Stanning back in GB Rowing Team action

Heather Stanning showed no signs of ring-rustiness when she and Helen Glover won their women’s pair semi at the world cup in France this afternoon.

The Olympic champions took an early lead and dominated. Stanning, who was withdrawn from the recent Europeans on medical grounds said: “It feels like I’m back and it feels good. I feel better and stronger every day”.

They are one of 15 GB Rowing Team crews to have qualified for tomorrow’s finals in 11 events – some progressing in very tight finishes.

Three para-rowing crews are already through to this evening’s finals in their boat classes.

“It’s been the first time this year where we have tested ourselves against a truly world class field. It’s a reminder of the high standards that we have to meet as we move towards this year’s World Championships”, said Sir David Tanner, the GB Rowing Team Performance Director.

This afternoon’s session saw the top women’s pair, second men’s four, the men’s pair, double and eight, two lightweight women’s doubles, women’s quad and lightweight four and pair all qualify.

They joined the women’s eight and the top men’s four, the men’s quad and the lightweight women’s single who all qualified from earlier sessions.

Tomorrow’s action will be televised live on the Red Button with a highlights show on BBC 2. Full details via www.bbc.co.uk

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RACE REPORTS

The Olympic Champions Helen Glover and Heather Stanning set a blistering early pace in today’s semi-final of the women’s pair, also featuring the second GB crew of Monica Relph and Olivia Carnegie Brown.

By halfway the top British duo had created a clear-water lead. Behind them the Chinese, New Zealanders, USA and Germany were tussling in close order for second place and with Relph and Carnegie slightly in their wake.

With the top British duo going on to a commanding win, it was the USA’s second-ranked crew who produced a sprint finish to take second just ahead of China. The second British boat was sixth.

The USA dominated the other semi-final taking the one-two-three ahead of Canada in fourth. These three pairs may well be subsumed later in the season into the USA eight.

Vicky Thornley and Frances Houghton, by contrast, were involved in quite a fight to qualify for the final during the centre third of their race.

Keeping long and focussed the British crew gradually established themselves in a solid second slot only to cede that to the USA with Poland in the lead. China made a late bid to overhaul the British but were held at bay.

The women’s quadruple scull were also embroiled in a tough repechage from which they emerged to take second place and qualify for tomorrow’s final.

China were the winners and the Netherlands, eventually third, were the crew that troubled the British the most at the finish before settling or third. This was a strong finish for Beth Rodford, Lucinda Gooderham, Kirstina Stiller and Vicky Meyer-Laker.

Matt Gotrel and Paul Bennett are the recently-formed GB Rowing Team men’s pair. Today they were drawn in the opposing semi to the New Zealand Olympic and World Champions Murray and Bond who beat them in the heats.

The British duo were early leaders and had kept a slight lead by 500m gone with Argentina and France and then Germany pressing them. As the race bunched up, no more than half a boat length separated the first four boats.

By halfway the Germans Peter Kluge and Alexander Egler had pushed into the lead. Gotrel and Bennett fell back into fourth momentarily before recovering and challenging once more. With determination and pace they moved up into second behind the leaders, Argentina and held off France at the line to take a spot in tomorrow’s final.

Later in the afternoon the second-ranked men’s four of Oliver Cook, Phil Congdon, Tom Ransley and Dan Ritchie needed to take one of the top two places in the repechage to qualify for tomorrow’s final.

They were in the pack but not contending for the lead for the majority of the race which was led and won by Germany. In the final 500m they found a blistering burst to rouse the British supporters, overhaul China and qualify in second place in 6:04.14.

They were followed by the open weight double scull of John Collins and Jonny Walton who were in a three-way leading group with the Croatians and Azerbaijanis in the opening phase of their semi-final.

In the second half of the race the Croatians flexed their muscles and built a big lead. Behind them the GB boat was dropped marginally by Azerbaijan before coming back strongly in the final 250m to take a solid third place and qualify for tomorrow’s final.

The British men’s eight are also into tomorrow’s final after taking second place to Poland in their repechage. France went off quickly to lead at 500m gone but eventually dropped back to fourth place. The GB boat maintained a strong second place behind Poland throughout which no sense that China in third would every threaten.

Kat Copeland and Imogen Walsh were tracking China and Sweden for much of their lightweight women’s double scull semi. Copeland, the reigning Olympic Champion in this boat class, is back after a year away from the sport.

By 1500m the British, who are European bronze medallists, had moved up to second behind Sweden and countered a Chinese move with a strong finish to take the win in 7:05.84 from China with Sweden in third.

Britain were represented in the ensuing semi of the same boat class by Eleanor Piggott, a relative newcomer to senior world cup racing, and Charlotte Taylor who was the GB single sculler at the Europeans.

With 500m to go, the supporters could have been forgiven for thinking that Piggott and Taylor were destined for the B final. In the boat itself though, they had other ideas, putting on a strong push for the line to snatch third place and edge Brazil to qualify for tomorrow’s main final in 7:11.96 behind winners Germany and second-placed Canada.

The lightweight men’s four dominated their repechage, taking the lead early and keeping China, their nearest challengers, in their sights. With 1500m gone, the British quartet of Peter Chambers, Mark Aldred, Richard Chambers and Chris Bartley had a five second lead, giving them the platform from which to consolidate and win in 6:01.27.

Jamie Kirkwood and Will Fletcher were chasing Germany for much of their lightweight men’s double scull semi-final. Holding second at 1500m gone, the British duo were being pressed by Austria who unleashed a good finish. On the far side the Dutch also came flying through. The GB boat re-doubled its efforts but was eased out into the B final by just over a tenth of a second.

Will Fletcher collapsed in the bow seat and lay out flat with enough force to tip the boat into the water. Both men recovered safely and will now race tomorrow’s B final.

In the final repechage of the day for the GB Rowing Team, Sam Scrimgeour and Will Fletcher put on a strong display to win and move through to the final.

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RESULTS
(Events featuring GB Rowing Team crews only. Full results www.worldrowing.com)

SEMI-FINAL RESULTS – AFTERNOON SESSION

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair – Semi-final A/B 2

1. Helen Glover/Heather Stanning (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:57.86
2. Grace Luczak/Caroline Lind (USA) 6:59.97
3. Min Zhang/Tian Miao (China) 7:01.47
4. Louise Trappitt/Rebecca Scown (New Zealand) 7:01.48
5. Michaela Schmidt/Ronja Schuette (Germany) 7:11.91
6. Monica Relph/Olivia Carnegie-Brown (GREAT BRITAIN 2) 7:12.84

Double sculls – Semi-final A/B 2

1. Magdalena Fularczyk/Natalia Madaj (Poland) 6:48.60
2. Meghan O’Leary/Ellen Tomek (USA) 6:49.73
3. Frances Houghton/Victoria Thornley (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:49.98
4. Yan Jiang/Yang Lyu (China) 6:52.64
5. Yuwei Wang/Weiwei Zhu (China) 6:57.43
6. Ulla Varvio/Eeva Karppinen (Finland) 7:17.94

OPEN

MEN

Pair – Semi-final A/B 2

1. Rodrigo Murillo/Martin Lasserre (Argentina) 6:26.60
2. Matthew Gotrel/Paul Bennett (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:27.82
3. Valentin Onfroy/Laurent Cadot (France) 6:28.53
4. Agustin Diaz/Joaquin Iwan (Argentina) 6:32.48
5. Peter Kulge/Alexander Egler (Germany) 6:34.91
6. Igor Lucic/Luka Dordevic (Azerbaijan) 7:03.72

Double scull – Semi-final A/B 1

1. Martin Sinkovic/Valent Sinkovic (Croatia) 6:11.22
2. Aleksandar Aleksandrov/Boris Yotov (Azerbaijan) 6:14.00
3. John Collins/Johnathan Walton (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:15.26
4. Miroslaw Zietarski/Dawid Grabowski (Poland) 6:20.23
5. Ariel Saurez/Cristian Rosso (Argentina) 6:22.56
6. Gergely Papp/Bendeguz Petervari-Molnar (Hungary) 6:23.23

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Single scull – Semi-final A/B 1

1. Dandan Pan (China) 7:43.87
2. Ruth Walczak (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:47.95
3. Christina Pultz (Denmark) 7:51.06
4. Stefanie Borzacchini (Austria) 7:58.25
5. Ka Man Lee (Hong Kong) 7:59.56
6. Amina Rouba (Algeria) 8:11.00

Double scull – Semi-final A/B 1

1. Imogen Walsh/Katherine Copeland (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:05.84
2. Tianyu Teng/Wenyi Huang (China) 7:07.25
3. Cecilia Lilja/Emma Fredh (Sweden) 7:08.90
4. Ella Flecker/Alice McNamara (Australia) 7:13.07
5. Huan Zhang/Le Chen (China) 7:13.17
6. Claire Lambe/Denise Walsh (Ireland) 7:14.79

Double scull – Semi-final A/B 2

1. Leonie Pless/Anja Noske (Germany) 7:10.06
2. Lindsay Jennerich/Patricia Obee (Canada) 7:10.96
3. Eleanor Piggott/Charlotte Taylor (GREAT BRITAIN 2) 7:11.96
4. Beatriz Cardoso/Fabiana Beltrame (Brazil) 7:13.63
5. Devery Karz/Michelle Sechser (USA) 7:14.94
6. Helene Olsen/Runge Holmegaard (Denmark) 7:17.64

LIGHTWEIGHT

MEN

Single scull – Semi-final A/B 1

1. Tiexin Wang (China) 7:00.66
2. Daniel Lawitzke (Germany) 7:02.24
3. Steffen Jensen (Denmark) 7:04.66
4. Alexandre Pilat (France) 7:05.99
5. Javid Afandiyev (Azerbaijan) 7:08.15
6. Zak Lee-Green (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:17.60

Double scull – Semi-final A/B 2

1. Jason Osborne/Moritz Moos (Germany) 6:21.29
2. Tycho Muda/Vincent Muda (Netherlands) 6:23.30
3. Paul Sieber/Bernhard Sieber (Austria) 6:23.61
4. William Fletcher/Jamie Kirkwood (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:23.75
5. Andrej Bendtsen/Henrik Stephansen (Denmark) 6:27.50
6. Peter Galambos/Gabor Csepregi (Hungary) 6:38.39

REPECHAGE RESULTS – AFTERNOON SESSION

OPEN

WOMEN

Quadruple scull – Repechage 1

1. Jie Wang/Xiaoxing Shen/Min Wang/Xinyue Zhang (China) 6:30.44
2. Beth Rodford/Lucinda Gooderham/Kristina Stiller/Victoria Meyer-Laker (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:30.95
3. Olivia Rooijen/Elisabeth Hogerwerf/Carline Bouw/Nicole Beukers (Netherlands) 6:31.39
4. Olivia Coffey/Heidi Robbins/Tessa Gobbo/Adrienne Martelli (USA) 6:37.31

OPEN

MEN

Four – Repechage 1

1. Bjoern Birkner/Toni Seifert/Maximilian Munski/Kristof Wilke (Germany) 6:03.16
2. Oliver Cook/Philip Congdon/Tom Ransley/Daniel Ritchie (GREAT BRITAIN 2) 6:04.14
3. Xulin Ni/Jiahui Feng/Bobo Qiao/Dongdong Yang (China) 6:04.37
4. Damian Rosolski/Mateusz Wilangowski/Konrad Wojewodzic/Rafal Hejmej (Poland) 6:08.31
5. Matthieu Moinaux/Benoit Demey/Julien Montet/Edouard Jonville (France) 6:08.52
6. Ante Janjic/Vjekoslav Kolobaric/Mario Vekic/David Sain (Croatia) 6:18.80

Eight – Repechage 1

1. Poland 5:36.01
2. Scott Durant/Alan Sinclair/Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell/Matt Langridge/Pete Reed/James Foad/Matthew Tarrant/William Satch/Henry Fieldman (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:38.95
3. China 5:42.25
4. France 5:48.36
5. Islamic Republic of Iran 5:54.90

LIGHTWEIGHT

MEN

Pair – Repechage 1

1. Sam Scrimgeour/Jonathan Clegg (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:35.60
2. Maxime Labarthe/Ludovic Seureau (France) 6:37.47
3. Zhenwei Hou/Jingbin Zhao (China) 6:42.76
4. Etienne Girerd/Alexis Guerinot (France) 6:51.38
5. Jose Alberto Arriaga/Omar Lopez Leriche (Mexico) 6:59.20

Four – Repechage 1

1. Mark Aldred/Peter Chambers/Richard Chambers/Chris Bartley (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:01.27
2. Tao Zeng/Chenggang Yu/Zhe Huang/Jiahao Li (China) 6:04.26
3. Valentin Geneste/Morgan Maunoir/Thibault Colard/Sebastian Resendiz (France) 6:09.19
4. Dominik Sigl/Markus Lemp/Florian Berg/Joschka Hellmeier (Austria) 6:11.13

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CREW LISTS

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair – Boat 1

Helen Glover (Minerva Bath RC/Penzance/17.06.1986)/
Heather Stanning (Army RC/Lossiemouth/26.01.1985)
Coaches: Robin Williams & Paul Thompson

Pair – Boat 2

Monica Relph (Leander Club/Cambridge/15.01.1988)/
Olivia Carnegie-Brown (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Oxford/28.03.1991)

Eight

Rosamund Bradbury (Leander Club/Banstead/17.12.1988)/
Zoe Lee (Imperial College BC/Richmond, N. Yorks/15.12.1985)/
Jessica Eddie (London RC/Durham/07.10.1984)/
Donna Etiebet (Sport Imperial BC/London/29.04.1986)/
Katie Greves (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.1982)/
Polly Swann (Leander Club/Edinburgh/15.06.1988)/
Caragh McMurtry (Reading Univ BC/Southampton/22.08.1991)/
Louisa Reeve (Leander Club/London/16.05.1984)/
Zoe de Toledo (cox) (Leander Club/London/17.07.1987)
Coach: James Harris

Double scull

Frances Houghton (Leander Club/Oxford/19.09.1980)
Victoria Thornley (Leander Club/Wrexham/30.11.1987)
Coaches: Paul Thompson & Robin Williams

Quadruple scull

Beth Rodford (Gloucester RC/Gloucester/28.12.1982)
Lucinda Gooderham (Leander Club/Norfolk/09.06.1984)
Kristina Stiller (Tees RC/Yarm/23.06.1987)
Victoria Meyer-Laker (Leander Club/Premnay/18.03.1988)
Coach: Nick Strange

OPEN

MEN

Pair

Matthew Gotrel (Leander Club/Chipping Campden/01.03.1989)/
Paul Bennett (Univ of London BC/Leeds/16.12.88)
Coach: Jurgen Grobler

Four – Boat 1

Alex Gregory (Leander Club/Wormington/11.03.1984)/
Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey BC/Surbiton/27.03.1988)/
George Nash (Molesey BC/Guildford/10.02.1989)/
Andrew Triggs Hodge (Molesey BC/Hebden, N. Yorks/03.03.1979)
Coach: Jurgen Grobler

Four – Boat 2

Oliver Cook (Univ of London BC/Windsor/05.06.1990)/
Phil Congdon (Molesey BC/Bury St Edmunds/06.06.1989)/
Tom Ransley (Leander Club/Cambridge/16.09.85)/
Dan Ritchie (Leander Club/Herne Bay/16.01.87)
Coaches: Christian Felkel & Rob Dauncey

Eight

Scott Durant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Lancaster/12.02.1988)
Alan Sinclair (Leander Club/Inverness/16.10.1985)
Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell (Univ of London BC/Durham/13.04.1988)
Matt Langridge (Leander Club/Northwich/20.05.1983)
Pete Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth, Glos/27.07.1981)
James Foad (Molesey BC/Southampton/20.03.1987)
Matthew Tarrant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Shepperton/11.07.1990)
Will Satch (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/09.06.1989)
Henry Fieldman (cox) (Imperial College BC/Barnes, London/25.11.1988)
Coaches: Christian Felkel & Rob Dauncey

Double scull – Boat 1

John Collins (Leander Club/Twickenham/24.01.1989)/
Jonathan Walton (Leander Club/Leicester/06.10.1990)
Coach: Mark Banks

Double scull – Boat 2

Jack Beaumont(Leander Club/Maidenhead/21.11.93)/
Angus Groom (Leander Club/Glasgow/16.06.92)
Coach: Matthew Beechey

Quadruple scull

Graeme Thomas (Agecroft RC/Preston/08.11.1988)/
Sam Townsend (Reading Univ BC/Reading/26.11.1985)/
Charles Cousins (Leander Club/Willingham/13.12.1988)/
Peter Lambert (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/03.12.1986)
Coach: Paul Stannard

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Single scull

Ruth Walczak ((Molesey BC/Rochdale/15.09.88)
Coach: Paul Reedy

Double scull – Boat 1

Imogen Walsh (London RC/Inverness/17.01.1984)/
Kat Copeland (Tees RC/Ashington/01.12.1990)
Coach: Paul Reedy

Double scull – Boat 2

Eleanor Piggott (Wallingford RC/Olney/16.05.91)/
Charlotte Taylor (Putney Town RC/Bedford/14.08.1985)
Coach: Tom Evens

LIGHTWEIGHT

MEN

Pair

Jonathan Clegg (Leander Club/Maidenhead/14.07.1989)/
Sam Scrimgeour (Imperial College BC/Forfar/28.01.1988)
Coach: Rob Morgan

Four

Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/14.03.1990)/
Mark Aldred (London RC/London/18.04.1987)/
Richard Chambers (Leander Club/Coleraine/10.06.1985)/
Chris Bartley (Leander Club/Chester/02.02.1984)
Coach: Rob Morgan

Single scull (racing spare)

Zak Lee Green (Agecroft RC/Cardiff/05.02.91)

Double scull

William Fletcher (Leander Club/Chester-le-Street/24.12.1989)
Jamie Kirkwood (Leander Club/Creswell/30.08.1989)
Coach: Darren Whiter

PARA-ROWING CREWS

MEN

Arms-only Single Scull (ASM1x)

Tom Aggar (Royal Docks RC/Maidenhead/24.05.1984)
Coach: Nick Baker

WOMEN

Arms-only single scull (ASW1x)

Rachel Morris (Guildford RC/Farnham/25.04.1970)
Coach: Nick Baker

MIXED

Legs-trunks-arms mixed coxed four (LTAMix4+)

Grace Clough (Nottingham RC/Sheffield/ 21.06.1991)/
Pamela Relph (Leander Club/Aylesbury/14.11.89)/
James Fox (Univ of London/Peterborough/02.05.92)/
Oliver Hester (Henley RC/Henley-on-Thames/18.02.90)/
Oliver James (cox) (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/05.10.90)
Coach: Tom Dyson

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THE SEASON AHEAD

GB Rowing Team Diary Dates for 2014
June

11

Announcement of GB Para-Rowing crews for the World Cup, Caversham

20-22

World Cup II, Aiguebelette, France (includes para-rowing)

July

2-6

Henley Royal Regatta – Some GBRT crews to compete

12-13

World Cup III, Lucerne, Switzerland

17 – NOTE NEW DATE

Announcement of GB Rowing Team crews for the World Championships – venue TBC

23-27

World U23 Championships, Varese, Italy

August

6-10

World Junior Championships, Hamburg, Germany

16-28

World Youth Olympic Games, Nanjing, China

24 – 31

World Championships, Amsterdam

September

13-14

World University Championships, Gravelines, France (U23s only)

October

19-20

British Championships – GB Rowing Team participating

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THE SEASON AHEAD

GB Rowing Team Diary Dates for 2014
June

11

Announcement of GB Para-Rowing crews for the World Cup, Caversham

20-22

World Cup II, Aiguebelette, France (includes para-rowing)

July

2-6

Henley Royal Regatta – Some GBRT crews to compete

12-13

World Cup III, Lucerne, Switzerland

17 – NOTE NEW DATE

Announcement of GB Rowing Team crews for the World Championships – venue TBC

23-27

World U23 Championships, Varese, Italy

August

6-10

World Junior Championships, Hamburg, Germany

16-28

World Youth Olympic Games, Nanjing, China

24 – 31

World Championships, Amsterdam

September

13-14

World University Championships, Gravelines, France (U23s only)

October

19-20

British Championships – GB Rowing Team participation

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