PRESS RELEASE: Best Times set on Day 1 of racing at Eton Dorney

New Zealand claimed two of these Olympic Best Times. In the men’s double sculls, Kiwis Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan bettered by 19 hundredths of a second the Olympic Best Time previously set at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. The 2010 and 2011 World Champions qualified for the semifinal in Heat Three finishing in a time of 06:11.30 ahead of Great Britain’s Bill Lucas and Sam Townsend.

The unbeatable New Zealander men’s pair of Hamish Bond and Eric Murray proved their dominance yet again, setting not only a new Olympic Best Time but also a World Best Time. They bettered the former World Best Time (set by Great Britain’s James Cracknell and Matthew Pinsent in 2002) by nearly six seconds, establishing the new standard at 6:08.50. Bond and Murray have been unbeaten since 2009 and in their heat today they qualified for the semifinal with clear water separating them from the rest the field.

Great Britain’s Helen Glover and Heather Stanning won each of the three stages of the 2012 Samsung World Rowing Cup in the women’s pair. Today the two-time world silver medallists finished with a new Olympic Best Time of 6:57.29, qualifying directly for the A-final ahead of the USA.

In the men’s single sculls, it was Belgium’s Tim Maeyens who stole the show, setting an Olympic Best Time of 6:42.52 in the first heat and thereby qualifying for the quarterfinal, along with Cuba and Mexico.

Heats will continue for the remaining five of the 14 Olympic events on 29 and 30 July 2012.

Visit our web page dedicated to the 2012 Olympic Rowing Regatta for our live race tracker, race reports, features, quick quotes, photos, links to results, start lists and more.

To view the list of Best Times, please click here.

Our race report of today's racing is available here.