Britain’s rowers romped to a magnificent haul of six medals and four golds inside two hours at the European Championships.
The men’s eight blasted to a clear-water win to keep the European title at Caversham and round off a remarkable session at the 1972 Olympic Regatta Centre in Munich.
Tokyo Olympians Tom Ford, James Rudkin, Charles Elwes, Sholto Carnegie and Rory Gibbs combined for victory with Morgan Bolding, David Bewicke-Copley, Tom Digby and cox Harry Brightmore.
Digby said: “I’m so proud of the whole team and what we did today.
“For those coming back from the Olympics, they had a point to prove – so all of that energy means it’s really special for everyone.”
The recruitment of Andrew Randell, previously head coach at Rowing Australia, to lead a revolution in the women’s squad is paying handsome dividends.
Lucy Glover stroked the women’s quad to gold by clear water, one of the performances of the day across the board, alongside Georgina Brayshaw, Lola Anderson and Jess Leyden.
And the women’s four of Rebecca Shorten, Rowan McKellar, Samantha Redgrave and Heidi Long powered through the middle 1000m to overhaul Ireland by a tick over two seconds.
It has been a brilliant season so far for the four who are unbeaten having dominated Lucerne and Belgrade World Cups.
Redgrave said: “We want to go into every race feeling composed and in control and we’ve done a really good job of that this season. It is something we want to keep going.”
Pair show prowess
Emily Ford and Esme Booth were overhauled by Romania in the final 500m in the women’s pair but are already reaping the rewards of Randell’s regime.
Ford said: “Andrew has come in and really changed the programme around.
“When he came in it was a big shock - you have to really grit your teeth and get into it.
“But it seems to be working and I'm excited to see what the coming months and years will bring.”
A fresh-looking men’s four got a better start than expected with senior championship debutants Will Stewart, Samuel Nunn, Matt Aldridge and Freddie Davidson taking gold.
Nunn said: “These are massively important to find out about the pressure of a major championships, performing on multiple days and stepping up through the rounds.
“We managed to pull together as a crew and buy into collectively achieving something as a crew.”
Tom George and Ollie Wynne-Griffith won’t treasure their silver medal in the pair and will hope to step on further at the World Championships in Racice in five weeks’ time.
There are three British medal chances on the final day of racing tomorrow including the women’s eight, women’s lightweight double and Graeme Thomas in the single.
Team heroics from gymnasts
Britain emerged with silver from another tussle with Italy in a memorable women's team artistic gymnastics competition.
Jessica and Jennifer Gadirova, Alice Kinsella, Ondine Achampong and Georgia-Mae Fenton amassed an overall total of 161.164 points across four apparatus to reach the rostrum.
Chilled, having fun and getting results. Love to see it. Congrats girls 👏@GeorgiaMaeFent @JessicaGadirova @JenGadirova @AliceKinsella16 @OndineAchampong https://t.co/JiWvibGeYA
— Max Whitlock OBE (@maxwhitlock1) August 13, 2022
All-around silver medallist Kinsella was on fine form with the third-highest scores in the field on beam and floor.
The Gadirova sisters both delivered floor routines full of verve and personality to keep Britain clear of host country Germany who won a historic bronze with 158.430.
Jessica said: "I think this (medal) makes us more confident towards Paris. Because there's a new code we can see where we stand and which improvements we need to do to be more prepared and hopefully get more medals in Paris."
Life of Reilly
21-year-old Kieran Reilly won a breakout silver medal in BMX freestyle and was only pipped to top step by the final rider on the course.
The Geordie, who landed the world's first triple flair earlier this year, scored 92.10 on his second run that put him in gold medal position until Frenchman Anthony Jeanjean bettered that with 93.60 at the last gasp.
On the track there was silver for Pfeiffer Georgi in an interrupted women's elimination race that was suspended for 45 minutes after a crash.
Rip-roaring relay
Over in Rome, Freya Anderson swam a searingly quick anchor leg to lead Britain to a stunning women's 4x100m freestyle victory.
Sweden dominated the first half of the relay but Anna Hopkin started the charge from lane eight with a 53.44 second leg and Medi Harris maintained the momentum.
Anderson drove the British on from the outside lane with a brilliant 53.54 anchor swim to touch the wall 0.82s ahead of Sweden in a time of 3:36.47 seconds.
There was bronze for Luke Greenbank in the men's 200m backstroke as he bounced back from contracting Covid and disappointment in Birmingham.
And Freya Colbert will walk away from debut senior international season with an individual medal, taking bronze in the women's 400m medley.
Sportsbeat 2022