We'll be taking fast boats to China, says Olympic hero Redgrave

Sir Steve Redgrave, our greatest rower, believes British boats could win a record number of medals at the Beijing Olympics.

After the team was announced on Thursday, Sir Steve, winner of a record five consecutive Olympic gold medals, dismissed talk of crisis after some British crews failed to win at this year’s World Cup regattas.

But he questioned coach Jurgen Groebler’s strategy in the coxless four after they failed to reach the final in the second of three regattas, despite having won gold at the last three Olympics.

‘This is the best team that ever left these shores for an Olympic Games,’ Redgrave insisted. ‘We had our best World Championships ever last year, winning seven medals, which we had never done before in Olympic events. We have qualified crews in 12 of the 14 events which is better than we have ever done.

‘You could argue that 10 of those have a chance of medals. At the last World Championships we had four fourth places, five bronzes and two golds.

‘In reality, one of those medal chances has gone because the coxless pairs have moved into the eight. This should have strengthened the eight but that’s one medal we won’t get, so we’re down to nine. I think probably there are eight potential medals and if we did that it would be twice as well as we have ever done.’

Sir Steve takes issue with Groebler, his former coach, over the coxless four, in which Redgrave won the last of his Olympic golds in 2000.

The crew has been disrupted by injuries all summer and had only two of its original selection fit for the second of the three pre-Games regattas. It was then that they failed to make a final for the first time in 12 years.

Sir Steve added: ‘When you have half the crew out, how can you expect to do well? I think that was a mistake. If we weren’t in tip-top condition, or thought we wouldn’t do ourselves justice, we wouldn’t race.

'We did not race the last regatta before Atlanta because Matthew Pinsent was injured. We didn’t race the last two before Barcelona because I was ill.’

But he still believes that Tom James, Peter Reed, Andy Hodges and Steve Williams, the four who raced together for the first time in last weekend’s final World Cup regatta when they finished second, can make up time to be in contention in Beijing.

He said: ‘If they win gold, people will say in four years’ time what a great record we have in the event and forget their poor build-up. They forget that Matthew and I lost our last regatta before Sydney.

‘Yes, you like to go into an Olympics with everybody worrying about you but you don’t have to. I think their second last time out puts them back in among the four who can win gold with Australia, Holland and Italy.

Redgrave’s tip for gold is the lightweight double sculls of Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase. ‘Nobody’s talking about them yet but they have to be best bet for gold,’ he said.

Men — Four: Tom James, Steve Williams, Peter Reed, Andy Triggs Hodge. Eight: Alex Partridge, Tom Stallard, Tom Lucy, Richard Egington, Josh West, Alastair Heathcote, Matt Langridge, Colin Smith, Acer Nethercott (cox); Pair: to be selected. Single scull: Alan Campbell. Double sculls: Matt Wells, Stephen Rowbotham. Lightweight double sculls: Zac Purchase, Mark Hunter. Lightweight four: Richard Chambers, James Lindsay-Fynn, Paul Mattick, James Clarke.

Women — Eight (from): Carla Ashford, Jess Eddie, Alice Freeman, Katie Greves, Natasha Howard, Alison Knowles, Natasha Page, Beth Rodford, Sarah Winckless, Caroline O’Connor (cox). Pair: Louisa Reeve, Olivia Whitlam. Quad sculls: Annie Vernon, Debbie Flood, Frances Houghton, Katherine Grainger. Quad sculls: Elise Laverick, Anna Bebington. Lightweight double sculls: Helen Casey, Hester Goodsell.

British fencer Richard Kruse, who failed by a single point to qualify for the Games, will go to Beijing after all.

He broke a foot and missed six weeks training before the qualifying tournament in April but now he has the Chinese to thank for his reprieve. As host nation, they had eight wild cards for fencers but needed only two. The other six were redistributed and Kruse joins Alex O’Connell, who qualified.

‘I am a very lucky man,’ said Kruse, 24, a Londoner who won the silver medal in foil in the 2006 European Championships.