91ÌÒÉ«

Confident start for GB U23s

GB crews have had a confident opening day at the World Rowing U23 Championships  in Racice, Czech Republic, with seven of the nine GB crews qualifying directly for the next round of the competition.

"It has been a good start to the Regatta", said GB Team Manager Steve Gunn. "Now all the crews have an opportunity to step on over the next three days.

"The women’s four of Olivia Oakes, Atlanta St John, Jenny Arnold and Ruth Walczak were the first GB boat to race and led the way for the GB team, producing an excellent row to win their heat and secure a place in Sunday’s A-final.

Both the men’s and women’s eights have also qualified directly for the A-finals. The men’s eight had a good opening race to finish second, while the women’s eight won their heat, having led at every marker.

In arguably the most exciting race of the day, Mohamed Sbihi and James Foad held their nerve under pressure to take third place in their heat of the men’s pair. The GB combination rowed through South Africa in the final strokes of the race to qualify for their semi-final on Saturday.

There were also strong performances from GB’s lightweight entries.

All three lightweight boats qualified for the semi-finals with Kat Copeland in the lightweight women’s single and the lightweight men’s quadruple scull winning their heats and John Preston and Ben Rowe in the lightweight men’s double finishing second behind a strong German crew.

Both the men’s four and the men’s coxed four face repechages tomorrow after finishing third and fifth respectively in their heats.

Semi-finals are scheduled for Saturday and A and B finals will be on Sunday.

OPEN

WOMEN

Four

1. Olivia Oakes/Atlanta St John/Jenny Arnold/ Ruth Walczak (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:08.79

2. France 7:09.94

3. Australia 7:12.00

4. Germany 7:16.13

5. Czech Republic 7:28.60

Eight

1. Vicky Bryant/Jacqui Round/Monica Relph/Victoria Thornley/Michelle Vezie/Emily Taylor/Leonora Kennedy/Rachael Jefferies/Zoe De Toledo (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:39.70

2. Canada 6:44.92

3. Belarus 6:51.22

4. Ukraine 6:56.43

MEN

Pair

1. Ivan Ostojic/Aleksander Radovic (Serbia) 6:46.47

2. Tom Lehmann/Mathis Jessen (Germany) 6:47.13

3. James Foad/Mohamed Sbihi (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:47.92

4. Murray Chandler/Lawrence Brittain (South Africa) 6:48.16

5. Erekle Ukleba/Giorgi Sinatashvili (Georgia) 7:21.19

Four

1.  Canada 6:10.43

2.  USA 6:13.03

3.Ìý Will Satch/Matthew Tarrant/William Laughton/Scott Durant (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:14.80

4.  Belarus 6:36.07

5.  Russia 6:44.33

Coxed Four

1.  New Zealand 6:27.63

2.  USA 6:30.34

3.Ìý Ukraine 6:33.80

4.  Croatia 6:36.97

5.  Ryan Bucke/Karl Hudspith/George Nash/Ray Poulter/Max Gander (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:40.55

Eight

1.  Canada 5:47.45

2.  Kieren Emery/Chris Abraham/Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell/

Tom Clark/Ben Duggan/Dan Ritchie/Anthony Locke/

Matt Rossiter/Henry Fieldman (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:49.53

3.Ìý Australia 5:52.08

4.  Estonia 5:58.63

LIGHTWEIGHT

WOMEN

Single Scull

1. Katherine Copeland (GREAT BRITAIN) 8:11.29

2. Anniken Ellingsen (Norway) 8:18.70

3. Angelina Casanova (Switzerland) 8:30.06

4. Barbora Sagova (Slovakia) 8:31.42

5. Fatemeh Khalaj (Iran) 8:33.89

6. Yara Pereira (Portugal) 9:01.20

MEN

Quadruple Scull

1. Will Fletcher/David Jones/Jono Clegg/Peter Chambers (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:09.51

2.  France 6:12.12

3.Ìý Denmark 6:17.27

4.  Czech Republic 6:25.74

5.  Turkey 1 6:29.47

Double scull

1.  Christian Hochbruck/Lars Hartig (Germany) 6:34.95

2.  John Preston/Ben Rowe (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:41.38

3.Ìý Kristoffer Brun/Are Strandli (Norway) 6:47.46

4.  Michael Albisser/Simon Scherch (Switzerland) 6:50.02

5.  Alec Buckenheimer/Andrew Campbell Jr (USA) 7:09.53