28 May: Leander athletes came away from the first World Cup regatta of the season with five gold medals after the GB men’s four, women’s quad and women’s double scull all crossed the line in first place. And when Mark Hunter in the lightweight single and Dave Currie in the lightweight pair added bronze to the tally it meant that seven out of fifteen Leander athletes in Munich finished in the medal zone.

Leander vice-captain Debbie Flood was back in the boat in which she won Olympic silver at Athens, the GB  quad scull, which faced five other crews in Munich, including the Russians who took bronze behind Great Britain's gold last year at the world championships in Gifu, Japan.

But in Saturday's final it was the Australians, with former junior world champion Sally Kehoe in the stroke seat, who were fastest off the blocks, reaching the first 500m split more than a second clear of the British crew, who were lying third behind the Russians. But the halfway mark as the signal for a sustained push that saw the world champions ease past the leading crews and pull clear, recording the fastest splits in the field over the final two quarters. The GB quad crossed the line more than four seconds clear of second-placed Australia, with Russia taking the bronze.

"It's early season and you don't know how the rest of the world is going to perform so it's good to get the first race out of the way" said Debbie afterwards.

In contrast to the quad Anna Bebington and her partner Annie Vernon had an excellent start in the final of the women's double sculls, in which they lined up in the favoured centre lane alongside Belarus, the same crew which took ninth place last year in Gifu.

But it was the young German double, stroked by Stephanie Schiller from last year's silver medal quad, which pressed them hardest, and past the halfway mark the Germans took the lead by the narrowest of margins. With 500m to go Bebington and Vernon came back into contention and were neck-and-neck with Germany past the grandstands, but then they found an extra gear to push past the home crew, and it even looked comfortable on the line.

"It's so exciting", said Anna after the race. "We really didn't expect that".

In the men's fours it was the Netherlands, unchanged from the crew which won silver behind Britain last September in Japan, which made the best effort to keep with the GB crew, which included Leander's Steve Williams, Peter Reed and Alex Partridge together with stroke Andy Hodge.

The Brits led the field at every mark, but behind them the Dutch were pressing hard, as were the new German four, who fought their own private battle for the minor places. As the home crowd roared on the Germans the gap between the leading crews narrowed down to the line, but the world champions reached the finish less than half a second clear, with Germany taking silver just 0.03 sec ahead of the Dutch.

"We didn't have our best race today but we needed to come here and play ourselves in" said Olympic champion Steve Williams afterwards. "There's no letting up - we set a good standard, but we have to move on".

"They have to get used to people chasing them, because they are world champions" said their coach, Jurgen Grobler.

A recent knee injury meant Leander captain Mark Hunter failed to get reselected for the lightweight double scull, in which he finished seventh last year in Gifu. But a last-minute fitness test gave him the all-clear to compete in the lightweight single in Munich, where the favourite in the final was the reigning world champion, Vasileios Polymeros of Greece.

First off the start was Gerard van der Linden of the Netherlands, with Polymeros close behind at the 500m split, and Hunter fourth. But the Dutchman rapidly ran out of steam, as the Greek took the lead at halfway, where a strong push by Frederic Dufour of France brought him into second place, with Hunter now third. The positions remained unchanged over the final quarter, giving Greece the gold medal ahead of France and Great Britain.

Leander's final medal in Munich was in the lightweight men's pairs, in which Dave Currie and his partner Nick English had earned themselves the favoured centre lane by winning their semi-final on Friday, as did Otto and Rueckbrodt of Germany. But the Germans were unstoppable come the final itself, recording the fastest splits all the way down the course, with Currie and English hanging on to their shirt tails. But the pace became too much, and as the GB pair faded in the final quarter it was the Australians who slipped through to take silver behind Germany, pushing the British pair back into third.

Report by Leander Press Officer Robert Treharne Jones

SCROLL DOWN FOR LEANDER RESULTS

Results from Finals Day (for crews including Leander athletes)

Full results available on www.worldrowing.com)

Women’s quadruple sculls

1. Great Britain (Debbie Flood, Sarah Winckless, Frances Houghton, Katherine Grainger) 6:32.00

2. Australia 6:36.13

3. Russia 6:36.97

4. China 1 6:40.38

5. China 2 6:48.57

6. Romania 6:55.15

Women’s double sculls

1. Anna Bebington/Annie Vernon (Great Britain) 7:02.28

2. Magdalena Schmude/Stephanie Schiller (Germany)  7:03.58

3. Jitka Antosova/Gabriela Varekova (Czech Republic 1)  7:05.50

4. Volha Berazniova/Yuliya Bichyk (Belarus) 7:06.96

5. Jin Ziwei/Tang Bin (China 1) 7:09.27

6. Xi Xihua/Feng Guixin (China 2) 7:13.64

Men’s fours

1. Great Britain (Steve Williams/Peter Reed/Alex Partridge/Andrew Hodge) 6:00.25

2. Germany 2 6:00.71

3. Netherlands 6:00.74

4. Canada 6:07.16

5. Slovakia 6:10.17

6. Germany 3 6:12.44

Lightweight men’s single scull

1. Vasileios Polymeros (Greece)  7:04.02

2. Frederic Dufour (France 1)  7:07.55

3. Mark Hunter (Great Britain) 7;09.62

4. Gerard van der Linden (Netherlands)  7:13.15

5. Rasmus Quist (Denmark)  7;13.18

6. Jan Vetesnik (Czech Republic 1) 7:14.37

Lightweight men's pairs

1. Felix Otto/Ole Rueckbrodt (Germany 1) 6:44.95 2. Tim Smith/Tim O'Callaghan (Australia) 6:46.61

3. Nick English/Dave Currie (Great Britain) 6.48.13

4. Luigi Scala/Franco Sancassani (Italy) 6:50.61

5. Paul Sommeregger/Uwe Daxboeck (Austria) 6.51.33

6. Asbjoern Joensen/Mads Andersen (Denmark) 6:54.70

Men’s double sculls

1.  Rene Bertram/Robert Sens (Germany)  6:22.88

2.  Akos Haller/Tibor Peto (Hungary)  6:23.76

3.  Jean-Baptiste Macquet (France 2)  6:23.85

4.  Matt Wells/Steve Rowbotham (Great Britain) 6:24.55

5.  Jonathan Coeffic/Julien Bahain (France 1) 6:27.32

6.  Michal Sloma/Marcin Brzezinski (Poland 1)  6:36.67

Lightweight men’s fours

1.  Germany 6;06.88

2.  Ireland 6:07.36

3.  Australia 6:09.31

4.  Great Britain (Matt Beechey/Daniel Harte/Paul Mattick/James Clarke) 6:10.46

5.  China 6:12.82

6.  Italy 1 6:13.90

Men’s eights

1. Germany 5:32.79

2. Poland 5:33.42

3. Australia 5:35.09

4. Netherlands 5:35.59

5. Great Britain (Tom Stallard/Toby Garbett/Tom Solesbury/Jonno Devlin/ Hugo Lee/Josh West/Kieran West/ Matt Langridge/ Acer Nethercott) 5:37.87

6. Belarus 5:44.82

Lightweight women’s double sculls

B Final

1. Helen Casey/Jane Hall (Great Britain)  7:19.52

2. Chrysi Biskitzi/Alexandra Tsiavou (Greece)  7:22.01

3. Benedicte Dorfman/Coralie Simon (France)  7:22.74

4. Anna Yuchenko/Ksenia Potapova (Russia)  7:23.77

5. Lena Karlsson/Sara Karlsson (Sweden)  7:28.33

6. Laura Tasch/Daniela Reimer (Germany 2)  7:29.98

Regatta preview - 5 May: Twelve Leander athletes have been selected among 28 members of the GB squad travelling to Munich for the first World Cup regatta of the season at the end of the month. But that total could rise in the next few couple of weeks as the results of further trials for the lightweight boats are expected.

Olympic silver medallist Debbie Flood has won her place back in the top women’s boat after taking time out last season to study for her finals. The GB women’s quadruple scull, which reached second place behind Germany at the Athens Olympics, took the gold medal ahead of their old rivals at last year’s world championships in Japan.

The announcement now means increased sponsorship for the 26-year old athlete, who will now be supported by Camelot, along with the rest of her crew, at least for this season.

“It takes a lot of pressure off me – it means I don’t have to worry so much about the mortgage and petrol costs. I can eat properly and concentrate on my rowing” she said.

Anna Bebington, another Leander athlete who has features so strongly in winter trials, has been selected for the second women’s boat – the double scull, where she will partner Annie Vernon. It’s the first time a senior crew has been composed entirely of World Class Start athletes, who have been newly recruited to the sport as potential internationals of the future.

The world champion men’s coxless four, three of whom are Leander athletes, remains unchanged this year. Olympic gold medallist Steve Williams and his pairs partner Alex Partridge were beaten narrowly in final GB trials by their crewmates Pete Reed and Andy Hodge. The crew anticipate keen competition right up to this year’s world championships at Eton in August – the first time in twenty years that the event is to be hosted in Britain..

“The crew are really up for it this season – the guys count themselves lucky, the time is right for us, and this sort of opportunity only comes once in a career” said Williams.

The twelve athletes vying for places in the men's eight and a coxed four include six Leander athletes who together provide a combination of relatively new talent as well as age and experience.

Nick Lloyd,  a member of last year's winning Britannia Challenge Cup crew at Henley, finds his way into the senior squad for the first time, as does Marcus Bateman, who joined the Leander squad after moving from Reading University during the winter.

Former junior world champion Matt Langridge, who stroked the GB squad to a first-ever World Cup medal in that boat class last year, has now changed to sweep rowing where he is looking for a place in the eight. Also featured in the squad of potentials are the veterans Toby Garbett and Tom Stallard, both former world champions in coxed fours, and Cambridge Blue Josh West, a world silver medallist in the GB men's four in 2002.

Chief coach Jurgen Grobler freely admits that not enough scullers are now available to continue the success forged last season by the men's quad, so the focus this year is now on the double scull, in which Leander's Steve Rowbotham has won a place, partnered by Matt Wells of University of London. Tideway Scullers' Alan Campbell, a former Diamonds winner who was also a member of last year's quad, has finally succeeded in winning the nomination for the single scull.

But there’s no place in Munich for the Leander captain, Mark Hunter, who featured last year in the men’s lightweight double but is still out of the boat recovering from a knee injury. If he is fit enough he may yet compete in the lightweight single, with the possibility of regaining his old place later in the season.

ENDS