Mixed fortunes for British rowers

BRITAIN’S rowers endured a mixed opening morning of the Olympic regatta, as medal contender Vicky Thornley breezed through her heat but two other boats were left facing the repechage, writes Malik Ouzia.

Thornley, who won a silver in

Rio, cruised to victory to reach the quarter-finals of the single sculls at the first time of asking.

However, both the men’s and women’s quadruple sculls could manage only third and will now return for Sunday’s repechage, where they must finish in the top two to reach next week’s final.

Graeme Thomas and John Collins were the other British crew in action and qualified for the semi-finals of the men’s double sculls after finishing second in their heat.

“[We’re] a bit frustrated with our performance,” Collins said. “The beauty of the Olympic format is that you have time to change and fix things.”