BBC One: Day 1: 09.00-11.30

:00:59. > :01:05.Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to London!

:01:05. > :01:15.80,000 people can feel the energy pulsating through the stadium.

:01:15. > :01:17.

:01:17. > :01:27.A moment and an image that will live with us for ever.

:01:27. > :01:30.

:01:30. > :01:40.# God save our gracious Queen... One of the most dynamic sequences

:01:40. > :02:05.

:02:05. > :02:11.we have ever seen at an Olympic Great Britain!

:02:11. > :02:21.I declare open the Games of London celebrating the 30th of Olympiad of

:02:21. > :02:25.

:02:25. > :02:30.It was a spectacular show. And now the 2012 Olympic Games are under

:02:30. > :02:38.way and the country is standing by to join in. 15 hours of sport every

:02:38. > :02:46.day here on BBC One. We will bring you all the best stories and if

:02:46. > :02:51.that is not enough, we have 24 dedicated channels by the BBC

:02:51. > :02:55.website and your cable and satellite providers. We can

:02:55. > :03:00.honestly say you will not miss a thing. And here is how London is

:03:00. > :03:04.looking this morning, the morning after the opening ceremony. The

:03:04. > :03:14.capital is on show to the world as never before. Seven years on from

:03:14. > :03:15.

:03:15. > :03:22.the moment London won the right to host this 30th Olympiad. This is

:03:22. > :03:27.the Olympic Park this morning. The heart of London 2012. Look out for

:03:27. > :03:33.those blue boxes, that is the BBC Olympic studio. These are the

:03:33. > :03:39.scenes this morning. Many people lucky enough to have tickets,

:03:39. > :03:45.streaming into the Olympic Park. Bringing this massive area to life.

:03:45. > :03:50.The sporting action it will get under way shortly. Elsewhere at

:03:50. > :03:55.some of the other landmark venues action is already happening. This

:03:55. > :04:01.is the Lords Cricket Ground and for the next two weeks it becomes the

:04:01. > :04:05.home of the Olympic archery. Great Britain's men are in action as we

:04:05. > :04:14.speak on BBC Three. And the beach volleyball is up and running this

:04:14. > :04:21.morning at Horse Guards Parade. The road to Wembley Arena brings

:04:21. > :04:29.you badminton, group matches beginning in all events in the

:04:29. > :04:35.badminton. And they are poised to get under way at Eton Dorney, 25

:04:35. > :04:42.miles west of London. Lots of Team GB's hopes rest with the rowing

:04:42. > :04:47.squad. And back of the Olympic park of these is the spectacular

:04:47. > :04:52.Aquatics Centre centre, home to a Olympics swimming and diving pools.

:04:52. > :04:57.And it is the swimming that is kicking off this morning. We will

:04:57. > :05:07.be there shortly with Clare Balding. 12 Olympic gold medals up for grabs

:05:07. > :05:10.

:05:10. > :05:15.today. Olympic action happening on many fronts this morning.

:05:15. > :05:23.In the cycling it is the men's road race. Just days after the end of

:05:23. > :05:29.the Tour de France. Today it is Mark Cavendish.

:05:29. > :05:35.And in swimming a high hopes for Hannah Miley who starts her pursuit

:05:35. > :05:40.of the women's 400m individual medley. Michael Phelps will also be

:05:40. > :05:47.in the pool today. Aiming to become the most decorated the Olympian of

:05:47. > :05:52.all time. And the Team GB rowers in action, a

:05:52. > :05:57.tradition of excellence for Britain in this sport and they are expected

:05:57. > :06:01.to deliver at the medals over the next fortnight. Plenty of familiar

:06:01. > :06:09.faces and British hopes to look out for today. Here is how the timings

:06:09. > :06:16.will work. We're going to Eton Dorney in just a moment. And then

:06:16. > :06:25.Mark Cavendish begins that road race at 10 o'clock. Swimming heats

:06:25. > :06:31.they're beginning this morning. The finals are later tonight.

:06:31. > :06:34.Add Hannah Miley will also be in the pool. And later on we will be

:06:34. > :06:41.back with Mark Cavendish to see that he can bring back home the

:06:41. > :06:45.gold medal. You can follow his progress on the red button and on

:06:45. > :06:52.BBC Three. There are many ways to watch our coverage. It is easier

:06:52. > :07:00.than ever before to stay right across the Olympic action. Jack

:07:01. > :07:06.Humphrey explains. The BBC is covering the 2012

:07:06. > :07:14.Olympics like never before. Whether on television, online, the radio or

:07:14. > :07:23.your mobile. We will make sure you never much a moment. Des - miss the

:07:23. > :07:33.moment. BBC Three will be showing live action, on interrupted.

:07:33. > :07:42.also more sport on the red button. Just click to see what is available.

:07:42. > :07:46.And the BBC websites have a new interactive sports player. On the

:07:47. > :07:51.website there is a page for every athlete, sport, then you and

:07:51. > :07:58.country as well as all the news as it happens. And if you're on the

:07:58. > :08:08.move you can access the latest Olympics news on the BBC website or

:08:08. > :08:08.

:08:08. > :08:18.I knew of mobile application. If you have a 3 D television have,

:08:18. > :08:26.you can watch the games in 3 D. Daily highlights on BBC H D channel.

:08:27. > :08:31.London 2012, on the BBC. We have got the Olympic Games covered.

:08:31. > :08:36.However you watch the one thing we will all be hoping for is a lot of

:08:36. > :08:41.British gold medals. Beijing was a milestone for British sport with

:08:41. > :08:45.the 4th place finish in the medals table and 19 gold medals. This time

:08:45. > :08:55.it is the home games and a huge amount of effort has gone into

:08:55. > :09:00.

:09:00. > :09:10.making sure that Team GB is as strong and motivated as it can be.

:09:10. > :09:14.

:09:14. > :09:24.Every length, at every mile. Every barrier.

:09:24. > :09:32.

:09:32. > :09:42.Every stroke. Every jump. Every pull of an oar.

:09:42. > :09:44.

:09:44. > :09:54.Every lap. Every sprint for the line.

:09:54. > :10:10.

:10:10. > :10:15.Every mile. Every tack of a sail. For one obsession.

:10:15. > :10:20.Plenty of hopes for Team GB rowing, swimming and cycling. We can catch

:10:20. > :10:25.up now with some of the BBC team. Steve Redgrave, fresh from the

:10:25. > :10:31.opening ceremony is at Eton Dorney. Mark Foster is that the Aquatics

:10:31. > :10:40.Centre centre and Tanni Grey- Thompson is on the Mall. Let us

:10:40. > :10:44.start with Steve Redgrave who had such a fitting role last night.

:10:44. > :10:50.was pretty special. I'm not sure I'm feeling very fresh this

:10:50. > :10:54.morning! Was looking forward to a fantastic day to day. Last night

:10:54. > :11:01.was very special. I did not get to see much of the show myself but it

:11:01. > :11:08.was amazing. No one has a bad word to say about it. I certainly

:11:08. > :11:12.enjoyed my part in it. Well if you can spare at three hours at some

:11:12. > :11:18.stage in the next few days you can catch up with it! When did you find

:11:18. > :11:24.out what you're going to be doing? Probably about to our three weeks

:11:24. > :11:31.ago. I have been able to keep it a secret for a while. You must have

:11:31. > :11:35.been played by people asking you? Almost since we won the bid, people

:11:36. > :11:41.were saying it was claimed to be me blighting the cauldron and I was

:11:41. > :11:46.trying to deflect people away from that because it never goes to the

:11:46. > :11:51.favourite! But we knew that London was going to do it slightly

:11:51. > :11:58.differently. It was great to be part of that. It was a very special

:11:58. > :12:03.moment. And the flag-bearer last night was Chris Foy. Mark Foster

:12:03. > :12:08.knows what he does like to have that on her. What kind of emotions

:12:08. > :12:13.would be going through his mind last night? Well one I did it in

:12:13. > :12:20.Beijing, I walked into the stadium and 80,000 people were screaming

:12:20. > :12:26.your name. I watched it on television last night and the

:12:26. > :12:34.atmosphere just seemed amazing. I had a huge smile on my face. He did

:12:34. > :12:44.a fantastic job holding it aloft. It is an emotional experience.

:12:44. > :12:50.was worth the wait before the team sheet be worked into the -- before

:12:50. > :12:54.team GB walked into the grounds. How did the team look to you?

:12:54. > :13:02.They're looking good. There's a lot of pressure but this is the biggest

:13:02. > :13:07.thing they will ever do in their career. In some of the smaller

:13:07. > :13:13.sports we will be hoping for some amazing performances. But in the

:13:13. > :13:17.big ones, it is going to be great. So much to look forward to. I want

:13:17. > :13:24.to ask each of you about your individual sports. This rowing

:13:24. > :13:33.squad has been spoken of as the best ever. Certainly the strongest

:13:33. > :13:38.team I have seen, it's stronger than at any I competed in. Our best

:13:38. > :13:43.ever was actually eight medals. And we have a chance of matching that

:13:43. > :13:53.if not beating it. And how are the swimmers looking? Absolutely

:13:53. > :13:56.

:13:56. > :14:05.fantastic, especially on women's side. Rebecca Adlington. And we

:14:05. > :14:12.have Ellen Gandy to look out for as well. Hannah Miley today. And then

:14:12. > :14:18.Liam Tancock, he is world champion. There are a host of names.

:14:18. > :14:21.We will be back with you in the aquatic centre shortly. And in the

:14:22. > :14:26.cycling, Mark Cavendish in the Spotlight today. There is huge

:14:26. > :14:34.pressure on him and on the team. And we have the women's road race

:14:34. > :14:41.tomorrow as well. It is going to be very exciting. The team is just

:14:42. > :14:45.going to be brilliant. I think they will win across the board.

:14:45. > :14:55.Well we will be back for the start of the men's road race a little

:14:55. > :15:01.later on. Let us take you away from the Olympic Park for a moment and

:15:01. > :15:05.across to central London, Horse Guards Parade is where the beach

:15:05. > :15:11.volleyball is happening. One of the sports that always generates a bit

:15:11. > :15:21.of comment! It is the women who get the most attention. And there is

:15:21. > :15:28.

:15:28. > :15:34.This event has been in the Olympics since 1996. The matches are already

:15:34. > :15:39.under way. Somebody had to get that tough job of covering this

:15:39. > :15:47.particular event and it went to Dan Walker. Good morning, everybody. It

:15:47. > :15:51.is a very difficult job for me! It looks a bit different here. We are

:15:51. > :15:56.in the heart of the city. You can have a look over the wall at Number

:15:56. > :16:01.10. Prince Harry is apparently a fan of beach volleyball as well. He

:16:02. > :16:07.is going to be down for the medal ceremony. China is leading Russia

:16:07. > :16:14.at the moment. This has an unfortunate reputation about women

:16:14. > :16:19.in skimpy bikinis. That is unfair because it is very technical. They

:16:19. > :16:25.have the option of wearing shorts and sleeved shirts as well. In

:16:25. > :16:29.terms of value you get that by coming here. It starts at 9 o'clock

:16:29. > :16:36.in the morning and finishes at midnight. If you are lucky to have

:16:36. > :16:44.a ticket, you get hours of Olympic sports. The nearest beach is 31

:16:44. > :16:49.miles away. They have managed to bring in 2274 tons of sand from a

:16:49. > :16:54.quarry in Surrey to make this authentic. We have the sun, the

:16:55. > :16:59.stadium, the spectators and 15,000 will be here in total when it his

:16:59. > :17:06.fault. We have even had a little bit of sun this morning as well and

:17:06. > :17:13.it is starting rather well. Enjoy it. We will be back with more beach

:17:13. > :17:17.volleyball later on this morning. Amazing to see one of those iconic

:17:17. > :17:23.London locations transformed. They are nearly ready to go in the

:17:23. > :17:31.rowing. Even by the standards of recent years this is thought to be

:17:31. > :17:34.Britain's strongest squad ever. Here is John Inverdale. The coxless

:17:34. > :17:38.four or are the dominant Burke when it comes to the public's

:17:38. > :17:47.appreciation of this sport. The legacy passed on to the current

:17:47. > :17:52.quartet. Three gold medallists return from Beijing. Not much has

:17:52. > :17:57.changed in the boat, and neither has the opposition. But Tom James

:17:57. > :18:02.is taking nothing for granted. one is guaranteed a place in the

:18:02. > :18:12.final. There is plenty of opposition. The men's eight have

:18:12. > :18:19.had a very up-and-down season, but they arrive in upbeat mood. 20

:18:19. > :18:26.year-old Constantine lutes, is the talisman of a crew that is one of

:18:26. > :18:31.the most cosmopolitan ever fielded by Team GB. Katherine Grainger and

:18:31. > :18:35.Anna Watkins have never lost ever, but Katherine Grainger has three

:18:35. > :18:39.times in consecutive Games and that is the big motivation. After three

:18:39. > :18:44.sell their wares in Sydney, Athens and Beijing she thought long and

:18:44. > :18:50.hard about competing in London, but a gold medal here would be a total

:18:50. > :18:57.vindication. When the time comes, and it will, and the nerves will be

:18:57. > :19:03.unbelievable, but I do not think any athlete would swap that for

:19:03. > :19:08.anything. Four years ago in Beijing Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter where

:19:08. > :19:13.the lightweight men's doubles, but since then they have had a time of

:19:13. > :19:17.it. But they always seem to come good at the right time. They were

:19:17. > :19:25.strong odds-on favourites at the start of this year. Those odds have

:19:25. > :19:32.drifted since, but on their day they are a match for anybody. Helen

:19:32. > :19:41.Glover and Helen Stanning. They have only read together for three

:19:41. > :19:45.years, but they are most people's choice to triumph. We had a great

:19:45. > :19:48.World Cup because we were rowing well and it has been six weeks

:19:48. > :19:53.since that last race and people will have gone away and work on

:19:53. > :19:58.things. Look out for the men's lightweight fours. It can be a

:19:58. > :20:05.matter of inches that separates the crews in the end and this is likely

:20:05. > :20:10.to be the most contested race. That will be on action during the course

:20:10. > :20:16.of the morning. John is waiting for us now live at Eton Dorney with the

:20:16. > :20:20.competition just about to start. They are raring to go in the most

:20:20. > :20:26.fantastic location. Once you are here especially on a morning like

:20:26. > :20:31.this, the sun glinting off the water, and it is a 30,000 capacity

:20:31. > :20:40.and it is not far short of full already. It's as a quick history

:20:40. > :20:44.lesson on the creation of this wonderful arena. Eton College land.

:20:44. > :20:51.15 years ago they tried to get planning permission and eventually

:20:51. > :20:55.got that. We did a little bit of our training for Sydney, but it was

:20:55. > :21:02.only have done at that point and it was completely finished for the

:21:02. > :21:05.World Championships in 2006. The girls are saying it is great coming

:21:05. > :21:12.back here after the training camps because there is something special

:21:12. > :21:15.about it. It looks very special the way they have decked it out. There

:21:15. > :21:20.is a security operation here run by the military and it must be

:21:20. > :21:25.impeccable. For everybody to be in so early before the first race

:21:25. > :21:33.takes place, it must be going very well. Rowing supporters are very

:21:33. > :21:37.keen and they do not sleep very well. We have got this unbelievable,

:21:37. > :21:42.the first time ever, this incredible high flying camera that

:21:42. > :21:48.will go the entire length of the course. It is 98 metres off the

:21:48. > :21:55.ground. Is it the longest in the world? It must be. It is the

:21:55. > :21:59.longest in the world. The shots that will give you off the race and

:21:59. > :22:04.of the boats as they are coming will be like you have never seen

:22:04. > :22:08.before. One of the issues with rowing is it is quite hard to tell

:22:08. > :22:13.who is leading, but there will be no worries this time around with

:22:13. > :22:17.that extraordinary piece of engineering. We were talking about

:22:17. > :22:22.British rowing and the prospects here and you were mentioning

:22:22. > :22:28.earlier on that this is the best prepared and probably potentially

:22:28. > :22:31.the most successful team ever. Certainly the best prepared. 19 oh

:22:31. > :22:35.eight was the strongest rowing team we had and we have four goals,

:22:35. > :22:42.three silvers and one bronze, but you could double up in those days

:22:42. > :22:46.and have two entries in one event. The entries were not as big as they

:22:46. > :22:51.were here, but this is the strongest team that I have ever

:22:51. > :22:58.been with, certainly much stronger than any other teams I was ever

:22:58. > :23:05.involved in. In Sydney we won two goals and a silver and this team it

:23:05. > :23:11.will do better than that. There is a perception that Britain has

:23:11. > :23:18.always ruled the waves, but from 1948 through until 1984 we did not

:23:18. > :23:22.win a single gold medal and the sport was in the doldrums. It was

:23:22. > :23:28.an extraordinary renaissance since then. This is the only sport that

:23:28. > :23:34.has won a gold medal in every Olympics since 1984 per. As rowing

:23:34. > :23:40.was the only gold medal in Atlanta, it is a sport everyone else has run

:23:40. > :23:47.on. Before that time we really struggled and we used to pitch the

:23:47. > :23:55.odd medals, but certainly we did not have the consistency. Without

:23:55. > :23:59.overstating the case, because the guys a under enough pressure, David

:23:59. > :24:07.Tanner has been very careful and very cagey about setting medal

:24:07. > :24:13.targets. Realistically before anybody has hit the water, what is

:24:13. > :24:19.your gut feeling? My gut feeling is seven, possibly eight. That is down

:24:19. > :24:23.on last year's World Championships. We have reshaped some of the birds

:24:23. > :24:31.and made some stronger, but one or two a little bit weaker. The men's

:24:31. > :24:38.pair has been the strongest in the last few years. They are back into

:24:38. > :24:43.form, but the pair we have got now is not going to get a medal.

:24:43. > :24:49.Potentially the first gold medal is Helen Glover and Heather Stanning.

:24:49. > :24:54.Heather is the Army officer from Sandhurst. Helen is a Cornish woman

:24:54. > :25:01.to the core. Her dad runs a world renowned ice-cream shop that only

:25:01. > :25:11.has one kind of ice-cream. She is a Cornish woman as you will see from

:25:11. > :25:15.

:25:15. > :25:20.Some days it is hard to get my head around the fact that just four

:25:20. > :25:25.years ago I was not a rower, I was not going to the Olympics and I was

:25:25. > :25:29.not competing and here I am. It has happened through hard work with the

:25:29. > :25:35.help of brilliant coaches, and it is exciting and it is a dream I

:25:35. > :25:43.have had since I was tiny it. I wanted to compete in the greatest

:25:43. > :25:47.sporting arena. My mother saw an advert in a newspaper and it was

:25:47. > :25:54.looking for tall people. Steve Redgrave had spearheaded something

:25:54. > :26:00.called sporting giants looking for a girls over 5 ft 9 to try

:26:00. > :26:03.different sports. Rowing was one of them. I was training to be a PE

:26:03. > :26:08.teacher, so for the first six months I carried on my training,

:26:08. > :26:13.but I do not know how I did it. I was teaching all day and getting up

:26:13. > :26:18.at 5am to do my first session training and after school I would

:26:18. > :26:23.do my second session late into the night and it was really tough. I

:26:23. > :26:27.have got a really supportive family, they are brilliant. There is my mum

:26:28. > :26:34.and my dad and I have got two Brothers and two sisters and my

:26:34. > :26:40.granny, who is 92, lives at home with us. My boyfriend Paddy is a

:26:40. > :26:48.canoeists and he trains in Nottingham. He trains really hard,

:26:48. > :26:54.as hard as the row was! We are very competitive. My husband is the

:26:54. > :26:59.sportsman and competitor, but it has brought it out in all of us.

:26:59. > :27:03.have always been really competitive. Everything was made into a

:27:03. > :27:09.competition when I was little. I ran international cross country,

:27:09. > :27:14.played hockey for my county, I did everything. Every sport I did I did

:27:14. > :27:19.it to be the best I could be. When I first watched the Olympics I

:27:19. > :27:24.watched the rowing and had not taken much interest. It was a bit

:27:24. > :27:29.of a wake-up call because I realised I had four years to be as

:27:29. > :27:36.good as these people. The Helen Stanning and myself got invited

:27:36. > :27:41.onto the team in 2010, two years after I started rowing. She is very

:27:41. > :27:47.strong and fit and has got a racing head. We have to live in each

:27:47. > :27:52.other's pockets, so it is important we get on. I am the messy one and

:27:52. > :27:57.she is very tidy because she was in the Army. Everybody is going for

:27:57. > :28:01.the same thing, the dream, the Olympic gold. If we keep

:28:02. > :28:08.progressing, we are going to be in a brilliant place on the start line.

:28:08. > :28:13.If we put together a good race, we will be pleased with that. We are

:28:13. > :28:17.down near the finish line. But they are down at the start for the first

:28:17. > :28:23.race of this Olympic regatta. Given the inexperience in an Olympic

:28:23. > :28:29.environment, what will the nerves be like? Your first when you go

:28:29. > :28:33.with the flow. They are such strong favourites. They are not our best-

:28:33. > :28:37.performing women within the women's team, but certainly with the

:28:37. > :28:42.ability they have got they will come with great confidence. The

:28:42. > :28:47.nerves will not hit them very much because the whole team is playing

:28:47. > :28:51.it down. That they have the best chance of a gold medal. I had the

:28:51. > :28:56.privilege last week to go to Portugal and to Italy to the

:28:56. > :29:01.training camps. The two words I would use to sum up the entire team

:29:01. > :29:09.are calm and serene. They have done the work. They know what they need

:29:09. > :29:15.to do it. There is the applause. is absolutely amazing. It is

:29:15. > :29:25.fantastic for the first morning. We are just continuing the Olympic

:29:25. > :29:35.

:29:36. > :29:45.up a level when it is an Olympic year. This is our first helping of

:29:46. > :29:49.

:29:49. > :29:59.Dan Topolski and Garry Herbert. The final chapter starts here. They

:29:59. > :30:12.

:30:12. > :30:22.are under starter's orders. The Dorney gets under way. The British

:30:22. > :30:34.

:30:34. > :30:41.pair, what a story they have been getting a pretty solid start in

:30:41. > :30:46.lane five. They took off well, sharp and quick. Romania, the

:30:46. > :30:54.Olympic champions, they were slow taking off. But they have

:30:54. > :31:04.tremendous push through the middle of the race.

:31:04. > :31:09.They had a huge experience in this event. Helen Glover and Heather

:31:09. > :31:18.Stanning, look at them go. They have settled into a very good

:31:18. > :31:28.rhythm. It is a mark of the season but they

:31:28. > :31:42.

:31:42. > :31:52.have had. Hendershot and Zolenka, the US showing good speed in the

:31:52. > :31:52.

:31:52. > :32:02.early stages. The crowd around us really

:32:02. > :32:05.

:32:06. > :32:15.appreciating the opening salvo for the British pair. The British pair

:32:16. > :32:17.

:32:17. > :32:24.will be enjoying this now. It is effortless in this heat. The first

:32:24. > :32:28.two of the five crews here will go through to the final. One of the

:32:28. > :32:38.first two is bound to be the British pair. They have got such

:32:38. > :32:39.

:32:39. > :32:48.control. This winter they have just developed the way that they tow.

:32:48. > :32:58.-- row. They have developed flexibility and can react to any

:32:58. > :33:03.Challenge in the last few hundred metres.

:33:03. > :33:08.A word about the overhead camera, for the first time at an Olympic

:33:08. > :33:13.event we have an overhead camera spanning the whole length of the

:33:13. > :33:20.course. It gives you a good feeling of how the boats are moving

:33:20. > :33:30.alongside each other. Great Britain it out three-quarters

:33:30. > :33:31.

:33:31. > :33:41.of a length, being chased hard by the United States of America. The

:33:41. > :33:46.

:33:46. > :33:56.USA look very good. Romania back in fourth position. The Olympic

:33:56. > :33:59.

:33:59. > :34:04.champions in this event. I suspect they know they are not

:34:04. > :34:13.going to win this one. They will want to make sure they have their

:34:13. > :34:20.big race in the final. But the British pair here moving

:34:20. > :34:27.out in front on the Eton Dorney course. I'm surprised at the new

:34:27. > :34:37.American pair, it's digging quite as close as they are. They are

:34:37. > :34:54.

:34:54. > :35:04.doing very well. Look at how calm and long the British pair are.

:35:04. > :35:10.

:35:10. > :35:13.And this is for a place in the final.

:35:14. > :35:23.A little push from the British crew as they come up to the next timing

:35:24. > :35:27.

:35:27. > :35:37.mark. They are right up against the side, the crowd, and appreciating

:35:37. > :35:40.

:35:40. > :35:45.what we are seeing here. The Olympic champions are struggling.

:35:45. > :35:54.Long arms and legs, that allows them to get along stroke without

:35:54. > :36:04.having to compress too much. And in the last 500 metres, that just

:36:04. > :36:16.

:36:16. > :36:23.looks so good. They were the spares two years ago and got silver.

:36:23. > :36:33.a tribute to their coach. Coming down into the last 200

:36:33. > :36:38.

:36:38. > :36:45.metres. It is long, loose and relaxed. Helen Glover and Heather

:36:45. > :36:51.Stanning from Great Britain inside the 100 metres now. It is a job

:36:51. > :36:57.well done. It is a job we expected them to execute with perfection and

:36:57. > :37:02.they are doing exactly that. Into the sunlight on this first morning

:37:02. > :37:09.of the Olympic regatta. Great Britain have the first crew through

:37:09. > :37:15.to an Olympic final. USA's second and Romania, at the Olympic

:37:15. > :37:23.champions, coming over the line in third positions. Great Britain and

:37:23. > :37:33.the United States go through to the final. The remaining three boats go

:37:33. > :37:39.

:37:39. > :37:44.through to Tweets. -- to the repechage. That was technically

:37:44. > :37:53.terrific rowing. There were just moving so sweetly. So confirmation

:37:53. > :38:03.of that result. The Olympic champions, Romania, have to go

:38:03. > :38:03.

:38:03. > :38:07.through the repechage. And an Olympic record. Very much so. I was

:38:07. > :38:12.speaking with Katherine Grainger a couple of days ago and some of the

:38:12. > :38:20.Olympic records, because it only comes around every four years and

:38:20. > :38:23.to get the right conditions, conditions were very fast today. I

:38:23. > :38:28.would not say it was comfortable because the Americans were a lot

:38:28. > :38:34.closer than expected, but it was very good. What is the impact of a

:38:34. > :38:42.start like that on the rest of the team, when they see that as an

:38:42. > :38:51.initial kicking off point. Well most of them will be out on the

:38:51. > :38:55.water today. It adds to their confidence. Because as a team you

:38:56. > :39:04.are very much listening and comparing with the other boats. If

:39:04. > :39:08.the top boat is doing well, you know we have to be doing well.

:39:09. > :39:14.do not have to worry about the rubbish - now. In terms of the

:39:14. > :39:21.approach and how reassuring that is, what will they be doing between now

:39:21. > :39:26.and next Wednesday morning? I never liked to do that, but the girls are

:39:26. > :39:31.quite used to that. They win the heat and goes straight through to

:39:31. > :39:38.the final. Because they have changed the programme, it is not

:39:38. > :39:43.that long until the Wednesday final. They will be up for it. But the

:39:43. > :39:48.next heat with New Zealand in it, that will be their main opposition.

:39:48. > :39:53.Well it is the most beautiful day and a fantastic start. Plenty more

:39:53. > :39:58.life rowing during the course of life rowing during the course of

:39:58. > :40:05.the morning. At great start on day one of the

:40:05. > :40:08.sporting action. Plenty more to come from Eton Dorney this morning

:40:08. > :40:13.including the much-anticipated Men's Eight. Here it is cycling and

:40:13. > :40:22.swimming for the next 30 minutes. If you want to carry on watching

:40:22. > :40:31.the rowing you can switch to BBC Three or the red button. Now it is

:40:31. > :40:37.Clare Balding gladness through the chances of the British swimmers. --

:40:37. > :40:41.guiding us through. Team GB's swimming success in

:40:41. > :40:49.Beijing means that this time around, hopes are high. Especially for the

:40:49. > :40:57.women have. Rebecca Adlington is the queen of the pool. After 408

:40:58. > :41:02.hundred metre freestyle gold medals in Beijing.

:41:02. > :41:08.For the 23 year-old, defending both is the ultimate Challenge. Keri-

:41:08. > :41:16.Anne Payne, the world champion, it was the first British athlete to

:41:16. > :41:22.qualify it for London 2012. She won silver in Beijing and should shine

:41:22. > :41:32.on the Serpentine. Hannah Miley is the current Commonwealth 400m

:41:32. > :41:33.

:41:33. > :41:42.individual medley champion. Whatever happens tonight, Smiley

:41:42. > :41:47.Miley. Fran Halsall is also competing. At her second Olympics,

:41:47. > :41:52.now 22 years old, she is peaking at just the right time. Ellen Gandy is

:41:52. > :41:59.tipped to become the first British woman to win a butterfly medal at

:41:59. > :42:05.the Olympics. She got silver of the world championships last year. She

:42:05. > :42:12.will be competing in both the 100 and the 200m final. And as for the

:42:12. > :42:15.men, Liam Tancock is a double 50 metre backstroke world champion.

:42:15. > :42:19.Unfortunately that is not an Olympic event so he has to go

:42:19. > :42:28.double the distance in the 100m backstroke. He will be hoping to

:42:28. > :42:33.add an Olympic medal to his call. James Goddard is an outside bet for

:42:33. > :42:41.a medal. 4th in the world championships last year, he has two

:42:41. > :42:45.major obstacles in his way. Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte tea.

:42:45. > :42:50.So swimming is a big part of the live coverage this morning. The

:42:50. > :42:56.Aquatics Centre centre is right on our doorstep. Whitney is someone

:42:56. > :43:01.who knows all about competing at the Olympics, Ian Thorpe. You will

:43:01. > :43:07.be part of the BBC team throughout the Games. Talk me through your

:43:07. > :43:15.sense of the British swimmers so far and how they are looking?

:43:15. > :43:21.is the best team in a swimming competition that we have had.

:43:21. > :43:24.Rebecca Adlington, Liam Tancock in there, Fran Halsall. All of these

:43:24. > :43:30.swimmers that had been producing results in the lead-up to these

:43:30. > :43:35.Olympic Games. It is a testament to how much effort has gone into

:43:35. > :43:40.British swimming over the years. This has been an evolution that has

:43:40. > :43:44.taken probably more than a decade. And we're starting to see some of

:43:44. > :43:48.those results coming through. Seeing medal places at world

:43:48. > :43:54.championships. There's a bit more depth now to British swimming and

:43:54. > :43:58.there has been in the past. Rebecca Adlington was one of the stand-out

:43:58. > :44:02.stars of Beijing. Help is her form in the run up to these games?

:44:02. > :44:09.has been mixed but it has come better of late. I think she's

:44:09. > :44:15.looking good. I'm very comfortable that we will seek a very good

:44:15. > :44:22.result from her in the 800m freestyle. One of the big rivalries

:44:22. > :44:31.people are talking about is between Michael Phelps and his team-mate

:44:31. > :44:39.Ryan Lochte D. Yes it is between team-mates. Both from the United

:44:39. > :44:45.States. They're training partners. They're both swimming well. Ryan

:44:45. > :44:50.Lochte de almost used the run-up to the game's as a training

:44:50. > :44:57.opportunity. Michael Phelps is coming into this and wants to

:44:57. > :45:01.reaffirm his position in Olympic history. I think they're both going

:45:01. > :45:06.to win as wave of medals which means unfortunately for the rest of

:45:06. > :45:11.the world, we're going to miss out! Plenty more to come through the

:45:11. > :45:15.course of the morning. One British swimmers who will be closely

:45:15. > :45:20.watched his Hannah Miley. She competed in Beijing and has shot to

:45:20. > :45:30.attention in the course of the past year, getting a silver at the world

:45:30. > :45:33.

:45:33. > :45:42.championships last year. Could she Hannah Miley gets a cell for, well

:45:42. > :45:47.done. Gold to Scotland, a wonderful gold. How difficult is it to be

:45:47. > :45:53.coached by dad? He is very calm and so are you. I have not known it any

:45:53. > :46:01.other way. He has always been my coach from day one. He taught me

:46:01. > :46:05.how to swim. It was only until I was 10 that I started going through

:46:05. > :46:11.the squad system. I fully trust in him, he knows what he is talking

:46:11. > :46:16.about. For me to argue with him his kind of silly. He is always wanting

:46:16. > :46:20.to learn more. That trust and respect I have for him is one of

:46:20. > :46:26.the major reasons why it works. you do a different training

:46:26. > :46:32.programme. We work by a mortar if you do what you have always done,

:46:32. > :46:38.you will get what you deserve. Over the years because we have made

:46:38. > :46:41.small changes, it has grown into quite a big thing. Two years ago I

:46:41. > :46:46.started rock climbing and I have continued that and I have started

:46:46. > :46:52.running and we have added different things to it. I am one of those

:46:52. > :47:00.athletes where I am a sucker for punishment. That really hurts. I

:47:00. > :47:05.work best when I keep going. We find that for my event it works.

:47:05. > :47:15.you have an eye on people you are going to be racing? Yes, there are

:47:15. > :47:15.

:47:15. > :47:20.quite a few. There is Stephanie Rice. When it comes down to the

:47:20. > :47:26.crunch time she can pull it out of the bag. There is the Spanish girl,

:47:26. > :47:32.Maria Del Monte. There are two Chinese girls. There are at a fair

:47:32. > :47:37.few and I am very aware of them and it is very tactical and strategic.

:47:37. > :47:42.That is what makes it fun. I guess it is a question of whether

:47:42. > :47:47.she can continue the trajectory she is on at the moment. I saw her race

:47:47. > :47:53.early in Europe this year and she looked good and produced one of the

:47:53. > :47:56.best performances I have seen after the World Championships. She is a

:47:56. > :48:02.really nice girl and I would love to be able to see her produce a

:48:02. > :48:08.medal for Team GB. She is trained by her dad. She is and I have met

:48:08. > :48:14.her dad. He is an inventor, and he has created a devise where we can

:48:14. > :48:19.monitor the stroke council when we are swimming. Did you use it?

:48:19. > :48:24.have used it, and it sent me a bit nuts, because it was beeping and it

:48:24. > :48:30.was telling me when I should change. You will be with us throughout the

:48:30. > :48:36.course of this morning and if anyone has any questions about

:48:36. > :48:40.swimming or his career, then you can use the house tag. A big day

:48:40. > :48:46.for Team GB swimmers and for everybody competing in the aquatic

:48:46. > :48:53.Centre today. Let's go inside and joined the Clare Balding. How is it

:48:53. > :48:58.looking in there today? It looks absolutely amazing. 17,500 people

:48:58. > :49:04.can get into this. From the outside it does not look quite as beautiful

:49:04. > :49:10.as it well when the wings come off. I went up to some of the high seats

:49:10. > :49:15.to check what you could see. It is not too bad. You feel a little bit

:49:15. > :49:25.cramped because the roof comes into the top of your vision. But it is

:49:25. > :49:31.an amazing facility. That Ruth was put in place in March, 2009. It was

:49:31. > :49:37.over 2.5000 tonnes and it is shaped like a wave. When the sides come

:49:37. > :49:43.off, the building will look beautiful. 17,500 people will

:49:43. > :49:47.create the atmosphere and help our swimmers produce better results. We

:49:47. > :49:55.saw the feature on Hannah Miley. What does she need to do this

:49:55. > :50:00.morning? We will see her heat round about 11:30am. What does she do in

:50:00. > :50:06.qualification because it is a gruelling event? Yes, from the 200

:50:07. > :50:11.metres downwards we have heats, semi-finals and finals. But in her

:50:11. > :50:14.event you only get a heat in the morning and a file in the evening.

:50:14. > :50:20.She wants to get through this morning as easy as possible and she

:50:20. > :50:23.wants to show the others that she means business. She once the centre

:50:23. > :50:29.lane and you what your best competitors around you because this

:50:29. > :50:35.will be a tight race. They know the event is about to kick off. Her

:50:35. > :50:40.training schedule is amazing. spends about 36 hours a week in the

:50:40. > :50:45.swimming pool. When you are hammering your body day in day out,

:50:45. > :50:49.she does a rock-climbing and a lot of cross-training. Her father

:50:49. > :50:54.coached her and her brother is a training partner. Her mother will

:50:54. > :51:01.be here as well and her other brother as well. We wish her well

:51:01. > :51:06.and look forward to seeing her in action. She said it is 90% body and

:51:06. > :51:10.10% mind. We will be back a little later on.

:51:10. > :51:15.The swimming start shortly. Press your red button if you want to see

:51:15. > :51:21.the early heats. We are a few minutes away from the start of the

:51:21. > :51:26.men's road race. Some of Britain's brightest racing stars are running

:51:26. > :51:33.up, including Bradley Wiggins who made a special appearance in the

:51:33. > :51:37.opening ceremony. They will cover 156 miles in over five miles time.

:51:37. > :51:41.This is a race where team tactics really count.

:51:41. > :51:46.This is the Duke the cyclists will have down to Buckingham Palace and

:51:46. > :51:53.it is a very long road race. Longer than the longest stage of the Tour

:51:53. > :52:01.de France. But they have had a few days off. A week's arrest after the

:52:01. > :52:07.two is enough? Yes, do not pamper them. Give me a dream come true and

:52:07. > :52:17.let's go for a short rise. Once or all the way? I will decide on the

:52:17. > :52:17.

:52:17. > :52:23.weight. A pretty inspiring view. is very nice, a bit like my house!

:52:23. > :52:28.This is Richmond Park. If you live in London this is as close as the

:52:28. > :52:32.countryside that we get here. What will be happening here? It will be

:52:32. > :52:36.hell for leather, only 20 minutes into the race. They will be

:52:36. > :52:42.attacking and attacking. It is difficult to keep control up. You

:52:42. > :52:47.do not need to stay near the front. With mixed abilities we will see

:52:47. > :52:52.crashes early on. This is far too flat for a man of your cyclic

:52:52. > :53:02.abilities. We should head to Box Hill, the talking point of this

:53:02. > :53:04.

:53:04. > :53:09.whole ride. I quite like the flat. Not today. Hello. If you are Mark

:53:09. > :53:14.Cavendish, how do you approach this part of the road race? This is

:53:14. > :53:20.where everyone is going to attack because this is the only obstacle,

:53:20. > :53:24.the biggest obstacle on the course. Who wants to arrive on the Mall

:53:24. > :53:30.with Mark Cavendish, no-one, so there is going to be a lot of

:53:30. > :53:39.attacking. Nine times up Box Hill is like climbing the highest climb

:53:39. > :53:49.in the Tour de France. Someone has to make a break. As you can see...

:53:49. > :53:57.Not as quick as he once was, is he? Am I allowed to push my leg down

:53:57. > :54:04.with my hand like this? Yes, you can. Is Mark Cavendish is near the

:54:04. > :54:14.front on lap nine, it is going to be a sprint. Is it necessary to do

:54:14. > :54:16.

:54:16. > :54:23.this nine times? Oh, no! Do not put that bit in? That takes some effort.

:54:23. > :54:28.I am not kidding any more. Did you just fall off? So, anyway, coming

:54:28. > :54:32.towards the end, what is going through the riders' minds?

:54:32. > :54:40.Hopefully the British team are keeping it together for the Sprint

:54:40. > :54:45.and hopefully they will get some help from the German team with a

:54:45. > :54:50.Andre Greipel. As they come round constitution Hill, what will they

:54:50. > :54:55.be thinking about? Just literally about the finish, counting down the

:54:55. > :55:02.seconds, trying to position, working ate the effort, have they

:55:02. > :55:10.got enough team-mates left? Do they have to rely on other teams? We

:55:10. > :55:15.have got Andre Greipel, Matthew Goss of Australia. There are

:55:15. > :55:20.several other sprinters. Their teams will be trying to set them up.

:55:21. > :55:24.Mark Cavendish is a past master at finding a wheel and sticking on to

:55:24. > :55:29.it even if he has not got the support. When we have seen him on

:55:29. > :55:34.his own, as in the Tour de France, he can perform extremely well and

:55:34. > :55:39.he can use other people's teams. I'll so much that is what he might

:55:39. > :55:43.have to do here. At this point we will have the royal family

:55:43. > :55:49.hopefully on the balcony waving them past. We are coming up to the

:55:49. > :55:59.finish. A sprint finish? This is it, it is all about positioning now

:55:59. > :56:00.

:56:00. > :56:03.have. Now you know how that tactics work.

:56:03. > :56:10.Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson will be on the finishing line and also

:56:10. > :56:15.Chris Boardman. Good morning. morning. We have heard lots and

:56:15. > :56:21.lots about this could be Mark Cavendish's day, but we have not

:56:21. > :56:25.heard much talk about the rivals. Who are they? That is a good point

:56:25. > :56:29.because everybody here knows he is the best sprinter in the world and

:56:29. > :56:34.in the Tour de France he proved that by winning the final stage by

:56:34. > :56:39.a huge margin of. Nobody wants to arrive at a sprint finish, apart

:56:39. > :56:45.from Andre Greipel at Germany who might want that to happen.

:56:45. > :56:53.Everybody else will want to attack, and we will see that all through

:56:53. > :56:56.the day to get the group away. Luis Sanchez has got a good chance

:56:56. > :57:04.around Box Hill. You were out on Box Hill and people were talking

:57:04. > :57:10.about that as a big challenge. How big is the climb? It is nothing by

:57:10. > :57:14.their standards. It is a nice surfers. 2.5 kilometres long, but

:57:14. > :57:20.it is the only real obstacle on the course and they go over it nine

:57:20. > :57:23.times which adds up to a lot of climbing. And it is narrower, which

:57:23. > :57:28.means everybody is going to be strung out and it somebody attacks,

:57:28. > :57:34.you need to be close enough to the front and tactics will pay a big

:57:34. > :57:41.part. There are tops that Mark Cavendish had lost up to a four

:57:41. > :57:46.kilos to come into the race. Will that make a difference to him?

:57:46. > :57:52.lost weight specifically because of the Olympic Games. He has ridden on

:57:52. > :57:56.the cause a lot and has ridden up Box Hill a lot. It took the edge

:57:56. > :58:01.off his sprint speed in the first week in the Tour de France. But we

:58:01. > :58:07.saw very clearly, that he has got that back. They are getting ready

:58:07. > :58:14.on the start line-out. What kind of race can we expect? Attacking from

:58:14. > :58:20.the off. Can Mark Cavendish do it? Yes, there are only four of them,

:58:20. > :58:28.so they have got their work cut out. We will let you go to the

:58:28. > :58:32.commentary box. They are just about ready to go on the starting line.

:58:32. > :58:42.Chris is going to make his way up to the commentary box and he will

:58:42. > :58:49.be joined by a man who has got -- called home many gold medals. It is

:58:49. > :58:55.Chris portable stop for the first time I can see the field assembling

:58:55. > :59:01.in front of me on the line. We have had a visit from the

:59:01. > :59:06.Duchess of Cornwall who was escorted to the line. You could

:59:06. > :59:10.imagine the atmosphere when they arrived. Just about every

:59:10. > :59:15.photographer is here to witness the race. They also decided they would

:59:15. > :59:19.stand up in front of me, so I could not see anything at all, but they

:59:19. > :59:24.have now moved to the side and right in front of me are the riders

:59:24. > :59:32.waiting for the start. On the extreme far side is the team from

:59:32. > :59:37.Spain. They had the winner in Beijing with Samuel Sanchez,

:59:37. > :59:44.unfortunately not able to start. Right alongside the team from Spain

:59:44. > :59:49.are the team from Italy and then the five riders representing Great

:59:50. > :59:55.Britain. Mark Cavendish, Chris Froome, David Millar, Ian Stannard

:59:55. > :59:58.and Bradley Wiggins. Believe me, they would dearly love to deliver

:59:58. > :00:04.Mark Cavendish at the front for the sprint because he is the fastest

:00:04. > :00:14.man on the planet and if they can tactically in cheek that, the gold

:00:14. > :00:17.

:00:17. > :00:24.are now having a 10 second countdown for the start of the

:00:24. > :00:32.Olympic Games road race. The 30th Olympiad, this is the biggest entry,

:00:32. > :00:35.144 competitors, from 63 different countries. And the contest is 250

:00:35. > :00:41.kilometres, the longest event in the Olympic Games. What a fantastic

:00:41. > :00:45.start here on the red carpet of Tarmac which will lead them to

:00:45. > :00:48.Buckingham Palace, and then they will speak to the side of the

:00:48. > :00:53.Buckingham Palace as the famous Queen Victoria Memorial, and now

:00:53. > :00:58.all the photographers literally are sprinting past me. I can now see

:00:58. > :01:08.the line and my monitor. We are hoping conditions will remain like

:01:08. > :01:09.

:01:09. > :01:13.that. It is really bright. The flags are still. There was no wind

:01:13. > :01:17.at all. It is a cracking day for a bicycle race, believe me. They have

:01:17. > :01:23.swept past the famous Queen Victoria Memorial. Now they're

:01:23. > :01:33.heading on up to constitution Hill. What will it be like when they come

:01:33. > :01:37.back down? As they arrived here, it's just one, to go from there.

:01:37. > :01:42.Just look at the crowd. It gives you an idea of the attendance of

:01:42. > :01:46.these fantastic events. They have come out in support for Bradley

:01:46. > :01:55.Wiggins who has just won the Tour de France, the first British man

:01:55. > :02:03.ever to win. There are two winners who have achieved around France

:02:03. > :02:13.tour. The other, of course, is in there as well. Italy, watch out for

:02:13. > :02:15.

:02:15. > :02:19.them today. They made a late change with the squad. You heard Chris

:02:19. > :02:23.Boardman's comments. He expects them to go for it today and I

:02:23. > :02:26.wouldn't be surprised because the aim of a lot of teams is to get

:02:26. > :02:31.clear and try to soften up the British team because it Mark

:02:32. > :02:37.Cavendish gets the right kind of Ryde, then he, of course, is the

:02:37. > :02:41.man who will take a tremendous amount of stopping. They are going

:02:41. > :02:45.up Duke of Wellington Place. Just gone past Green Park. After Duke of

:02:45. > :02:49.Wellington Place, they will weave their way to Knightsbridge for that

:02:49. > :02:54.the famous shopping area where the world famous talk of Harrods is

:02:54. > :02:59.placed. A nice shot of Hyde Park, as well. A lot of competition will

:02:59. > :03:03.be taking place that there at the Olympics. Day one, of course, of

:03:03. > :03:08.this London Olympics, 1948 was the last time that this contest took

:03:08. > :03:12.place here. Great Britain didn't achieve a podium position then but

:03:12. > :03:18.they did get a silver for the team award, because, in those days, they

:03:18. > :03:23.used to award gold silver or bronze to the top three finishers from

:03:23. > :03:28.each squad. A similar system to the stage races when times are added

:03:28. > :03:34.together. Barriers all the way, as you can see. A massive job to set

:03:35. > :03:38.up all these barriers. Wall to wall, at the moment, or gutter to go to,

:03:38. > :03:45.as they peddle their way out of the city but once they get to the edge

:03:45. > :03:54.of the built-up area, the tempo will raise itself significantly.

:03:54. > :03:59.Brompton Rd, they grow -- go up towards Putney Bridge. A few riders

:03:59. > :04:03.are not here today. The Norwegian, one of the big favourites, a green

:04:03. > :04:07.jersey in the Tour de France, he has never regain the kind of form

:04:07. > :04:12.he expected to try and be a contender for a medal here. He has

:04:12. > :04:16.a viral infection. He eventually made the hard decision not to start.

:04:16. > :04:23.It was legally a decision for Samuel Sanchez from Spain, the

:04:23. > :04:26.defending champion. Came amid of the Tour de France on stage eight

:04:26. > :04:36.when he badly bruised his shoulder and broke a finger, so he is not

:04:36. > :04:37.

:04:37. > :04:45.here. At the moment, Tom Boonen from Belgium, and early bike change.

:04:46. > :04:54.A former world champion, and man with a big sprint. He actually had

:04:54. > :04:59.to pull out in Poland because he cracked a rib and he has put the

:04:59. > :05:03.final preparations to his training for this suffering with a cracked

:05:04. > :05:08.rib for them the British riders on the extreme left there. They have a

:05:08. > :05:13.massive job to do today. Bradley Wiggins. He, of course, what will

:05:13. > :05:23.be one of the men using all that strength today, to shield Mark

:05:23. > :05:25.

:05:25. > :05:32.Cavendish. This is a mention of one or two of the hot favourite we can

:05:32. > :05:37.expect to figure as the race unfolds. Cycling coverage continues

:05:37. > :05:40.on BBC Three where you can follow this race every step of the way on

:05:40. > :05:50.the dedicated 24 streams of coverage also elsewhere, right now,

:05:50. > :05:54.

:05:54. > :05:57.race you can watch right now. It is just begun at The Mall going down

:05:57. > :06:03.towards Surrey and coming back. Five hours to watch this if you

:06:03. > :06:06.would like to. The Badminton, as I mentioned, is taking place at

:06:06. > :06:11.Wembley Arena. Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier will be on court

:06:11. > :06:15.later on. The judo is happening with British involvement today, as

:06:16. > :06:20.well. These are the early rounds at the moment. The finals are later on

:06:21. > :06:24.this afternoon. And the archery at Lord's, this actually began

:06:24. > :06:33.yesterday with the ranking rounds. It is competition time today,

:06:34. > :06:38.though. This is beach volleyball. We had a glimpse of Paul Scott

:06:38. > :06:46.parade early on. This is happening now, as well. -- Horse Guards

:06:47. > :06:52.Parade. We are using Twitter, and this is how you get in touch with

:06:52. > :06:55.us. Lots of people e-mailing already. Particularly for Ian

:06:55. > :07:02.Thorpe who was with me now talking about swimming. Lots of people want

:07:02. > :07:06.to know how many swimming medals you think Team GB are going to win?

:07:06. > :07:10.I think I can say six or seven. It's never a crystal ball, but

:07:10. > :07:17.looking at the athletes, the possibilities, how many of those

:07:17. > :07:22.will be gold? I'm not sure at the moment. You think six or seven.

:07:22. > :07:27.Lots of questions about you personally. What single raised have

:07:27. > :07:35.you be most proud of? The -- which single race? The it's a very

:07:35. > :07:41.obscure one. It's the only time I felt I had a perfect swim. A 200-

:07:41. > :07:47.metre freestyle in the Berlin World Cup. I broke the world record. By

:07:47. > :07:51.about three seconds. And it's the best I've ever competed. The

:07:51. > :07:55.proudest I've ever been, as well. Death and you the best one. It's

:07:55. > :08:00.interesting, because you might think you've had so many Olympic

:08:00. > :08:06.gold medals, those will be the biggest moments, but... I am proud

:08:06. > :08:12.of them. It's more to do with, I take more pride in those results,

:08:12. > :08:19.but which one was my best? What would you do when you retire from

:08:19. > :08:24.competitive swimming? I have retired already and I have written

:08:24. > :08:30.to it, so I have continued but career I stopped for a short period.

:08:30. > :08:36.Do you still swim were not actually in a competitive training period?

:08:36. > :08:45.When I stop swim, I didn't swim for five years. I went in a simple four

:08:45. > :08:50.times in five years. Absolutely. If you average it out, it's a lot over

:08:50. > :08:54.a lifetime, but I'm back in the pool again now. And having time of

:08:54. > :09:00.now so I can be here with the BBC and watch the soaring to my Games.

:09:00. > :09:06.Well, we look forward to speaking to you. A final one. Who was the

:09:06. > :09:09.greatest ever Olympian? It's difficult to say. There's a lot of

:09:09. > :09:13.different ways to look at this. If you look at Olympic values and

:09:13. > :09:19.things like that, you can bring in these other characteristics, it's

:09:19. > :09:23.not just about medals. Its sportsmanship. It changes the

:09:23. > :09:28.context of who was the greatest Olympian. In my opinion, if you

:09:28. > :09:37.look at result, this is what people want to know, I don't think you can

:09:37. > :09:42.go past Michael Phelps. I think especially after this competition.

:09:42. > :09:46.There is every measurement you can make in terms of comparisons. It

:09:46. > :09:51.will be Michael Phelps. We know this will be his last Olympics so

:09:51. > :09:59.it's very special indeed. Thank you very much, Iain. We will talk to

:09:59. > :10:07.Lots of rowing is taking place this morning. We've had a glimpse of it

:10:07. > :10:12.already but let's go back to John for Heather Stanning and Heather

:10:12. > :10:18.Glover, the first race about half- an-hour ago. The second heat

:10:18. > :10:23.featured potentially the biggest rivals, Australia and New Zealand.

:10:23. > :10:29.The closing stages. We're expecting news didn't be dominant here but

:10:30. > :10:36.the Australians were doing really well and they will be the main

:10:36. > :10:43.opposition. -- we were expecting New Zealand to be dominant. The

:10:43. > :10:47.Kiwis, were they playing there? We don't know. So, going from a

:10:47. > :10:51.British success to a huge disappointment, it's fair to say,

:10:51. > :10:57.this is the women's quad which finished a few moments ago. As you

:10:57. > :11:03.will see, actually, that's the first when we are seeing. Sorry.

:11:03. > :11:08.The Germans are looking very good. The German squad is hugely

:11:08. > :11:13.impressive. From top to bottom. Very confident. Only winners go

:11:13. > :11:18.through to the final. This is the British women's squad coming in

:11:18. > :11:21.last place in their heat. The Ukraine, hugely impressive, but New

:11:21. > :11:26.Zealand edging out Great Britain for third spot as you can see there,

:11:26. > :11:28.and we have gone from one extreme to another in half an hour.

:11:28. > :11:32.women's squad have been struggling in the last couple of years and we

:11:32. > :11:35.are hoping they were going to push the Australians slightly in front

:11:35. > :11:40.of them and put them in the hunt for the medal but on that

:11:40. > :11:45.performance, it doesn't look like a chance for a medal, and maybe not a

:11:45. > :11:50.place in the final. You mention the first race with New Zealand, people

:11:50. > :11:55.toying with the opposition. Playing a tactical game. How much of that

:11:55. > :11:58.goes on? How much of it is about putting down a marker and saying to

:11:58. > :12:03.people, we are this good and you have got to catch us? It's more

:12:03. > :12:06.important to put a marker down than planning to hold back. When are you

:12:06. > :12:11.what rowing, you're going backwards so its advantage to see the boats

:12:11. > :12:15.behind you. You are in control of the race and you are in control.

:12:15. > :12:19.It's better from our point of view. If the Kiwis felt they were capable

:12:19. > :12:26.of dominating the race, they would have done that, going through. So,

:12:26. > :12:32.yes, from my point of view, I always like to put your marker

:12:33. > :12:39.down,... Is there an element of conserving energy? Not really. What

:12:39. > :12:43.saps your energy is a queue of the blasted in the last 50 metres. --

:12:43. > :12:46.is if you have to blast it in in the last 50 minutes. But you can

:12:46. > :12:51.cruise through and there is no saving energy and you can recover

:12:51. > :12:55.quite quickly. Let's go back to the live action. Coming up shortly, the

:12:55. > :12:59.second heat of the men's eight, and Great Britain are in death. It's

:12:59. > :13:04.like a preamble to the final, a monument to the competitive race,

:13:05. > :13:09.the first heat which is taking place. Let's join Gary and down.

:13:09. > :13:15.COMMENTATOR: USA in a lane number two are having a stunning heat in

:13:15. > :13:20.the men's pair the weight. A little slow out of the blocks here, but

:13:20. > :13:25.they have dominated his opening heat and got into a fabulous rhythm

:13:25. > :13:29.in the second 500 metres, and they are cruising in the third. We have

:13:29. > :13:34.Australia in that one, Australia, gritty, Ukraine, three, Poland, to

:13:34. > :13:39.the left, in lane number four, and remember they won in Munich, the

:13:39. > :13:43.last World Cup regatta, pushing the British back into third position.

:13:43. > :13:49.Australia had the second place on that day. We have seen nothing of

:13:49. > :13:56.the USA of America this year because they were 8th last year at

:13:56. > :14:03.the World Championships and had to come to Europe to qualify. Their

:14:04. > :14:11.coach is a wily old fox. He's do a great job here at for the USA. 500

:14:11. > :14:17.metres remain. 1,500 down. It's going to be extremely hard for the

:14:17. > :14:25.Australians in lane number one to overhaul the USA. Four boats, only

:14:25. > :14:28.one will qualify for Wednesday's final. Their heads are up, their

:14:28. > :14:33.hand ats are moving for the Australia, though, are tracking

:14:33. > :14:37.them down the line. Here come Australia. The USA were humiliated

:14:38. > :14:41.by coming 8th last day and having to go to qualifying. And this is

:14:41. > :14:46.their revenge. They have come right back into the picture. They are

:14:46. > :14:49.looking for gold. They will qualify if they win this. They will qualify

:14:49. > :14:54.straight for the final and won't have to go to the repechage. This

:14:54. > :15:01.is a tremendous performance from the United States. Half-a-length,

:15:01. > :15:05.250 metres to go. Only 25 strokes. And still, though, the Australians

:15:05. > :15:10.attacking hard. They know they have only one chance now to get through

:15:10. > :15:16.to the Olympic final. Unless they go via the repechage. Surely the

:15:16. > :15:20.Americans have done enough? 125, the USA stretch it out. They know

:15:20. > :15:27.they are through to the Olympic final. Australia, a valiant

:15:27. > :15:32.approach, and they push on through that third but not today. BUSA into

:15:32. > :15:42.the Olympic final of the men's eight. Australia, second, Poland,

:15:42. > :15:51.

:15:51. > :15:55.1,500. I think the United States came back in the last 500 metres.

:15:55. > :16:02.They did. They were not really pushing that hard. Once they got

:16:02. > :16:09.that good bit of clearance, they looked strong. Remember, the best

:16:09. > :16:15.four crews are in the next heat. That was the easier heat to win. We

:16:15. > :16:25.will probably seek to a free of The Crues in the next rate -- probably

:16:25. > :16:32.see the next two or three in the next race go through. A wonderful

:16:32. > :16:40.overview here of the eight Moving incomplete harmony here. -- in

:16:40. > :16:44.complete harmony. He was bringing them all together, in a room, as a

:16:44. > :16:49.group, and he said it all he was interested in was winning a gold

:16:49. > :16:54.medal at London 2012. Hands up if you want to join me in that. A true

:16:54. > :16:59.American way of geeing up his crew and the response to that was the

:16:59. > :17:05.punching up -- punching of the air and some high fives, and now we are

:17:05. > :17:10.seeing the end result. I think they can go quicker though. Absolutely.

:17:10. > :17:15.25 strokes a minute at the end, so pretty steady. A very tough

:17:15. > :17:24.selection process in America. They are always battling in selection

:17:24. > :17:31.races throughout the year. As we look back down the course, the

:17:31. > :17:34.grandstand is on high, glorious conditions at Eton Dorney.

:17:34. > :17:44.Confirmation that the US are through to the final and everyone

:17:44. > :17:48.

:17:48. > :17:52.We are a little bit removed from the action, but the noise generated

:17:52. > :17:55.from the stands, I hope it is coming through. Just a wonderful

:17:55. > :18:01.atmosphere for the first day of competition and that will have an

:18:01. > :18:09.impact on the way everybody Rowles -- Rose. There was a lot of talk

:18:09. > :18:13.about home advantage, and in rowing you do a lot before you get to the

:18:13. > :18:17.bulk of the crowd, and then it is just a noise. That is a bit of help

:18:17. > :18:23.for the British team from that point of view. It is always just

:18:23. > :18:27.going round and round, it is very much like that. But I thought the

:18:27. > :18:29.Americans but a lot of effort into that and look quite tired. I don't

:18:30. > :18:34.think they were saving anything at the end. I think the Australians

:18:34. > :18:39.were coming back at them. A huge cheer for the Great Britain eight

:18:39. > :18:43.at the start. If they could hear that, that would make a difference.

:18:43. > :18:47.Not sure if the wind was in the right direction, but it was massive.

:18:47. > :18:53.And there are the Canadians who broke the world record when the

:18:53. > :18:59.conditions were in their favour. A quick word about the man at the

:18:59. > :19:03.front, everybody else in the boat there was boat to last week said

:19:03. > :19:09.Lewis was the linchpin. He has an extraordinary empathy with the

:19:09. > :19:14.water. For very young man, only 20, how has he managed to be such a key

:19:14. > :19:20.ingredient of the boat? To come into a senior team in Olympic year,

:19:20. > :19:25.and see was junior last year, and and see was junior last year, and

:19:25. > :19:29.then come into the key area. The reports are that he is a fantastic

:19:29. > :19:33.athlete and he has great rhythm. He has been out of all the World Cup

:19:33. > :19:38.races though. He has only just come back into the crew. A very special

:19:38. > :19:43.guy and it will be interesting to see how they do. He was a former

:19:43. > :19:48.pupil at Eton College, so this is where he learnt his trade. Here he

:19:48. > :19:58.is as a key member of the men's eight in the Olympic games. Here

:19:58. > :20:03.

:20:03. > :20:09.are down and Gary once more. -- it is only the second heat of the

:20:10. > :20:17.men's eight, and Great Britain are in the first lane. Canada are in at

:20:17. > :20:23.number two. Germany, undefeated in this Olympiad in the men's eight,

:20:23. > :20:27.the world champions in three. The Netherlands in at number four, and

:20:27. > :20:34.those four boats are vying for that coveted one place that will get

:20:34. > :20:39.them through direct to the final on Wednesday. But the British have

:20:39. > :20:45.come out quick, and so do Germany, the world champions leading.

:20:45. > :20:52.Germany have a third of a length. It looked like Canada had stormed

:20:52. > :20:56.out, but my goodness, Germany always seem to have an answer.

:20:56. > :21:01.Unbeaten in the last three years, ever since they were humiliated in

:21:01. > :21:05.Beijing by not even getting through they have come back and dominated

:21:05. > :21:13.the scene, and at the moment it is very much Germany in the driving

:21:13. > :21:19.seat. But Great Britain have come back. Slow at the start but back in

:21:19. > :21:25.the running and up with Canada in second. An absolutely stunning

:21:26. > :21:32.first 500. One minute 18 seconds from Germany, minimal tailwind here.

:21:32. > :21:41.What a statement. Expect the Germans to stamp hard on this

:21:41. > :21:45.second 500 metres. A little look left from the cox of Germany. The

:21:45. > :21:55.British crew in a lane at number one, hunting down the world

:21:55. > :22:02.

:22:02. > :22:07.to the crew and driving them on. Germany have been dominant. World

:22:07. > :22:13.champions. Britain were second last year and have put themselves into

:22:13. > :22:18.second position again. Now we will see what difference the manner in

:22:18. > :22:23.the stroke seat makes to the crew. Can they move through in this

:22:23. > :22:27.middle 1,000 metres and peg back Germany? The trouble is, once germy

:22:27. > :22:33.get their noses in front it is very hard to pull them back -- wants

:22:33. > :22:41.Germany get their noses in front. If you look back at the statistics,

:22:41. > :22:44.the crew that got to 501,000 in the lead went on to win it. Germany go

:22:44. > :22:49.through the 1,000 in the lead, as they did at the 500 metre mark and

:22:49. > :22:54.they have moved out ahead over Great Britain, three-quarters of a

:22:54. > :23:04.length. But the British will not roll over. A big race for Great

:23:04. > :23:04.

:23:04. > :23:08.Britain. If nothing oafs -- else, just to blow the cobwebs out. On

:23:08. > :23:12.the Olympic stage here, and they know they can pit themselves

:23:12. > :23:17.against the world champions who we are watching overhead. A fabulous

:23:17. > :23:26.shot here. That there is how you wrote a men's eight at this very

:23:27. > :23:31.high level. -- how you row a men's eight. To actively the German eight

:23:31. > :23:36.are superb. -- technically the German eight are superb. They

:23:36. > :23:41.really do well together. Britain putting up a fantastic battle on

:23:41. > :23:51.the outside, the top plane, closest to the crowds as they come into the

:23:51. > :23:52.

:23:53. > :23:59.far side of the bank. There are some coaches on the bikes, an

:23:59. > :24:05.incredible sight. That third 500 from Great Britain was outstanding.

:24:05. > :24:09.The British moving back again on Germany. It is three-quarters of a

:24:09. > :24:13.lens, just inside three quarters. Germany from Great Britain, and I

:24:14. > :24:18.think we can say that Great Britain have put the disappointment of

:24:18. > :24:24.Munich behind them, when they finished third, and the Germans

:24:24. > :24:28.weren't even in the race. Here we are, in the last 500 metres.

:24:28. > :24:32.Germany are 36 strokes a minute. Look out for the Netherlands.

:24:32. > :24:36.Holland are creeping up, closest to the camera. But Great Britain are

:24:36. > :24:46.moving, half a length down on germy but they still can't get their

:24:46. > :24:53.

:24:53. > :24:59.know the majority of the support in all of the stands it is for them.

:24:59. > :25:04.The British are upping the rate. They are pushing on, but Germany

:25:04. > :25:09.look absolutely exquisite. At only half-a-length this is a fantastic

:25:09. > :25:15.opener for Great Britain. They will have to go through the repechage,

:25:15. > :25:18.but this is great, holding on to Germany as they come to the last

:25:18. > :25:23.few strokes. The world champions have stretched it out and are

:25:23. > :25:27.safely through to the Olympic final by about three-quarters of a length.

:25:27. > :25:33.But Ladies and Gentlemen, Great Britain are back, and they will

:25:33. > :25:36.know they are within a sniff of that Olympic medal. Great Britain

:25:36. > :25:40.will go through the repechage and live to fight another day but they

:25:40. > :25:45.know that their big day will come on Wednesday, the Olympic final.

:25:45. > :25:48.And we salute to Germany through to that Olympic final. They have won,

:25:48. > :25:56.exquisite from the first strike. But what an absolute cracker we

:25:56. > :26:02.have got lined up on Wednesday. The repechage is on Monday, so great

:26:02. > :26:06.Britain will come away feeling disappointed, but they will be

:26:06. > :26:12.gutted not to be the German crew, because that is in their nature.

:26:12. > :26:17.But they know they are stepping up. And remember this, in 2000, when

:26:17. > :26:22.Great Britain won the gold medal they slightly douched it up in the

:26:22. > :26:26.heats and had to go through the repechage and won the most

:26:26. > :26:30.important race of their life, the Olympic final. This will give them

:26:30. > :26:36.confidence. They were five seconds faster than the United States in

:26:37. > :26:44.the opening heat. That puts them right up there. Germany, with this

:26:44. > :26:50.tandem rig, rather like Cambridge had in the Boat race, that gives

:26:50. > :26:54.them the power in the middle of the boat and it helps them to do it

:26:54. > :27:00.that way. But for Great Britain, that was a great opener. They have

:27:00. > :27:06.got that to build on, but Germany do look good. Look how far Germany

:27:06. > :27:09.are ahead of the Olympic champions. They have taken the Olympic

:27:09. > :27:18.champions apart, but they know that they cannot afford to discount

:27:18. > :27:23.Great Britain. Constantine has done an absolutely fabulous job. The US

:27:23. > :27:27.were coasting a little bit in the heat. After half way, just coasting

:27:27. > :27:35.a little bit, but it certainly puts great Britain in the picture.

:27:35. > :27:45.Germany through to the Olympic final. I would say it is all good

:27:45. > :27:45.

:27:45. > :27:49.A great race, and a great atmosphere, and the first people to

:27:49. > :27:54.benefit were heather stunning and Helen who won the race a few

:27:54. > :28:00.minutes ago. What was the sound like? It was incredible. We had the

:28:00. > :28:04.coach shouting at us during training, but nothing can compare

:28:04. > :28:08.from the word go to the beach at the finish and the cheers, it was

:28:08. > :28:12.absolutely brilliant. He must have been shouting loud to replicate

:28:12. > :28:19.30,000 people. At what point on the course can you actually hear

:28:20. > :28:24.people? I'm not really aware. It was sort of gradually building. A

:28:24. > :28:29.gradual build of noise, and by the time you got a half way you could

:28:29. > :28:34.see the grandstand coming alive. It makes you stand up tall and feel

:28:34. > :28:39.very proud. Steve, how well did they perform today? It was very

:28:39. > :28:42.classy. Way you taken by surprise by the Americans? This was supposed

:28:42. > :28:50.to be a week a group than they had had all season, but they pushed too

:28:50. > :28:53.hard during the middle -- as week a group. We expected them to come out

:28:54. > :28:57.strong and it didn't matter what boat class they were in, we

:28:57. > :29:03.expected them to be strong. It was good to have them in the lane next

:29:03. > :29:07.to us. In the last 500 you seemed to take to the race and move into

:29:07. > :29:12.the standard we have seen all season. Was that a planet or just

:29:12. > :29:18.the way it unfolded? I think you always planned to its place -- race

:29:18. > :29:22.to the line, and then the second plan is to conserve what you have.

:29:22. > :29:29.We just did it how we wanted to and felt in control, which is a nice

:29:29. > :29:36.thing to happen. You are through to the final, so you have four days to

:29:36. > :29:40.sit with your feet up and watch TV, or what? I think we will have a day

:29:40. > :29:44.to sit with our feet up and then we will go out and do some more

:29:44. > :29:54.training and keep ourselves ticking over, so our final will be the peak

:29:54. > :29:57.

:29:57. > :30:01.of the season rather than the race The if you get back quickly you can

:30:01. > :30:05.watch the swimming. That's what we're planning to do. They haven't

:30:05. > :30:08.got long to get back to watch the swimming. We will be at the

:30:08. > :30:13.Aquatics Centre in a moment but we have just had figures released for

:30:13. > :30:20.the audience for last night's opening ceremony on BBC One. The

:30:20. > :30:26.average audience was at 22.4 million. The peak was close to 27

:30:26. > :30:32.million. 26.9 million. That's how many people were watching. The

:30:32. > :30:36.biggest single audience in the modern era for the BBC. Also on to

:30:36. > :30:40.the results from the competition side of things. Those are the watch

:30:40. > :30:45.and BBC Three will know from the archery, great Britain's men have

:30:45. > :30:51.gone out of the team competition. Those hopes of a team medal in the

:30:51. > :30:54.archery had sadly ended at Lord's this morning. Time now for the

:30:54. > :31:00.swimming action. Clare Balding is going to talk as though it.

:31:00. > :31:03.CLARE BALDING: Are thank you so much, Mishal, and we had the heats

:31:03. > :31:07.for the 400 metres individual medley which means the appearance

:31:07. > :31:12.of Michael Phelps, a man who has one more gold medals at Olympic

:31:12. > :31:17.Games than any other athlete and is on course to win the most medals in

:31:17. > :31:24.total. That record is currently held by the Soviet gymnast who

:31:24. > :31:28.competed between 1956 and 1964. He could take his total, 14 gold

:31:28. > :31:35.medals and two bronze buckles, and needs to get to 18 to equal the

:31:35. > :31:39.record and push beyond it. He could do it. Indeed, he will. We would

:31:39. > :31:45.say his event is in the back. No event is in the back, but a minute

:31:45. > :31:51.ago, he qualified 8th for the final. We will see that in a second or two

:31:51. > :31:56.because we have a five heats to get through. The first British swimmer

:31:56. > :32:00.was Joe Roebuck, and we can look at him. He is in lane a number two. In

:32:00. > :32:10.the back of the picture, not a great swimmer for him. This will

:32:10. > :32:15.

:32:15. > :32:20.to have done it. Finishing, I'm afraid, last in that heat, but

:32:20. > :32:24.let's have a look at the heat which involved Michael Phelps, because we

:32:25. > :32:34.are going to see him in action. As Mark has hinted, he is through to

:32:35. > :32:43.

:32:43. > :32:51.the final but let's see how he Michael Phelps. I can't wait for

:32:51. > :32:58.this one. The world has been waiting for this one. The men's 400

:32:58. > :33:08.metres individual medley. In a lane four, Michael Phelps. The world has

:33:08. > :33:24.

:33:24. > :33:28.little bit of noise at the start there. This is he to four of five

:33:28. > :33:33.and Michael Phelps into the lead. He is flying for the peace the

:33:33. > :33:39.world record holder, 100 fly and the 200 rivals up he is brilliant.

:33:39. > :33:45.He has got everything. This is the stroke he made at the Sydney

:33:45. > :33:55.Olympics final, aged 15. We want to see the Italian tried to stay with

:33:55. > :33:59.

:33:59. > :34:06.him. Just going out of shot now, three from the left. This has been

:34:06. > :34:11.his dream since 2005 21st saw Olympics. He was only brought up 20

:34:11. > :34:19.minutes down the road. Competing with a great Michael Phelps, what

:34:19. > :34:26.an honour. Michael Phelps turning first. How many times have we said

:34:26. > :34:35.that in the last 16 years? Laszlo, and utterly brilliant swimmer, but

:34:35. > :34:44.how on earth you get past Michael Phelps? He's not kicking as hard as

:34:44. > :34:54.he could be. Sometimes your kick stabilises your wiggle. Is he going

:34:54. > :35:08.

:35:08. > :35:18.for it? I think he is getting a bit from the field. Germany is in lane

:35:18. > :35:41.

:35:41. > :35:46.just enough to make it through to the final here. He's been talking

:35:46. > :35:56.about saving his mental and physical energy. I think Michael

:35:56. > :36:00.

:36:00. > :36:08.world record pace of that back stroke. It's like two races in one

:36:08. > :36:18.here. Go all out in the butterfly and then he's back on there

:36:18. > :36:24.

:36:25. > :36:34.backstroke. On the turn, he had a he has come through now, Great

:36:34. > :36:42.Britain, in 4th or 5th at the moment. Michael Phelps turn second.

:36:42. > :36:46.Che turns first. He can bring that back pretty well. He looks good,

:36:46. > :36:51.closer to us. Yes, Michael Phelps was talking in the press conference

:36:52. > :36:57.about easing back and leaving energy. He has got a big schedule.

:36:57. > :37:03.He has got seven races. He has got seven medal events, a lot more

:37:03. > :37:07.races, of course, with semi-finals and heats. Having looked at his

:37:07. > :37:14.combated is there to see where he is. I think Michael Phelps will

:37:14. > :37:18.make him work a little bit harder, Che, because there is the final

:37:18. > :37:24.tonight and I think these two will be on the podium. Michael Phelps is

:37:24. > :37:33.toying with him. It's like a piece of string in front of a cat. Look

:37:33. > :37:40.at this. It's just amazing. Absolutely incredible. Pavoni He

:37:40. > :37:47.finishes in 4th. Just outside his best time. He went up 4.12 in the

:37:47. > :37:57.trials but Michael Phelps, goodness me. 4.13. That's not that quick. He

:37:57. > :38:02.

:38:02. > :38:06.currently in third. I can't see six from the final heat beating him but

:38:06. > :38:15.it's closer than I thought. A good three seconds slower than the first

:38:15. > :38:20.one. A 4.10 0.01. Michael Dobbs is such a great competitor. He knows

:38:20. > :38:30.pretty much how he's going -- Michael Phelps. It is the most

:38:30. > :38:30.

:38:30. > :38:38.controlled race of his schedule. Michael Phelps winning he'd four. -

:38:38. > :38:41.That was Michael Phelps in the pool. It's a fascinating experience

:38:41. > :38:46.watching it with you because you watch it in a different way to the

:38:46. > :38:54.rest of us. He didn't have easiest time there. That was a surprise. He

:38:54. > :38:59.left it very close. Watching him in the fly, I think he pulled back a

:38:59. > :39:09.little bit in the backstroke, tried to conserve energy, but had quite a

:39:09. > :39:14.bad patch at the end of that race. He qualified by 7,100ths of a

:39:14. > :39:18.second. That's cutting it to find. Knowing what it's like in the

:39:18. > :39:28.competition, the roar of the crowd, the first time we have seen the

:39:28. > :39:32.seasoned professional when it comes to swimming. He wanted a

:39:32. > :39:38.comfortable swim. A chance to qualify through, so when it comes

:39:38. > :39:43.to the finals, because in as more events, he has to conserve some

:39:43. > :39:47.energy. The he has to pace himself. With five metres to go, it looks

:39:47. > :39:53.like he's going to win his seat, which, in his mind, he will be

:39:53. > :40:03.thinking, I will be a 4th and through to the final. The Ryan

:40:03. > :40:07.

:40:07. > :40:14.Lochte has also been in the pool we have seen the ending. This is

:40:14. > :40:18.how Michael Phelps's race ended. Lots of focus on Ryan Lochte, we

:40:18. > :40:25.are going to show everybody that in a second. He's one of the main

:40:25. > :40:29.people to watch. Brilliant. I think now he will know he will probably

:40:29. > :40:38.be the second fastest going through. One second faster than Michael

:40:38. > :40:47.Phelps? So, here it is right now. Which is his best race? Ryan

:40:47. > :40:53.Lochte? Pick any of them! The way he's swimming at the moment, I

:40:53. > :41:00.think he will be very dominant in these races. He hasn't really got a

:41:00. > :41:06.week's stroke. The same as Michael Phelps. They are very similar.

:41:06. > :41:11.it an advantage and it he made that strong, because he must be focused?

:41:11. > :41:17.It's very motivating in training. You know what your main rivals are

:41:17. > :41:20.doing in training so it will spur you on. I suggest they do this

:41:20. > :41:24.session's separately so they don't know what they're doing otherwise

:41:24. > :41:30.it could become too competitive. You do think this will be one of

:41:30. > :41:37.the big rivalries? By can't wait. I can't wait to see this final. I'm

:41:37. > :41:42.glad we get to see a final we It's all happening in the Aquatics

:41:42. > :41:52.Centre this morning. Let's go over to Andy Jameson, who was

:41:52. > :42:04.

:42:04. > :42:09.the women's 100-metre butterfly. Fran Halsall in lane five. It will

:42:09. > :42:19.be interesting to see how she will some. Ali Sher Coutts, the

:42:19. > :42:21.

:42:21. > :42:26.Commonwealth champion. -- Alicia Coutts. Great Britain right in the

:42:26. > :42:36.centre. A real sprinter. She had a dodgy sold up for a while but it's

:42:36. > :42:42.

:42:42. > :42:52.better now. She looks good right summoned to work hard down this

:42:52. > :43:19.

:43:19. > :43:26.Coutts here. Fran, fourth from the left, coming back. Coutts, she

:43:26. > :43:30.takes it. How she got that, I've no idea? She was 6th with about 10

:43:30. > :43:39.metres to go, so a great finish, from Hull for. A really, really

:43:39. > :43:49.good finish -- Fran Halsall. Sorry, Andy. 7th in the world before she

:43:49. > :43:49.

:43:49. > :43:53.came into this, Coutts, and was a silver medallist last year. Getting

:43:53. > :44:03.close to that in a heat of 100 fight, that's a good market to lay

:44:03. > :44:19.

:44:19. > :44:28.down. Nice to see her fighting summing up really well with Fran

:44:28. > :44:38.Halsall. Now it is the turn of Ellen Gandy. She is right next to

:44:38. > :44:47.

:44:47. > :44:57.the red hat a Great Britain it goes in lane five. Not the greatest

:44:57. > :45:10.

:45:10. > :45:14.start. You can never write of Gandy does like this soaring poll.

:45:14. > :45:19.She got the British record in the trials here in March. She is here

:45:19. > :45:26.in third. Ellen Gandy coming in ranked third in the world this year.

:45:26. > :45:33.Really fighting. It is a flat line, Andy, look at that in the middle.

:45:33. > :45:37.Ellen Gandy is Sunningwell. She is the world record holder -- she is

:45:37. > :45:42.the swimming well. She is going well in the red hat in the centre.

:45:42. > :45:47.It is going to be very tight. A very good finish indeed. Goodness

:45:47. > :45:53.me. Both British Gas, as head down inside that last five metres, and

:45:53. > :45:58.they have stolen places in their heats, a really good swim. --

:45:58. > :46:03.British swimmers. I have got to say, I think that will still occur in

:46:03. > :46:13.the semi-final. There is still one he to go but it was great. A great

:46:13. > :46:17.

:46:17. > :46:27.with Decca, and then two metres out, just ominous. I think the British

:46:27. > :46:33.

:46:33. > :46:43.gulls have both done enough. -- the the British girls will make the

:46:43. > :46:47.So a good start for the British girls in the Aquatics Centre.

:46:47. > :46:51.and up against tough competition this morning. -- yes. I think they

:46:51. > :46:54.will improve on those positions coming through. That is really

:46:54. > :47:01.helpful to make sure they are in the right shape going forward.

:47:01. > :47:06.think it is. There are lot of swimmers swimming well and fast,

:47:06. > :47:11.but that middle heat that we saw, quite a strong heat and we saw how

:47:11. > :47:15.everyone was very close. You want to get everyone into that round so

:47:15. > :47:20.you can then produce a better performance. That is the latest

:47:20. > :47:27.from the Aquatics Centre. Let's go back to the rowing at Eton Dorney

:47:27. > :47:33.with the men's doubles goals coming We have had a mixed fortunes they

:47:33. > :47:37.fought the British athletes, an emphatic win and the women's quad

:47:37. > :47:41.came in last in their heats so they go into the repechage and then the

:47:41. > :47:48.men's eight came second. We will just show you the closing stages of

:47:48. > :47:58.the first heat in the men's doubles, because sometimes not a lot happens

:47:58. > :48:02.

:48:02. > :48:04.but look at this for the heat. is the first three going for the

:48:04. > :48:09.semi-finals, and bought three of them were comfortable going through.

:48:09. > :48:17.You wonder, white put that energy in? But that is how much it means

:48:17. > :48:24.Question for that to is when the crowd comes in, with that cacophony

:48:24. > :48:30.of noise. It almost distorts your common sense in racing, and maybe

:48:30. > :48:35.people will push more than they need to. That can happen. You can

:48:35. > :48:42.get into your pace in the race and stay stable, but if you blast off

:48:42. > :48:47.at the end then you get the oxygen dearth from that point of view.

:48:47. > :48:51.Realistically, what are their ambitions here? They are not a bad

:48:51. > :48:54.crew. They are supposed to be our fastest doubles pairing in the last

:48:54. > :49:00.few years. They should have been hunting for medals in the last few

:49:00. > :49:10.years but it hasn't quite quick -- clicked. Hopefully they had done

:49:10. > :49:15.

:49:15. > :49:19.good preparation but we will find Great Britain in the second lane.

:49:19. > :49:22.New Zealand, the two-time world champions alongside them. If you

:49:22. > :49:28.are going to make a mark on how fast you are, why not sit alongside

:49:28. > :49:34.the world champion? It will be a good race because Lucas and

:49:34. > :49:38.Townshend, a new doubles pairing this year, they were in the

:49:39. > :49:48.quadruples in 2011. Now a big opportunity for them in this. On

:49:49. > :50:06.

:50:06. > :50:12.the starting line. Glorious tailwind on the start, and they are

:50:12. > :50:17.away fast here. We are looking at built Lucas and Sam Townshend in

:50:17. > :50:23.the stroke seat. And these guys know they have a big race ahead of

:50:23. > :50:27.them alongside Nathan Cohen and Jason Solomons from New Zealand,

:50:27. > :50:31.the world champion -- Jason Sullivan. 100 metres down, and

:50:31. > :50:34.Great Britain are leading. brilliant start from Great Britain.

:50:34. > :50:43.They have been looking the part and very confident in the last six

:50:43. > :50:49.weeks in training and felt that they have moved on a lot. They

:50:49. > :50:54.succeeded the Red Express, who came 6th last year, although they were

:50:54. > :51:00.medallists the year before. They were superseded, and may have gone

:51:00. > :51:05.into the quads. But Lucas and Townshend looking calm and relaxed.

:51:05. > :51:12.Three of these crews will Fila five for the semi-final after this race.

:51:12. > :51:22.-- will qualify for the semi-final. As Great Britain come into their

:51:22. > :51:25.racing pace, Argentina in four, giving the chase and laying it on.

:51:25. > :51:30.Argentina were 9th at the world championships last year, sell at a

:51:30. > :51:38.moment, it is between Great Britain and Argentina. The world champions,

:51:38. > :51:47.New Zealand, a slightly struggling in the first 500 but we would now

:51:47. > :51:51.expect them to lend some alt -- lengthen out. I think New Zealand

:51:51. > :51:57.will just plan to qualify and have a steady race. Normally they are

:51:57. > :52:00.quite high with their strikes -- stroke rate. But they have checked

:52:00. > :52:04.the advance of Argentina and Great Britain and are turning on the

:52:04. > :52:08.pressure a little bit. We can expect new Zealand to start to move

:52:08. > :52:13.back into contention through the second part of the race -- New

:52:13. > :52:17.Zealand. But at the back are Estonia. It could be that they will

:52:17. > :52:23.be the crew that has to go through the repechage. Great Britain are

:52:23. > :52:29.looking good, but Argentina, a surprise, looking very smooth and

:52:29. > :52:35.relaxed and their boat is travelling well between strokes.

:52:35. > :52:38.Bill Lucas, 22, some Townshend, 26, they have rowed together in one

:52:38. > :52:44.form or another since their days at Reading University -- Sammut

:52:44. > :52:48.Townshend. There confidence should be rising. The white boat of New

:52:48. > :52:53.Zealand coming back. They will know that Argentina, who they have had

:52:53. > :52:57.the better off, they finished 6th at Munich in the last World Cup

:52:57. > :53:07.regatta, with Great Britain finishing in four, so it is laying

:53:07. > :53:14.

:53:14. > :53:19.halfway mark of this the third heat. Argentina, what is happening here?

:53:20. > :53:24.Soirees and Rosso are taking their chances. We would expect the

:53:24. > :53:31.experience of Lucas and Townshend, but the dominance in the event of:

:53:31. > :53:35.and somewhat -- Sullivan,, we would expect them to start coming through.

:53:35. > :53:41.The worry is that the New Zealanders always make it look a

:53:41. > :53:45.bit hard. They have to battle and scrap, and the good thing of the

:53:45. > :53:50.British pair is they have a nice flowing rhythm. They just have to

:53:50. > :53:55.keep going with the Kiwis as they come through and focus on this

:53:55. > :53:58.third section. New Zealand are up at 38 strokes per minute. They are

:53:58. > :54:03.battling along after taking it steady. They always seem to give

:54:03. > :54:10.themselves so much to do. Battling along with Great Britain at 35

:54:10. > :54:13.strokes per minute, and Argentina, the same, very steady, very smooth.

:54:13. > :54:20.A good day to release the nerves. They will walk out in Portugal at

:54:20. > :54:26.the training camp, and before that they were up at altitude in Austria.

:54:26. > :54:32.All of the focus on these couple of days. Great Britain are looking all

:54:32. > :54:36.right. There is the all-black strip of New Zealand. Argentina beginning

:54:36. > :54:42.to slip back a touch. They still have the lead but the others are

:54:42. > :54:48.beginning to close them down. Argentina now continue through the

:54:48. > :54:58.1,500 metres and have led at every mark. Surely they will not cause a

:54:58. > :55:04.

:55:04. > :55:08.through to the semi-final. Now it is all about pride for New Zealand,

:55:08. > :55:14.the two-time world champions. Here come the Kiwis, and Great Britain

:55:14. > :55:19.must go with them, but the young pretenders from Argentina, who have

:55:19. > :55:25.done so much to lead this heat, surely they can hang on and hold

:55:25. > :55:31.off this charge. They charge will be unrelenting against the New

:55:31. > :55:37.Zealanders. Here they come. 250 metres remaining. And the British

:55:37. > :55:43.are pushing on. They are responding to the crowd on the far side. And

:55:43. > :55:47.the British have upped their rate, but so have the New Zealanders, the

:55:47. > :55:53.two-time world champions, coming up to the line. Great Britain at 40

:55:53. > :55:58.strokes a minute. As they come up to the last 250 metres it is New

:55:58. > :56:04.Zealand pushing right through. Not pretty, but very fast.

:56:04. > :56:08.sensational effort from Great Britain. They'd dared to lead up to

:56:08. > :56:13.the 1,800 metre mark. New Zealand coming through. What a scrap that

:56:13. > :56:17.was. And what a result for the British doubles. They will be

:56:17. > :56:21.mightily happy. They should be happy with that second place,

:56:21. > :56:26.because this is going to be a long all that regatta. Great Britain

:56:26. > :56:36.through to the semi-final. New Zealand through, and also Argentina,

:56:36. > :56:50.

:56:50. > :56:53.and just taking up the rear, A fantastic start, now time to

:56:53. > :56:57.embrace the an's specialist subject. We are ready to get under way for

:56:57. > :57:05.the men's 400 metres freestyle, an event a certain Australian used to

:57:05. > :57:10.dominate. This time it is China and Korea expected us -- to challenge

:57:10. > :57:20.for the gold. Let's go to the aquatics centre with Adrian

:57:20. > :57:57.

:57:57. > :58:02.Moorhouse and Andy Jameson. -- the world record holder had a stinker,

:58:02. > :58:08.got left on the box. And Robbie with a wonderful start. He has

:58:08. > :58:13.certainly started as he means to continue, looking really good. It

:58:14. > :58:19.looks like the German is going with Robbie. The world record holder is

:58:19. > :58:28.going with the guy from GB. Good to see him making a statement on his

:58:28. > :58:35.first length. The green on -0.24 means he is underneath a world

:58:35. > :58:40.record. We hope he knows what he's doing! Beedham and not having a

:58:40. > :58:50.great year. He has not shown on the world rankings. He is in the white

:58:50. > :58:55.

:58:55. > :59:01.cap. Renwick will have to get close to his PB. It will take that to get

:59:01. > :59:04.into the final, at least. Look at these two at Guy's go. He has the

:59:04. > :59:14.world record holder to tow along with him. And he is definitely

:59:14. > :59:19.

:59:20. > :59:23.working hard. Leading for Germany, Renwick just there. Easy speed down

:59:23. > :59:26.the first 200 metres, and the crowd are chanting his name. Fantastic

:59:26. > :59:32.local support. It really is brilliant and he is looking good.

:59:32. > :59:42.The rest of the field is starting to come back now. I was going to

:59:42. > :59:45.

:59:45. > :59:55.say, they are starting to catch the Russian in at number seven is

:59:55. > :00:00.

:00:00. > :00:03.going well. Renwick still first. He is leaning to his right, so he can

:00:03. > :00:10.see all along the line and it is a nice position to be in and help you

:00:10. > :00:16.with your pace. You always say two junior guys that the big guys go at

:00:16. > :00:26.the halfway mark, and look at what has happened. He mustn't forget it

:00:26. > :00:29.

:00:29. > :00:33.is a heater where it will be hard his terms, you know. He did not to

:00:33. > :00:39.a big fly kick. The rest of the boys were doing something big

:00:39. > :00:48.underwater. He makes his lead up and then comes back on the term.

:00:48. > :00:53.Check this out. 100 metres to go. They make in first. Not was not a

:00:53. > :00:58.bad term, though. Did not lose too much on that. Everybody is starting

:00:58. > :01:06.to go to their feet with 100 ago. Robbie Rennick is looking good but

:01:06. > :01:12.look at these guys coming back at him. The German is not looking very

:01:12. > :01:17.good at all. Not at all. It suggests there may be Robbie

:01:17. > :01:27.Rennick is now digging in. The crowds are really lifting her. He

:01:27. > :01:33.

:01:33. > :01:38.from up Robbie Rennick. The German will not make the final and as he

:01:38. > :01:48.does something spectacular in the last time. He's looking good,

:01:48. > :01:53.

:01:53. > :02:01.that he to be. With 16 very quick guys to come, Business semi-final

:02:01. > :02:07.for the freestyle, only eight will qualify. A very good swim from

:02:07. > :02:14.Robbie Rennick, but will it be any good? Is it enough? I think it will

:02:14. > :02:18.be. He is looking over. You can see him looking under the water. Almost

:02:18. > :02:25.looking for the clock before he finished. Top of your picture,

:02:25. > :02:35.knocking. Cochrane also looking over. They knew they were in a

:02:35. > :02:37.

:02:37. > :02:47.scrap. That position might make a Is that going to be enough? I'm not

:02:47. > :02:55.

:02:55. > :03:05.heat three of the men's 400-metre freestyle. David Carry is in lane

:03:05. > :03:13.

:03:13. > :03:17.six. It is brilliant to see him reigning Olympic champion. David

:03:17. > :03:24.Carry, delighted to see him here because he did not qualify at the

:03:24. > :03:29.trials. He did a lifetime best to qualify for the Games. He's in the

:03:29. > :03:34.red hat on the right-hand side. He has gone of Cook, as well. This is

:03:34. > :03:41.his second chance and there is a space opened. David Carry took his

:03:41. > :03:46.opportunity and it's great to see him here. Park, the world record.

:03:46. > :03:53.The second fastest in the world this year. Coached by the

:03:53. > :04:01.Australian, Michael Ball. Park is positioning himself at the Olympic

:04:01. > :04:06.Games, dropped the 1,500 metres from his programme. He is

:04:06. > :04:10.concentrating on a 200 metres and 400 metres. David Carry, heart the

:04:10. > :04:17.second from the world record in the lead. I'm not sure, it's very

:04:17. > :04:21.exciting and all that but hopefully it's not too much. It is fast, I

:04:21. > :04:28.have got to say. If you're going to go for it, go for it. And that

:04:28. > :04:32.exactly what you are doing. He does have some very good tactics, but

:04:32. > :04:36.we've just seen a pretty slow seeded heat. You can make this

:04:37. > :04:41.final if you are quick and knock some big guys out. David Carry is

:04:41. > :04:46.the first to turn. The world champion and Olympic champion is

:04:46. > :04:52.still in the mix. Let's watch him at the halfway term. David Carry on

:04:52. > :04:57.the left-hand side with her red hat on. Over to his right, he's looking.

:04:57. > :05:03.A great position to be in. It makes you feel a little bit stronger

:05:03. > :05:10.coming into the halfway position. That was of fast first 100 but I'm

:05:11. > :05:19.hoping it's not too fast. Park, I think he is amongst them. He is in

:05:19. > :05:27.the white cap nearest to us. David Carry is going. He's making a move

:05:27. > :05:32.again. He has probably got maybe a quarter of a metre on the others.

:05:32. > :05:39.This is not that quick, still. David Carry is kicking a bit harder

:05:39. > :05:48.than the rest of the field. Kicking his legs. The Australian in the

:05:48. > :05:52.yellow cab, not kicking his legs at all. David Carry is not full on. A

:05:52. > :06:00.bit of horseplay here, you know. David Carry is doing really well.

:06:00. > :06:05.Come on, 100 metres to go. He could make the final. He is swimming very

:06:05. > :06:15.hard on that term. A bit deep under water. Come on, David Carry, you

:06:15. > :06:21.

:06:21. > :06:27.final go. He wants to get into the final. He is in the white cap. It

:06:27. > :06:35.will surprise me if he does do a big kick now. And starts to try to

:06:35. > :06:39.come back. There we go, a big kick into the lead. Come on, David Carry.

:06:39. > :06:49.Park taking over in the centre in the white cap and also going past

:06:49. > :06:51.

:06:51. > :07:01.him is the Australian, a silver can get this. Try and beat the

:07:01. > :07:08.

:07:08. > :07:18.Australian. It looks like he will but one guy from the first heat, I

:07:18. > :07:25.

:07:25. > :07:33.was Napoleon and 4th was David Carry. It's very close. It is close

:07:33. > :07:43.but I think Park was playing around death. He did a big kick on that

:07:43. > :07:48.

:07:48. > :07:56.finishing, to make sure he did enough. A gutsy swimmer, David

:07:56. > :08:01.Carry. Just outside his best time where he qualified. There is the

:08:01. > :08:05.Olympic champion, the defending champion. A lovely guy. A great

:08:05. > :08:15.tactician. I think he is comfortably into the final. One

:08:15. > :08:28.

:08:28. > :08:38.interesting. I wonder if it was the start. You are not allowed to false

:08:38. > :08:42.

:08:42. > :08:48.start. You're not allowed to wobble. Maybe he's not sure about it yet.

:08:48. > :08:56.You can't get disqualified in freestyle unless you false start.

:08:56. > :09:01.We have had our first Olympic record set by America in the 100

:09:01. > :09:06.metres butterfly. We could see some world records broken tonight.

:09:06. > :09:16.American has been in great form. She number one in the world. You

:09:16. > :09:17.

:09:17. > :09:23.never know when they can do it doesn't she? Whereas, holding

:09:23. > :09:28.something back most definitely was Michael Phelps. And maybe, lulling

:09:28. > :09:31.the Olympic silver medallists into a false sense of security. He has

:09:31. > :09:37.and qualify for final individual medley and Michael Phelps has, only

:09:37. > :09:40.just. It shows you, when there is no semi-finals, a top aide go

:09:40. > :09:49.through and it's so important to get up early in the morning and it

:09:49. > :09:53.swim fast. It Michael Phelps just getting in at Ryan Lochte, you have

:09:53. > :09:57.to make him favourite for gold tonight. The interesting thing is,

:09:57. > :10:03.he's going to be in lane three and Michael Phelps will be in lane

:10:03. > :10:08.eight. We used to seeing them side- by-side, cat-and-mouse but there's

:10:08. > :10:12.no race like that tonight. Michael Phelps will be out on his own.

:10:12. > :10:16.been so cool about the rivalry, trying to play it down, but it's so

:10:17. > :10:22.interesting for tonight's final. Equally interesting, the defending

:10:22. > :10:27.Olympic champion from the 400 metres freestyle, Park, has been

:10:27. > :10:33.disqualified, so let's have a look at the start. He is coming off

:10:33. > :10:39.block four. The yellow cap. I must confess, I didn't see anything

:10:39. > :10:45.wrong whatsoever. When you have a reaction time, it comes up on the

:10:45. > :10:50.scoreboard. I couldn't see anything wrong from here. Whether the judges

:10:50. > :10:58.saw it, I don't know. You have to be completely stationary. Maybe he

:10:58. > :11:04.twitched. I couldn't see anything. An amazing noise for every British

:11:04. > :11:08.swimmer here. The noise levels may get even crazier because we're

:11:08. > :11:15.expecting the imminent arrival of Her Majesty, the Queen, who opened

:11:15. > :11:21.the Olympics officially last night Thank you very much indeed. Very

:11:21. > :11:27.exciting morning already. I have been watching it with Ian Thorpe.

:11:27. > :11:32.We thought it was shocking when the Korean summer was disqualified.

:11:32. > :11:35.the defending champion is disqualified at this stage. He went

:11:36. > :11:40.through the race quite comfortably and make sure he got through to the

:11:40. > :11:47.final. Looking at the start, I'm in complete agreement with Mark Foster.

:11:47. > :11:51.I don't see anything in it. Maybe we will see a protest put in now.

:11:51. > :11:55.It is within the guidelines at this stage. He may have had a quick

:11:55. > :11:59.reaction time. It isn't a false start. The technical equipment we

:11:59. > :12:03.have on the blocks indicates when the gun goes off, what is

:12:03. > :12:07.acceptable as a reaction time. If it falls outside of that number, he

:12:07. > :12:11.will probably continue to be disqualified. That's the kind of

:12:11. > :12:17.debate which will be going on right now in the Aquatics Centre. What

:12:17. > :12:22.will happen now, they will go back and look at the replay from the

:12:22. > :12:29.overhead cameras to see if there was any movement. We could split is

:12:29. > :12:33.down into 1,000ths of a second. You can tell when the movement happens,

:12:33. > :12:37.so there's a lot of technical issues around us. But blind eye,

:12:37. > :12:42.not been it would see anything, I did not see a false start.

:12:42. > :12:50.really exciting action this morning also in all these heats was to see

:12:50. > :12:57.how well directed it. It's really good. -- to see how well Robbie

:12:57. > :13:01.Rennick did. What was happening, a lot of guys had similar times and

:13:01. > :13:07.it means they had to work harder this morning. Park, he was one of

:13:07. > :13:12.the ones who went a bit easier and then came through at the end. Some

:13:12. > :13:17.of these guys had to work hard to get through. Robbie Rennick looked

:13:17. > :13:22.good. It's interesting to see how many nations have come along in a

:13:22. > :13:25.swimming. Non-traditional swimming nations if you like. I think this

:13:25. > :13:30.is the best in what has happened to the sport. It's been an evolution

:13:30. > :13:36.in the last 10 years. Mostly in the last six years. We have seen

:13:36. > :13:41.countries in Asia starting to dominate races. A great example is

:13:41. > :13:48.the 400 metres freestyle. I think we may see an epic moment when

:13:48. > :13:58.someone breaks the record. There is a very young Chinese swimmer who

:13:58. > :14:02.

:14:02. > :14:05.What Park being out, a nice long strike going through. Comfortably

:14:05. > :14:10.accelerates his movement. A nice, relaxed position through his

:14:10. > :14:20.recovery. He could end up being the first male Chinese, to win a gold

:14:20. > :14:22.

:14:22. > :14:25.medal. But that's right. That will be enormous. 3.4 5.07 going through.

:14:25. > :14:31.He is a second and a half faster than everybody else. Out of

:14:31. > :14:39.everyone, he got through that heat this morning quite comfortably. He

:14:39. > :14:45.More good results coming through a. David Carry has made the final.

:14:45. > :14:50.That is more good news for Team GB. Very good. Thank you very much,

:14:51. > :14:53.Iain. Particularly people wonder what it's like for you what in the

:14:53. > :14:59.400 metres freestyle knowing what it's like to be out there. Yes,

:14:59. > :15:03.it's interesting today but I'm glad I'm not disqualified! Yes, I

:15:03. > :15:06.suppose that's the danger of the competition. It will all be

:15:06. > :15:10.happening at the Aquatics Centre through the course of the day.

:15:10. > :15:14.Let's just get a little hint of what it's like at another event,

:15:14. > :15:24.not one we touched on so far today, but competition is under way in a

:15:24. > :15:26.

:15:26. > :15:33.The 30-year-old from Poland is The 30-year-old from Poland is

:15:33. > :15:43.leading. A score of 64.2 to add to her 399 qualification. She is ahead

:15:43. > :16:00.

:16:00. > :16:08.are waiting for Katarina from Czechoslovakia -- the Czech

:16:08. > :16:18.Republic. She has fired a 10.3. I don't think that round, the 7th

:16:18. > :16:43.

:16:43. > :16:52.round will change the places in 10.2. We have still not had a

:16:52. > :17:02.maximum score of 10.9 as yet in this final. Another good score from

:17:02. > :17:37.

:17:37. > :17:47.medal position and Poland are on course to take gold, but it is very

:17:47. > :17:53.

:17:54. > :17:59.over 75 minutes in qualification and there will be 10 in this final

:17:59. > :18:09.section, 75 seconds per shot, so no need to hurry. It is about nerve

:18:09. > :18:18.

:18:18. > :18:28.leader from Poland. We have a 9.7, so a new leader here. The gap was

:18:28. > :18:51.

:18:51. > :18:59.The reigning Olympic champion will move up the rankings, but the

:18:59. > :19:09.Chinese has now gone to the top of the board. Siling Yi is the new

:19:09. > :19:13.

:19:13. > :19:19.leader. She has overtaken, of the 30-year-old from Poland. There is a

:19:19. > :19:29.fault -- a full point of difference, 9.7 up to 10.7, and that has

:19:29. > :19:31.

:19:31. > :19:41.changed things around. Yu is in bronze, but Emmons has closed the

:19:41. > :20:07.

:20:07. > :20:11.gap. Emmons, a big roar in the This is her first Olympics despite

:20:11. > :20:21.being the favourite. She was the first athlete to qualify for the

:20:21. > :20:55.

:20:55. > :21:05.games, that was two years ago. Two Yu with a 10.8, and Yi with 10.3.

:21:05. > :21:06.

:21:06. > :21:16.So Yi will extend her lead. Just wiating for Emmons to see if she

:21:16. > :21:29.

:21:29. > :21:35.the leader. It is a Chinese wall and two at the moment. -- 1 and 2.

:21:35. > :21:40.The final shots are about to be fired in just around one minute and

:21:40. > :21:50.a minute and a half, we will know who has won the first Olympic gold

:21:50. > :22:09.

:22:09. > :22:19.at London 2012. Big cheers for Yu But she will need it nerves of

:22:19. > :22:24.

:22:24. > :22:28.steel. Caterina remains in force. So, we wait for this a final shot,

:22:28. > :22:33.coming up, for the first medal at the games. Traditionally shooting

:22:33. > :22:38.has provided the first Olympic gold of any games, and the first

:22:38. > :22:48.champion of this 38 games here in London will be crowned, the south-

:22:48. > :22:58.

:22:58. > :23:05.east London, Woolwich -- of this 2 coming into the final and we are

:23:05. > :23:11.just waiting for the first shot to be fired. If she posts 10.7 or more,

:23:11. > :23:21.she cannot be beaten. And she has fired a 10.5. That should be good

:23:21. > :23:25.

:23:25. > :23:33.enough. That will be good enough! Yu can't catch her. She would have

:23:33. > :23:39.to score 11, and 10.9 is the maximum. And that was only a 10.3.

:23:39. > :23:49.She may even get leapfrog into the silver medal. But we have our first

:23:49. > :23:56.

:23:56. > :24:06.gold medallist of the London 2012 Olympics. It is Siling Yi. Her

:24:06. > :24:07.

:24:07. > :24:17.total score, 502.9. She has beaten the Polish shooter who takes silver.

:24:17. > :24:29.

:24:29. > :24:39.But the world No. 1, in her first That is a key moment for the London

:24:39. > :24:56.

:24:56. > :25:02.Olympics, the first gold medal won, That final was happening in

:25:02. > :25:05.Woolwich, at the Royal Artillery Barracks. No medals handed out at

:25:05. > :25:15.Eton Dorney, and none are scheduled, but plenty more interest for Great

:25:15. > :25:16.

:25:16. > :25:19.We will show you the lightweight men's four heat, the event that

:25:19. > :25:23.invariably provides the closest blanket finish of the championships.

:25:23. > :25:33.In any Regatta, it is always very competitive and it comes down to

:25:33. > :25:38.

:25:38. > :25:42.the tiniest of margins. Let's see boxing match, they would have to go

:25:42. > :25:49.to the Australians so far. The Australians leading through the

:25:49. > :25:57.1,000 metres, and we are into the third 500 with Britain in first,

:25:58. > :26:01.Australia in three, the race leaders. Such is the tightness and

:26:01. > :26:06.level of competition in this event that the title of world champion,

:26:06. > :26:10.the best in the world from year to year, really does vary. The British

:26:10. > :26:15.seem to have checked the Australians. The Australians,

:26:15. > :26:18.closest to us, they do look a bit more smooth. They are taking less

:26:18. > :26:23.strokes per minute and Great Britain, which means they are

:26:23. > :26:29.moving a little bit more efficiently. They are also running

:26:29. > :26:32.on a shorter stroke. If you look at how Britain stretch out, they reach

:26:33. > :26:40.a lot more, and may have some very good length in the technique and

:26:40. > :26:44.are beginning to move as well. Australia, slight, but so well

:26:44. > :26:48.drilled. Their blades are parallel. They hit the water together and

:26:48. > :26:56.they apply the pressure spot on, together. Watch Great Britain in

:26:56. > :27:04.the last 500 metres. It is the first three crews who will qualify

:27:04. > :27:07.for the next round. A sensational third 500 metres for Great Britain,

:27:07. > :27:13.calling their way back against Australia, the world champions, who

:27:14. > :27:23.led them by a quarter of a length. Great Britain in a lane at number

:27:24. > :27:27.

:27:27. > :27:31.This is a crew that wants to move on from their first place in Munich,

:27:31. > :27:36.when all the crews came together at the end of the World Cup series.

:27:36. > :27:40.Melt the British up to a quarter of a length -- now the British. They

:27:40. > :27:46.are moving away from the Australians. It is all about

:27:46. > :27:52.winning for Great Britain. That was a fantastic Porsche. In about 40

:27:52. > :27:57.strokes they went from half-a- length down to half a length up.

:27:57. > :28:02.They are staying relaxed, but they went right through Australia. That

:28:02. > :28:09.has the look of a champion crew. That is really spectacular. They

:28:09. > :28:14.have taken nearly over a length of Australia in 500 metres. 150 metres

:28:14. > :28:20.left in this heat, and the British crew can look up. It is a job well

:28:20. > :28:25.done. It is only the heats, but they will know they are on track.

:28:25. > :28:33.The rate just marginally comes down. They are almost a length clear of

:28:33. > :28:36.the world champions. Great Britain, through to the final. A little

:28:36. > :28:45.acknowledgement from Chris in the stroke seat. He will note there

:28:45. > :28:54.will be tougher races, but in the opening heat, Britain, will know it

:28:55. > :28:58.Pulling the Australians -- putting the Australians to bed, as it was

:28:58. > :29:02.described their, was very nice. Obviously still a lot of work to do

:29:02. > :29:09.but it should at least shows they are on at medal form, hopefully

:29:09. > :29:13.gold-medal form. Two victories for British crews with Helen Glover and

:29:13. > :29:22.heather Stanning winning later, but the men's eight were in a duel with

:29:22. > :29:30.the Germans. A really entertaining outside. After they had finished in

:29:30. > :29:35.second in that race their cox, We will talk about the race in a

:29:35. > :29:39.moment, but what about the race -- atmosphere? The it is amazing. I

:29:39. > :29:43.have never been to a regatta like it. It is not just that it is noisy,

:29:43. > :29:49.but also we know everyone is here supporting us. It is pretty

:29:49. > :29:55.fantastic. We asked Heather and Helen a few moments ago, but at

:29:55. > :30:00.what point on the course did the wall of sound he chew? It is from

:30:00. > :30:10.about the second 1,000 metres. As soon as you get towards 750, it is

:30:10. > :30:11.

:30:11. > :30:15.deafening. And the last 500 metres So in terms of looking ahead to

:30:15. > :30:19.final, how do you assess that performance today? I think at the

:30:19. > :30:22.moment, before we start thinking about the final, we have to go

:30:22. > :30:26.through the representative. I think, you know, if we are honest, we are

:30:26. > :30:31.not there yet. We didn't win. I think the Germans are still sort of

:30:31. > :30:36.the stand out crew at the moment. I think they were sort of about two

:30:36. > :30:41.thirds of a length up, or something, as a starting point for us, it is

:30:41. > :30:45.not too bad. I think obviously, you know, we want to be, beating the

:30:45. > :30:49.Germans, but we are not there, but I think, this is the first time we

:30:49. > :30:53.have, you think about it through all the World Cup season, we have

:30:53. > :30:56.had injury, changing things round, today was our first race in our

:30:56. > :30:59.full line up, with Stan and everyone else in the correct

:30:59. > :31:03.position, so we have something to build off. Most people watching

:31:03. > :31:09.will not be rowing experts so when you say you are not quite there yet,

:31:09. > :31:14.what are the specific areas that need to be tweaked? I think at the

:31:14. > :31:20.moment, I would say, it is art the start, that first 500 metres. Today,

:31:20. > :31:24.in the racing, I think the Germans edged out in that first 500. Edged

:31:24. > :31:27.away from us. I think if we are going to do some tweaking it has to

:31:28. > :31:34.be in the first 5 hundred. We have to be closer to the Germans,

:31:34. > :31:38.without a shadow of a doubt. How do you go about that? We need to be

:31:38. > :31:41.fast in the first 500, but the reality is that is a big change to

:31:41. > :31:46.do, and over the last few years, the eight has been slipping behind

:31:46. > :31:51.in the big races and the first 500, so what are you going to do in the

:31:51. > :31:54.next few days to do that? You have the representative. I think one

:31:54. > :31:59.thing for sure that we have seen through the World Cup season, is we

:31:59. > :32:03.have always progressed through, the heat, the representative to the

:32:03. > :32:07.final. I think now, we are aware of what we immediate to do. We need to

:32:07. > :32:14.dig a bit deeper, you need to commit more in the first 500. The

:32:14. > :32:19.way I see it at the moment. It is about a 1500 metre race. So I think

:32:19. > :32:24.we have to have that mentality. It is a 1500 metre race and allow the

:32:24. > :32:30.last 500 to take care of itself. you think the crowd here are the

:32:30. > :32:33.tenth man? I think they make a massive difference. I noticed in

:32:33. > :32:38.2010, the Kiwis had a huge support and it did them favours and I

:32:38. > :32:41.believe it does it here. Good to see you and the repechage will

:32:41. > :32:45.hopefully take care of itself. It is good to be on the water. Thank

:32:45. > :32:51.you very much. Good to see all that action from Eton Dorney today, with

:32:51. > :32:57.the rowing under way, a positive start for Team GB's rowers. Earlier

:32:57. > :33:03.on was Ian Thorpe, he has changed into Hazel Irvine fresh from the

:33:03. > :33:06.opening ceremony what a marathon effort. I wouldn't say fresh! It

:33:06. > :33:09.was an extraordinary event. Everybody would echo

:33:09. > :33:12.congratulations to Danny Boyle on that amazing cast. It was

:33:12. > :33:17.remarkable. You had that marathon job of talking us through the

:33:17. > :33:21.athletes parade. We loved every minute, it was a privilege to be

:33:21. > :33:24.there and see it. And the Queen was there, last night, of course, she

:33:24. > :33:29.is probably had not much sleep either, she has been back here at

:33:29. > :33:34.the Olympic Park today. Here she is having a look round, with the Mayor