Gearing up for the 2012 Olympic Rowing Regatta to be staged on their home waters, Great Britain top the rankings at the first stage of the 2012 Samsung World Rowing Cup in Belgrade, Serbia, claiming medals in 12 of the 14 Olympic boat classes.
As expected, Great Britain took gold in the women's pair, women's double sculls, men's four and lightweight men's double sculls.
In the absence of New Zealand's reigning World Champions in the women's pair, 2011 world silver medallists from Great Britain, Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, took gold ahead of two USA crews.
The men's pair revealed new talent, with the top two medals going to new crew combinations from Germany (gold) and Great Britain (silver). Greece's experienced Gkountoulas brothers took bronze. Eric Murray and Hamish Bond from New Zealand, so far unbeaten on the international stage, were absent in Belgrade. Lucerne will reveal if the Kiwi-British rivalry that went on for the past three years will continue with the new-look British crew of George Nash and William Satch, as Britain's former pair of Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs-Hodge have moved into the men's four.
Katherine Grainger, Great Britain's most successful female rower, seems well on the way to reach her dream - Olympic gold in London - as she and crewmate Anna Watkins maintain their dominance in the women's double sculls. Germany showcased a new duo including Olympic medallists Annekatrin Thiele and Britta Oppelt. Taking silver, the Germans prove they will be a force to be reckoned with throughout the season. Upping their game, Czech sisters Jitka and Lenka Antosova leave Serbia with a World Cup medal - bronze.
The men's double sculls saw Slovenia's most popular sportsmen Iztok Cop and Luka Spik back on the medals podium together for the first time since the 2008 World Rowing Cup in Poznan, Poland. They took bronze behind gold medallists Germany (2009 World Champions Eric Knittel and Stephan Krueger) and silver medallists Great Britain (Bill Lucas and Sam Townsend, formerly part of the British men's quadruple sculls). Multi Olympic medallists Cop and Spik are clearly aiming for more than just a spot in the Olympic final later this year.
Great Britain's new line-up in the men's four, including former pair Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs-Hodge, ruled supreme, winning rather comfortably ahead of the field. The fight was on, however, for second and third, with a photo finish crediting Greece with silver and unexpected contender Belarus with bronze. The field was tight with one second separating crews ranking two to four.
Twice World Champions in the lightweight women's double sculls, Alexandra Tsiavou and Christina Giazitzidou of Greece, surprised the world of rowing when they were beaten by China in their heat and had to race the second-chance repechage to try and qualify for the A-final. But the Greeks confirmed their status once again as they led today's final from start to finish, fighting off tough challenges from Great Britain and China. Less than one second separated the top three boats at the finish line.
In the lightweight men's double sculls, 2008 Olympic Champions and multi World Champions Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter demonstrated that they are aiming to repeat their Beijing feat in London. The Greek double surprised the field, showing admirable progress compared to their 2011 results: Eleftherios Konsolas and Panagiotis Magdanis, eighth-place finishers at the worlds in 2011, took silver ahead of 2011 world bronze medallists from Italy Elia Luini and Lorenzo Bertini.
Legendary Eskild Ebbesen is on a roll. Turning 40 later this month, the three-time Olympic Champion in the lightweight men's four is stroking Denmark to what could be another glorious Olympic finish in London. The Danes took the lead from the halfway mark and won gold ahead of Great Britain and a new force to reckon with in this Olympic year - China.
Ukraine have had a winning streak at European Championship level. They also took silver at the 2010 World Rowing Championships. However, perhaps their superiority in this event took reigning World Champions Germany and the rest of the field slightly by surprise. They have managed to send a clear message to their strongest competitors by finishing with gold in Belgrade and it remains to be seen if they will be able to continue to fight off the Germans (who finished with silver) and Great Britain (who finished with bronze) throughout the season, and, most importantly, at this year's climax event, the Olympic Rowing Regatta.
Croatia's young line-up in the men's quadruple sculls began to impress in 2009. They became World Champions in 2010 and world bronze medallists in 2011. This year, they continue to show their strength and potential by crossing the finish line first ahead of Germany (2011 world silver medallists) and Estonia's impressive new-look crew.
In the blue riband women's eight final, there was a question mark regarding the Dutch crew who had chosen not to compete in yesterday's optional race for lanes. Storming out of the starting blocks, the Netherlands took the lead and stayed there until the finish line, with a considerable lead ahead of Romania, who managed to overtake the British crew in the last ten strokes.
An unusual line-up in the men's single sculls A-final meant that one of the contestants would win a World Cup medal for the first time in Belgrade. The experience of Olympic medallist and multi world medallist from the Czech Republic, Ondrej Synek, paid off, as he stole the advantage in the final 500m to take gold ahead of Great Britain's Alan Campbell and, another surprise result of the day, Angel Fournier Rodriguez of Cuba.
Azerbaijan won its first World Cup medal in the blue riband women's single sculls today, with Nataliya Mustafayeva finishing in bronze medal position behind 2011 World Champion Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic in silver and China's impressive and very experienced Xiuyun Zhang in gold.
In the final race of the day, three-time consecutive World Champions Germany confirmed their leader status by finishing ahead of Great Britain and the Netherlands.
At the end of the first stage of the 2012 Samsung World Rowing Cup series, Germany finish second in the overall standings with 47 points compared to Great Britain's 79, and the Netherlands finish third with a to
FISA recap