New partnership takes bronze for GB

Having been drafted into Britain’s men’s double sculls crew at the last minute as a replacement for Glasgow’s Angus Groom, Edinburgh’s Harry Leask and his partner Jack Beaumont took bronze medals in a blanket finish of their final.

The British duo had led twice in the race – at 500 metres and 1,500 metres – but it was the French who timed their finishing burst best to take gold, with Romania in second place, just a 10th of a second ahead of the British crew.

Beaumont was strong in his praise for his new partner, saying: “I’m so proud of Harry. With one week’s practice he’s jumped in and we’ve already won a bronze medal.”

In the last race of the championships, Alan Sinclair from Inverness and his crew-mates in the British eight had to settle for fifth as the German world champions extended their unbeaten run with a powerful second half that saw them take a clear length win.

Behind them the Netherlands took silver and Romania. The British crew was hampered by the 11thhour withdrawal of powerhouse Mo Sbihi due to illness. He was replaced by James Rudkin.

Earlier Britain’s lightweight sculler, coached by Edinburgh’s Hamish Burrell, took bronze.

With Edinburgh’s Karen Bennett and Katherine Douglas taking silver in Saturday’s women’s eights, three of the six Scots racing on home waters won medals.