London 2012 Olympics: GB lightweight men’s four reach semis

Great Britain’s lightweight men’s four powered to an impressive victory in their heat, beating world champions Australia in the process.

Chris Bartley, Rob Williams, and brothers Peter and Richard Chambers overturned a length deficit to finish two seconds ahead of the Australian crew in a time of 5:49.29 – the foursome will now race in the semi-final on 31 July.

“We will go out to win – and we want to win the final. We’ve trained hard enough to know that we can do it and we have to deliver. We are going to have to keep a cool head and take on the other five boats in the semi,” said Richard Chambers.

“You can hear them the whole way down and it’s like nothing I’ve ever heard at any regatta before. We’ll never get anything like it again.”

Chambers’ brother, Peter, spoke of the effect which competing alongside his sibling has on him.

“I think it gives you that little bit extra,” he said. “You know each of you is going to dig deep.”

Meanwhile, Team GB men’s rowing pair William Satch and George Edwards claimed victory in their heat at Eton Dorney. They finished a length clear of Italian pair Niccolo Mornati and Lorenzo Carboncini in a time of 6:16.58, to book a place in the semi-final.

“I think we can take a lot of confidence out of that because of the pressure. We’re young and haven’t experienced the Olympics before. We’re used to coming here and rowing the Marlow or ‘Met’ Regattas and this is very different,” Satch said.

“We’ve changed the way we row slightly and almost gone back to what we did originally – kept it raw and basic. And the crowd cheering you on gives you a bit of a pump,” he added.

Nash added: “It’s all about getting the job done. I think we had a good race today”

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