Rowers produce more wins to progress in Solvenia

New Zealand's rowers continued to excel overnight at the World Rowing championships in Bled, Slovenia, with the men's quadruple scull charging home to win their race and qualify for the main semi finals.

John Storey, Matthew Trott, Steve Cottle and Robbie Manson were fourth at the first 500 metre marker, but produced a solid middle 1,000 metres to enter the last phase of the race still well in the hunt for a vital top two finish that would keep them in the main draw. They were still in third place in a tightly packed field with 500 metres to go, but pushed hard for the finish and overcame both the British and Estonian boat in the final few strokes to win by just one hundredth of a second. France, Slovenia and Denmark completed the runners.

The British boat made the podium in Lucerne and is a favoured runner for a medal in Bled, so was a significant scalp for the Kiwis. The crew must finish in the top eleven overall to qualify for the Olympic regatta next year by rights, and look on target for the A final based on their performance last night.

The semi finals are next up today for the men's eight, the lightweight men's pair (Lassche and Oberlin-Brown) and the women's world champion pair of Rebecca Scown and Juliette Haigh. Mahé Drysdale in the single and Storm Uru and Peter Taylor in the lightweight double face quarter final races as well.

Results here:
http://www.worldrowing.com/live-results