Shadow of Redgrave looms large

Aug 12 2008 From Matthew Davis in Beijing

Molesey boat club star Tom James got his Olympic medal bid off to a winning start as Britain’s men’s four maintains course to defend the record of its famous predecessors.

James – and Molesey clubmate Andy Triggs Hodge, admit the pressure of retaining the title that Steve Redgrave and Mathew Pinsent made their own has overshadowed their Beijing preparations.

But they advanced to today's semi-final as a third quickest qualifiers – winning their heat in a race they led from start to finish.

Despite British heritage in the men’s four – which head coach Jurgen Grobler has made a personal crusade of in recent years – this was only this line-ups third competitive race.

And James, who made his Olympic debut in the men’s eight four years ago, insists they are getting better and better with every outing on the water.

"Winning was very important for our confidence," he said.

"We are learning about this crew all the time and you can see the improvement with every race.

"We’re doing some really good stuff in training and we’re just a step away from reproducing that in a race. We’re not a million miles away from having some good harmony.

"This was certainly not our best race but we were in the control throughout and that’s very encouraging."

Australia underlined why they might be the crew to watch by advancing through the heats with the quickest time.

Also threatening Britain’s dominant record are the three medalists from last year’s World Championships in Munich – New Zealand, Italy and the Netherlands.

– Lloyds TSB, proud first partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and supporter of Team GB on their journey to 2012. Visit www.LloydsTSB.com/London2012