Ondrej SYNEK M1x (CZE)
"It was great to have a race since I haven't competed in 2 months. It was normal conditions today, so I am very happy. Yeah, it was my tactic to be in front for the first half of the course and then just to qualify for the semifinal."
Emma TWIGG W1x (NZL)
On beating London 2012 Olympic champion Miroslava TOPINKOVA KNAPKOVA ( CZE) in the quarterfinal: "KNAPKOVA and I were having a good battle until about 750 (metre mark) and then we came into bubbly water and I dealt with it a bit better. The conditions certainly suit the Kiwis."
On whether it helps having beaten TOPINKOVA KNAPKOVA at this stage: "It's a nice little mental advantage but I don't think she put her best foot forward today."
On the performance of Kenia LECHUGA ALANIS ( MEX), who finished third, to reach the semifinals: "She set herself up really well in that heat (on Saturday) to get a favourable lane (for the quarterfinal) and to her credit she raced really well today. Having role models like that in different countries is only a good thing."
Aikaterini NIKOLAIDOU W2x (GRE)
"Of course I am happy. Today we race in the semifinal, the race was very tough. Our goal was to be in the final and we did it! I don't really understand what happened in the boat, we gave our maximum and it just worked."
Milda VALCIUKAITE and Donata VISTARTAITE W2x (LTU)
"We are tired and very excited. We are very optimistic for the finals and we hope to do our best. Very tired and very excited, very happy. The beginning was according the plan, I didn't expect such a tight race and close finish. I was just saying, "Milda go, let's go.""
Mehgan O'LEARY and Ellen TOMEK W2x USA
"We can't believe it, we wanted to go a little harder at the start and stay closer to the pack so in the second half we didn't have to make up so much distance. I knew when I could see the other boats that we were in a good position coming into the second thousand."
"She (Meghan) called and I knew we had to go. It is unbelieved. New Zealand are two-time world champions, and they have a very fast sprint. We have been working on our sprint to try to edge them out."
"The level is so high, we had thirteen boats in the women's double here and every single one could have medalled, we feel so lucky to have the opportunity to be going for a medal."
"We crossed the line and I knew it was close. I knew were jockeying back and forth with New Zealand. We were looking at the screen, as soon as I saw USA, it was amazing, the three best letters in the alphabet right now. New Zealand is a class act, they are known as an amazing sprint crew. So it is just unbelievable to come through them in the last few metres."
Katherine GRAINGER W2x (GBR)
"We started this regatta one race at a time. We would have loved to have won it, but that was a solid performance. Experience will always count for something. You know what to expect, the nerves never get less, the pressure never gets less. That is where I thrive. It's not that look forward to that uncomfortable feeling, but you know how to handle it. It's all about the next race, one race at a time."
Stefano OPPO and Matrino GORETTI LM4- Italy "40,000 days, from 2001 I have been dreaming of the Olympics, I have no words."
"In London, we arrived as 2 nd from world champs and finished 12 th. Every day we have been struggling with the thing of London and this is just a dream."
"Yeah, it's hard work. Luckiyla when you arrive here you forget about all of it. You forget about the life like monks, now it is worth it."
Stefano OPPO and Matrino GORETTI LM4- Italy
"40,000 days, from 2001 I have been dreaming of the Olympics, I have no words."
"In London, we arrived as 2 nd from world champs and finished 12 th. Every day we have been struggling with the thing of London and this is just a dream."
"Yeah, it's hard work. Luckiyla when you arrive here you forget about all of it. You forget about the life like monks, now it is worth it."
Stefanos NTOUSKOS LM4- (GRE)
Greece - after being a late call-up as the Russian boat was ineligible, had only one week to prepare. Today, they qualified for the A-final.
"We never imagined we would go into the A-final, but we are so excited. It is like a dream. Nothing else. We only had one week to prepare for the Olympic Games. We gave everything we had to go well. Our coach believed in us and believed in the boat. After Lucerne, I thought the Olympic Games were finished for me. But then I saw, maybe we can do something good. We drew on everything we have done in the last years."
Jonathan WALTON and John COLLINS (GBR) M2x
"We had a belief we could go do it. We knew it would take something quite special to be able to deliver it. We controlled them (our nerves) as well as we coud. With the false start or non-alignment, there was some additional nerves. But we had a major focus of getting off cleanly and getting each 250m done."
On what happened at the start: "I don't know really. We went off and then did three strokes and we heard the buzzer go off. They said it was false alignment and you don't know what happened. You can't let yourself get phased by it. We had a false start last year. To be fair, I quite like that. It always feels like you get another chance to get it right. I already had some things I thought I could have done better. These things happen and you've got to be ready for that kind of stuff. That was the first tick the box. We don't just want to be in that final, we want to go out and do damage in that final. We look forward to a rest day tomorrow and then bringing it in the final on Thursday. Bring it on."
Rasmus QUIST and Mads RASMUSSEN LM2x (DEN)
Quist: "It was ok we were looking to win the repechage and we did that. It ended up how we were hoping. It was a little tough to row in these conditions. It's choppy and gets easier as you go down." Rasmussen: "It's difficult for everyone out there but we handled it better than we did yesterday. It's nice to qualify and we have more left in the tank so we're in good shape for tomorrow."
James LASSCHE LM4- (NZL)
"That was really tough. I agree that (the semifinal) is the toughest race of all. The final, you get to fully rehydrate and prepare for it. Semis are often the one you don't know quite how much to put into it. Definitely one of the hardest races of the regatta. It would have been nice to be up in 2 nd. But that hasn't squashed our aspirations of medaling or winning. We are pretty experienced and I think we'll be challenging for it in the final."
Peter CHAMBERS - LM4- GBR
(Boat narrowly missed out on the A-final from their semifinal, they will go on to the B-final) "Pretty tough to be honest. Today wasn't our day. To be honest, we did quite a good race, we just got rowed out of it in the last 500m. That is the lightweight fours, you can be ahead, or half a length down and you're out. This is what you sign up for, for it to be this tough. I think we're alright."
Michelle PEARSON (BER)
On finishing fourth in her quarterfinal and advancing to the C/D semifinals:
"I'm so excited to put Bermuda on the rowing map and I wanted to see how high up I could put it. I'm excited to be close to people I admire so much and simultaneously disappointed that I didn't make it to the A/B semifinal."
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