Leander athletes were at the heart of the action last weekend in Lucerne, where Great Britain once again topped the medal table at the World Cup regatta with four golds, four silvers and two bronze.
Sixteen Leander athletes returned with medals to show for their efforts, including gold for the men’s four, the lightweight four, and the women’s double scull.
The GB men's four includes Leander’s Matt Langridge, Rick Egington, and Alex Gregory together with Molesey’s Tom James. Fresh from their success in the Stewards’ Challenge Cup at Henley the previous week the crew were determined to match the gold emdal they won at Munich six weeks previously.
With a one length lead over the field after just 500m the crew were completely dominant at halfway, where they were able to look back and watch the other five crews race for the minor medals.
"When I visualise a race that's the view that I'd like to see at that point" said Leander captain Rick Egington.
“We had some hard races at Henley and sometime you forget that racing at this
level takes it out of you no matter how easy it looks” said Matt Langridge.
The British lightweight four had to boat a substitute in Lucerne, where Pete Chambers replaced the injured Chris Bartley. Chambers’ elder brother Richard, together with Paul Mattick and Rob Williams, took the world title in New Zealand last year, but now with a sub on board the outcome was anything but certain.
But after winning their semifinal in style they became serious contenders, and the final proved just as close as last year’s epic on Lake Karapiro. With a blanket field at halfway South Africa had a narrow lead before the British quartet pressed ahead to lead from Australia at 1500m. Denmark came on strongly in the closing stages but GB slipped across the line for gold.
“Once we got ahead I knew the other crews wouldn’t come through us” said Leander's Paul Mattick.
For world champions Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins the Swiss regatta marked their first race since New Zealand, after a back injury sidelined Leander's Watkins from the first World Cup in Munich.
But the duo proved they were back to the form that gave them the gold medal last November. Despite a strong challenge from Australia the British women crossed the line in first place with Ukraine taking the bronze.
"It was good to have a really, hard and close race. We need to practise them", said Anna Watkins.
In the men's pairs it was business as usual for the New Zealand world champions, Eric Murray and Hamish Bond, who beat Leander's Pete Reed and his Molesey partner Andy Triggs-Hodge into second place.
The GB men's defeat has yet again prompted suggestions that they should be drafted in to strengthen they four or the eight and help maintain chief coach Jurgen Grobler's string of unbroken Olympic gold medal success.
But it was a different story for the GB men's quad scull, whose silver medal in Lucerne was Britain's best-ever result in this boat class.
Leander's Tom Solesbury and Steve Rowbotham, together with Reading University's Sam Townsend and London's Bill Lucas, are coached by Leander Director of Rowing Mark Banks.
Fresh from their success in Henley, where they beat the Croatian world champions in the final, the GB men lay a close second to Germany in the early stages and the positions were unchanged at the finish.
“I think we proved today that Henley wasn’t due to home advantage. We are
fast and we now have six weeks to work on things for Bled" said Olympic bronze medallist Steve Rowbotham.
Leander's Debbie Flood, twice an Olympic silver medallist, stroked the GB women's quad scull, which also included her clubmate Annie Vernon, as well as London's Mel Wilson and Gloucester's Beth Rodford.
World champions last year in New Zealand, the GB women won their heat last weekend to qualify direct for the final but could not get past the Germans, who have a long and successful tradition in this boat class.
"We had a very good race" said Flood. "The Germans just slipped past us in the early part and we were coming back but ran out of track".
Leander's Matt Wells and Marcus Bateman were disappointed with third place in the double sculls in Lucerne. The Red Express- so-called after their flaming hair - took silver in Munich and won their event at Henley. But Germany led from start to finish and a finishing sprint from the New Zealand world champions denied the GB men the silver.
"We will always be disappointed with the finishing position but it's a good platform to build on for the Worlds', said Marcus Bateman.
Britain's final medal of the regatta came in the men's eights, where the German world champions took the early lead. Then the GB crew, which includes Leander's Alex Partridge at bow, Dan Ritchie at stroke and Phelan Hill in the cox's seat, put themselves into contention with a strong push and battled with the Dutch for silver before losing out by just 0.04 sec.
“I didn’t know where we were in the race until the last 250m and Phelan told us we were in second but the Dutch were coming back at us” said Dan Ritchie.
The world championships will take place in Slovenia at the end of August, and a significant number of Leander athletes are expected in the line-up when the GB team is announced on 19 July.
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