Alumni send Great Britain into Rio Rowing Finals

All four of Team GB’s King’s alumni have qualified for their Olympic rowing finals after three days of tough preliminary and semi-final rounds at the Lagoa in Rio.

The view of the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas in the centre of Rio de Janeiro, venue for the 2016 Olympic Regatta

London 2012 gold medalist and Dickson Poon School of Law alumna Katherine Grainger was the first to enter the fray as heats for the Olympic rowing regatta began immediately on the morning following the opening ceremony (Saturday 6th August).

Held in the centre of Rio, on the stunning Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas and framed by the vistas of Rio’s iconic skyline and towering hills, 5-time-Olympian Katherine and her double sculls crewmate Victoria Thornley found events on the rowing course initially far from idyllic.

Choppy water conditions did see the double qualify into Tuesday’s (9th August) semi-finals, but only after having been overhauled into second place by Lithuania.

Progress would be altogether smoother for British crews on Monday (8th August) as the wind lessened. In a near-reverse narrative to Saturday, the Great Britain women’s eight charged directly into the Olympic final after chasing down Canada and New Zealand in their heat. Sitting in this crew is another 5-time-Olympic oarswoman, 2003 Hispanic studies alumna Frances Houghton. Frances is accompanied by Olympic debutant and former-geography postgraduate Zoe Lee, who received further good news following the race, with the official confirmation of the completion of her PhD.

The pair were joined shortly afterwards in booking a finals spot by King’s mathematics graduate Paul Bennett as the Great Britain men’s eight also won their opening round, breaking from the pack of the Netherlands, New Zealand and Italy.

With three fellow alumni qualified for the weekend’s finals, could Katherine Grainger join her teammates and book a fifth Olympic final?

Katherine Grainger returned to action on Tuesday with favorable conditions once more for the semi-finals of the women’s double sculls. Once more it was a second place finish, this time behind Poland, but with a much-improved performance that, crucially both qualifies and sees the crew gaining momentum ahead of the double sculls final today (11th August).

This final will be live on the BBC from 15:00 (GMT) onwards.

Zoe and Frances will return to action in the final of the women’s eights on Sunday (13th August) at 15:04 (GMT).

Paul’s men’s eight final will follow directly afterwards at 15:24 (GMT).

King's Sport wishes all our alumni the best of luck!