Saturday 29 May 1999

Foster sits out as Coode sits in

Tim Foster was being filmed watching the British four in their semifinal today, speculating about what the rest of the season holds in store for him. "I'm 95 per cent fit,' said the man whose seat in the world's top four has been occupied by Ed Coode since his back operation in October.

Coode, assisted by James Cracknell, Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent, cruised to win their semifinal in 6.32.01. They went hard to 1000 metres and then sat on a comfortable lead, Netherlands and Lithuania also qualifying for tomorrow's final and Norway relegated to the B final.

Just beforehand Jim Walker, Richard Dunn, Jonny Searle and Jonny Singfield were given first p[lace by the scoreboard in the other semifinal, but relegated to second by the result sheet. Their time of 6:37.44 was a quarter of a second slower than the Poles. Egypt qualified in third place and Romania - Robu, Taga, Bosneaga and Mastacan - were relegated to the B final. The difference between the two British crews was that Messrs Walker, Dunn, Searle and Singfield had to work very hard over the second half of the course, so there is no question about who is Number One.

For his part, Foster was unfortunate to be in a hard repechage in the single sculls on Friday, missing the semis but posting faster times than qualifiers in two other heats. He, and the rest of us, will have to wait at least until the second round of the Cup in Vienna to get a real handle on what a difference Coode may or may not make. Nobody here seems to have a prayer of giving the Brits a fright.

The British women's team are having a good regatta. Dot Blackie and Cath Bishop were first in the semifinal of the pairs. Miriam Batten-Luke and Gillian Lindsay won their semifinal of the double sculls. The new quad of Lisa Eyre, Katherine Grainger, Sarah Winckless and Guin Batten were second in their semifinal after winning a heat on Friday. Tracy Langlands and Jane Hall won their semifinal of the lightweight doubles. Alison Mowbray was third in her single sculls semifinal.

There were outstanding performances among the men in addition to the two fours to contribute to a grand total of 12 British finalists in the World Cup first round. Stephen Williams and Simon Dennis showed that their winning the Nottingham trials from a standing start was not a flash in the pan when they won their semifinal, beating the Aussies David Weightman and Robert Scott who are the 1996 Olympic silver medal winners.

Tim Male and Tom Kay are going well in the lightweight doubles, third place qualifying them for the final, and the lightweight four James Brown, Jim McNiven, Dave Lemon and John Warnock were also third and through.

British scullers also did well in the non-World Cup events. Peter Haining, world champion from 1993-95, qualified for the final with third place in his semi of the lightweight singles, and Matthew Beechey did likewise with a second place. Kirsty McClellan came second in the women's lightweight singles, also qualifying.

What happened to the rest

Women's eight: straight final today Women's coxless four - scratched. Sanders and Templeton into eight. Women's double scull 2 - Frances Houghton, Debbie Flood, 4th in semi, to B final. Women's lightweight double scull 2 - Jo Nitsch, Sarah Birch, 5th in semi, to B final:

© Copyright Christopher Dodd, 1999.