GB Rowing Team through to 8 A finals after first day at European Championships

The GB Rowing Team started their European Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia today, reaching 8 A finals and a semi final

The Women’s Four (W4-) of Rebecca Shorten, Helen Glover, Rowan McKellar and Heidi Long started the season in fine form, by winning their heat and progressing directly to the final.

Double Olympic Champion Helen Glover was making her competitive return to racing since the Tokyo Olympics. “It was really enjoyable,” she said, “we went out there ready to do the process we’ve been doing in training and step it up for racing. We kept it fairly simple and sometimes simple is enjoyable, so it was good. I love being in the four, it’s a different dynamic but I think it’s something I thrive on – that team mentality. I think we work well together and I know we have more in us, so that’s really exciting.”

Double Paralympic Champion, Lauren Rowles had her first outing with new partner Gregg Stevenson in the PR2 mixed double sculls (PR2 Mix 2x). They led the race from the off and have also progressed to the final. Gregg, who was making his competitive debut said: “I am absolutely buzzing. I’ve been working hard and listening to Lauren and the coaches to put a plan together and I’m so happy we executed it so well today. I’m competitive and like to win and so does Lauren and that’s why the partnership is working well… I’m absolutely pumped for Sunday!”

Emily Craig and Imogen Grant continued to dominate the Lightweight women’s double sculls (LW2x) category, winning the race to secure another final spot. Emily said: “It was a good race. We were both really itching to get going and start the racing season. Winter has felt like an eternity. The British weather hasn’t done a very good job of preparing us for anything above 20 degrees, so it was a bit of a shock to the system in terms of the heat today, but it was a solid row and hopefully we’ll step it up for the A Final on Sunday.”

The Men’s quadruple sculls (M4x) of Callum Dixon, George Bourne, Matt Haywood and Tom Barras also booked a place in the final taking first place in their heat. “George and I came into the quad later into last season, so it was a steep learning curve from our first race to Worlds. It was nice to be able to bring that into this year, have a bit more time training, a better idea of what we can do and what is expected of us.” said Matt, adding “Today was our first side-by-side race as a combination with Callum and it was a good, solid race. There is always going to be a competitive field at the top, so we’re trying to compete with the best and hopefully beat them.”

Another win came in the Men’s four (M4-) heat, with Oli Wilkes, David Ambler, Matt Aldridge and Freddie Davidson now looking to another A final. Freddie said: “We executed what we wanted to do. We were focussed on staying long, staying in our rhythm and doing what we set out to do which is a good base to build on for the next race. It looks like it’s going to be a tight final with lots of fast crews and new combinations but we’ll just focus on us and what we can do. See how much speed we can find by then.”

Recording the fastest time across the Women’s quadruple sculls (W4x) heats were Lucy Glover, Georgie Brayshaw, Hannah Scott and Lauren Henry, who will now race again in the final. Lauren was making her senior team debut and said: “The atmosphere was fantastic today but it was just another race. It is no different from what I’ve done at Juniors or U23s, but it was nice to have my first senior race and not feel really stressed. It is amazing to have had a good heat win in my first ever senior race. It’s so exciting. I’m grateful to the three girls in the boat who helped me through. We’re focussed now on Saturday and the big race.”

Ollie Wynne-Griffith & Tom George won their Men’s pair (M2-) heat, booking a place in the semi-final. “It’s been an enjoyable Thursday morning and a job well done, in a beautiful location.” said Ollie, adding “We’ve got the semi-final on Saturday – obviously the competition gets tighter, we’ll have to raise our game and so will everyone else. That’s why it’s exciting. Let’s see what we’ve got.”

The Men’s eight (M8+) of Rory Gibbs, Morgan Bolding, Jacob Dawson, Tom Digby, Charlie Elwes, Sholto Carnegie, James Rudkin, Tom Ford and cox, Harry Brightmore. Led throughout their preliminary race and finished first ahead of the Netherlands and Romania. They race again in the final on Saturday.

Callum Russell returned to race in the PR1 men’s single sculls (PR1 M1x) and finished 5th in his preliminary race and will race again in the final.

Three other boats, Emily Ford & Esme Booth in the Women’s pair (W2-), Olivia Bates in the Lightweight women’s single sculls (LW1x), Saskia Budgett and Kyra Edwards in the Women’s double sculls (W2x) will race repechage on Friday.

Scotland’s Dan Jones and Dale Flockhart in the Lightweight men’s double sculls (LM2x) will race in the C final on Friday after a 4th place finish in the repechage.

Boat	Time	Position	Race	Next Race
PR1 M1x	10:08.39	5th	Preliminary Race	→ A Final
PR2 Mix2x	08:17.39	1st	Heat 1	→ A Final
W2-	07:24.54	3rd	Heat 2	→ Rep
M2-	06:37.00	1st	Heat 2	→ A/B Semi Final
W2x	07:09.28	3rd	Heat 2	→ Rep
LW1x	07:58.32	2nd	Heat 1	→ Rep
LM2x	07:08.77	5th	Heat 3	→ Rep
W4-	06:38.19	1st	Heat 2	→ A Final
M4-	05:57.28	1st	Heat 2	→ A Final
LW2x	07:00.17	1st	Heat 1	→ A Final
W4x	06:21.35	1st	Heat 1	→ A Final
M4x	05:46.44	1st	Heat 1	→ A Final
M8+	05:30.30	1st	Preliminary Race	→ A Final
LM2x	06:30.84	4th	Repechage 1	→ C Final

You can follow the action live across British Rowing social media channels and on BBC iPlayer.