Pinsent's cruisers book final berth

Matthew Pinsent and co book their place in the final

14 April 2012

Matthew Pinsent today stayed on course for a fourth gold medal when Great Britain cruised into the final of the men's coxless four at the Olympic rowing course.

After an unhappy opening heat last Saturday when they were pushed all the way by the Italian crew, Pinsent, Steve Williams, James Cracknell and Ed Coode raised their performance to such a level that they won their semi-final easily, by a length.

The British boat also gained a significant psychological advantage by recording a time of 5mins 50.44secs for their race, 0.24secs faster than world champions Canada in the other semi-final.

Pinsent, dripping with sweat after rowing beneath a cloudless blue sky which sent temperatures soaring towards 30C, admitted: "That was a step up from the heat and it sets us up very nicely for the final. We have got to the level we wanted to be at after the heats.

"The opening race is always difficult and sometimes it can be a little tense. But we were much more focused today on our own boat. We needed to do that to get the best out of ourselves."

Olympic legend Sir Steve Redgrave, watching from the banks of the regatta course, empathised with the tension felt by his close friend. Redgrave, who won three of his five gold medals with Pinsent as a crewmate, insisted: "If you didn't get nervous you wouldn't be here. That's what the Games are - four years of build-up for all this. You are expecting somebody not to be nervous in those circumstances? If you've done it once, if you've done it a thousand times, this is what it's all about."

That tension is bound to increase in the build- up to Saturday's final, which Redgrave predicted will be a straight shootout between Great Britain and Canada.

Pinsent, 33, has been known to relieve his stomach of its contents before Olympic finals, and Redgrave believes the drama of the occasion will affect the other three as well. "Putting it into delicate terms, they'll be shitting themselves," he said.

"The Canadians are current world champions and they've got some good results under their belt in the two years they've been together. So they'll be confident in how they feel they can beat the Brits.

"Man for man, the British four are stronger, but the Canadians will be aware of exactly what the Brits are capable of doing. They are coached by Mike Spracklen who coached Matthew to be a senior international athlete. So he knows what calibre Matthew is, and what he's achieved, and what the other boys are capable of doing."

Particularly impressive today was Coode, who was called up as late replacement in the build-up to the Games after Alex Partridge suffered a collapsed lung.

Cracknell said: "That race has doubled the number we've had together as a unit. We got a bit more speed from the boat, it was a step up from the heat.

"The aggression and the confidence we showed today was more of a reflection of our training speed."

The big question is whether the British four can carry that speed into Saturday's final.

Redgrave said: "The Canadians have got the potential to go out a little bit quicker than our boys. But our boys know that so they will try and match the Canadians at the start.

"I don't think anybody will dominate it. It will be nip and tuck all the way down.

"When it is like that, one crew will probably crack. That will be the interesting side of it. I'm looking forward to it."

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