Australian Women’s Eight Advance to the Olympic Final

WAIS athletes Alex Hagan and Hannah Vermeersch have helped the Australian women’s eight boat qualify through to the Olympic final after a gutsy third place finish in the repechage at Eton Dorney.

Australia knew only a top three position would suffice, and amongst a talented field, the Aussie “Motey Crew” produced a solid display to cross the line in third and ensure they will remain in the hunt for medals.

After a slow start to the race the Phoebe Stanley-stroked crew brought back ground on Romania and the Netherlands and also put a gap between themselves and Great Britain in fourth.

The crews crossed the line in that order, with all four progressing to the final, alongside already qualified USA and Canada.

The US crew remain un-backable favourites for the gold medal, whilst Canada is expected to be the closest competitor. But as these Games have demonstrated on more than one occasion already, gold medals are not forged on reputation, and the Australian’s will have every chance of sneaking through for a medal.