12 July 09: Six Leander athletes came away from Lucerne with medals after the GB men's four won gold, with silver for the men's quad and pair, and bronze for the women's pair.

There might have been more medals had not two athletes had to pull out of the competition, including Steve Rowbotham, who admitted to a stomach upset which had resulted in a below-par race on the first two days of competition. He and his partner Matt Wells withdrew from the men's doubles on the morning of finals day.

For the GB men's four - Alex Partridge, Rick Egington, Alex Gregory and Matt Langridge - the final was a solid drive to victory, leading the field by three seconds at halfway, and driving onwards all the way to the line. Slovenia took the silver medal with a strong push by the USA in the last 500m snatching bronze from Germany.

"We had a good race - basically a good start and then we held a strong rhythm" said Alex Partridge afterwards. "It was important for us to win - all we have to do until Poznan is basic, very simple, hard training."

"This certainly felt good - it's nice to be in front and control the field" added Matt Langridge.

But there was disappointment for Pete Reed and Andy Triggs-Hodge, who suffered their third successive defeat at the hands of the New Zealanders, Eric Murray and Hamish Bond, and had to be content with silver.

"We knew the race would be tough against the Kiwis. We came here to enjoy the regatta but we never give up on our ambitions so we will continue training in the next few weeks and hope we can change things around" said Pete Reed.

The GB men's quad, with Marcus Bateman in the 2 seat, put in the best-ever performance by a British boat in this class, to go one better than the bronze won in Lucerne four years ago. The GB men led to the first 500m before the Germans, with Marcel Hacker in the 3 seat, took over the lead and never let it go.

In the women's pair Lou Reeve and Olivia Whitlam made up for a disappointing regatta in Munich three weeks ago by taking the bronze medal behind New Zealand and Germany.

11 July 09: A series of stunning semifinal performances from the GB crews in Lucerne meant twelve crews qualified for the A finals and the chance of medals.

Prize for the tightest finish of the day went to Leander's Matt Wells and Steve Rowbotham who had to jack the rate up to 41 approaching the line, to qualify for their final by just 0.32sec ahead of Andrea Vonarburg and Florian Stofer of Swizerland.

It was a similar story for Chris Bartley and his crewmates in the lightweight men's four, who squeezed home just 0.37sec ahead of fourth-placed Japan.

But Paul Mattick and Rob Williams made certain of their final placing when they finished second in their semi behind the Frenchmen, Jeremie Azou and Frederic Dufour.

A second place finish for St Andrew's Katherine Grainger in the women's single saw her safely through the final while London's Sophie Hosking and Hester Goodsell of Reading University won their semi in style.

The GB men's eight had to battle their way back through the field to ensure an A final ticket. With 500m to go they were in fifth place and out of the running, but a big push for the line meant a blanket finish in which the British men placed third. The USA, who had spent the race confident of a place in the final, were just squeezed out by 0.01sec - less than the width of a bowball - by fourth-placed Italy.

The final Leander interest of the day was the B final of the men's pairs, where Ross Hunter and his London partner, Oliver Mahony, went some way to quell the disappointment of not making the final by rowing a storming finish to win, gaining 7th place overall.

10 July 09: Leander athletes kicked off the World Cup action in Lucerne with a series of heat wins, starting with Lou Reeve in the women's pair.

All bar three of the British crews failed to make the next round at the first attempt, but the men's eight looks set to make the final in tomorrow's repechages.

As the regatta opened on a cool cloudy day, with the threat of rain never far away, the GB squad knew that a strong performance at Lucerne gives a likely foretaste of what to expect at the world championships in August. With 68 nations taking part on the 'Lake of the Gods' the competition is bound to be the strongest of the season, and a far cry from the run of gold medals won six weeks ago in Spain.

But Lou Reeve and Olivia Whitlam stepped straight up to the bar to take a three second win ahead of China, while Pete Reed and Andy Triggs-Hodge had an emphatic win in the women's event just ten minutes later. The New Zealand pair who beat them at Henley last weekend won the other heat in a time that was five seconds faster, setting up the prospects of a tasty final when the four men meet on Sunday.

Annie Vernon reported sick so Anna Bebington is having to compete in the double with Ro Bradbury, finishing a disappointing fourth in their heat and facing the prospect of a repechage. But Matt Wells and Steve Rowbotham had no trouble qualifying for their semi in the men's event, finishing second in their heat behind France, to go through with third-placed Switzerland.

The GB men's four powered their way to a heat win ahead of the USA and now have a day's rest before Sunday's final, while Paul Mattick and Rob Williams took a four second win in their heat of the lightweight doubles to book a place in tomorrow's semifinals.

The GB men's quad, with Marcus Bateman in the 2 seat, were beaten to the line by a fast German crew, but both quads qualified comfortably for the A final, and in the final heat of the day the GB men's eight were beaten into third by the fast German eight, which took a four second win ahead of second-placed Netherlands.

GB CREWS in LUCERNE

(Leander athletes listed in bold)

ENDS