FISA TEAM CUP

Seville, Spain

17-18 February 2007

Reports by Leander Press officer Robert Treharne Jones

Scroll down for athletes and results summary

18 February: Leander athletes helped Britain to five more wins today in Seville where GB won the FISA Team Cup at the end of the second day's 500m sprint competition. Matthew Wells added another win to his doubles title the previous day when he won the single sculls in the absence of Alan Campbell, who sustained a twisted ankle which put him out of the competition. Wells' doubles partner Steve Rowbotham held on to the title for the second day running, partnered in the sprint by Alex Gregory.

With Molesey's Andy Hodge back in his familiar stroke seat the men's four were comfortable winners once again, but Hodge and Pete Reed then went on to win the pairs ahead of their team-mates Alastair Heathcote and Robin Bourne-Taylor.

That left Steve Williams and Matt Langridge to compete as the stern pair of a reshuffled men's eight which won by almost a length ahead of the Spanish/Argentinian composite.

"In a sprint regatta the type of racing is a little different but for GB everything still seemed to be under control today. It was also a very sunny day and conditions for racing were perfect" said coach Jurgen Grobler of his squad's success at the "friendly" international which is seen as a break in the monotony of winter training.

17 February: The GB men's four, with three Leander athletes on board including substitute Matt Langridge at bow, took a comfortable win today at the FISA Team Cup in Seville. Chief coach Jurgen Grobler swapped seat positions for Steve Williams and Molesey's Andy Hodge, and with the Olympic champion at stroke the new line-up took a comfortable two second verdict ahead of five Spanish boats.

"We're trying different things at the moment and mixing up the four today was part of that", said Grobler, who is already looking forward to August's world championships in Munich where Britain needs to qualify as many leading boats as possible for the 2008 Olympic Games.

But there was disappointment for the second British men's four in Seville. Leander's Tom Wilkinson with crewmates Dave Lyons, Tom Lucy and Nathaniel Reilly O'Donnell who could not race today and have been ruled out of tomorrow's racing because of illness.

In the pairs event Williams and Langridge doubled up and took another win, followed in second place by Alastair Heathcote and Robin Bourne-Taylor. In third place were the young Spanish pair Noe Guzman and Pedro Rodriguez, who took fourth place at the 2005 Under-23 World Championships in Amsterdam.

In the men's doubles world bronze medallists Steve Rowbotham and Matt Wells won ahead of the Belgians Christophe Raes and Stijn Smulders who finished three places behind the Leander athletes in the Eton final last August. Bill Lucas and Dan Ritchie finished in fourth place, three seconds behind Simon Fieldhouse and Alex Gregory.

In the men's singles Alan Campbell of Tideway Scullers won ahead of Tim Maeyens, the Belgian Number 1 who contested the Olympic final in Athens. Robert Bertram of Germany, an Under-23 bronze medallist in last year's quad, was third.

Just four crews contested the eights final, with the GB crew winning by four seconds ahead of the second placed Spanish-Argentinian composite.

16 February: Matt Langridge, who made the switch from sculling to sweep after the 2005 World Championships in Japan, finally gets the chance to prove himself in the flagship men's four this weekend in Seville. But it's at the expense of Alex Partridge, who is still trying to shake off a niggling injury and has been deemed unfit to take part in the pre-season friendly regatta on the Guadalquivir river in Spain, the setting for the world championships in 2002.

Leander's Steve Williams and Pete Reed retain their places in the crew, as does Molesey's Andy Hodge at stroke, while other Leander athletes in Spain include world championships double scull bronze medallists Stephen Rowbotham and Matt Wells who team up on Saturday but race in separate crews on Sunday.

The squad also features a number of young, emerging rowers including Marcus Bateman, who joined Leander from Bath University last year, and James Orme and Tom Wilkinson, who make their first appearance on the verge of the senior squad after competing in last year's Under-23 world championships

Racing in Seville is over 1000 metres on Saturday, and a 500 metre sprint the following day, with the opportunity for each squad to test new crew combinations in advance of the regatta racing season.

The GB men's heavyweight squad invariably hold a men's training camp in Seville at this time of year and the opportunity to race in this event helps provide a focus and an incentive according to GB Performance Director David Tanner.

Saturday 17 February

Leander athletes in italics

Sunday 18 February

Leander athletes in italics

Detailed results available here and click on XIII FISA TEAM CUP

ENDS