GB Rowing Team qualify for 10 medal finals at the 2019 European Rowing Championships
The GB Rowing Team made their mark on the second day of the 2019 European Rowing Championships with ten crews progressing to tomorrow鈥檚 A finals
(c) Nick Middleton
GB鈥檚 women鈥檚 four, featuring Sara Parfett, Caragh McMurtry, Beccy Girling and Emily Ford, produced stunning form to finish first in their repechage. In one of the closest races of the day, the crew found another gear to take the lead ahead of the Russian boat and qualify for tomorrow鈥檚 A final.
This European Championships has been Ford鈥檚 debut in the stroke seat for the four. Speaking after the race, she said: 鈥淲e got our nerves out of the way in yesterday鈥檚 race, so today was much better and we had much more control. We鈥檙e really pleased that we sat in our rhythm and didn鈥檛 let anything faze us.鈥
The men鈥檚 eight, comprised of Tom Ford, James Rudkin, Tom George, Mohamed Sbihi, Jacob Dawson, Ollie Wynne-Griffith, Mat Tarrant, Josh Bugajski and cox Henry Fieldman stamped their authority on the repechage by leading the race from start to finish.
Olympic gold medallist Sbihi said afterwards: 鈥淭oday was a step in the right direction. We learned a lot from yesterday, where we probably got too involved in the race rather than sticking to our own plan; today we just focused on ourselves. We鈥檙e confident going in to tomorrow鈥檚 final but still need to make some improvements to give ourselves a chance of making the podium.鈥
Graeme Thomas and John Collins put in a blistering sprint in the men’s double sculls after sitting in fourth place at the 1,000m mark. They finished the race in second and secured themselves a spot in the A final tomorrow.
Speaking after their race, Thomas said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e pleased with the result but it wasn鈥檛 a perfect race – we need to work on our pace at the start to put ourselves in a stronger position so we鈥檙e not having to throw the kitchen sink at it in the second half.鈥
In a thrilling semi-final, GB鈥檚 men鈥檚 four of Ollie Cook, Matt Rossiter, Rory Gibbs and Sholto Carnegie took the rate up in the final 500m to beat the Polish boat by over a second, seeing them through to tomorrow鈥檚 A final as fastest qualifiers.
Despite racing twice yesterday, lightweight single sculler Jamie Copus found enough in the tank to finish fast and go through to tomorrow鈥檚 A final as the fourth fastest qualifier.
Reflecting afterwards, Copus said: 鈥淚鈥檓 so chuffed to be in the A final. I was feeling good, paced myself and then made my move in the last 500m. Before this I鈥檇 had six or seven consecutive fourths in A/B semi-finals and I said to myself, 鈥榥o more fourths today鈥.鈥
Olympic silver medallist Vicky Thornley was 鈥済utted鈥 to just miss out on the A final in the women鈥檚 single sculls. Making her return to international racing, she wasn鈥檛 able to break through into the top three qualifying spots and finished the semi-final in fourth.
Speaking afterwards, she said: 鈥淚鈥檓 gutted to not have made the A final and to not quite be back where I wanted after my break. I鈥檝e learnt a lot from this weekend that I will take back into training and use for the rest of the season.鈥
The men鈥檚 quad of Jack Beaumont, Jonny Walton, Angus Groom and Pete Lambert produced a well timed mid-race effort to push Germany into second place and win their semi-final by more than a second, while in their repechage, the newly formed women’s quad of Jess Leyden, Melissa Wilson, Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne and Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne dug deep to secure third place. Both crews will race again in tomorrow鈥檚 A finals.
In the women鈥檚 pair, Sam Courty and Annie Withers battled throughout the second kilometre to take a hard-fought third place, seeing them through to tomorrow鈥檚 A final.
Speaking afterwards, Courty said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e really looking forward to the final. We鈥檝e learnt a lot from the past two races, so now we have to take that all into tomorrow and just enjoy it.鈥
There was disappointment for the lightweight men鈥檚 double of Zak Lee-Green and Will Fletcher and the young men鈥檚 pair of Harry Glenister and George Rossiter, as both finished fifth in their semis and will race the B finals tomorrow.
Speaking afterwards, George Rossiter said: 鈥淲e had a solid row and a good start, but there were a lot of fast pairs out there today. We鈥檙e now going to try and put it right tomorrow by going out there to try and win the B final.鈥
In a fiercely competitive A/B semi-final which featured the fastest two qualifying times of the day, GB鈥檚 lightweight doubles combination of Imogen Grant and Ellie Piggott held their own to finish third and put themselves through to tomorrow鈥檚 A final.
Speaking after the race, Grant said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e really pleased with what we executed. Yesterday was the first time we鈥檇 done a full 2km race together, so to make it into the A final is a huge achievement. We鈥檙e really excited to see what we can deliver tomorrow.鈥
The lightweight double of Maddie Arlett and Emily Craig, competing in the openweight category, raced well but finished fifth putting them through to tomorrow鈥檚 B final.
Speaking afterwards, Craig said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e really pleased with how we raced today. There鈥檚 not too much we could have done differently that would have got us into that A final – we did what we set out to do and can鈥檛 really ask for much more.鈥
In the quarter finals for the men鈥檚 single sculls, Tom Barras took the third qualifying spot to see himself through to the afternoon鈥檚 A/B semi-finals. Following a tough second race of the day he missed out on a spot in the A final by only a second and will now contest tomorrow鈥檚 B final.
Jurgen Grobler OBE, Chief Coach for the GB Rowing Team鈥檚 men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 squads, said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e racing in ten medal finals tomorrow of which nine are Olympic events – this is really positive and gives us confidence for the rest of the season.
鈥淎 number of crews, such as the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 four, have done exceptionally well and made big progress through the winter. In particular, the performance of the women鈥檚 pair is a credit to their coaches at Leander Club.鈥
Results
Men鈥檚 single sculls (Quarterfinal)
1. Oliver Zeidler (GER) 7:01.29
2. Damir Martin (CRO) 7:03.07
3. Tom Barras (GBR) 7:03.93
Men’s single sculls (A/B semi-final)
1. Oliver Zeidler (GER) 6:50.76
2. Sverri Nielsen (DEN) 6:50.99
3. Ondrej Synek (CZE) 6:56.16
4. Tom Barras (GBR) 6:57.16
Women’s pair (A/B semi-final)
1. Kiri Tontodonati & Aisha Rocek (ITA) 7:11.91
2. Maria Kyridou & Christina Bourmpou (GRE) 7:12.69
3. Sam Courty & Annie Withers (GBR) 7:14.65
Men鈥檚 pair (A/B semi-final)
1. Martin Mackovic & Milos Vasic (SRB) 6:24.41
2. Jaime Canalejo Pazos & Javier Garcia Ordonez (ESP) 6:26.00
3. Lukas Helesic & Jakub Podrazil (FRA) 6:30.58
…
5. Harry Glenister & George Rossiter (GBR) 6:30.77
Women鈥檚 double sculls (A/B semi-final)
1. Leonie Menzel & Carlotta Nwajide (GER) 6:54.52
2. Milda Valciukaite & Ieva Adomaviciute (LTU) 6:55.55
3. Aikaterini Nikolaidou & Anneta Kyridou (GRE) 6:56.49
鈥
5. Maddie Arlett & Emily Craig (GBR) 7:02.46
Men鈥檚 double sculls (A/B semi-final)
1. Amos Keijser & Nicolas van Sprang (NED) 6:11.71
2. John Collins & Graeme Thomas (GBR) 6:12.61
3. Hugo Boucheron & Matthieu Androdias (FRA) 6:13.81
Lightweight men鈥檚 single sculls (A/B semi-final)
1. Artur Mikolajczewski (POL) 6:57.26
2. Martino Goretti (ITA) 7:00.08
3. Jamie Copus (GBR) 7:01.10
Lightweight women鈥檚 double sculls (A/B semi-final)
1. Anastasiia Ianina & Alena Furman (BLR) 6:52.78
2. Laura Tarantola & Claire Bove (FRA) 6:53.38
3. Ellie Piggott & Imogen Grant (GBR) 6:57.66
Lightweight men鈥檚 double sculls (A/B semi-final)
1. Stefano Oppo & Pietro Ruta (ITA) 6:17.28
2. Tim Brys & Niels van Zandweghe (BEL) 6:18.06
3. Emil Espensen & Alexander Modest (DEN) 6:20.42
…
5. Zak Lee-Green & Will Fletcher (骋叠搁)听6:51.00
Women鈥檚 four (Repechage)
1. Great Britain (Sara Parfett, Caragh McMurtry, Beccy Girling, Emily Ford) 6:32.50
2. Russia 6:33.18
3. Croatia 6:35.39
Men鈥檚 four (A/B semi-final)
1. Great Britain (Ollie Cook, Matt Rossiter, Rory Gibbs, Sholto Carnegie) 5:52.32
2. Poland 5:53.94
3. Ukraine 5:55.64
Women鈥檚 single sculls (A/B semi-final)
1. Jeannine Gmellin (SUI) 7:27.98
2. Lisa Scheenaard (NED) 7:29.41
3. Magdalena Lobnig (AUT) 7:30.12
4. Vicky Thornley (GBR) 7:37.41
Women鈥檚 quadruple sculls (Repechage)
1. Netherlands 6:20.14
2. Ukraine 6:20.66
3. Great Britain (Jess Leyden, Melissa Wilson, Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne, Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne) 6:23.81
Men鈥檚 quadruple sculls (A/B semi-final)
1. Great Britain (Jack Beaumont, Jonny Walton, Angus Groom, Pete Lambert) 5:47.07
2. Germany 5:48.11
3. Ukraine 5:49.31
Men鈥檚 eight (Repechage)
1. Great Britain (Tom Ford, James Rudkin, Tom George, Mohamed Sbihi, Jacob Dawson, Ollie Wynne-Griffith, Mat Tarrant, Josh Bugajski, Henry Fieldman) 5:29.02
2. Romania 5:30.51
3. Russia 5:36.13
