Great Britain held off a late surge by Italy to secure silver in the quadruple sculls A Final in Varese today with the Netherlands winning gold. A tight first 1000m saw the Dutch move into a slender one canvas lead with Great Britain, Switzerland and Italy all vying for a podium place. The Dutch showed their dominance in the second half of the race by extending their lead over the field to one length. Twickenham's Callum Dixon, with Tom Barras, Matthew Haywood and Graeme Thomas battled to prevent clear water from opening up between Great Britain and the Dutch and seemed to have solidified their grip on second place but the Italians had other ideas. A late push saw the Italian crew almost draw level but they ran out of course and had to settle for bronze, a mere 0.12 seconds behind Great Britain.
Callum said; “That was our best row to date so we’re really happy to come away with a silver medal.”
Graeme added: “For me, 2022 could have been my last race and there were definitely moments in that period that I thought it could be, but here I am. I was a bit emotional on Friday getting the first race under my belt. Once I got over that hurdle we were back to business and I slotted back into the groove. These boys did a great job of facilitating all the little things I needed as I went through rehab, so I’m grateful to them and they did a great job today. Right now we’re taking it one day at a time and just focusing on what we need to do as a crew to improve.”
