Last-minute Leask steps in to reach final

Jack Beaumont and Harry Leask overcame the setback of their last-minute pairing to claim victory on the opening day of the European Rowing Championships in Motherwell.

With Leask summoned into the British double sculls line-up when fellow Scot Angus Groom fell ill, the duo sat fourth after 500 metres of their heat in Strathclyde Country Park. But they responded to advance into tomorrow’s semi-finals by holding off Romanian rivals Marian-florian Enache and Ioan Prundeanu in a time of 6 mins 17.34 secs.

“We had a late substitution on the boat and had no idea where we gauged in the field before the race started,” said Beaumont, who became the youngest member of the British team at the Rio 2016 Olympics by stepping in when Graeme Thomas contracted the flu. “We had a plan and we stuck to it and it worked out really well for us.

“Winning the heat was really important in helping us get our preferred lane because the course can be quite wavy here.”

Sam Mottram won his heat to ease into tomorrow’s semifinals of the men’s lightweight single scull while Tom Ford, Jacob Dawson, Adam Neill and James Johnson took first place in their men’s four qualifier by almost three seconds to sweep into the final.