17 August: Leander's Mark Hunter and his Marlow partner Zac Purchase confirmed their status as pre-race favourites by winning Britain's second rowing gold medal in the lightweight double sculls on the final day of the Beijing regatta.
Their Olympic title was part of a total GB medal haul of two gold, two silver and two bronze, which placed them top of the rowing medal table and made it Britain's best Olympic rowing regatta for a hundred years.
Thirteen Leander athletes won medals, including three gold, seven silver and three bronze, extending their status as the leading medal winners of any club in any sport in the world.
The second day of finals on the Shunyi Lake was tinged with disappointment for the women's quadruple scull and the men's eight, both of whom had to settle for silver after being beaten to the line by China and Canada respectively.
Purchase and Hunter started off the blocks level with Marcello Miani and Elia Luini, the Italian silver medalists from 2006, who led after 500m, with the Greek double of Mougios and Polymeros not far back in third. After an excellent second quarter the British lightweights had created a one length advantage over Greece at halfway as the Danish world champions moved into third.
As the second half unfolded Purchase and Hunter looked strong and full of confidence as they extended their lead, roared on by grandstands packed with British supporters, and went on to win by 0.73sec ahead of Greece with Denmark having to settle for bronze.
"Being an Olympic champion means you put everything on the line and that's what we did there", said Mark Hunter afterwards. As his partner punched the air Hunter could hardly stand up after the race, as the effort took its toll.
"No-one can take this away" he said afterwards. "It's fantastic and thank-you to family, friends and all the support team I've had over the years. This is for you".
But there was profound disappointment for the British Great Britain's women's quadruple scull who had set their hearts and minds on gold. Off the start they moved out to a one length advantage before China, urged on by their home crowd, began to reel them back in.
Leander's Debbie Flood, partnered by Katherine Grainger, Fran Houghton and Annie Vernon, piled on the pressure as China launched a final assault approaching the line. But the GB crew, who were looking to improve on silver in Athens, had given their all, as China went on to win their first Olympic rowing gold.
GB's second silver today came from the men's eight, coached by Mark Banks and John West. The crew found themselves chasing Canada in the early stages before closing the gap in the final 500m.
"We were at the limit towards the end", said Leander's Rick Egington, whose disappointment mirrored that of the remainder of the crew who had been hungry for gold after a storming performance in the heats.
"We've just won an Olympic medal and I have just rowed in the most enjoyable crew ever. They are the best guys, coached by the best two coaches. It is fantastic and I couldn't think of a better Olympic experience", said Leander's Alex Partridge afterwards.
The British women's eight, stroked by Leander's Katie Greves, could not make up the lost ground after a slow start and were trailing the field after 500m. They managed to get past Australia as the race unfolded and hung on in fifth place as the USA took gold ahead of the Netherlands and Romania.
The lightweight fours' final ultimately belonged to Denmark, who were boating two of their Athens Olympic champions, and led from start to finish. The GB world champions held on to third place at the middle of the race but were overhauled by Canada and France to be pushed back into fifth at the line.
16 August: The GB men’s four has triumphed in Beijing, to complete a British hat-trick in the event, coming from behind to take the Olympic title ahead of Australia and France.
And there were bronze medals for Matt Wells and Steve Rowbotham, and for Anna Bebington and Elise Laverick, in the men’s and women’s doubles.
As befits the Olympic finals every medal was won by the closest of verdicts. And for Leander captain Steve Williams, the sole survivor of the victorious Athens four, with his crewmates Pete Reed, Tom James and Andy Triggs-Hodge, it was closer than most. Down by half a length at halfway, with Australia leading ahead of Slovenia, the GB four were still behind with 250m to go, but dug deep to power past the opposition to take gold by 1.28sec.
Steve Williams recalled the defining moment when they snatched victory.
"We got a sniff then that we might do it. What happened next was beyond skill - it was something primeval".
In a season beset by injury and illness the low point came in Lucerne where a depleted crew, without Triggs-Hodge or James, slipped to eighth place. But a silver medal in Poznan marked their return to form, which provided another stepping stone on the path to victory in Beijing.
For GB men’s heavyweight coach Jurgen Grobler the win marked his tenth Olympic gold crew – an unbroken series which started at Munich in 1972.
"The best thing is that we've done it. It was hard work, lots of hard work and some blood, sweat and tears especially in this last season when we have been on the ropes" said Peter Reed.
Both double sculls came close to snatching upgrades on their bronzes which in themselves were hard-fought and deserved. Only two tenths separated Elise Laverick and Anna Bebington from silver in their women's double final which was won by New Zealand just one hundredth of a second ahead of Germany who had earlier led the race throughout.
Perhaps the margins weren't quite so close in the men's double scull where Steve Rowbotham and Matt Wells hunted down the Australian leaders throughout the first two thirds of the race only to be beaten in the final sprint by the Estonians. Just 1.5 seconds divided the three medal crews at the finish with Australia holding on to take line honours.
Alan Campbell's challenge in the Olympic single sculls ended when he placed fifth, as Olaf Tufte retained the title for Norway, ahead of Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic and New Zealand’s Mahe Drysdale.
There was another significant performance when Leander’s Lou Reeve and her pairs partner Olivia Whitlam raced their first Olympic final. The two former Under-23 medalists were in contention for much of the first half of the race before dropping back to finish sixth, as Romania took gold, with silver for China and Belarus bronze.
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