At the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro LRC's Jessica Eddie and Phelan Hill both won medals. Pride of place went to Phelan who coxed the GB Gold medal winning Men's Eight. Jess Eddie rowed in the Women's Eight which won Silver - Britain's first medal at an Olympic Games in this event. There was disappointment for Mark Aldred in the Lightweight Men's Coxless Four which was just squeezed out of the final, but some compensation with a very commendable first place in the 'B' final (7th overall).
We congratulate them on their achievements. We also congratulate Sir David Tanner, in charge of the whole GB Rowing Team, on their superb result of 3 Gold and 2 Silver medals, and Robin Williams who coached the Women's Pair to their 2nd successive Gold medal.
Here are some extracts (and photos) from British Rowing's reports:
No British women’s eight had ever won a medal before at an Olympic Games but Katie Greves, Melanie Wilson, Frances Houghton, Polly Swann, Jess Eddie, Olivia Carnegie-Brown. Karen Bennett, Zoe Lee and cox Zoe de Toledo have been determined all season to end that wait. After winning European Championships gold in May, plus silver and bronze on the World Cup circuit, they demonstrated their medal-winning potential on the biggest stage of all with an impressive victory in the semi-finals.
Jess Eddie (2nd right).
That meant they lined up in the centre lanes alongside the powerhouses from the United States, bidding for a third successive Olympic title. However, it was the Canadians – third to Britain in Monday’s heats and qualifiers via the repechage – who got off to the strongest start. The GB eight were at the back of the field at the 500m mark and, as the Canadians continued their all-or-nothing charge, remained in sixth place at the halfway stage.
But there was no sense of panic. Throughout the season, the GB have begun to move around the 1,250m mark and that was the case again today as they stuck firmly to their game plan. With total belief in themselves, their crew-mates and their cox, the eight began to cut through the field and, following a sensational third 500m, they had surged up to second place and were closing on the all-conquering United States at the front. The Americans rose to the challenge to hold onto the lead but now the threat came from the fast-finishing Romanians. The British fans were on the feet as the eights crossed the line together, GB getting the nod for silver in a photo-finish by one-tenth of a second.
Eddie, who was also in the eight in 2008 and 2012, added: “I don’t think it has really sunk in yet. I wanted to make today feel just like a regular training piece, I can get too excited and I wanted to quash that. I told the girls they would be a moment in the race when they had to make it happen and we did.”
The men’s eight of Scott Durant, Tom Ransley, Andrew T Hodge, Matt Gotrel, Pete Reed, Paul Bennett, Matt Langridge, Will Satch and cox Phelan Hill were looking to complete a golden Olympiad in the men’s race, the GB eight having won the World title in 2013, 2014 and 2015. They had struggled to reproduce that form in the early stages of the season but their belief in each other, the programme and coaches Jurgen Grobler and Christian Felkel never faltered.
Phelan Hill (front centre).
A powerful heats victory showed they were very much back to their best and they built on that in today’s final by completely dominating the race from start to finish. Defending champions Germany were expected to be provide another epic challenge, as were the Netherlands, but Britain had no intention of getting involved in a scrap and by 500m they were already three-quarters of a length up. Satch in the stroke seat called for another big push in the second quarter and his crew-mates responded, pounding out a fierce rhythm to move clear of the chasing pack.
Germany and the Netherlands tried to respond but the British eight were able to rise to their challenge and went on to win in convincing style, securing a first Olympic gold for the GB men’s eight since Sydney 2000. Cox Hill said: “That was absolutely fantastic. It’s so different to four years ago. Today we just controlled it from the start. We’ve always had the raw speed in training and today was about delivering that. These guys were absolute gladiators.”
Chris Bartley, Jono Clegg, Mark Aldred and Peter Chambers fought a tightly-bunched lightweight men’s four semi-final but fell the wrong side of the top three dividing line in the final long sprint to the line as the French and New Zealanders came through behind an eye-catching Italian winning quartet. “I don’t think we could have done anything more. We didn’t leave anything out there today”, said Peter Chambers afterwards. “We were beaten by good crews”. Bartley added: “I guess we can be proud that no-one held back. We put everything we had out there today”.
Sir David Tanner, Team GB Leader for Rowing, said: “With three outstanding golds and two superb silvers, our 26 rowing medallists have done TeamGB proud at these Olympics. 26 rowers will be returning home having achieved their dreams here in Rio. To be top of the rowing medal table for the third successive Olympics is something to be truly proud of. “Well done to our rowers and the outstanding Coaching and Team Support staff, not only out here in Rio but those at home who backed us all the way.”
