Amsterdam delight for oar-some Reed (From Stroud News and Journal)

Amsterdam delight for oar-some Reed

9:00am Thursday 28th June 2007 in Sport By Ashley Loveridge

WORLD champion rower Peter Reed and his all-star GB eight proved Dutch masters in Amsterdam as they stormed to gold in the Blue Riband event.

Swapping his unbeaten four for the bigger boat proved no obstacle to crossing the line first in the World Cup regatta, as China took silver with the official GB eight in a highly creditable bronze and world champions Germany relegated to fourth.

Nailsworth naval officer Reed and flagship four crewmates Steve Williams, Alex Partridge and Andy Hodge opted for a one-off bigger boat challenge in Holland after stretching their unbeaten run to 27 wins in Austria earlier this month.

And after proving that four goes into eight, with World Cup pairs gold medallists Colin Smith and Matt Langridge, plus GB squad rowers James Orme and Marcus Bateman, Reed, 25, said: "Everyone, not just the four, stepped up to the plate and made it an incredible row. It was about all eight of us, not just the four, and the other guys stepped up and made the difference.

"We came here to race the world's best eights with no form in the event and I never imagined we'd be stood on the podium taking gold.

"And with the official GB eight also getting bronze, it makes it even more special.

"The strength in depth in the GB camp and the cameraderie is something else."

In the heat, GB had to come from the back of the field to win after a slow start. But in the final, they blasted straight into a lead they never looked like surrendering, despite the Chinese getting back to a third of a length on the line.

"We had an amazing start and hit the front straight away," said Reed. "It was really relaxed and in control, but there was massive power coming down each stroke and we didn't give the others an inch.

"It's been great for us to race the eight and for the other guys as well.

"I didn't come here confident that we could put together a winning eight in two weeks, but we did, leaving the world champions and a very good Australian eight who didn't even make the final behind us.

"It's been a special day for us and GB rowing and both eights can be really proud."

GB had a canvas on their second boat at 500m and were out to half a length at halfway and a length at 1500m.

As China charged for the line, strokeman Steve Williams had to up the rate, but they were always in control, finishing a third of a length up, with the other British boat three-quarters back and Germany, Switzerland and Poland all clear water adrift.

"We can be really proud of the way we raced - it's been a big weekend," added Reed.

But it will be back to smaller things at Henley next week, when Reed and company revert to their four and look to extend their unbeaten 26-month run to 30 races.