Olympic A-final preview - Aiming to make history: the British Women’s Pair

Stanning and Glover won their heat earlier in this Olympic regatta with a clear-water advantage over the rest of the field and in the process they smashed the Olympic Best Time, set in 1996, by a full four seconds. The new standard is 6:57.29. They have also shown excellent form throughout the 2012 season.

The duo is unbeaten this year, winning gold at all three stages of the Samsung World Rowing Cup. The reigning World Champion New Zealand pair of Juliette Haigh and Rebecca Scown have not been able to beat Stanning and Glover this season.

Stanning and Glover now race the Olympic final, alongside the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Defending Olympic Champions Romania and Germany will also be the final after qualifying through the repechages making up the six boats.

After racing their heat Glover said: "The atmosphere was fantastic, the noise was amazing. For us, though, it was a standard row without the fireworks you might expect in a final.” "We felt we had a relaxed row and now it's all about the final. That's the race we came here for,” said Stanning, who indicated that there was more speed potential in their boat.

Stanning has taken leave from the British Army to pursue her Olympic dream and she comes to rowing, like Glover, after being hand-picked through British rowing’s talent ID programme. Glover remarked: “I ran cross-country internationally and played lots of other sports such as hockey, tennis and swimming. I was tall and had the physical potential to cross over to rowing.”

The pair is known as a notoriously difficult boat to row well and Stanning and Glover simply describe it as, “the boat of trust.” Rowing the pair, says Stanning and Glover, “requires a combination of skill, strength and endurance and it good to see the difference you can make to a small boat. When it goes well you know you are perfectly in-tune with each other and the boat.”

Stanning and Glover are definitely in tune and could make British rowing history together at the London Olympics.