Olympic champion Hannah Scott and Finn Stratton targeting final of quadruple sculls with Great Britain at World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam
Olympic champion Hannah Scott will be aiming to progress to the final of the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam as Great Britain prepare for the semi-finals of the quadruple sculls on Thursday.
GB sealed their place in the last four in Bosbaan after powering to another heat victory on Tuesday on the second day of the championships.
Challenging, headwind conditions test crews once again, but Great Britain prevailed in style after overcoming an early Romanian lead.
Romania made the quicker start and led at the 500-metre mark, but Great Britain’s crew of Lola Anderson, Scott, Finn Stratton – whose mother Cathy is from Cullybackey – and Imogen Grant had drawn level by 750 metres.
A powerful third 500 metres proved decisive as the British quartet moved away from Romania and crossed the finish line with clear water between the boats. Romania finished second, with Canada third.
“It’s good to get our first race done on the course,” said Anderson, one of three Olympic champions in the crew alongside Scott and Grant.
“While the water is challenging, it’s somewhat familiar, and reminds us of the conditions back home at Caversham.
“It’s good to get the first marker done, evaluate, and then come into the next round of racing with those lessons.”
Speaking prior to the start of the championships, Scott told BBC NI she was “excited” by the challenge ahead.
“The event itself is starting to stack up and that's where I'm excited to see where we land on it, because with everyone else that's improving, I think we've seen a massive breakthrough, is how I would describe it, in the past five weeks and what we've done in our crew,” Scott said.
“I want to see where that lands and how that lands and hopefully we can display that in what's going to be an amazing event at this World Championships.”
Ireland’s new women’s quadruple also advanced on time in their heat, delivering a strong performance for a newly formed crew stroked by the experienced Emily Hegarty.
The line-up included 19-year-old Sophia Young from Belfast in the two seat, with Alison Bergin and Izzy Clements in seats three and one respectively.
The Irish crew endured difficulties in the early stages but steadily worked their way back into contention. By the closing stages, they were in a solid third place as Switzerland and the United States fought for the heat win.
Switzerland eventually took first place ahead of the United States, while Ireland held their rhythm to finish as the second-fastest crew to qualify on time.