London 2012: History maker Solesbury hails his Brit crew

Great Britain's men's quadruple scull crew of (left to right) Matt Wells, Tom Solesbury, Charles Cousins and Stephen Rowbotham celebrate after finishing their semi final in third place to reach the final at Eton Dorney Lake, London. Stephen Pond/ PA wire

Wednesday, August 1, 2012
1:43 PM

Olympic rowing: British quad make first ever Games final

Tom Solesbury was delighted after he helped Britain make history by becoming the first British quad to reach an Olympic final.

The Kent-born oarsman and his team-mates took third place in the semi-final at a cloudy Eton Dorney, securing a coveted spot in Friday’s final.

The British crew made a solid start but crossed the 500 metres mark in fourth, knowing they would have to push on for those all-important qualifying positions.

But with Croatia leading the way ahead of world champions Australia, Great Britain soon leapfrogged the fading Russians into third and nearly pipped the Australians.

“It was really good and I enjoyed it,” Solesbury said.

“We knew Croatia would be fast and Russia always start quickly, but we thought the Russians would fade in this headwind in the second half and we were ready for that.”

Charles Cousins, the youngest member of the squad at 23 years old, always felt confident they could make history.

“It is really great to get into the final and a wicked feeling to be part of the first British quad to do it,” he said.

“There was a nice strong headwind and British teams always do well in those conditions. We had a solid rhythm and we were really moving at the halfway position when we were confident we could qualify for the final.”