Bright Opening in Lucerne against rainy backdrop

Despite the unusually grey backdrop, the GB Rowing Team’s crews had a bright opening session at the World Rowing Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland, today.

The men’s four, women’s pair and men’s eight all qualified for Sunday’s finals – the first of these with some ease.

Alex Gregory, Mohamed Sbihi, George Nash and Andrew Triggs Hodge are already European, world cup and Henley winners this season and never looked troubled today as they won in 6:00.45 ahead of the Netherlands and Canada.

By contrast there were brief moments on the Rotsee today when the Olympic Champion women’s pair of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning were challenged by the second-ranked New Zealand boat before closing out the win in 7:13.07 by three seconds.

The British men’s eight, also Henley winners, have been reshuffled since World Cup II in Aiguebelette three weeks ago. Today they were narrowly beaten in the heats by Russia but their second place was enough to see them through.

The men’s quadruple scull of Graeme Thomas, Sam Townsend, Charles Cousins and Peter Lambert, world cup winners in France last month, were one of the early heat winners today and looked on good form.

But Townsend cautioned: “It will only get hotter tomorrow and the next day”. The Reading man was not referencing the weather which has been rainy and chilly since the GB squad arrived on the Rotsee. “The other crews will step up and the competition will be fiercer. Today we got out into a lead in the first half and then looked to build on it. it was a decent enough race”, he said.

Seven crews are through to the semi-finals including the lightweight men’s pair, single and four, the lightweight women’s double, the men’s double and quad and Vicky Thornley in the women’s single scull.

The two open GB men’s pairs and the men’s single sculler Alan Campbell face quarter-finals later today such was the number of entries in their events.

Of the already-qualified semi-finalists and finalists seven crews were heat winners: the women’s pair, men’s four, men’s double and quad, the lightweight women’s double and the lightweight men’s pair and four.

Only the women’s lightweight and open weight quadruple scull crews and the lightweight men’s double missed out on moving to the next stage so they race repechages.

For the past decade the World Cup here in Lucerne has been contested largely under blue skies and sweltering temperatures. So the weather has become somewhat of a talking point for rowers and spectators alike. Heavy showers are likely to pepper the weekend’s programme.

This event is the final world cup of the 2014 season. It will be televised in highlights format by BBC TV Sport on Monday. British crews will have to wait until Thursday of next week to find out if they have done enough to be selected into the World Championships team.

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RACE REPORTS

Sam Scrimgeour and Jonno Clegg opened the GB Rowing Team’s racing programme under dark skies and heavy rain in the lightweight men’s pair heats this morning on Lucerne’s Rotsee.

The weather didn’t dampen their form and they led throughout to win in 6:41.73 from France’s Clement Duret and Theopile Onfroy who were silver medallists in Aiguebelette at World Cup II three weeks ago.

Adam Freeman Pask came through strongly at the finish of his lightweight single scull heat this morning to take second place in 7:10.91. Fourth at halfway, he came through Australia’s James Wilson, the early leader to book his semi-final place.

James Foad and Matt Langridge, recently selected together as a pair, were also strong finishers this morning, overhauling Italy in the final 250m, in the open men’s pair heat. With 25 crews entered in a big field here, their victory this morning was enough to put them through only to a quarter-final later today.

Britain’s second-ranked men’s pair in Lucerne are Oliver Cook and Phil Congdon. They raced in the men’s eight earlier in the season, then a men’s four and are now in a pair. Today they were drawn against a top German and seasoned South African crew.

By halfway South Africa and Germany had built a lead with the GB boat four seconds behind. Germany won the race at the head of the field but Cook and Congdon still progressed safely to the quarter-finals in third place.

The stand-out crew of the season in the lightweight men’s double scull so far are Stany Delayre and Jeremie Azou. They were drawn today in the heat which also featured Jamie Kirkwood and Will Fletcher for the GB Rowing Team. At half-way it was clear the French were going to win and move into the semi-finals. The GB duo throttled down in fourth with their repechage coming later today.

Contrastingly, the lightweight women’s double scull are safely through to tomorrow’s semis. They warmed to their task in the second half of today’s heats, pulling away from Australia and South Africa to win with all three progressing.

The British quartet of Graeme Thomas, Sam Townsend, Charles Cousins and Peter Lambert, winners in Aiguebelette three weeks ago and at Henley Royal Regatta last weekend, were leaders at 500m in their heat of the quadruple scull this morning. At halfway the Australians in the adjacent lane seemed to have their noses marginally in front. Ultimately the GB boat pulled out to win with the fast-finishing New Zealanders nipping in to take second with a zippy sprint from 250m out.

John Collins and Jonny Walton, the Leander Club duo who have impressed as newcomers this season, were race leaders throughout today’s men’s double scull heat and kept New Zealand at bay to win in 6:30.39 and move into the semis.

They were followed down the Lucerne course by the lightweight men’s four of Mark Aldred, brothers Peter and Richard Chambers and Chris Bartley. This combination were bronze medallists in Aiguebelette at World Cup II behind New Zealand and Denmark and were clearly disappointed at that result. Today they were second to France for the first 1250m before moving up a gear to go through them and on to win in 6:07.34. The result puts them through to tomorrow’s semis.

Alan Campbell will race a quarter-final at the end of the early evening session today having won his men’s single scull heat with comfort this morning.

The women’s pair Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, the Olympic Champions, were somewhat challenged in the final stages of their heat this morning with New Zealand’s second-ranked pair of Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler before pulling ahead to win and moving direct into Sunday’s final.

Fresh from their win at Henley Royal Regatta, the men’s four of Alex Gregory, Mohamed Sbihi, George Nash and Andrew Triggs Hodge continued their unbeaten progress so far this season by developing an early and strong lead from which they built a platform to take the heat win ahead of Holland and move into Sunday’s final.

The second-ranked GB women’s quadruple scull here in Lucerne is made up of lightweight scullers Ruth Walczak, Eleanor Piggott, Brianna Stubbs and Charlotte Taylor. Ruled out of racing in their own weight category they are taking on the challenge of the open weight category instead. Today they battled gamely in the far lane but finished fifth and will now race a repechage tomorrow as only two crews went through direct to Sunday’s final. The race was won by Germany with New Zealand second.

In the other semi-final the British open weight quadruple scull were well in contention in the opening phases of their heat before dropping back somewhat and finishing fourth. They will also race the repechage.

In the final race of the opening session the GB men’s eight, who also raced at Henley at the weekend, took a little time to challenge Russia, the early leaders, before coming up on them strongly in the second half. Ultimately the Russians had enough beans to hold on to win but the GB boat’s second place was enough to book passage into Sunday’s final.

BBC TV will cover World Rowing Cup III with a highlights programme on Monday 14 July from 16.00 – 17.30. The day’s delay is to avoid clashing with the world cup football final.

The GB Rowing Team’s para crews are not racing here but will their World Championships line-ups will also be announced on Thursday (17 July).

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RESULTS

WORLD CUP III

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair – Heat 2

1. Helen Glover/Heather Stanning (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:13.07
2. Grace Prendergast/Kerri Gowler (New Zealand) 7:16. 01
3. Aletta Jorritsma/Heleen Boers (Netherlands) 7:26.54
4. Charlotte Sutherland/Lucy Stephan (Australia) 7:32.52
5. Leonora Kennedy/Lisa Dilleen (Ireland) 7:40.89
6. Martina Stillerova/Katerina Kopecka (Czech Republic) 7:46.63

Single scull – Heat 3

1. Magdalena Lobnig (Austria) 7:52.73
2. Victoria Thornley (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:54.70
3. Marie-Catherine Arnold (Germany) 8:11.05
4. Fiona Albert (Australia) 8:13.43
5. Ivana Filipovic (Serbia) 8:17.79

Quadruple scull – Heat 1

1. Annekatrin Thiele/Carina Baer/Julia Lier/Lisa Schmidla (Germany) 6:30.53
2. Sarah Gray/Georgia Perry/Lucy Spoors/Erin-Monique Shelton (New Zealand) 6:32.23
3. Olivia van Rooijen/Elisabeth Hogerwerf/Carline Bouw/Nicole Beukers (Netherlands) 6:39.77
4. Benedetta Bellio/Veronica Paccagnella/Alessandra Patelli/Gaia Palma (Italy) 6:46.92
5. Ruth Walczak/Eleanor Piggott/Brianna Stubbs/Charlotte Taylor (GREAT BRITAIN 2) 6:48.14

Quadruple scull – Heat 2

1. Emily Cameron/Katharine Goodfellow/Carling Zeeman/Antje von Seydlitz-Kurzbach
(Canada) 6:30.25
2. Sylwia Lewandowska/Joanna Leszczynska/Maria Springwald/Agnieszka Kobus
(Poland) 6:32.08
3. Jessica Hall/Jennifer Cleary/Madeleine Edmunds/Kerry Hore (Australia) 6:33.31
4. Kristina Stiller/Olivia Carnegie-Brown/Victoria Meyer-Laker/Beth Rodford (GREAT BRITAIN)
6:38.26
5. Anne Andersen/Christina Johansen/Hedvig Rasmussen/Rannva Olsen (Denmark) 6:50.87

OPEN

MEN

Pair – Heat 1

1. James Foad/Matt Langridge (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:37.40
2. Marco Di Costanzo/Matteo Castaldo (Italy) 6:39.41
3. Jack Hargreaves/Nicholas Wheatley (Australia)
4. Roman Lomachev/Yuriy Pshenichnikov (Russia) 6:41.68
5. Christopher Cunningham-Reid/George Ellis (Australia) 6:47.06

Pair – Heat 5

1. Bastian Bechler/Anton Braun (Germany) 6:36.79
2. Shaun Keeling/Vincent Breet (South Africa) 6:37.78
3. Oliver Cook/Phil Congdon (GREAT BRITAIN 2) 6:46.32
4. Ales Zupan/Janez Zupan (Slovenia) 6:53.86

Four – Heat 1

1. Alex Gregory/Mohamed Sbihi/George Nash/Andrew Triggs Hodge (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:00.45
2. Boaz Meylink/Mechiel Versluis/Olivier Siegelaar/Robert Luecken (Netherlands) 6:02.99
3. Will Crothers/Rob Gibson/Conlin McCabe/Kai Langerfeld (Canada) 6:05.06
4. Jan Pilc/Milan Dolecek Jr/Jakub Podrazil/Matyas Klang (Czech Republic) 6:06.86
5. Alexander Kornilov/Dmitrii Golovin/Rostislav Drozhzhachikh/Daniel Andrienko (Russia) 6:11.69

Eight – Heat 2

1. Russia 5:34.59
2. Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell/Tom Ransley/Paul Bennett/Matthew Gotrel/Pete Reed/Constantine Louloudis/Matthew Tarrant/William Satch/Phelan Hill (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:35.00
3. Netherlands 5:41.06
4. New Zealand 5:41.86
5. Germany 5:55.71

Single scull – Heat 2

1. Alan Campbell (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:07.84
2. Dani Fridman (Israel) 7:10.76
3. Stanislau Shcharbachenia (Belarus) 7:11.77
4. Dongyong Kim (Korea) 7:14.99
5. Frank Steffensen (Denmark) 7:18.10

Double scull – heat 2

1. John Collins/Jonny Walton (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:30.39
2. Robert & Karl Manson (New Zealand) 6:33.81
3. Michael Wilkinson/Steven Vanknotsenburg (Canada) 6:41.18
4. Ruben Padilla Camara/Juan Garcia (Spain) 6:45.69
5. Domenico Montrone/Cesare Gabbia (Italy 2) 7:02.16

Quadruple scull – Heat 3

1. Graeme Thomas/Sam Townsend/Charles Cousins/Peter Lambert (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:53.34
2. Jade Uru/John Storey/Nathan Flannery/Chris Harris (New Zealand) 5:54.73
3. Christopher Morgan/Rhys Grant/Cameron Girdlestone/Kieran Kobelke (Australia) 5:56.54
4. Moustafa Fathy/Nour El Din Hassanein/Abdel Khalek Elbana/Ahmed Khamis (Egypt) 6:14.92

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Double scull – Heat 3

1. Imogen Walsh/Katherine Copeland (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:05.91
2. Alice McNamara/Ella Flecker (Australia) 7:08.59
3. Kirsten McCann/Ursula Grobler (South Africa) 7:13.16
4. Helene Olsen/Runge Holmegaard (Denmark) 7:19.16
5. Ricky Nencini/Daniela Nachazelova (Czech Republic) 7:36.89

LIGHTWEIGHT

MEN

Pair – Heat 2

1. Jonathan Clegg/Sam Scrimgeour (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:41.73
2. Clement Duret/Theophile Onfroy (France) 6:45.19
3. Ahmet Yumrukaya/Cem Yilmaz (Turkey) 6:48.71
4. Darryn Purcell/Alister Foot (Australia) 6:53.07
5. Radoslaw Krymski/Lukasz Makowski (Poland) 7:14.78

Four – Heat 3

1. Mark Aldred/Peter Chambers/Richard Chambers/Chris Bartley (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:07.34
2. Augustin Mouterde/Thomas Baroukh/Franck Solforosi/Guillaume Raineau (France) 6:07.70
3. Elia Luini/Martino Goretti/Stefano Oppo/Paolo Di Girolamo (Italy) 6:15.67
4. Brendan Hodge/Maxwell Lattimer/Eric Woelfl/Evan Cheng (Canada) 6:22.30
5. Lukasz Pawlowski/Przemyslaw Borchardt/Adam Sobczak/Dawid Kaminski (Poland) 6:27.49

Single scull – Heat 1

1. Damien Piqueras (France) 7:09.49
2. Adam Freeman-Pask (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:11.21
3. Daniel Wiederkehr (Switzerland) 7:15.82
4. James Wilson (Australia) 7:16.14
5. Hiroshi Nakano (Japan) 7:24.48
6. Lawrence Ndlovu (South Africa) 8:17.03

Double Scull – Heat 2

1. Stany Delayre/Jeremie Azou (France) 6:29.14
2. Konstantin Steinhuebel/Lars Hartig (Germany) 6:33.64
3. Pedro Fraga/Nuno Mendes (Portugal) 6:39.94
4. William Fletcher/Jamie Kirkwood (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:49.40
5. Artur Mikolajczewski/Milosz Jankowski (Poland) 6:55.60
6. Jean Rasamoelina/Andre Matias (Angola) 7:19.18

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CREW LISTS (Includes club, home town, date of birth)
GB Rowing Team for the World Rowing Cup III
Lucerne, Switzerland 11-13 July

OPEN

WOMEN

Pair – Boat 1

Helen Glover (Minerva Bath RC/Penzance/17.06.86)/
Heather Stanning (Army RC/Lossiemouth/26.01.85)
Coaches: Robin Williams & Paul Thompson

Coach:

Eight

Rosamund Bradbury (Leander Club/Banstead/17.12.88)/
Louisa Reeve (Leander Club/London/16.05.84)/
Katie Greves (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.82)/
Donna Etiebet (Sport Imperial BC/London/29.04.86)/
Jessica Eddie (London RC/Durham/07.10.84)/
Zoe Lee (Imperial College BC/Richmond, N. Yorks/15.12.85)/
Polly Swann (Leander Club/Edinburgh/15.06.88)/
Caragh McMurty (Reading Univ BC/Southampton/22.08.91)/
Zoe de Toledo (cox) (Leander Club/London/17.07.87)
Coach: James Harris

Single scull

Victoria Thornley (Leander Club/Wrexham/30.11.87)

Quadruple scull
(see also lightweight quad below who will race in open category in Lucerne)

Kristina Stiller (Tees RC/Yarm/23.06.87)/
Olivia Carnegie-Brown (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Oxford/28.03.91)/
Victoria Meyer-Laker (Leander Club/Premnay/18.03.88)
Beth Rodford (Gloucester RC/Gloucester/28.12.82)/
Coach: Nick Strange

SPARES

Monica Relph (Leander Club/Cambridge/15.01.88)
Rebecca Chin (Agecroft RC/Salford/11.12.91)

OPEN

MEN

Pair – Boat 1

James Foad (Molesey BC/Southampton/20.03.87)/
Matt Langridge (Leander Club/Northwich/20.05.83)
Coach: Rob Dauncey

Pair – Boat 2

Oliver Cook (Univ of London BC/Windsor/05.06.1990)/
Phil Congdon (Molesey BC/Bury St Edmunds/06.06.1989)/

Coxed Pair

Alan Sinclair (Leander Club/Inverness/16.10.85)/
Scott Durant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Lancaster/12.02.88)/
Henry Fieldman (cox) (Imperial College BC/Barnes, London/25.11.88)/
Coach: Rob Dauncey

Four

Alex Gregory (Leander Club/Wormington/11.03.84)/
Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey BC/Surbiton/27.03.88)/
George Nash (Molesey BC/Guildford/10.02.89)/
Andrew Triggs Hodge (Molesey BC/Hebden, N. Yorks/03.03.79)
Coach: Jurgen Grobler

Eight

Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell (Univ of London BC/Durham/13.04.88)/
Tom Ransley (Leander Club/Cambridge/16.09.85)/
Paul Bennett (Univ of London BC/Leeds/16.12.88)/
Matthew Gotrel (Leander Club/Chipping Campden/01.03.89)/
Pete Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth, Glos/27.07.81)/
Constantine Louloudis (OUBC, London, 15/09/91)/
Matthew Tarrant (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Shepperton/11.07.90)/
Will Satch (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/09.06.89)/
Phelan Hill (cox) (Leander Club/Putney & Bedford/21.07.79)
Coaches: Christian Felkel & Jurgen Grobler

Single Scull

Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers School/Coleraine/09.05.83)/
Coach: John West

Double scull

John Collins (Leander Club/Twickenham/24.01.89)/
Jonathan Walton (Leander Club/Leicester/06.10.90)
Coach: Mark Banks

Quadruple scull

Graeme Thomas (Agecroft RC/Preston/08.11.88)/
Sam Townsend (Reading Univ BC/Reading/26.11.85)/
Charles Cousins (Leander Club/Willingham/13.12.88)/
Peter Lambert (Leander Club/Henley-on-Thames/03.12.86)
Coach: Paul Stannard

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Double scull

Imogen Walsh (London RC/Inverness/17.01.84)/
Kat Copeland (Tees RC/Ashington/01.12.90)
Coach: Paul Reedy

Quadruple scull

Ruth Walczak ((Molesey BC/Rochdale/15.09.88)/
Eleanor Piggott (Wallingford RC/Olney/16.05.91)/
Brianna Stubbs (Wallingford RC/Headington/13.07.91)/
Charlotte Taylor (Putney Town RC/Bedford/14.08.85)
Coach: Tom Evens

LIGHTWEIGHT

MEN

Pair

Jonathan Clegg (Leander Club/Maidenhead/14.07.89)/
Sam Scrimgeour (Imperial College BC/Kirriemuir/28.01.88)
Coach: Rob Morgan

Four
Mark Aldred (London RC/London/18.04.87)/
Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Coleraine/14.03.90)/
Richard Chambers (Leander Club/Coleraine/10.06.85)/
Chris Bartley (Leander Club/Chester/02.02.84)
Coach: Rob Morgan

Single Scull

Adam Freeman-Pask (Reading Univ BC/Windsor/19.06.85)
Coach: Darren Whiter

Double scull

William Fletcher (Leander Club/Chester-le-Street/24.12.89)/
Jamie Kirkwood (Leander Club/Creswell/30.08.89)
Coach: Darren Whiter

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FORWARD DIARY DATES: GB ROWING TEAM

July

12-13

World Cup III, Lucerne, Switzerland

17- NEW DATE (revised from 18th)

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

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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