Grant Earns Single Scull Semi FInal Berth

Rowing: Men’s Single Scull Quarter Final and Men’s Double Scull Semi Final

Athlete: Rhys Grant and David Watts

Venue: Lagoa Stadium

WA rower Rhys Grant has safely earned passage to the semi finals of the men’s single scull at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games after finishing second in the first quarter final on Day 4 to book his spot.

After the turbulent conditions Grant faced on Day 1 of heat racing, the Western Australian was greeted with comparative tranquillity on the course of Lagoa Stadium on Tuesday morning.

Grant posted a time of 6:55.14min to cross the line behind Cuban athlete Angel Fournier Rodriguez (6:51.89) and ahead of third placed Nils Jakob Hoff (6:57.94) of Norway, whilst the Rio journey ended for the back half of the field.

Grant was off the line quickly and sat in second place by the first 500m split. It was quickly apparent that the Cuban and the Australian would not be caught and the rest of the race became a battle for the third and final qualifying spot for Thursday’s semi finals.

At 29 years of age, Rio is Grant’s Olympic debut.

There was disappointment for David Watts in the semi final of the men’s double scull, with he and Chris Morgan finishing fifth in their race, missing out on qualification for the Olympic final.

The boat finished in 6:19.36 but was off the pace of the leading crews, with Great Britain taking third place in 6:13.83 behind semi final winners, Valent and Martin Sinkovic of Croatia (6:12.27), with Norway’s Kjetil Borch and Olaf Tufte second in 6:13.50.

Watts and Morgan held fifth place across the 2km course and will now race in the B final on the weekend.