GB qualify two crews to finals on first day of World Rowing U23 Championships
The women’s quadruple sculls and men’s coxed four moved straight to Saturday’s finals with strong performances on day one of the World Rowing U23 Championships
Great Britain鈥檚 reigning champion women鈥檚 quadruple sculls crew got their World Rowing U23 Championships off to the best possible start, comfortably winning their heat and progressing directly to Saturday鈥檚 final.
Two of the gold medallists from 2017, Lucy Glover and Saskia Budgett, returned to the crew alongside Kyra Edwards, who was forced to miss last year鈥檚 final through illness, and World Junior champion Zo毛 Adamson.
GB stormed to a one-length lead by the halfway mark, knowing that only the first boat across the line would avoid the repechage. By the line, the gap to the second-place Netherlands had halved, but the British crew held on to secure the finals place.
The men鈥檚 coxed four also booked their place in the final with second place in their heat. GB sat half-a-length up on a fast-finishing Australian crew, with the USA setting the fastest time of the two heats in first place.
GB鈥檚 women鈥檚 pair and men鈥檚 four secured second-place finishes to move into the semi-finals. Heidi Long and Hannah Scott, of GB, and the USA crew sat well clear of the rest of the field by the halfway mark and they both cruised into the next round.
David Ambler, Sam Nunn, Charlie Elwes and Felix Drinkall also enjoyed a comfortable lead over third-place Canada in the four鈥檚 heat, finishing almost three lengths up and just half a length back on New Zealand. They return on Saturday for the semi-final.
Both the men鈥檚 pair and lightweight men鈥檚 quadruple sculls will race in Thursday鈥檚 repechages having finished fourth and sixth respectively in their heats.
Results
Women鈥檚 pair heat
1. Regina Salmons & Alina Hagstrom (USA), 7:30.57
2. Heidi Long & Hannah Scott (GBR), 7:35.93
3. Emily Hegarty & Tara Hanlon (IRL), 7:46.45
Women鈥檚 quadruple sculls heat
1. Great Britain (Zoe Adamson, Kyra Edwards, Saskia Budgett & Lucy Glover), 6:41.11
2. Netherlands, 6:42.62
3. USA, 6:47.19
Men鈥檚 pair heat
1. Thibaud Turlan & Guillaume Turlan (FRA), 6:48.78
2. Dimitru-Alexandru Ciobica & Florin-Sorin Lehaci (ROU), 6:49.97
3. Rangel Katsarski & Stanimir Haladzhov (BUL), 7:02.42
4. James Vogel & Max Townley (GBR), 7:03.94
Men鈥檚 four heat
1. New Zealand, 6:07.39
2. Great Britain (David Ambler, Sam Nunn, Charlie Elwes & Felix Drinkall), 6:08.82
3. Canada, 6:17.21
Men鈥檚 coxed four heat
1. USA, 6:18.41
2. Great Britain (Henry Blois-Brooke, Matthew Rowe, Tobias Schr枚der, Oscar Lindsay & Gavin McWilliams (cox)), 6:23.13
3. Australia, 6:25.33
Lightweight men鈥檚 quadruple sculls heat
1. Denmark, 6:03.88
2. Spain, 6:11.71
3. Japan, 6:17.10
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6. Great Britain (Dale Flockhart, Seb Matthews, James Stevenson & Dom Jackson), 6:25.92
