2007 British IRC Live Race Reports

Race 9

Men J12, Men J11, Women J12, Women J11

Race 9 is the first 'time' race, with the J12 and J11 racing over two minutes. There's some frantic stuff. Katie Metalli, who won the J11 race last year adds to her collection with a win this year in the J12 event, covering 522m. In the Women J11, Robyn Armstrong broke the championship record to win in 493m. Also a record breaker was Gregory Blanchard in the Men's J11, with a stunning 528m. Dominic Parnell wins the Men's J12 in 533m.

Race 10

Women J13

Another great race here sees the top four all break the old championship record. Rowan Raynor wins with a stunning distance of 811m. Last year's J12 winner Alice Wharmby is just overtaken near the end by Rebecca Morgan in the battle for the silver and bronze.

Race 11

Men J13

James Davies from Colmers School is the man going home with the gold medal. He wins relatively comfortably with a distance of 870m. The real battle is behind him for second place, where Christopher Jones, Jasroop Bhogal and Alex Matthew are all in contention. In a thrilling finale Bhogal and Matthew dead heat with 848m, just ahead of Jones with 840m.

Race 12

Women J14

The two juniors from Nottingham RC, Alicia Brown and Katie Bartlett, dominate this race. Brown just finds the strength at the end to get some extra metres under her belt, winning with 1091m, just four metres ahead of Bartlett. Behind them, Cecille Sandager from Denmark just squeaks in front of Aimee Benning to take the bronze.

Race 13

Men J14

Race 13 sees,or rather hears, the loudest race of the day, with the audience rewarding some fanatastic rowing with plenty of screaming. Jack Beaumont from Maidenhead RC gets to the front early and stays there to win with 1177m. Behind him, Ben Elliot has a struggle to stay ahead of George Theobalds, but manages to hold him off, to win silver with 1163m.

Race 14

Women J15

At the halfway point of this race, Camilla Hadland and Charlotte Cook are neck and neck and it looks like it could go either way. With a strong push in the middle stages, it looks like Hadland has in the bag. From almost nowhere, Rosa Atkinson makes a storming run from the pack and all of sudden it looks like she might pull off a remarkable victory. The line comes too soon for her, however, and Hadland wins with 1368m, just 3 metres ahead of Atkinson. Cook is third with 1353m.

Race 15

Men J15

The last of the time races, this comes down to a battle between Rupert Wiltshire and Edward Rippon. They're engaged in a titanic tussle, with Wiltshire just having the strength to win with 1529m, Rippon just behind with 1524m. Morgan Hellen takes the bronze, a few more metres back with 1503m.

Race 16

Men BUSA Lwt, Men BUSA Hwt (Heat 1), Men Open Hwt (Heat 1)

The first of the BUSA (British University Sudent Association) races sees John Preston take gold and BUSA points back to Reading University, winning in 6:23.7. Nathan O'Reilly wins silver with 6:26.1, while Henry Sheldon takes the final medal with 6:29.0.

Race 17

Men Open Hwt

The big race of the day. At the centre of the front row, and the man everybody will be hoping to beat, is last year's winner Graham Benton. Up against him are the likes of Olympic medallist Kieran West, and a host of people from the British team, including the giant Richard Egington and BUSA legend Andrew Triggs Hodge.

With the excitement mounting, it's clear the tension is affecting the athletes, with first Matt Langridge and then Richard Eginton false starting. At the third time of asking they get away true, with Benton hitting his standard 1:11s off the start. At 500m, Benton has the lead. Behind him, Egintonn Marcus Batemans, Langridge, West and Triggs Hodge are a few metres back, all in a line. Ominously for them, Benton is lookigg very comfortable in the lead. Rumours start to fly that he has Matthew Pinsent's British record of 5:42.6 in his sights. At the halfway point, Benton has opened up clear blue water. Triggs Hodge has now moved into third place behind Egington. With 600 to go, Benton is stroking at 34 strokes per minute, and the crowd are starting to roar him home. With 400 to go, Benton's down to 1:25; he's really flying; can he break the record? Behind him Langridge has come from the pack to take the third spot. With a 100 metres to go, Benton needs 1:24s to break the record. The crowd are going crazy behind me. Martin Cross is screaming the strokes down from the floor. Five to go. Four to go. Cross is screaming at him as Benton pulls his last stroke and drops the handle. As the smoke clears, Benton has retained the British title but, more importantly, he's got a new British record of 5:42.5. Behind him, Richard Egington, the big six man in the GB 8 has second place with 5:48.4, while Langridge is third with 5:51.7.

Race 18

Men Open Lwt, Men BUSA Hwt (Heat 2)

The two big names in this race are Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase, the two men in the British lightweight double. They're both aiming at going sub 6:10, which would be incredibly impressive. At the start, Purchase gets off to a flyer, really hitting a fast start. Hunter stays near, although, and after 400 metres he's caught up and it's neck and neck. Hunte looks incredibly consistent, while Purchase, rating maybe a pip higher, seems just that little bit more erratic. At 900m they're still level, but it's now Hunter who has the smallest of leads. Has Hunter pushed through or is Purchase dropping off slightly? The second half of the race sees Hunter gradually open up a lead; he's consistently hitting 1:32s, while Purchase's splits are floating out slightly. With 250m to go Hunter has it in the bag and he wins in a time of 6:12.3. Purchase is second with 6:19.7, while Bob Hewitt does well to take bronze in 6:23.5, ahead of Chris Boddy.

Race 19

Men BUSA Hwt

The favourite here is Sam Townsend from Reading University, who British rowing coach Jurgen Grobler has already identified as having great potential. He blasts into the lead and practically romps all the way home, winning in 5:53.5. Behind him there's a great race between his university teammate Bill Lucas and the Oxford University team. It's an Oxford man, William England, who just beats Lucas with a time of 5:58.5, who in turn does well to hold off another Dark Blue, in the shap of rOBIN eJSMOND-fREY.

Race 20

Men J18, Men J18 Lwt

After the first 500m, the J18 Hwt race sees a three-way fight for the lead between Matthew Rossiter, Matthew Tarrant and Geroge Nash, with Rossiter just having the whiphand. At the halfway stage, it's him and Tarrant who have the lead, with Tarrant pushing him hard. At 700m, Rossiter starts to dig deep, and he gradually ekes out a small but sizeable lead. It's Nash now who starts to move up the field now and he makes a big move to overtake Tarrant. Rossiter wins in 6:07.9. As the line comes, Tarrant makes a desperate dive for it, but Nash takes silver with 6:12.1 and Tarrant bronze with 6:12.3.

The Men's J18 Lwt is a more clearcut affair, with George Caines winning with 6:32.7, well ahead of Jamie Pitcher in second and Michael Mottram in third.

Race 21

Women Open Lwt, Women BUSA Lwt, Women J18 Lwt

The J18 Lwt sees a phonemenal row by Eleanor Piggott, who wins in a time of 7:21.6, smashing not only the championship but the British record in the process. Katherine Copeland, who also went faster than the old British record, finished a close second with 7:23.5, while Charlotte Burgess finished third with 7:33.8. The BUSA Lwt race was won by Lucy Aukett, making up for last year when she recorded the fastest gtime, but as a bullpen entrant was not eligible for a medal. She won in 7:23.3. The Womne's Open Lwt winner was Kelly Limond, witha 7:28.8. Second place was Lisa Lynam with 7:33.8, with Helen Ralston winning bronze with 7:46.5.

Race 22

Women BUSA Hwt, Women J18 Hwt, Women Open Hwt

In the Women's Open Hwt race, Jo Lyons hit the front at the 500m stage and from then on she steadily pulled further and further away, winning in a time of 6:52.9. Behind her, Emma Windham takes silver with 7:00.9 and Lucinda Sanders bronze with 7:07.2. In the Women's J18 Hwt Alicia Parker hit the front early, and although Laura Gannon made inroads on her lead in the seocnd half of the race, she was able to hold on to win in a time of 7:06.2.

Race 23

Women BUSA Hwt

The last of the individual races, and it's a cracker. Francesa Jus-Burke hits the front early, but she's chased hard by Andrea Pauli. Pauli gradually whittles away at her lead through the whole of the last 1,000m, but she's just unable to catch her. Jus-Burke wins in a time of 6:57.0, Pauli second in 6:58.3, while Kristina Stiller wins the last solo medal of the day with 7:02.6.