PRESS RELEASE: Heats continue as lightweights show form

Today's racing decided which crews would progress directly to the next round of racing and who would have to face the repechages to keep their Olympic medal dreams alive. The grandstands were full of spectators who had travelled to the Eton Dorney rowing course to watch today's racing.

2011's World Champions in the lightweight women's double, Greece, today showed that the are on back on form as one of the top contenders in this highly competitive boat class. Christina Giazitizidou and Alexandra Tsiavou got out of the starting blocks ahead of the strong field of crews they had lined up against. By the middle stages of the race the Greek double had established themselves at the front of the field, rowing in truly dominating form. They now move directly to the semifinal on Tuesday 31 July, and should feel confident about the next stage of this Olympic Rowing Regatta.

The lightweight men's double saw a number of points of interest. Today was the first showing of Italy's Elia Luini with his new partner Pietro Ruta. Ruta comes into the boat after Lorenzo Bertini suffered a back injury earlier this month. The new duo dominated the early stages of the race, only to fall back into second place to Portugal during the middle stages of the race. However, a fast finishing sprint put saw the Italians take the first of the two semifinal places, suggesting this combination has the talent to go far in this Olympic Rowing Regatta.

2011 World Rowing Championship gold and silver medallists line up against each other. World Champions Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter of Great Britain have had a disappointing 2012 season to date, finishing outside the medals at two of the three Samsung World Rowing Cup regattas. Today they set out to prove a point in front of their home crowd. They led New Zealand's Storm Uru and Peter Taylor from the first strokes of their heat. However, Uru and Taylor were not willing to let them move into the semifinal round with too much confidence. In the closing stages of the race both crews took their stroke rate up to 42, in a final challenge to see who could gain the upper hand moving into Tuesday's semifinal. Great Britain reached the line ahead of New Zealand but both progress to the semifinal.

The United States' Women's eight have been unbeaten in every race they have entered since 2006. After their heat today, this record remains unbroken. They established themselves as the leaders from the beginning of the race and moved further from the field with every stroke they rowed. They crossed the finish line with a convincing clear water lead over closest challengers, Australia. They move directly to Thursday's final along with Canada, who won heat two.

Heats continue for the 2012 Olympic Rowing Regatta on Monday 30 July, with the first semifinals commencing on Tuesday 31 July.

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Our race report of today's racing is available here.