British teams 'buzzing' after qualifying for 10 rowing finals

High hopes: Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter

  This weekend they provide the most of any country in the regatta and more than
long-standing manager David Tanner can ever recall from a British Olympic team.

  "I am very pleased. We have a really good strength in depth across every
discipline and we have the greatest number of boats in the finals," said
Tanner.

  The pre-Games medal target was four - the same as Great Britain won in Athens -
but there is a strong belief within the camp that more is possible.

  "Of course we can win more than four and if we do I would say it is fantastic.
My rule of thumb is that you need two finalists to get a medal," Tanner added.

  After a 24-hour delay for thunderstorms, the 10-strong list was completed on a
glorious day at the Shunyi Rowing Centre when Britain qualified their first ever
lightweight crews for an Olympic final.

  The lightweight men's four - Richard Chambers, James Lindsay-Fynn, Paul Mattick
and James Clarke - qualified with a third-place finish in their semi-final.

  Before that, solid gold favourites Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase continued their
unbeaten season with a commanding victory in the lightweight double sculls.

  Hunter said: "The atmosphere in the team is just awesome. Everybody is buzzing
with so many crews making it to the finals.

  "And it is not just our sport. We have been watching the swimming and cycling
on tv and they have both been great.

  "We are feeding off every sport and it makes for a really good team
atmosphere."

  Hunter and Purchase won their semi-final by a length, ending any possible
doubts that they will be the boat to catch in Sunday's final.

  "Now it's time for a bit of relaxation and preparation for the last 2000m of
the season - and also the fastest 2000m of the season," added Hunter.

  The pair only came together last year but they enjoyed almost immediate success
in the lightweight rowing programme which has been such a focus for Tanner and
British rowing over the last eight years.

  "This is the biggest race of my life," said Purchase.

  "It is what we have been preparing 18 months for. We have got to give it
everything."

  The lightweight men's four were world champions last year and despite a drop in
form since, they will certainly have podium ambitions at the weekend.

  They were not at their best again today, in finishing third, but came through a
tough semi-final and were buoyed by the news the much-fancied Chinese did not.

  The British four were up against reigning Olympic champions Denmark, plus world
silver and bronze medallists France and Italy.

  And they succeeded in relegating the Italians to fourth place.

  Clarke said: "Everyone is really optimistic. We have so many good crews. We
have already stepped on massively from Athens, where we had four finalists.

  "We went out pretty hard because we knew we had to keep the pace up because we
the gold, silver and bronze medallists from the world championships last year,
plus the Danes.

  "They weren't the ideal tactics and it is not how we would race the final -
but the whole season has been about getting to the final."

  The only British crew to fall short today were the women's lightweight double
sculls of Hester Goodsell and Helen Casey, who came fifth in their semi-final.