Team GB’s women’s K4 kayak 500m crew of Angela Hannah, Louisa Sawers, Jessica Walker and Rachel Cawthorn have qualified for their ‘A’ final after finishing fourth in the semi-final earlier today in a time of 1 minute 32.550 seconds.
Poland won the semi-final, ahead of Belarus and Russia, but Team GB’s qualification means they are still in the hunt for a medal at Dorney Lake, next taking to the water for the final on Wednesday.
“We’re really, really pleased,” said Hannah. “We fought really hard in the first heat and hoped to go through to the final in that one, but we had an hour between races and we just came out to qualify for the final, so we did what we needed to do and we’re so chuffed.
“I’ve never been so relaxed coming into a competition. I was so calm, just so excited. It has been good being here for a week, you really got used to the environment. It was so encouraging.”
Walker added: “When we were racing in the heat, it was overwhelming. Literally, the whole of the race there is a crowd all the way down, and it’s great to get such encouragement from the fans.”
Reigning Olympic champion Tim Brabants also qualified for his ‘A’ final after finishing fourth in his semi-final of the K1 kayak 1000m this morning.
The 35-year-old was handed a tough semi-final lane draw when he was given the outside lane, but he managed to finish in a time of 3 minutes 30.769 seconds, after earlier qualifying for the semi-final by finishing fifth in his heat.
Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
