27 July: Despite their best efforts the British lightweight women's quad finished just out of the medal zone in fourth place in today's A final, in which Australia took gold ahead of Poland and the USA.
The result was a bitter disappointment for the GB crew who took the Princess Grace Challenge Cup at Henley just three weeks ago, when they beat the heavyweight opposition with an easy verdict in the final.
Poland, who had won their heat earlier in the week to win a direct place in the A final, took the early lead ahead of the USA and GB after the first 500m, where less than a second separated the three leaders.
The Americans squeezed into a narrow lead by halfway but the Australians, who took the world title last year in Munich, were now threatening just 0.25sec behind the third placed British quad.
As the second half unfolded so the Australians made their move, gradually clawing back the deficit and slipping into second place at 1500m, with the Americans still to beat, and GB 0.4sec astern in fourth place.
Coming down to the line Australia turned up the pressure and moved away from the field, while Poland now gained new impetus and led the tiring Americans. Australia crossed the line more than 3 seconds clear to take their second successive world title, with Poland taking a one second margin for silver ahead of the USA.
For the GB junior squad there were silver medals for the two men's fours and a bronze for the women's four. Germany finished top of the medal table with eight golds, in the absence of the Chinese who were dominant at last year's event in Beijing.
23 July: A confident performance from the GB lightweight women's quad saw them win their repechage this morning in Austria. All four of the leading crews in the race would join heat winners Poland and Australia in the weekend's A final, but the British quad were determined to lead the way home and headed the field from start to finish. Only the USA were able to hold on to the leaders' pace, but with the margin at 0.65 sec after 1500m the GB women moved away to win by half a length.
But the GB lightweight men's quad came unstuck in their own repechage - they stormed off the blocks and were clear leaders at halfway, but ran right out of steam in the second half, where they were overhauled by the rest of the field. The British men finished in fifth place and will now contest the B final at the weekend.
22 July: Chris Bartley and Danny Harte got off to the best of starts in the lightweight men's pairs in Linz, where they won their heat and qualified direct for tomorrow's semifinal, togther with second-placed John Nichols and Alex Rothmeier of the USA. The GB pair led after 500m but a big push from the Americans gave them a narrow advantage at halfway before Bartley and Harte regained the lead to cross the line just 0.1 sec clear with the third-placed Japanese a couple of seconds astern.
But it wasn't all plain sailing for the two lightweight quads - the women were led all the way to the line by the highly talented Polish crew who seemed determined to avenge their defeat in Poznan. With only the heat winners progressing straight to the A final Jane Hall's crew now have another chance in tomorrow's repechages.
Meanwhile the GB men's crew finished third behind the Czech Repubic in a heat clearly won by Italy, who are always a force to be reckoned with in this boat class.
21 July: Just four Leander athletes are taking part in the top quality field at the senior (non-Olympic) world championships in Austria, an event which is combined with the World Juniors in an Olympic year.
Hopes are high for a medal place for the GB women's lightweight quad, stroked by Leander's Jane Hall, an athlete who won her first world title in 1993 at the age of 19. The crew took the gold medal in the World Cup in Poland a month ago and followed it up by winning the Princess Grace Challenge Cup against heavyweight opposition at Henley two weeks later.
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