Lightweight Men's Four (LM4-) Final

When you are up against the European and World Champions, you know this is going to be a tough race. That was the case for Great Britain who sat next to the best crew in the world, Switzerland. Great Britain obviously wasn’t going to let it worry them and they took off in the lead with Switzerland following in second. These two crews went through the middle of the race together and it helped them to move away from the rest of the field. Great Britain medalled at the London Olympics but last year they raced in the B-final at the World Rowing Championships.

The confident Swiss crew of Tramer, Schuerch, Niepmann and Gyr then did a piece that drew them into the lead. The Swiss held it to the end with a 37 stroke rate that gave them the European Championship title. The British held on to silver with a very happy Germany taking bronze. The Germans are yet to qualify this boat for the Rio Olympics and they will be very happy with this result.

Results: SUI, GBR, GER, NED, CZE, ESP

Simon Niepmann (3) – Switzerland – gold 
“It was one of the most difficult conditions I’ve ever raced in, last time was in Athens in 2003. It feels good to win.”

Mark Aldred (2) – Great Britain – silver
“It is a bit frustrating because physically you can’t give everything. Our hard training is starting to pay off.”

Jonathan Koch (b) – Germany – bronze  
“It was wet and windy out there, so much water was splashing over me. It is great to win a medal, but it will be worthless if we don’t qualify for Rio in two weeks.”