Gold and two silvers for GB at World Championships
1st September 2011The GB Rowing Team opened its medal tally with a gold and two silvers on the first of four World Championship medal days on Slovenia's Lake Bled.
Kieren Emery and Peter Chambers bagged Britain's gold in the lightweight men's pair.
Silvers followed for the women's pair and men's eight. The level of ambition within the Siemens-backed team was shown by the pride mixed with a tinge of disappointment felt by those who took silver.
Helen Glover and Heather Stanning learned how cruel top sport can be when they missed out by eight hundredths of a second to the defending world champions, New Zealand, in the women's pair. They lost to the Kiwis in the final last year but this time round the margin was much closer and the British duo led for much of the race.
"I knew the Kiwis would come back on us but I didn't know how close it was at the end", said Stanning.
"This may be the result that makes our career because we will be so fuelled up to get up there and be punching at the top of the podium next year", added Glover.
Emery and Chambers were also involved in a tough tussle with New Zealand but came back on the early race leaders to claim gold in 6:27.59.
"At 600m gone I looked around for New Zealand and saw that they were about three-quarters of a length up on us and I knew we had to keep working and working and that they would pay for it at the end", said Emery. He was right as Italy and Germany overhauled the Kiwis to take silver and bronze respectively.
The GB men's eight, which here includes the seemingly evergreen 1992 Olympic gold medallist Greg Searle, knows that it has a place for London after taking silver today ahead of Canada in bronze but behind Germany.
Stroke Dan Ritchie said he felt the home crowd could make the difference next year against a German crew that beat them last year and again today. Only this time round the gap was bigger and the rest of the world was closer behind Britain.
"Don't underestimate the power of the home crowd", said Ritchie.
"It's a bitter pill to swallow coming second but in a way we'll be very motivated now for 11 months and a day until the Olympics", said Searle.
Earlier five British crews qualified for tomorrow's finals. Paralympic Champion Tom Aggar led off with a win in the semis of the arms-only single scull and was followed by wins from the World Champion lightweight mens' four and the lightweight women's single. The GB men's double qualified in second place and the lightweight men's single in third. The British women's eight who qualified for tomorrow's final yesterday are also in action tomorrow.
The GB women's quad, so disappointed on Tuesday when they failed to make the final, were winners of today's B Final, securing the boat a place at the Olympic Games next year.
Pete Reed and Andy Triggs Hodge race in the men's pair tomorrow on a semi-final race-card which includes World Champions Katherine Grainger in the women's double scull, Marcus Bateman and Matt Wells in the men's double scull as well as both single scullers.