British rowers eye up a golden Sunday

Great Britain have not known a more successful couple of qualifying days at an international rowing regatta as they have had at Banyoles, Spain, this week. Sixteen British crews will start in the 14 remaining finals of this year's first World Cup tomorrow, including two in both the women's double scull and women’s pair, and there is a decent chance that half of them will walk off the podium with gold medals.
Adam Freeman-Pask was a seventeenth British finalist in the lightweight men’s single, which was held today, and won the bronze medal, behind Greece and Italy.
A caveat should be made. The global recession and tighter budgets in the year after an Olympics have prevented some nations from taking part. There is no one here from Australia, New Zealand and China. Germany are barely represented and the United States and Canada have sent only their smaller boats. There is a strong presence from other European countries, however, and the reduced field increases the pressure on the stronger nations to perform.
As with the quads and eights, the women's single scull race on Friday was to decide lanes in the final, with only six entries after three withdrew, but Katherine Grainger, the Glasgow sculler, was pleased with her first race in a new event. "I didn't know if my start would be fast enough," she said afterwards, but it destroyed her rivals. After 500 metres she was five seconds ahead of second place, and although Grainger eased back in the final stretch she beat Brett Sickler, of the United States, across the line by a length.
Peter Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge, competing in a pair for the first time, won their second race of the regatta to reach Sunday’s final. The pair flew away off the start, working up a lead of almost two lengths before relaxing on the run-in. Reed said that he knew Britain would win after the first two strokes. They will be tested on Sunday, but if they can find the same rhythm, they probably have too much class.
"I could feel the strength in the boat and that gave me a lot of confidence," Hodge said. The women's lead pair of Louisa Reeve and Olivia Whitlam had the opposite strategy in their race. They were third after 500 metres but were the fastest in the second half of the race to claim the win.
The first-string women's double of Anna Bebington and Annabel Vernon, who qualified directly for their final on Friday, will be joined on Sunday by Britain's second double of Beth Rodford and Katie Greves, who were second in a repechage, as were the men's and women's lightweight doubles. Matt Wells and Stephen Rowbotham continue to look like the crew to beat in the heavyweight double after a controlled semi-final win.
Alan Campbell, in the single, was also impressive, opening up a gap of 1.5 seconds in the start and eventually finishing almost two lengths clear of Olaf Tufte, the Olympic champion from Norway. Campbell's task in the final will be a little easier, although Tufte should never be written off, after Ondrej Synek, the Olympic silver medal-winner, got caught in weeds and came last in his semi-final.
If there is one cloud at this sun-kissed regatta, it was the uninspiring display given by the men's eight in their race for lanes. They finished fast but were well off the pace for much of the race and have a lot to prove in the final. It is a development crew, with only two of the eight in Beijing last year, but in the absence of so many strong eights nations, their sluggish display is a worry.
Source:The times