former World U23 Champion Stanning.
Pete Reed and Yorkshireman Andrew Triggs Hodge, 32. avoided their main rivals, New Zealand, in today’s semi-finals but still faced Canadians Dave Calder and Scott Frandsen who won silver in this event in Beijing at a time when Hodge and Reed were winning gold in the men’s four.
Prior to the race Reed, 30 later this month and from Nailsworth in Gloucestershire, had said the Canadians would be “quick”. As the crews went off the start it was the British pair that showed its mettle. They had the lead at halfway over Canada but only by two-tenths. Hungary were third.
Just after halfway the British pulled out to a lead and stayed there to win in 6:29.61 – four seconds ahead of the Canadians – with both crews winding down at the finish. Hungary were third.
Peter Reed said: “It was really good today. A nice step on from yesterday. We both knew the threat today and both focussed in. It felt really light and easy and we feel confident going into tomorrow”.
In the second men’s pair semi-final former world junior champions George Nash and Constantine Louloudis were fifth at halfway behind World Champions Eric Murray and Hamish Bond with Greece in second and the second German quartet in third.
The GB duo, aiming for selection to the World U23 Championships performed strongly on the second half on the far side to the grandstands to pull up to fourth and narrowly miss out on a place in the final. They now race tomorrow’s B finals
With the 2009 World Champions and the 2011 World silver medallists in the opposing semi, too, Aberdeen’s Katherine Grainger, 35, and Anna Watkins, 28 from Leek in Staffordshire, took another opportunity to win from the front today and to show the Poles, Belarussians and Australians that they remain the crew to beat after Watkins’ forced absence from Munich through injury.
In today’s semi-final, the British duo were quick off the start and led at all three markers ahead of New Zealand and the Czech Republic – with the latter coming through third at 500m. As the crews went into the final 500m GB held a decent lead over the New Zealanders. Sculling with rhythm and power the Grainger and Watkins held them off to the line with the Czechs taking third.
“We’re still getting used to being back in the boat together”, said Grainger. “Every race we learn a bit more. It’s exciting to be racing again”.
“Let’s see what happens tomorrow”, said Watkins who is clearly edging her way back into the fray here.
World and Olympic champion Romford’s Mark Hunter, 33 earlier this month, found himself today in an unaccustomed outside lane in the semi-final of the lightweight men’s double scull. He is racing here with Adam Freeman Pask, a 26 year-old from Windsor, who has more recently been the British representative in the lightweight men’s single or the lightweight men’s pair. The duo have been forged together for Lucerne due to the absence on medical grounds of Hunter’s Olympic medal counterpart Zac Purchase.
Not unexpectedly, Storm Uru and Peter Taylor of New Zealand, the 2009 World Champions, were considered the form crew to beat here. Germany, winners in Munich earlier this year, were also expected to show well but it was France who showed early with the New Zealanders using their second half pace to win in 6:24.76 from France and Germany respectively
The British duo were left for pace in the early phases but hauled themselves back from sixth into fourth in the second half of the race only to fall a length or so short of the third-placed Germans. They now race a B Final tomorrow.
Matt Wells, 32 from Hexham, and Marcus Bateman, 28 from Torquay, know they have a battle on their hands every time they race – such is the intensity and the even quality of the top crews in the men’s double scull event.
Today the British duo faced the reigning World and Olympic champions in their semi-final as well as former Olympic medallists Luka Spik and Iztok Cop of Slovenia. What’s more they were racing in adjacent lanes to Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan who ate inexorably back into the lengthy British lead to win the World Championships final last year. So there were some scores to settle.
Bateman and Wells were in contention from the outset but were leading at halfway before New Zealand hit the front and then built strongly in the second half to take victory from GB by over a length at the finish. Bateman and Wells, content to have qualified in second place, certainly dropped their rate in the final 20 strokes to finish in 6:19.97. Slovenia were third.
“We’ve had an encouraging start to the regatta but we expect the level of competition to step up in the final”, said Bateman.
Australian Olympic three-times gold medal legend Drew Ginn is part of the Australian men’s four this year, drawn today in an adjacent lane to the GB quartet of Matt Langridge (28, from Northwich in Cheshire), Ric Egington (32, from Knutsford in Cheshire),Tom James (27 from Wrexham) and Alex Gregory (27 from Wormington in Cheshire) themselves the 2009 World Champions and gold medal winners in Munich.
Gregory stroked the boat to off the start and to a strong lead at the halfway if the organisers’ GPS was showing an accurate picture. Australia were second and the French, world champions last year, were third.
At 1500m, as the crews came into a good view from the grandstands, the British still had a strong lead and that left them the option of racing comfortably to the finish ahead of the Greeks and Americans in third. Australia were rowed out of the qualifying slots in the sprint to the line.
Matt Langridge said: “It was a good race. We got away well, dominated from the front and didn’t have to sprint at the end”.
Sophie Hosking, 25 from Wimbledon, and Hester Goodsell, 27 from London, were gold medal winners in Munich at the season’s opening world cup ahead of their GB team-mates, Andrea Dennis and Kathryn Twyman. From there they went to Amsterdam and raced in the open-weight women’s double scull event, picking up two wins. Here, they faced the 2010 world champions from Canada, in their semi-final.
At the 500m mark the Canadian were leading the British combination by exactly four-tenths of the second. So, race
on. By halfway, though, the Canadians had lengthened their lead and the Dutch were looking menacing on the far side as were the Australians on the inside of the Canadians.
As the race approached the three-quarter stage the British appeared to be coming back at the Canadians but perhaps appearances were deceptive. In the final 200m the British made a sustained effort to come back into the lead and just fell short. Victory to Canada, reversing the results from Amsterdam, in 7:06.25 with GB in 7:06.76. Australia were third.
“The job today was to qualify for the final and we’re pleased to have done that. We raced it like a semi and tomorrow is another day. They [the Canadians] obviously carried a lot away from Amsterdam which you do off the back of a defeat. We are both looking forward to the final”, said Hosking.
Britain is racing its world champion lightweight men’s four here in Munich with substitute Peter Chambers on board in lieu of Chris Bartley. This has offered Chambers, 21, from Coleraine, the opportunity to row with his older brother Richard, 26, for the first time at senior world cup level. They joined Paul Mattick, 33, from Frome, and Rob Williams, 26, from Maidenhead, in the line-up with Williams transferring to the stroke seat role in the absence of Welshman Bartley.
No wonder Richard patted his younger sibling on the back just after the British crossed the line to win in 6:01.42. This was a good performance with Australia in second and South Africa in third. Britain led throughout their semi-final and had over a second, a big margin in this normally hotly-contested event, over their nearest rivals at the line. In the opposing semi-final the much-fancied Danes were beaten by both Italy and Switzerland but live to fight another day as they qualified for tomorrow’s final in third place.
The British men’s quadruple scull were rightly buoyant coming into the regatta here in Lucerne. They beat World Champions Croatia in the head-to-head format at Henley Royal Regatta last weekend – one of their best results to date.
At 500m gone, the GB quartet were tucked into third place but in close quarters with the leaders Germany and the second placed Croatians.
As the crews went past the halfway mark Croatia nudged ahead of Germany with GB still in contention but around 1.5 seconds off the leaders and France in fourth.
By the final 300m it was clear that Stephen Rowbotham, 29 from Winscombe in Somerset, Tom Solesbury, 30 from Henley, Bill Lucas, 23, from Kingswear in Devon, and Sam Townsend, 25, from Reading, had begun to slacken off the pace, secure of qualifying whilst Germany and Croatia went bow-ball to bow-ball to the line – honours going to the latter by just over two tenths.
The women’s eight needed to finish in the top four of today’s repechage on the Rotsee. At the halfway point they were comfortably in a qualifying slot just behind the leaders Canada and Romania. Germany were three seconds behind in fourth.
In the final 300m, the positions remained unchanged with Canada taking first place in 6:09.34, Romania second and GB in a close third to qualify for tomorrow’s final.
By contrast the GB men needed to take one of the top two slots in their repechage to qualify. Poland and GB went head to head to 600m before the British pushed ahead with 800m gone. At the halfway mark the GB eight, coxed by Phelan Hill and stroked by Dan Ritchie, were ahead by only two tenths.
With 1400m gone the roles had reversed with the Poles ploughing through to lead by two tenths at the 1500m timing point before going onto win by a canvas or more in 5:31.97 to GB’s 5:32.20. It was clear from the British reaction that the crew were not best-pleased even though they qualified for the final.
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================== ===============================
RESULTS
2011 SAMSUNG WORLD ROWING CUP
(results for events featuring British crews only. Full
results at www.worldrowing.com)
OPEN
WOMEN
Pair
Semi-final 2
1. Helen Glover/Heather Stanning (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:07.33
2. Caroline Lind/Taylor Ritzel (USA 1) 7:09.06
3. Zsuzsanna Francia/Meghan Musnicki (USA 2) 7:13.01
4. Kate Hornsey/Pauline Frasca (Australia 2) 7;16.81
5. Claudia Wurzel/Sara Bertolasi (Italy) 7:22.86
6. Jane Rumball/Sarah Bonikowsky (Canada 2) 7:22.96
Double scull
Semi-final 1
1. Anna Watkins/Katherine Grainger (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:57.82
2. Fiona Paterson/Anna Reymer (New Zealand) 6:59.69
3. Lenka & Jitka Antosova (Czech Republic) 7:02.40
4. Sarah Trowbridge/Kathleen Bertko (USA) 7:04.21
5. Jin Ziwei/Jingli Duan (China 1) 7:08.72
6. Laura Schiavone/Elisabetta Sancassani (Italy 1) 7:13.52
MEN
Pair
Semi-final 1
1. Pete Reed/Andrew Triggs Hodge (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:29.61
2. Dave Calder/Scott Frandsen (Canada) 6:34.78
3. Adrian Juhasz/Bela Simon Jr (Hungary) 6;38.29
4. Ramon di Clemente/Lawrence Brittain (South Africa) 6:42.54
5. Nanne Sluis/Rogier Blink (Netherlands) 6:44.69
6. Michael Molina/Benjamin Lang (France) 6:46.47
Semi-final 2
1. Eric Murray/Hamish Bond (New Zealand) 6:26.36
2. Nikolaos & Apostolos Gkountoulas (Greece) 6:30.62
3. Lorenzo Carboncini/Niccolo Mornati (Italy) 6:33.10
4. George Nash/Constantine Louloudis (GREAT BRITAIN 2) 6:34.48
5. Rene Bertram/Florian Eichner (Germany 2) 6:36.51
6. Maximilian Munski/Felix Drahotta (Germany 1) 6:45.09
Four
Semi-final 1
1. Matthew Langridge/Ric Egington/Tom James/Alex Gregory (GREAT
BRITAIN) 5:54.64
2. Greece 5:55.93
3. USA 1 5:56.96
4. Australia 5:57.16
5. Netherlands 5:59.95
6. France 6:01.35
Double scull
Semi-final 1
1. Nathan Cohen/Joseph Sullivan (New Zealand) 6:14.88
2. Matt Wells/Marcus Bateman (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:19.97
3. Luka Spik/Iztok Cop (Slovenia) 6:22.10
4. Jakob Nils Hoff/Kjetil Borch (Norway) 6:24.01
5. David Crawshay/Scott Brennan (Australia) 6:27.63
6. Paolo Perino/Rossano Galtarossa (Italy 2) 6:35.26
Quadruple scull
Semi-final 1
1. Croatia 5:47.52
2. Germany 5:47.75
3. Tom Solesbury/Stephen Rowbotham/Sam Townsend/Bill Lucas
(GREAT BRITAIN) 5:53.28
4. France 5:57.22
5. Italy 6:01.51
6. Slovenia 6:08.08
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Double scull
Semi-final 2
1. Lindsay Jennerich/Tracy Cameron (Canada) 7:06.25
2. Hester Goodsell/Sophie Hosking (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:06.76
3. Alice McNamara/Hannah Every-Hall (Australia) 7:10.45
4. Rianne Sigmond/Maaike Head (Netherlands) 7:11.42
5. Giulia Pollini/Erika Bello (Italy 1) 7:17.48
6. Coralie Simon/Elise Maurin (France) 7:21.54
MEN
Four
Semi-final 1
1. Richard Chambers/Peter Chambers/Paul Mattick/Rob Williams (GREAT
BRITAIN) 6:01.42
2. Australia 6:02.80
3. South Africa 6:02.85
4. Serbia 6:02.95
5. Canada 6:09.84
6. France 6:11.22
Double scull
Semi-final 1
1. Storm Uru/Peter Taylor (New Zealand) 6:24.76
2. Jeremie Azou/Frederic Dufour (France) 6:26.18
3. Linus Lichtschlag/Lars Hartig (Germany) 6:28.26
4. Adam Freeman-Pask/Mark Hunter (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:30.40
5. Pedro Fraga/Nuno Mendes (Portugal) 6:31.51
6. Svein Urban Ringstad/Are Strandli (Norway) 6:32.67
REPECHAGES
OPEN
WOMEN
Eight
1. Canada 6:09.34
2. Romania 6:11.06
3. Jo Cook/Alison Knowles/Jess Eddie/Vicky Thornley/Natasha Page/
Louisa Reeve/Katie Solesbury/Lindsey Maguire/Caroline O’Connor
(GREAT BRITAIN) 6:12.54
4. Germany 6:16.76
5. Russia 6:25.50
6. Poland 6:30.78
MEN
Repechage 2
1. Poland 5:31.97
2. Alex Partridge/James Foad/Cameron Nichol/Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell/
Mohamed Sbihi/Greg Searle/Tom Ransley/Dan Ritchie/Phelan Hill
(cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:32.20
3. Ukraine 5:38.13
4. France 5:39.12
5. Russia 5:40.25
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================== ===============================
GB ROWING TEAM CREW-LISTS
2011 World Cup Regatta, Lucerne
July 8-10, 2011
(listed bow to stroke plus cox)
QUARTER-FINALS
OPEN
WOMEN
Helen Glover (Minerva Bath/Penzance/17.06.86)/
Heather Stanning (Army RC/Lossiemouth/26.01.85)
Coach: Robin Williams
Eight
Jo Cook (Leander Club/Sunbury-on-Thames/22.03.84)/
Alison Knowles (Thames RC/Bournemouth/27.03.82)/
Jessica Eddie (Univ of London BC/Durham/07.10.84)/
Victoria Thornley (Leander Club/Wrexham/30.11.87)/
Natasha Page (Gloucester RC/Hartpury/30.04.85)/
Louisa Reeve (Leander Club/London/16.05.84)/
Katie Solesbury (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.82)/
Lindsey Maguire (Wallingford RC/Edinburgh/15.01.82)/
Caroline O’Connor (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Ealing, London/25.04.83)
Coach: Nick Strange
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
Melanie Wilson (Imperial College BC/London/25.06.84)/
Beth Rodford (Gloucester RC/Gloucester/28.02.82)/
Annabel Vernon (Leander Club/Wadebridge/01.09.82)/
Debbie Flood (Leander Club/Guiseley/27.02.80)/
Coach: Ade Roberts
OPEN
MEN
Pair
Pete Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth, Glos/27.07.81)/
Andrew Triggs Hodge (Molesey BC/Hebden, N. Yorks/03.03.79)
Coach: Jürgen Grobler
Constantine Louloudis (Isis BC/London/15.09.91)/
George Nash (Cambridge Uni BC/Guildford/02.10.89)
Four
Matthew Langridge (Leander Club /Northwich/20.05.83)/
Richard Egington (Leander Club/Knutsford/26.02.79)/
Tom James (Molesey BC/Wrexham/11.03.84)/
Alex Gregory (Leander Club /Wormington, Glos/11.03.84)
Coach: John West
Eight
Alex Partridge (Leander Club /Alton, Hants/25.01.81)/
James Foad (Molesey BC/Southampton/20.03.87)/
Cameron Nichol (Molesey BC/Glastonbury/26.06.87)/
Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell (Univ of London BC/Durham/13.04.88)/
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)/
Daniel Ritchie (Leander Club/Herne Bay/06.01.87)/
Phelan Hill (Leander Club/Bedford/21.07.79)
Spare: Tom Broadway
Double scull
Matthew Wells (Leander Club/Hexham, Northumberland/19.04.79)/
Marcus Bateman (Leander Club/Torquay/16.09.82)
Coach: Mark Earnshaw
Quadruple scull
Tom Solesbury (Leander Club/Petts Wood, Kent/23.09.80)/
Stephen Rowbotham (Leander Club/Winscombe, Somerset/11.11.81)/
Bill Lucas (London RC/Kingswear/13.09.87)/
Sam Townsend (Reading Univ BC/Reading/26.11.85)
Coach: Mark Banks
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Double scull
Hester Goodsell (Imperial College BC/London/27.06.84)/
Sophie Hosking (London RC/Wimbledon/25.01.86)
Coach: Paul Reedy
LIGHTWEIGHT
MEN
Four
Richard Chambers (Leander Club /Coleraine/10.06.85)/
Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes Uni BC/Coleraine/14.3.90)/
Paul Mattick (Leander Club /Frome, Somerset/25.04.78)/
Rob Williams (London RC/Maidenhead/21.01.85)/
Coach: Rob Morgan
Double scull
Adam Freeman-Pask (Imperial College BC/Windsor/19.06.85)/
Mark Hunter (Leander Club /Romford, Essex/01.07.78)
Coach: Darren Whiter
SUPPORT STAFF
Performance:
Team Manager: David Tanner
Chief Coach Men: Jürgen Grobler
Chief Coach Women & Lightweights: Paul Thompson
Media/Admin/Logistics:
Assistant Team Manager (admin): Jo Bates
Sponsorship Liaison: Fran Bullock
Boatman: John Tetley
Press Officer: Caroline Searle
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================== ===============================
WORLD CUP SCHEDULE
The final World Rowing Cup, sponsored by Samsung,
of the 2011 season takes place in Lucerne, Switzerland, from
8-10 July.
Currently the key stages are timed as follows but this may
be subject to change after the entry and draw are
completed and in the case of weather delays. Full schedule and
updates at www.worldrowing.com
B Finals (Olympic classes)
08.45 – 10.03 Sunday 10 July
FINALS (Olympic classes)
10.22 – 14.40 Sunday 10 July
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================== ===============================
TV Coverage from Lucerne
BBC TV Sport of the World Rowing Cup will be:
World Cup 3, Lucerne, Switzerland
Sunday 10 July
09.45 – 11.15 Live on the Red Button/online
12.30 – 14.30 Red Button/Online
Monday 11 July
13.00 – 14.30 Highlights package on BBC2 and online
and afterwards on the i-player
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================== ===============================
KEY DATES FOR 2011
This important season for the nation’s top rowers
culminates in the World Championships and
Olympic qualifying regatta:
BLED, SLOVENIA, FROM AUGUST 28 – SEPTEMBER 4, 2011
Britain will seek to qualify boats into as many Olympic
and Paralympic classes as possible here rather than
through the last-chance final qualifying regatta in Lucerne
from May 20-23, 2012.
Meanwhile, here are some additional dates of note for the
GB squad for the remainder of 2011:
KEY DATES FOR YOUR 2011 DIARY
JUNE
29- July 3
Henley Royal Regatta
JULY
8-10
Rowing World Cup III, Lucerne, Switzerland
19
Announcement of the GB World Championships Team
21-24
World Rowing U23 Championships, Amsterdam, Netherlands
29-31
Coupe de la Jeunesse, Linz, Austria
AUGUST
4-7
World Rowing Junior Championships, Dorney Lake, Eton
(this is also the Olympic test event)
28 – 4 September
WORLD ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS, Bled, Slovenia
SEPTEMBER
16-18
European Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
=============================== ===============================
CONTACT DETAILS
For media enquiries about The GB Rowing Teams please contact:
Caroline Searle, Andy Sloan or Miranda Edwards on:
T: (01225) 443998
M: Caroline Searle (07831) 755351
M: Andy Sloan (07714) 168391
GB Rowing Team website www.gbrowingteam.org.uk – full biogs available
here.
=============================== ===============================
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
The GB Rowing Squad is supported by the National Lottery
