21 June 09: More than half the Leander athletes in Team GB came home with medals from the second World Cup regatta of the season in Munich.

But with Germany back in force on their home water, and with other nations joining the international fray for the first time since Beijing, there was a rude awakening for the British team following their nine golds in Spain three weeks ago.

Only the lightweight women’s double scull took top honours in Germany, but with another three silver and three bronze medals in the Olympic boat classes Leander athletes were once again in the thick of the action.

In the major upset of the regatta Leander’s Pete Reed and his Molesey partner Andrew Triggs Hodge were beaten to the men's pair gold by the new New Zealand crew of Eric Murray and Hamish Bond. The Kiwis raced into a lead by 500m over a Dutch duo in second and GB in third before a push from Reed and Hodge moved them up to second by halfway.

"All credit to the Kiwis", said Reed afterwards. "We had hoped to battle them side-by-side but we were outclassed today. It shows sport is not a fairytale."

The new-look British women's quadruple scull took another silver behind Germany. Beth Rodford, Sarah Cowburn, and Ro Bradbury were stroked by Leander’s Katie Greves. In Sunday’s final they cruised ahead of China and New Zealand, but could never close the margin that separated them from the leading Germans

"We need to carry on making steps as the Germans are a way ahead of us. The gap won't be like that in two months' time" said Greves afterwards.

The first of Britain’s bronze medals came from Leander’s Anna Bebington and her Marlow partner Annie Vernon in the double sculls.

In their final they faced the Olympic silver medallists from Germany, who looked likely to please the local crowd with a victory. But Poland surged through in the final 500m to take gold while the British duo held off the potential threat from Bulgaria to take third place.

"We weren't complacent, we weren't thinking that we could come back in the second half", said Bebington. "Now we know what we have to do before the Worlds".

The GB line-up in the men's four this season includes three Leander men – Alex Partridge, Ric Egington, and Matt Langridge - plus Alex Gregory of Reading University.

Together they took the World Cup bronze behind two German crews who were battling neck and neck throughout the course. For a while it seemed possible the British crew might split the two home crews and take silver but ultimately they could not counter the Germans' fast finish.

Ric Egington said: "We've got a lot of work to do but at least we've identified what we need to improve. That's a very positive thing to take out of this race".

Britain's third bronze came in the men's eight, where Poland led the field, chased by Germany with Great Britain in third. Germany stormed through the final 250m to take gold at breakneck speed from Poland.

GB CREWS in MUNICH

(Leander athletes listed in bold)

ENDS