Sinclair sets sights on rowing gold

Alan Sinclair - GB rower (Image: Archant)

University of East London scholar Alan Sinclair will be rowing for gold at the World Championships in Korea this weekend.

Sinclair and GB teammates Nathaniel Reilly O’Donnell, Scott Durant and Mat Tarrant finished third in the semi-finals of the men’s fours in the early hours of the morning on Lake Tangeum to keep their medal hopes alive.

They led in the early part of the race, before pre-race favourites Australia emerged to lead after 300m.

GB held onto the tail of their Aussie rivals and, although Italy came charging through at the finish to win in 5:52.07, the GB boat took third in 5:54.42.

And the new-look crew are delighted to have qualified as one of six finalists.

Durant said: “We agreed before the race that we would get our heads down and Noddy (Reilly O’Donnell) was going to make the calls and we would respond to what he was saying, which we did pretty well.

“We were really fast off the start, which was somewhat surprising. Towards the end we could just tell that the Romanians were dropping back and we were going with the Aussies and the Italians.

“It’s a really good feeling to be in the top six.

“We have three new guys in the boat and Noddy, who didn’t get into the Olympic team, which must have been disappointing. So, it’s a good feeling to be in the top six already.”

GB rowing team performance director Sir David Tanner added: “Our boats have done us proud in qualifying another five boats for the Olympic A class finals and one for the International Class finals, showing the strong level we have across our team in Korea.”

Sinclair’s crew were one of six to reach finals, out of eight in action in the semi-finals, to make nine finalists in total.

GB won silver at the World Cup event at Eton Dorney earlier this season, having finished fourth in their first outing in Sydney.

Sinclair took up rowing at the age of 14 at home town club Inverness and joined the famous Leander club in 2007/08.