21 June 10: Leander’s lightweight athletes were on top of the world after their performance in Munich. The lightweight four went one better than their silver medal in Bled while Mark Hunter, back in the double with Zac Purchase for the first time since Beijing, proved he still had what it takes to win.
Meanwhile the ‘Red Express’ – Leander’s Matt Wells and Marcus Bateman – repeated their Slovenian success with another gold in the heavyweight double.
But, as nations like Australia and Germany were back in force for the second World Cup regatta of the series, the GB men’s four and both men’s and women’s eights had a rude awakening after their early season success in Bled.
The GB lightweight four which included Richard Chambers, Chris Bartley and Paul Mattick as well as London’s Rob Williams, were coached by Leander’s Rob Morgan, and had a slow start in their final as Denmark and the Czech Republic set the early pace. The GB men attached into the third quarter and led a tight field all the way to the line where they took gold by more than a second.
"We made our move at just the right time" said Paul Mattick. "We've moved on since Bled. We have the ability to make a move and we did that today at the precise time. It is so potent".
"We kept our cool and when we wanted to step on, we did, and had a devastating effect on the rest of the field. It's a fantastic feeling to be back in a winning crew" added Chambers.
Back in harness for the first time since their Bejiing final, Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase knew that Munich would provide their first real test of the season. With comfortable wins in their heat and semi behind them they led the New Zealand world champions before the Kiwis fought back at the halfway mark. But their lead was shortlived as the Brits drew level to the last 250m where the Olympic champions moved up a gear to steal the race.
"Where did that come from", said Hunter afterwards. "It's exciting. It's even a shock. We had to dig deep to find that. Three weeks ago I was injured and training on a bicycle. I can't believe it".
In the men’s double final Matt Wells and Marcus Bateman had a narrow lead ahead of the Swiss after 500m, before France moved through to challenge the Leander men for the lead. Once again it was the third quarter which decided the race, with GB leading in another sprint, leaving France with the silver.
"We wanted to be quick and we wanted to dominate and I think we've done that. But France are a class act. They pushed us all the way today and I'm sure they'll continue to get stronger" said Bateman afterwards.
"Marcus and I are a really good unit. We have a common goal. We are taking each race as it comes and we are very focussed. There is a lot of hard work that has gone into training but we are starting to see what we can do", added Wells.
There was another silver medal for Leander’s Pete Reed and his Molesey partner Andy Triggs Hodge in the men’s pairs where they suffered another defeat at the hands of the New Zealanders Eric Murray and Hamish Bond. But this time the British pair held them to their closest finish yet, to set up a thrilling encounter when they next meet at Henley in two weeks time.
"This was the first time that we have been side by side for such a long time in a race. The good thing is that we can be proud of our performance and we are getting closer to them" said Reed.
For the Leander-based GB men’s four of Alex Partridge, Alex Gregory, Rick Egington and Matt Langridge, Munich revealed what other nations had been doing during the winter season. Slow off the mark to the first 500m the world champions had to work back through the field and suddenly found themselves playing second fiddle to a fast Australian crew. As the crews surged towards the line, the USA came up quickly to pip the British quartet for silver with Australia taking gold.
"We slipped off the start. We knew the Australians would be quick out of the blocks and thought we could catch them in the middle part of the race but it didn't happen today" said Leander captain Egington.
Gregory added: "Our start isn't as quick as everyone else's and it's where we need to improve. It didn't feel quite right today." added Gregory.
Leander’s Anna Watkins and her Marlow partner Katherine Grainger had a great start as they attempted to repeat their Bled gold medal in the women’s doubles. By halfway their lead meant they could cruise home as they liked to take another win ahead of the Czech Republic and Germany. But they couldn’t repeat that performance in the women’s quads an hour later where the German line-up pleased the Munich crowd with one of two gold medals for the home nation.
"We didn't have a comfortable second half of the race but we were forced to row well under pressure and I was pleased with how we dealt with it", said Watkins of her gold medal.
The GB men’s quad, which included Leander Olympian Steve Rowbotham, were making their first appearance of the season, and trailed the Croatians before Germany came through to push the GB crew back into the bronze medal slot.
"We're a bit disappointed today but this is generally our world championships field with only perhaps the Italians to join it so we know that this result is a good stepping stone" said Rowbotham.
In the women’s eights final the GB crew, which included Leander’s Jo Cook, Lou Reeve and Vicky Thornley, were lying third behind Romania and Germany before a final surge brought them through the Germans to take silver..
"It was disappointing not to win but it was pretty awesome to row through another crew like that" said Reeve
The GB men’s eight, which included Leander’s James Orme and Tom Broadway, picked up the final bronze medal of the regatta behind Germany and China.
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