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World Champions crowned at World Rowing Championships in Shanghai

Men’s four and PR1 single sculls celebrate first world championship titles

Five GB athletes were crowned World Champions at the Shanghai Water Sports Centre today, adding two gold medals to the two silver medals won yesterday. The wins came in the Men’s four and the PR1 Men’s single sculls.

The Men’s four, racing as a new combination for the first time ever at this regatta, continued their impressive form as Dan Graham, James Robson, Douwe de Graaf, and George Bourne crossed the line ahead of the Romanians and Dutch.

James said, “We came here thinking we could do it, but we wanted to focus on progressing through the regatta and to get better each time we hit the water. We had a great row in that final. It was quite a battle and we’re just really happy to have got that over the line and get it done!”

Commenting on this being their first regatta racing together, Douwe said: “This feels awesome! We gave ourselves extra pressure by doing it this way – but it’s worked out for us, and it makes this high even better.”

Dan said, “I haven’t experienced anything like that before. It’s my first senior World Championships, and to race like that and have our absolute best performance in the final, it’s awesome!”

Paralympic and European Champion Benjamin Pritchard can now add World Champion to this list of accolades. He was dominant in the PR1 Men’s single sculls final, leading from the start and maintaining the pressure on the rest of the field.

Benjamin said, “This project is an undisputed success.  I’m a Paralympic, European, and World  Champion. I’ve broken European records, Paralympic records, and world championship records. I’ll take it all to be honest! I wanted to get off quick and hold the lead, and towards the end, I was holding on for dear life. I was dying in those last five strokes, that’s for sure.

“The temperature here is wild. It’s genuinely like rowing in an inferno! I’ve done a lot of heat preparation back home in the UK with our support staff, who have been fantastic. But it just doesn’t prepare you for these conditions. This is something else,” he added.

The Women’s Four  finished fifth in the A final. The crew of Lauren Irwin, Eve Stewart, Heidi Long, and Megan Slabbert is doubling up and will  race again on Saturday in the Women’s Eight.

There  continues to be no stopping Lauren Henry, who dominated her Women’s single sculls semi-final, qualifying for the A final over five seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

Lauren said, “That was a good semi final for me. To get the job done in as controlled a way as possible. I’m pleased with it and feeling excited about the final. I can only do my best, but I hope that will be good enough!”

Paralympic silver medallists Sam Murray and Annie Caddick also won their PR3 mixed double sculls semi-final to set an exciting final on Sunday. Annie said, “That was a fun race. It felt very warm at the start, but once we got into it we felt much better. It’s all to play for in the final!”

Women’s double sculls of Lucy Glover and Cam Nyland finished 5th and 11th overall in their B final, while Tom Barras was third in the Men’s single sculls D final, finishing 21st overall.

Racing continues until 28 September and is live-streamed on . You can also follow the GB Rowing Team for daily updates from China.