:00:06. > :00:10.awful lot to come in the next three or four hours. A mayor Boris
:00:10. > :00:14.Johnson calls it the Olympic mania. Whilst it's not at fever pitch yet,
:00:14. > :00:18.that could break out, if and when that elusive first medal is in the
:00:19. > :00:21.bag for the British team. There's a huge wave of goodwill towards Great
:00:21. > :00:25.Britain's athletes around his Olympic Park and beyond, from
:00:25. > :00:35.Weymouth to Wimbledon, to inside the giant whale that is the
:00:35. > :00:39.successfully defended an Olympic title. Becky Adlington Stobbart in
:00:39. > :00:44.her attempt to be the first this morning shortly. Ben Ainslie takes
:00:44. > :00:48.to the water to go for an historic record equalling fourth sailing
:00:48. > :00:52.gold at the Olympic regatta. It gets under way at high noon. Andy
:00:52. > :00:55.Murray was on his lonesome after doubles disappointment. Can he
:00:55. > :01:02.served up another run to the singles final at Wimbledon, a month
:01:02. > :01:08.after his last? Andy lost to Federer in that emotional final
:01:08. > :01:14.three weeks ago. Today, he's got a Swiss roll again. Stanislas
:01:14. > :01:17.Wawrinka in his match. We are gearing up for the first appearance
:01:17. > :01:24.in the Staines of Britain's most successful Olympic swimmer for over
:01:24. > :01:30.a century. You know her. Two gold medals in won the Olympic Games.
:01:31. > :01:34.Rebecca Adlington, you are absolutely brilliant! I've coached
:01:34. > :01:40.over 30 years and I've never coached any body with the drive
:01:40. > :01:45.that Rebecca has got. I've definitely learned more from my not
:01:45. > :01:50.so good swims than I have my good swims. She's got this innate
:01:50. > :01:56.ability to push herself to the limit, day-in day-out. It is in her
:01:56. > :02:03.DNA, I suppose. As an athlete, you want to keep improving, you want to
:02:03. > :02:08.get faster. Anybody can do absolutely anything at the Olympics
:02:08. > :02:12.will start nobody expected me to do what I did in Beijing. There's
:02:12. > :02:22.going to be upset us, highs, everything. That is the whole point
:02:22. > :02:27.everything. That is the whole point Double gold at 19 years of age in
:02:27. > :02:31.Beijing. She became the first British woman to strike gold at the
:02:31. > :02:36.Games since Rome in 1960. She did it again, doubling the distance at
:02:36. > :02:41.800. But she's got some way to go before she beats this man's total
:02:41. > :02:45.of five, but who knows? Ian, let's get a sense of perspective.
:02:45. > :02:50.Everybody is saying this medal is in the bag. This is the weaker of
:02:50. > :02:56.her two events. What might we expect today? High expectations of
:02:56. > :03:01.Becky Adlington. We will put it in perspective. This is trying to
:03:01. > :03:03.defend an Olympic title at her home Games. At the moment, we expected
:03:03. > :03:09.some of her team mates to have perhaps had better performances
:03:09. > :03:13.than they've had. So it has all added, all of this weight was on
:03:13. > :03:18.her shoulders. Plus the rest of the world is swimming well. She has
:03:18. > :03:22.great competitors in this event. Everybody knows of Pellegrini. But
:03:22. > :03:26.there are other contenders for this spot. Can you tell us what it is
:03:26. > :03:34.like to defend successfully at his title? You did it in the men's race
:03:34. > :03:37.in Athens, and also Sydney. What are the main components that one
:03:37. > :03:41.needs to do so, and how much more pressure is there when you are the
:03:41. > :03:44.one to watch in this race, a defending champion? The worst thing,
:03:44. > :03:49.and we talk about the home crowd and what happens around this, but
:03:49. > :03:54.when you walk out and you are Olympic champion, they say that
:03:54. > :03:59.when you are announced as defending Olympic champion, and you go,
:03:59. > :04:04.though, it's that moment where you go, I have to defend this title.
:04:04. > :04:07.You feel that. And they will say that when it is Becky Adlington
:04:07. > :04:10.going out there. But it is knowing what you've done to become Olympic
:04:10. > :04:15.champion and committing and sticking with that. Because if you
:04:15. > :04:19.can get to number one, you know how to do it. It's not a matter of
:04:19. > :04:24.thinking of number two, because you always want to be better than them.
:04:24. > :04:28.You've talked about a home Games, and in Sydney that was your own
:04:28. > :04:33.Games. I've noticed the increased level of emotion that is surging
:04:33. > :04:37.through Great Britain's athletes here. I guess in a Olympic terms,
:04:37. > :04:40.one has to have a cool, hard-headed approach to things, so how
:04:40. > :04:44.distracting is the overwhelming emotional experience that it is
:04:44. > :04:49.proving to be? It can be overwhelming. It can also be one of
:04:49. > :04:53.the things that gives you that extra bit that you need, that extra
:04:53. > :04:57.thing that kind of finish us off a performance. But if you let it
:04:57. > :05:01.become a distraction, it will be. If you get caught up in the hype,
:05:01. > :05:08.you will be lost. You need to keep a calm head but enjoyed that it is
:05:08. > :05:11.at home. Remember, the best things about home, and not think of all
:05:11. > :05:14.that of the pressure and expectation. Think of mum and dad,
:05:14. > :05:18.your friends and family. Don't think about everyone else. I am
:05:18. > :05:23.sure that is what Becky and Jo Jackson will be doing, because they
:05:23. > :05:28.will be going in the third of the heats in his women's 400m freestyle.
:05:28. > :05:31.Adrian and Andy about to pick up for us. A quick word about Becky'
:05:31. > :05:34.stroke rate. I did read from a cold, stroke rate. I did read from a cold,
:05:34. > :05:38.Bill Furniss, that she is very extraordinary and reasonably unique
:05:38. > :05:42.in that when she wants to upper speed, she doesn't necessarily
:05:42. > :05:47.increase first stroke rate, she seems to lengthen her stroke. Is
:05:47. > :05:53.that unusual? It is not unusual -- uncommon. It's something I tried to
:05:53. > :05:58.do as well. In doing so, being able to increase speed. You will see a
:05:58. > :06:08.slight change in kick when she does it. All the very best. Back to you,
:06:08. > :06:11.
:06:11. > :06:21.Becky in four, Jo Jackson in two. Gold and bronze from Beijing four
:06:21. > :06:23.
:06:23. > :06:26.of the women's 400 freestyle. I've said it a couple of times, but this
:06:26. > :06:30.is a dangerous heat to be in because it's all about time making
:06:30. > :06:33.it through to the final. In theory, all the swimmers from the final
:06:33. > :06:38.heat could go through to the final if they are the fastest in the
:06:38. > :06:45.heats. You don't really know how fast the rest of the field is going
:06:45. > :06:49.to go. The fastest 24 in those last heats. You've got to swim a quick
:06:49. > :06:53.time. Becky has gone out for it, half a second ahead. She looks good.
:06:53. > :06:59.Even though she's got such a high profile, she's kept a little bit
:06:59. > :07:06.under the radar. Everybody is talking about ABBA athletes, but a
:07:07. > :07:13.body length ahead after 75 metres is pretty impressive. Becky, easy,
:07:13. > :07:19.tiger! Goodness me! You can't stop it. If she wants to go for it, she
:07:19. > :07:24.feels good, why not? She is right on Pellegrini's world record split.
:07:24. > :07:29.That world record was outstanding and Pellegrini came back like a
:07:29. > :07:34.rocket. She might fall off those splits but this is good. Very good
:07:34. > :07:39.indeed. She has clearly got a race plan to get out there and get out
:07:39. > :07:45.there fast. She took about a body length off the field by 100. The
:07:45. > :07:52.crowd are going nuts. Very loud indeed. Also going reasonably well
:07:52. > :07:56.in lane two macro with Jo Jackson. Jackson is in fourth. Jo needs to
:07:56. > :07:59.continue to move through this field. If she can touch it second and May
:07:59. > :08:05.3rd, that will give her a good chance of getting through to the
:08:05. > :08:08.final. But Becky looks really, really good. She does just need to
:08:09. > :08:16.swim to qualify. If you were Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, you
:08:16. > :08:22.might think about easing back here. This is half way. Keep the pressure
:08:22. > :08:32.applied through to 300 and take a view. She has just dropped off that
:08:32. > :08:35.
:08:35. > :08:40.looks really good. She's probably taken about another metre and a
:08:40. > :08:50.half from the field in that last 100m. Still now going into her legs
:08:50. > :08:54.
:08:54. > :08:59.pace. Adlington over first. 2nd looks like Chloe Sutton of the USA.
:08:59. > :09:05.The Jo Jackson still in the hunt. She needs to start making a move if
:09:05. > :09:08.she is going to get in this final. But Adlington looks wonderful.
:09:08. > :09:12.Adlington is winning like the Olympic champion she is. She is one
:09:12. > :09:22.of our greatest swimmers ever, and dominating this, her first swim
:09:22. > :09:24.
:09:24. > :09:32.that we've seen. They are seeing somebody at the top of her game.
:09:32. > :09:35.Chloe Sutton coming back on her. I'm thinking Adlington right now
:09:35. > :09:40.will have a few questions in her mind about whether she should keep
:09:40. > :09:44.the accelerated arm of. The legs are not for long. She's not looking
:09:44. > :09:51.left, she won't really know where Sutton is just yet. When she does
:09:51. > :10:01.this turned she will, Sue have a quick look either side. -- she will
:10:01. > :10:07.
:10:08. > :10:11.4.03. This is an interesting tactic, she doesn't need to go this fast,
:10:11. > :10:21.she really doesn't, but the noise here is absolutely huge. I think
:10:21. > :10:25.
:10:25. > :10:29.she is easing back slightly on this the women's 400m freestyle. A
:10:29. > :10:33.massive roar from the crowd, absolutely deafening. It is not the
:10:33. > :10:39.fastest time we've seen this year. She swam it in a very interesting
:10:39. > :10:49.way. She really went out in that last -- first 100, and then looked
:10:49. > :10:59.
:11:00. > :11:07.in 7th, so she won't be making the was a little bit out of breath.
:11:07. > :11:14.Just don't know how much pressure she applied all the way through.
:11:14. > :11:18.Because if that was all a bit, I'm not sure it's going to be enough to
:11:18. > :11:28.be to Camille Muffat. My feeling is she will have left something in the
:11:28. > :11:32.
:11:32. > :11:40.tank when she realised she was such of the women's 400m freestyle. She
:11:40. > :11:49.led it from the front. Jo Jackson in 7th. A massive roar from the
:11:49. > :11:56.crowd. Federica Pellegrini has been a world class for the last four
:11:56. > :12:06.years, but only second fastest in to this Olympic Games. There she is.
:12:06. > :12:06.
:12:06. > :12:16.I wonder whether she is going to win, or one, gold, and two, if
:12:16. > :12:20.
:12:20. > :12:24.it like that. One job, make the final. Pellegrini tactic the swum
:12:24. > :12:28.the world championships really, really strangely. She went out
:12:28. > :12:32.super slow and was miles behind. I think she turned seven. She then
:12:32. > :12:39.picked it up and went very, very fast. A really bizarre way of
:12:39. > :12:49.swimming, she was miles behind. When she set a world record, when
:12:49. > :12:50.
:12:50. > :12:53.she did her 3.59. Very slow, not slow for the first 100m, but then
:12:53. > :13:03.traditionally bring it back very quickly. It is something she worked
:13:03. > :13:14.
:13:15. > :13:20.hard on. She is sitting in position the first turn. Kylie Palmer is a
:13:20. > :13:30.real workhorse. She's got a lot of spirit. She's in lane five, from
:13:30. > :13:34.
:13:34. > :13:44.Australia. Pellegrini is just Championships and waited until the
:13:44. > :13:54.
:13:54. > :14:04.200-metre mark. Then she picked it leading on the left-hand side of
:14:04. > :14:24.
:14:24. > :14:28.that shot. I still think Pellegrini now. Parma will track her. The two
:14:28. > :14:38.swimmers in the Yellow lanes will probably feed off each other. If
:14:38. > :14:43.
:14:43. > :14:48.she can only see... Balmy leading for France closer to us. Brittany
:14:48. > :14:53.McLean going well. She is the world junior champion on his 400m
:14:53. > :14:57.freestyle. She is starting to come back, Federica Pellegrini, the
:14:57. > :15:02.world champion on the 200 and 400. The world record holder in this
:15:02. > :15:06.event. Right in the centre, she is currently in third position but
:15:06. > :15:13.starting to rue -- to move up reasonably comfortably. I Nocher if
:15:13. > :15:21.she will catch the Frenchwoman, though. 100m to go at this turn.
:15:21. > :15:28.Over first is Balmy, second, Pellegrini. One second behind.
:15:28. > :15:34.has army poured back 0.4 of a second. She still has a second to
:15:34. > :15:44.go. Balmy swimming really nicely there. She is top right of your
:15:44. > :15:54.
:15:54. > :16:01.There was a second between them with 100 metres to go, and Bolney -
:16:01. > :16:04.- barmy as God, that's not very impressive. She needs to touch a
:16:04. > :16:11.least second to give herself a charter get in the final, but she
:16:11. > :16:16.looks like she's going backwards -- a chance to get in the final. But
:16:16. > :16:21.in the centre, she doesn't look good, if she is touchdown by
:16:21. > :16:26.McLean... And she is. That is a real shock. Having said that,
:16:26. > :16:34.Rebecca Adlington one that in a 4.05, so all of them faster than
:16:34. > :16:41.Rebecca. If she is in trouble, then Adlington is in trouble. You're
:16:41. > :16:47.right, that was a fast race. Adlington is in 4th place on times
:16:47. > :16:54.at the moment, but I do nothing there are four or -- but I don't
:16:54. > :17:04.think there are four or five who could do better. We actually need
:17:04. > :17:07.
:17:07. > :17:14.five people to beat her. She will be all right. Hold tight, Andrew.
:17:14. > :17:17.We are looking at the next French woman, and that would have put her
:17:17. > :17:27.5th in the world this year with that time. That is a good swim in
:17:27. > :17:40.
:17:40. > :17:47.and Rebecca Adlington lying in 4th, so only four of these women are
:17:47. > :17:57.allowed to beat her! She has been utterly stunning in the 400 metres
:17:57. > :18:29.
:18:30. > :18:36.about. She has had a dominating year. Coming into the competition
:18:36. > :18:40.over a second faster than everyone else. She swam 800 metres in Paris,
:18:40. > :18:50.at the Paris Open and was playing around a little bit on the first
:18:50. > :18:50.
:18:50. > :18:53.400 metres and then swam it in 4.04. She did and 8.23, which puts her at
:18:53. > :18:58.six the best in the world at the 800 but she was trying to see if
:18:58. > :19:07.she could do negative splitting, which means finishing the race
:19:07. > :19:13.better in the second half than the first. Then, in June, in Monaco she
:19:14. > :19:17.did for 0.03, and she did 57.1 for the last hundred. She has almost
:19:17. > :19:27.been playing around in the year to make sure she is in the best
:19:27. > :19:28.
:19:29. > :19:32.position to win the gold medal. Schmitt is a strong swimmer. She
:19:32. > :19:42.has taken a year of university to be coached by Michael Phelps's
:19:42. > :19:50.
:19:50. > :19:55.coach. Schmitt over first. Expect the Danish swimmer to maybe
:19:55. > :20:00.comeback in the second half. She looks a little bit flashy and that
:20:00. > :20:09.pink suit on the left-hand side. A straight arm stroke and really
:20:09. > :20:19.smacking her arms in, and working hard. Schmitt comfortable at the
:20:19. > :20:19.
:20:19. > :20:24.moment. The that is a halfway turn. The rest of the field, there are
:20:24. > :20:31.five swimmers who are looking pretty good. Six actually looking
:20:31. > :20:35.pretty good, and Rebecca at Clinton's time of 4.05 might be
:20:35. > :20:45.getting into the final, but it could be tight. -- Rebecca
:20:45. > :21:03.
:21:03. > :21:10.Schmitt turning in great pace. Muffat coming through Third. I
:21:10. > :21:14.imagine that yellow line will move away further from the swimmers. She
:21:14. > :21:20.has been working a lot on this. I imagine she will definitely try to
:21:20. > :21:29.win the race. But now she has five swimmers of -- who are capable of
:21:29. > :21:33.going under 4.05. They are still on at that pace. So that would make
:21:33. > :21:43.Rebecca Adlington 9th. We have to be careful, well, we don't need to
:21:43. > :21:45.
:21:45. > :21:52.be careful, we just have to urge them to slow down. That is the best
:21:52. > :22:00.place to race anyone has won here. She looks tired, but she can
:22:00. > :22:07.certainly come back. On the left- hand side in it lay in at number
:22:07. > :22:16.seven is Costa of Spain. We may be OK. Lauren Boyle has just come
:22:16. > :22:25.through the field like a train. is a big stretch. I think we are OK.
:22:25. > :22:31.Let me see, 5th is before 0.06. Thank goodness for that. -- 4.06.
:22:31. > :22:37.Oh my word, thank goodness for that, Rebecca is eight into the final.
:22:38. > :22:41.Interesting pacing from the winner. An interesting swim in this race.
:22:41. > :22:46.I'm not sure if it is the right way to do it, but she has played with
:22:47. > :22:56.her pacing all the way through the year and that 800 metres where she
:22:57. > :22:59.
:22:59. > :23:03.went for 0.05 at the end, that is ridiculous. Then a stretch. -- 4.05.
:23:03. > :23:13.Two minutes and two seconds basically her split. No, not
:23:13. > :23:27.
:23:27. > :23:35.right. I think I have. The confirmation of the finalists is
:23:35. > :23:45.just about to come up. Let's see who is No. 8. Thank goodness for
:23:45. > :23:50.
:23:50. > :23:55.The final is tonight, just after 8:15pm, but that is a major reality
:23:55. > :24:00.check because it would be a huge achievement for Rebecca Adlington
:24:00. > :24:05.winning a medal tonight, because gold looks unlikely. It was always
:24:05. > :24:09.going to be a tough field and tough for her to get to the final. You
:24:09. > :24:14.think Michael Phelps is comfortable, but he ended up eight. She did look
:24:14. > :24:21.comfortable and did not have to push it too much. But she can get
:24:21. > :24:24.on and do her own thing. We have the two outside burners and the
:24:24. > :24:29.ones in the middle will fight it out. We she got out of the pool,
:24:29. > :24:33.despite winning their heat, she went straight into the cool down
:24:33. > :24:37.Paul and she will now focus on one thing only, the final tonight. She
:24:37. > :24:41.is the defending champion. It was a shock when she won four years ago
:24:41. > :24:49.and it would be a shock if she won tonight, but she is there, in the
:24:49. > :24:52.We were discussing the situation, because we were quite tense in the
:24:53. > :24:58.studio about whether she would get through. We talk about a reality
:24:58. > :25:03.check, and I think we just have one. We have. I have spoken about trying
:25:03. > :25:07.to manage expectations around athletes. She backed off in the
:25:07. > :25:12.last 100 metres, let's know that. She definitely did. I actually
:25:12. > :25:15.think that lane might suit her. She can swim her own race, she is out
:25:15. > :25:21.there and she does not have to worry about the wash from the other
:25:21. > :25:25.girls. We know she has a strong back and and she can be out there,
:25:25. > :25:29.alone, and no one will know what she's doing and not have the worry
:25:29. > :25:33.about her coming over the top. underlines the point from Hannah
:25:33. > :25:37.Miley in that the heats in the Olympics have become a total
:25:37. > :25:41.bunfight as the quality from the rest of the world has increased.
:25:41. > :25:46.discussed this with some of the senior swimmers, and these young
:25:46. > :25:51.kids out there, they go out in the heats and it ruins us for having a
:25:51. > :25:55.comfortable swim to get into the final or the semi-final. And that
:25:55. > :26:00.means that training for two big races in one day it becomes all the
:26:00. > :26:03.more difficult. It really does. Looking at the swimmers to do
:26:03. > :26:09.multiple events across the Games, that makes it an even tougher
:26:09. > :26:15.struggle. We should really applaud them when they win at multiple gold
:26:15. > :26:25.medals. But Coralie barmy was a stand-out, she looked beautiful, as
:26:25. > :26:28.
:26:28. > :26:33.Moving on, when you watch the sun a round-the-world yachtsman, which
:26:33. > :26:37.she is not, sailing is in the blood, but Ben Ainslie has lived and
:26:37. > :26:45.breathed the sport since his first appearance in 1996. 0 the next 10
:26:45. > :26:55.days his ambition is to become the greatest sailor in the next --
:26:55. > :27:08.
:27:08. > :27:13.history of the Olympics -- over the And there he is. The sailing
:27:13. > :27:18.regatta starts in about two minutes in a Weymouth. The favourite for
:27:18. > :27:22.gold in the men's Finn is the aforementioned Ben Ainslie. He has
:27:22. > :27:30.already been hailed by the President of the Olympic Committee
:27:30. > :27:33.as the greatest ever Olympian. Shirley Robertson has two gold
:27:33. > :27:37.medals of her own will be our guide in Weymouth over the next 10 days.
:27:37. > :27:42.First of all, we saw you at the opening ceremony. They you are,
:27:42. > :27:47.your home from home, on the water. -- they you are. We saw you handing
:27:47. > :27:52.over that torch, a magical experience, I am sure. I am still
:27:52. > :27:57.tingling. For younger Callum, for I handed it to, what a moment. I
:27:57. > :28:01.don't think he really got it until he actually did it. Definitely a
:28:01. > :28:06.star for the future. They you are, wind in your hair, that is what we
:28:06. > :28:11.like to see -- their you are. Can you give us some context on Ben's
:28:11. > :28:18.achievements? Where does it put him in the pantheon of sailing and what
:28:18. > :28:22.might achieve in the next few days? Team GB have said this medal is the
:28:22. > :28:25.dead certainty but I'm sure Ben Ainslie doesn't see it like that as
:28:25. > :28:29.sport does not work out like that, as we have seen over the last day
:28:29. > :28:34.or two. He is a phenomenally competitive sailor but he has had a
:28:34. > :28:38.battle to get here. Domestically, that was his biggest challenge. We
:28:38. > :28:41.are strong in this class and it was a tough year for him. He did have a
:28:41. > :28:46.back-up, but he is in great shape and very confident last night when
:28:46. > :28:51.I spoke to him. Also today there are Super conditions. He was one of
:28:51. > :28:56.the first men are out and we saw him warming up and getting used to
:28:56. > :29:06.them in Weymouth. Lots of crowds and lots of boats out and lots of
:29:06. > :29:09.
:29:09. > :29:13.people out to support him. And amazing place to watch the sailing.
:29:13. > :29:17.This is the very first time for any Olympic regatta that they've made
:29:17. > :29:27.tickets available. 4500 people here. It is the sailing equivalent of
:29:27. > :29:32.Henman Hill. Send us an e-mail if We bumped into Stephen Park here.
:29:32. > :29:36.He's getting a round of applause. He is in charge of the sailing team.
:29:36. > :29:41.I would imagine Ben is just relieved, his race is just starting,
:29:41. > :29:45.I imagine he is believed to be underweight. Yes, very relieved. A
:29:45. > :29:48.little bit of pre-match nerves this morning. Just keen to get on with
:29:48. > :29:52.the main event. It looks like he's had a cracking start at the right-
:29:53. > :29:58.hand end of the line. Finally the Olympics are here, and isn't it
:29:58. > :30:03.great to see some many people - the weather is out, it's fantastic!
:30:03. > :30:10.There are more than a few people who want Ben Ainslie to win this
:30:10. > :30:13.Olympic regatta. He has made a good start. Nice,
:30:13. > :30:17.safe start. We've not always seen that from Ben Ainslie at the
:30:17. > :30:21.Olympic regattas Bo Storm normally he has a bad start and passed a
:30:21. > :30:24.fight for that gold medal. I think today he just wants to be
:30:25. > :30:33.conservative and get a good couple of scores. There are 10 races to go
:30:33. > :30:38.and then that medal race next I think we will stay with this for
:30:38. > :30:42.the first five minutes. If you want to see this from start to finish,
:30:42. > :30:45.there are 10 races over the next few days for Ben and his mates in
:30:45. > :30:50.the Finn class, as Barrar for many others in the other sailing classes,
:30:50. > :30:56.you can do on the hour live streams. But Richard Simmonds, my goodness,
:30:56. > :31:05.I hardly get to talk to him. Every four years, and he's there for us
:31:06. > :31:09.he's got into the right-hand side of the course. The crowd will love
:31:09. > :31:14.that because he's heading right towards them. Absolutely, he is
:31:14. > :31:17.heading over to the hill. We've got a grade on board a shot of him
:31:17. > :31:22.working the boat. We start to get a glimpse of the technique that he's
:31:22. > :31:28.developed for the class. The rest of the fleet carrying on to the
:31:28. > :31:35.other side. Let's see who it was that went back and had to we
:31:35. > :31:41.crossed the line. Supporters from Ukraine will be somewhat
:31:41. > :31:51.disappointed. Alexei was forced to cross the line again, he jumped the
:31:51. > :32:07.
:32:07. > :32:14.towards the nose, towards the crowd. moving, working the boats up very
:32:14. > :32:19.small waves. I can't see any other boats. This is the view from the
:32:19. > :32:26.back of Ben Ainslie's boat. Working that rudder, it's like steering
:32:26. > :32:32.round every bump in a car. So easy just to keep that rudder still.
:32:32. > :32:42.He's got his body weight way out the side of the boat. It's all
:32:42. > :32:42.
:32:42. > :32:48.about keeping the boat flat. The Danish sailor coming across. Ben
:32:48. > :32:56.Ainslie is headed to the other side towards the crowd. But it was a
:32:56. > :33:01.good start for Ben Ainslie. The Austrian and the Croatian here. The
:33:01. > :33:05.Croatian sailing is squeezing over towards... The wind is not quite as
:33:05. > :33:09.strong as at the beginning. We are looking for a picture of Ben
:33:09. > :33:13.Ainslie, who had a good start to this race. The British sailor
:33:13. > :33:19.heading for targeting gold number four has started well, but these
:33:19. > :33:29.are the early stages of an 11 race competition. This animation shows
:33:29. > :33:32.
:33:32. > :33:37.us his advantage Austria at the pack. And when you are in the pack,
:33:37. > :33:41.other boats are taking your wind. The wind coming from the left of
:33:41. > :33:51.screen. Ben Ainslie is now absolutely floating in the pack,
:33:51. > :34:00.
:34:00. > :34:09.technique is about keeping the boat absolutely flat. The breeze is
:34:09. > :34:13.about 20 kilometres an hour. A breeze that would cool you down.
:34:13. > :34:17.saw Ben tack off to the right of the course there. Somehow he got
:34:17. > :34:21.swamped a little bit. He is struggling to get his own position
:34:21. > :34:25.in this course, where he can make his own decisions and not get
:34:25. > :34:30.dictated by the boats around him. Obviously everyone knows who then
:34:30. > :34:34.is, so they want to pin him down a little bit. He is struggling out --
:34:34. > :34:41.to get out into the Frontier, but I'm sure we will see him coming
:34:41. > :34:46.back. The Dane has won the championship twice and he is opting
:34:46. > :34:52.to the other side of the course. The sailor from the Netherlands had
:34:52. > :34:57.a real fight with Ben Ainslie at the championships. The animations
:34:57. > :35:03.say it is looking very good for Denmark. Yesterday they had a
:35:04. > :35:09.practice race. The Danish sailor nearly gave up after the Olympics,
:35:09. > :35:15.he came back but he is an absolute prat to Ben Ainslie. He is one of
:35:15. > :35:20.10 boat that could win a medal here. You mentioned the pact has raised
:35:20. > :35:25.yesterday. We saw the left-hand side of the course come good. It
:35:25. > :35:28.was favoured that way. That is not where Ben is today. It's
:35:28. > :35:33.interesting to see he thought the other side was good yesterday and
:35:33. > :35:38.that's why he's gone that way. look at the crowd, that is new for
:35:38. > :35:42.sailing. A partisan crowd. There was a lot of cheering and flags for
:35:42. > :35:46.Ben Ainslie. They are wanted to see him pop out of that pack. Another
:35:46. > :35:51.boat went to the other side of the course, that is from Finland. The
:35:51. > :35:57.finish sailor is coming over all by himself. It is always a risk in
:35:57. > :36:07.sailing when you go out to one side of the course alone. The other pack
:36:07. > :36:10.
:36:10. > :36:20.could get the advantage and you are looking at now. A man who has won a
:36:20. > :36:24.
:36:24. > :36:27.the beach in the background. It looks like Ben Ainslie might be in
:36:27. > :36:32.the top 10 but he's absolutely struggling. It may be dramatic to
:36:32. > :36:35.say that but he's not dominating the early stages. He tends not to
:36:35. > :36:45.at the Olympic Games in the first day, but he didn't want to have a
:36:45. > :36:48.
:36:49. > :36:56.slow start. The race is expected to wasn't the top of the form guide of
:36:56. > :37:06.the cultures I was talking to, nor was the Austrian. -- the coaches I
:37:06. > :37:07.
:37:07. > :37:14.right-hand side of the course. We always imagine ourselves standing
:37:14. > :37:20.behind these boats looking up the course. Yes, we've it certainly
:37:20. > :37:25.seen then a struggling in the pack there. -- then. The thing about
:37:25. > :37:29.sailing in general, there's a lot of variables. It's very easy for
:37:29. > :37:34.the fleet to have a bad race. That's why we race over such a long
:37:34. > :37:38.series. You've got to average it out. That is what Ben Ainslie has
:37:38. > :37:41.done so excellently well in over the years. But we are going to see
:37:41. > :37:49.him go downwind, and that is where he really comes into his own. He's
:37:49. > :37:53.got exceptional technique. We saw on the Mini boat that the flag was
:37:53. > :38:03.flying. What that means in the Finn class is that he'll be able to work
:38:03. > :38:09.
:38:09. > :38:13.Ainslie wanted a safe start and was clean off the start line, but he is
:38:13. > :38:18.struggling a bit. The quality of this fleet is the hype. They are
:38:18. > :38:22.tremendous athletes and very physical. One thing he is good that
:38:22. > :38:26.is downwind sailing. He just seems to be faster than anyone else. He
:38:26. > :38:33.is very physical with the boat. I hope to see him make a bit of an
:38:34. > :38:37.impression on the next leg as they It all looks absolutely beautiful
:38:37. > :38:42.down their in Weymouth, terrific conditions for the start of the
:38:42. > :38:49.Olympic regatta. We have some swimming to wrap up for you. It's
:38:49. > :38:54.the men's 4x100m freestyle heats. Phelps and Lochte for the US team
:38:54. > :38:57.up for this one. They are going to go in heat two, along with old
:38:57. > :39:01.rivals the Aussies, who are looking to win gold here for the first time
:39:01. > :39:05.since a certain Mr Ian Thorpe and company did 12 years ago, after the
:39:05. > :39:09.USA had threatened to smash you like guitars. Q air guitar
:39:09. > :39:14.celebrations. Can you still do it? I've forgotten how to do that. You
:39:14. > :39:18.are more than welcome to do it. think I will pass. In heat one,
:39:18. > :39:28.Great Britain are going alongside France, who could push both of
:39:28. > :39:33.
:39:33. > :39:42.of two pleads for the men's 4x100m freestyle relay. -- two heats.
:39:43. > :39:52.South Africa were Olympic champions back in Athens. That was a big
:39:52. > :39:59.shock. And very excited for them I was as well. Team GB. We need a
:39:59. > :40:04.really big lead to start with from Simon Burnett. He's got great
:40:04. > :40:12.experience and has been training in the States for many years. He has
:40:12. > :40:17.been training in Tucson, Arizona. It is beautiful weather pretty much
:40:17. > :40:27.all year round, you can train outdoors. Fantastic. Team GB have
:40:27. > :40:30.
:40:30. > :40:35.the red hats. This is an interesting one. Venezuela in one,
:40:35. > :40:41.Brazil in two, South Africa in three. France in the centre in four.
:40:41. > :40:51.Italy, 5, Great Britain, six, Canada, seven. It is the South
:40:51. > :41:23.
:41:23. > :41:33.Canada has gone off very fast indeed. He was world champion on
:41:33. > :41:40.
:41:40. > :41:50.the 100m freestyle. He got off either side of Burnett will start
:41:50. > :41:55.
:41:55. > :42:05.This is a difficult position to be in. It is not a great to swim for
:42:05. > :42:09.
:42:10. > :42:19.that's an interesting decision. will be a long rest because he
:42:20. > :42:30.
:42:30. > :42:40.He's really pulling back. He's trying to get on to the waste of
:42:40. > :42:49.
:42:49. > :42:55.the Italian. Getting back into South Africa third. Great Britain
:42:55. > :43:01.back into 6th position, they've made up one place. That split from
:43:01. > :43:11.grand turnout was very good indeed. It was a 48 point, much better.
:43:11. > :43:41.
:43:41. > :43:45.James Disney-May now going for up a place. We are two tenths of a
:43:45. > :43:49.second behind fourth. We do need to try and finish in fourth if we can.
:43:49. > :43:59.If we are 5th, only three teams from the second heat can beat us.
:43:59. > :44:11.
:44:11. > :44:21.We are getting a massive wave from moment leading. Team France with
:44:21. > :44:36.
:44:36. > :44:42.our fastest guy, I'm afraid he's going to have a very long rest. I
:44:42. > :44:52.think it might be four years before he gets to do another Olympic
:44:52. > :44:56.
:44:56. > :45:01.the guys there. He was literally behind the wave after the first leg,
:45:01. > :45:08.and those poor guys in two, three and four would have been bashed
:45:08. > :45:16.about all of the place. Really try to get -- tried to get back in to
:45:16. > :45:26.it, but that would have really impacted on that swim. 3.12 in
:45:26. > :45:31.
:45:31. > :45:38.Beijing when they made the final. job, those are fast times. Italy
:45:38. > :45:43.should be through as well. Great Britain, well, what they were doing
:45:43. > :45:53.resting him, I don't know. It will be an interesting question to ask
:45:53. > :46:08.
:46:08. > :46:13.these guys, the big guns. Russia, fastest Australian. They have not
:46:13. > :46:20.rested their best guide. James Magnusson, the fastest guy in the
:46:20. > :46:27.team -- their fastest guy. Very sensible. He has walked past you in
:46:27. > :46:36.a white top, I was going to say, but they all are! He's down there
:46:36. > :46:46.in the white top! I'll narrow it down, he's in the middle. Team
:46:46. > :47:08.
:47:08. > :47:12.I've been following him on Twitter, he's hilarious. Matt Grieve is
:47:12. > :47:22.going second for the USA. By that is interesting. He's just done the
:47:22. > :47:22.
:47:22. > :47:25.backstroke. I bet your estate swim him in the heats, but taken at the
:47:25. > :47:32.final, but he would get a medal because he has helped the team get
:47:32. > :47:37.through, so I reckon they will take him out of the final. Just to be
:47:37. > :47:44.clear, he swam the 100 metres backstroke, the fastest qualifier
:47:44. > :47:47.in that, and he is likely to win it, so to seek him on the second leg --
:47:47. > :47:53.taking on the second leg, that is interesting. Right now, the
:47:53. > :48:01.Russians doing what they do best, blasting out. A scrappy stroke on
:48:01. > :48:08.the right. Pretty hectic, though. It is getting very choppy. Almost a
:48:08. > :48:18.water polo strokes. A very tight takeover at five for the USA. The
:48:18. > :48:35.
:48:35. > :48:42.lead-off leg from Russia, 48.1. Not the 100 backstroke helping his team
:48:42. > :48:47.to qualify for the final. For those of you who don't watch swimming
:48:47. > :48:57.that often, people do train all of the strokes, so he won't be shabby.
:48:57. > :49:07.
:49:07. > :49:12.In fact he's very good! Could take trials, but then he withdrew. That
:49:12. > :49:21.was going to be his 8th race, but he decided to only swim seven, what
:49:21. > :49:31.an incredible guy. So, Russia, in three. A fantastic turn from the
:49:31. > :49:32.
:49:32. > :49:35.Americans again. He will be handing over to Jason Lee's act. Coming
:49:35. > :49:43.back are Australia in four, and we are about to see the world
:49:43. > :49:48.champions, so this will be an interesting last leg. Germany now
:49:48. > :49:54.in 4th. Here is the first time we will see James Magnusson of
:49:54. > :49:57.Australia, currently in second, at the bottom of the shot. Magnus is
:49:57. > :50:03.breathing to the left. He is in the second of the yellow lines. Coming
:50:03. > :50:07.in between the Russians and Americans. It will be a line-up of
:50:07. > :50:13.four off the turn. Australia in second. All of these four teams
:50:13. > :50:23.should qualify easily. Magnusson, to the right. He does not like
:50:23. > :50:24.
:50:24. > :50:28.losing races. The USA swimmer is absolutely flying, and Magnusson
:50:28. > :50:38.next to him is the world champion. Fantastic to see it. Australia
:50:38. > :50:49.
:50:49. > :50:57.winning it. Faster than the first indeed. 47.2, the split from
:50:57. > :51:03.Magnusson. Not bad for a beginner! You would expect him to do that in
:51:03. > :51:07.the individual, 47.2. Quite a few swimmers are starting at the back
:51:07. > :51:16.of the block to get some momentum and then diving in. But it's not
:51:16. > :51:22.easy time it right when you do that. Beautiful takeover. I love it.
:51:22. > :51:26.fantastic swim from the American. He is the guy who saved the 8th
:51:26. > :51:34.gold medal prospects for Michael Phelps and that last leg. Look at
:51:34. > :51:41.Magnusson looking over. What are you doing? That is interesting.
:51:41. > :51:51.They are sledging. A Yes, we saw that! Australia winning the second
:51:51. > :51:51.
:51:51. > :51:55.heat. America will be in the number five, and Russia in three. That
:51:55. > :52:05.will be interesting. Those three are the fastest qualifiers in the
:52:05. > :52:23.
:52:23. > :52:33.final. Germany will be in the final Britain, well, 2.3 seconds behind.
:52:33. > :52:35.
:52:35. > :52:44.Always tasty the rivalry between the US and Australia, but how is it
:52:44. > :52:50.these days? It is a hot rivalry in this race, and I did like watching
:52:50. > :52:53.that. Australia actually placed the two fastest swimmers in the heat of
:52:53. > :52:59.this morning. We have another two athletes who have qualified for the
:52:59. > :53:03.event that we could put in for the final. But this is very close.
:53:03. > :53:09.Great swimmer by the Russians and the Americans were strong. The
:53:09. > :53:14.French team is well placed. This is going to be a very tight race
:53:14. > :53:18.against four nations. The US are looking stronger than I expected.
:53:18. > :53:24.It is going to be a battle. James Magnusson is a very confident
:53:24. > :53:29.character. He said that this relay team that he will head his bullet
:53:29. > :53:34.proof. That is tough talk. It might be good for James to say that but
:53:34. > :53:38.it might not help the other three guys. That is James's character. At
:53:38. > :53:43.the moment he is producing the kind of results where he is able to do
:53:43. > :53:48.things and say things and make sweeping remarks like that. He is a
:53:48. > :53:53.brilliant sprint freestyle or. And I hope he produces it at an Olympic
:53:53. > :53:58.Games, which she is capable of. I think we have to see a taste of
:53:58. > :54:04.that perceiving -- which he is capable of. Australia will
:54:04. > :54:07.presumably grind to a halt. Sport in Australia is one thing we wake
:54:07. > :54:13.up for. It doesn't matter what time it is, Australia will be watching
:54:13. > :54:17.the race. Bleary eyed, no doubt. Ian, thanks for talking to us again.
:54:17. > :54:21.We now turn our attention to cycling, out on the roads.
:54:21. > :54:25.Yesterday did not go to plan for Mark Cavendish and the Great
:54:25. > :54:32.Britain team, obviously. And is there a danger that the rest of the
:54:32. > :54:36.world will, as they put it, ganged up on us again? Nicole Cooke is
:54:36. > :54:46.defending her title and Lizzie Armitstead is primed for a sprint
:54:46. > :54:51.finish. Tony Gray Thomson is down We are all expecting quite a
:54:51. > :54:54.different race today. There has been a little break away from
:54:54. > :54:59.Fernando Silva from Brazil, but she doesn't look very comfortable in
:54:59. > :55:04.the saddle. The peloton just waiting to catch up. I am joined by
:55:04. > :55:06.Jill Douglas who was a reporter yesterday. There has been a lot of
:55:06. > :55:10.talk coming into the race about the rivalry in the British team and
:55:10. > :55:15.what the team tactics will be. How do you think that will play out for
:55:15. > :55:20.the girls? They were tight-lipped during the week when I asked about
:55:20. > :55:23.who would be the protected rider and the team leader. I think they
:55:23. > :55:28.will have some meetings this week to discuss that strategy. But they
:55:28. > :55:32.will have to be very pragmatic and the race. If it is a bunch sprint,
:55:32. > :55:36.we accept Lizzie Armitstead is the stronger sprinter, but not the
:55:36. > :55:41.strongest in the peloton. I think they hope it is an aggressive race
:55:41. > :55:46.at a reasonable pace, and therefore it could be that Nicole Cooke could
:55:46. > :55:52.get on to the right side of a break and it could be a race that suits
:55:52. > :55:57.her. I think there are more questions in the race, as opposed
:55:57. > :56:01.yesterday when we saw Great Britain up riding for the sprint finish,
:56:01. > :56:06.with just one plan. But in this situation there are three plans.
:56:06. > :56:13.That is why Chris Newton has a canny job as the team coach. He is
:56:13. > :56:17.in the car today with Shane Sutton and Dave Brailsford. They will be
:56:17. > :56:21.trying to interpret and feed the information to the girls. On paper,
:56:21. > :56:26.Marianne Vos seems to be the strongest. Do you think the Dutch
:56:26. > :56:30.team will control the peloton today? The usual suspects. The
:56:30. > :56:36.Dutch team, the Italians, the Germans, and Great Britain.
:56:36. > :56:39.Everybody will be realising the depth of talent in that team, and
:56:39. > :56:42.do not forget Lucy Martin who has been riding of Lizzie Armitstead
:56:42. > :56:48.and doing a fantastic job. They will be watching each other
:56:48. > :56:52.carefully, but Marianne Vos is a big favourite. But I think the
:56:52. > :56:55.Italians will also be looking to get up there. It is actually a
:56:55. > :57:00.really fascinating race. It could be really exciting. As a spectacle,
:57:00. > :57:05.it might be similar to what we saw in the world championships. Quite a
:57:05. > :57:13.canny race, but the last few kilometres could get very likely.
:57:13. > :57:18.Thank you, Gill. We will let you The race will be coming down into
:57:18. > :57:21.London at around 4pm. It is available on the other outlets if
:57:21. > :57:27.you want to concentrate on it. We are going back to Eton Dorney, the
:57:27. > :57:32.last of the races today, the women's eight. I know the USA have
:57:32. > :57:36.been dominant in this rate over the last few years. -- in this race. Is
:57:36. > :57:40.that with the same group of women or have they chopped and changed?
:57:40. > :57:44.They have been a few changes. They tried taking the two strongest
:57:44. > :57:50.girls out and putting them in the pairs to see if they could do that
:57:50. > :57:54.as well as winning the women's eight. The Women's Day nearly got
:57:54. > :57:58.beaten by Canada then, so they brought everybody out and they were
:57:58. > :58:02.really try to make a statement but they are back and that nobody will
:58:02. > :58:06.touch them in the event. Talking about pears, the men's double scull,
:58:06. > :58:10.the lightweight, if people can see Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter, if
:58:10. > :58:14.they were not back to their best, they were close to it. The a
:58:14. > :58:18.certainly put a marker down. -- they certainly. It probably her
:58:18. > :58:23.them to do it, but they wanted to show the 1,000 cere, and for their
:58:23. > :58:28.own minds, after the bad results they have an indifferent season but
:58:28. > :58:32.they are back and fighting for a gold medal. If they were impressive,
:58:32. > :58:41.their female counterparts were supremely confident and impressive
:58:41. > :58:45.in their heat. And they spoke to us We will talk about the end in a
:58:45. > :58:52.moment, but what was the start like? It was actually quite calm.
:58:52. > :58:56.We both racier a lot. We have practised the warm-up in the trials
:58:56. > :59:00.and the start is almost the calmest place because you are quiet and
:59:00. > :59:04.focusing on the first strokes and getting ready to go. When she had
:59:04. > :59:09.the first few strokes it seemed to go like clockwork. -- once you had.
:59:09. > :59:12.We had some really good training and we knew all we had to do is
:59:12. > :59:17.deliver what we did in training and use the excitement of being in
:59:17. > :59:26.front of a home crowd to add a bit of a buzz to that. So then it was
:59:26. > :59:29.just following the plan that we When we spoke in Italy last week,
:59:29. > :59:33.you said you were trying not to be childishly excited about the whole
:59:33. > :59:37.thing. How did you feel at the start, were you able to banish that
:59:37. > :59:44.from your thoughts? I was quite surprised that I did but actually,
:59:44. > :59:48.it was just like we were at Eton Dornie. You are. It looks a lot
:59:48. > :59:51.different because of the grandstands but at the start it
:59:51. > :59:55.felt like we were at trials. I think that is a real advantage,
:59:55. > :59:59.that we've done so many high- pressure races here before it. It
:59:59. > :00:04.was just like another race. Maybe that is the definition of home
:00:04. > :00:08.advantage. Yes. There's a lot of definitions in terms of when we
:00:08. > :00:11.arrived the other day, seeing all the volunteers and seeing how
:00:11. > :00:14.friendly they are also a lot of them have been told not to say
:00:14. > :00:20.anything but they are almost bursting with excitement to say,
:00:20. > :00:25.good luck. Everyone makes you feel really comfortable. Then it's all
:00:25. > :00:29.about delivering your performance that you practised day-in day-out.
:00:29. > :00:34.Steve? Rumour has it training has gone very well. That obviously
:00:34. > :00:40.shows. You both have quite a lot of confidence. Are you happy with
:00:40. > :00:43.what's going to go on for the next few races? That was incredible. To
:00:43. > :00:47.get the first race out of the legs and just to have a practice. I've
:00:47. > :00:52.never done anything like what it was like at the end when we crossed
:00:52. > :00:57.the line, it was amazing. I think we've got to bear in mind that is
:00:57. > :01:02.just a heat, but I'm happy we started off well. Yes, training has
:01:02. > :01:06.been going really well for us. We made massive steps on and did some
:01:06. > :01:10.really good pieces. All we needed to do today was put out what we've
:01:10. > :01:18.done in training. I think we did to an extent, but we can find a bit
:01:18. > :01:21.more in the next race. Excellent. You're talking about what it is
:01:22. > :01:27.like you know me, there's not normally 35,000 people here when
:01:27. > :01:31.you're doing training. It's pretty special. Yes, it's just so loud
:01:31. > :01:35.when you cross the finish! It's a big wall of sound. If you could
:01:35. > :01:38.bottle that sound when you cross the finish line and sell it, I'd be
:01:38. > :01:42.a millionaire. If will be a lot louder with every passing day and
:01:42. > :01:46.race you are involved in. We look forward to talking to you after the
:01:46. > :01:52.next one. Only three British crews involved in action today. We've
:01:52. > :02:02.spoken about two of them, and they were both victorious. The third one
:02:02. > :02:15.
:02:15. > :02:20.were the women's eight. Here's how quick and fast in lane two macro.
:02:20. > :02:24.Alongside them, the noise, speed and brashness of the USA. They are
:02:24. > :02:34.allowed to be that. They are the Olympic and world champions. They
:02:34. > :02:37.
:02:37. > :02:41.four. Do the right of your picture, in lane three, the Americans have
:02:41. > :02:46.already jumped out and lead by a quarter of a length. Olympic
:02:46. > :02:53.champions in Beijing. They haven't really lost a race since winning in
:02:53. > :02:59.Beijing. Romania were on the way down. The United States have been
:02:59. > :03:03.just as dominant. Very powerful. Great Britain have reorganised
:03:03. > :03:08.their crew. They had lots of injury in their boat. Some of the injured
:03:08. > :03:18.people have come back into the boat. Victoria Thornley has gone into
:03:18. > :03:24.struck from the quad, where she was rolling earlier on in the season.
:03:24. > :03:29.Annabel Vernon, she is in at six. A sculler who has changed into rowing
:03:29. > :03:35.as well. This is incredible from the Olympic and world champions.
:03:35. > :03:41.They have taken a length out of Great Britain as they go through
:03:41. > :03:51.the 500 mark. We would expect the US to push on again hard in the
:03:51. > :03:58.
:03:58. > :04:06.British group. Vicky Thornley has come back into the stroke seat. She
:04:06. > :04:13.was in that stroke seat last year when Great Britain won bronze.
:04:13. > :04:23.Looking there at Mary Whipple, the coxswain of the American boat. They
:04:23. > :04:23.
:04:23. > :04:26.did have Erin Cafaro at their bow. They found in Lucerne that they
:04:26. > :04:31.only sneaked into win ahead of Canada. They thought, well, we are
:04:31. > :04:36.not going to win the pair. We will bring Allah two strongest athletes
:04:36. > :04:40.back into the eight to try and make sure that Canada doesn't catch us
:04:40. > :04:45.on the line at the Olympics. And my goodness, they are an extremely
:04:45. > :04:48.good crew. I said the United States would move on in the second 500.
:04:48. > :04:53.The Aussies were on their coat- tails. They have not been able to
:04:53. > :04:58.live with the speed of the Americans. They want to make a big
:04:58. > :05:08.statement. They are doing exactly that. Just one group to go through
:05:08. > :05:15.
:05:15. > :05:19.down, 1000 de Gaulle in the opening heat of the women's eight. The USA,
:05:19. > :05:25.the Olympic and world champions, have been devastating. They have
:05:25. > :05:29.moved out. They were clear of Great Britain at the 500 metres mark.
:05:29. > :05:33.Only Australia had the overlap at that point macro. They've had a
:05:33. > :05:43.magnificent second 500. They've dropped Australia through that.
:05:43. > :06:12.
:06:12. > :06:19.They are now a way clear. They are against Australia. But out front,
:06:19. > :06:28.magnificent, the USA. There are two races going on here. The race is on
:06:28. > :06:38.for the second place. Great Britain have had a good second 500 and move
:06:38. > :06:50.
:06:50. > :06:57.dominant and looking for another a length and a bit clear of
:06:57. > :07:04.Australia, who are being hounded now by Great Britain. We are into
:07:04. > :07:10.the last 500 metres in this. They have driven Harden pulled away ever
:07:10. > :07:14.since. The USA are clear by a country mile. The Aussies in lane
:07:14. > :07:20.four went with them to the halfway mark but they are now suffering.
:07:20. > :07:23.The British are pushing on hard. The British crew will come through.
:07:23. > :07:28.They are into this tunnel of complete noise on either side of
:07:28. > :07:33.the course here. Only one will go through to the final. That is
:07:33. > :07:43.clearly going to be the USA. But it's all about pride here in his
:07:43. > :07:46.
:07:46. > :07:51.opening heat. It is all about Great Great Britain. They have upped
:07:51. > :08:01.their rates a little bit. These crews will end up going back into
:08:01. > :08:08.
:08:08. > :08:14.the repechage, but no one will The Aussies are going to hold on,
:08:14. > :08:17.only just. Look at how brilliant the Olympic and world champions are.
:08:17. > :08:23.The United States of America over the line. They have demolished this
:08:23. > :08:27.field. In second place, the Aussies are through. And the British come
:08:27. > :08:31.through in third. It was a valiant middle 1000 by Great Britain.
:08:31. > :08:37.There's more to come from this group. They will have to show that
:08:37. > :08:46.when they next get out on to the start line for the repechage. My
:08:46. > :08:56.word! The Australians, have we seen a crew so dominant as the USA over
:08:56. > :09:08.
:09:08. > :09:13.Romania, who used to dominate this women's event and dominate women's
:09:13. > :09:19.rowing for many years, multi times Olympic and world champions. Well,
:09:19. > :09:21.the baton has been passed on to the United States of America. Romania,
:09:21. > :09:28.fourth in the world championships last year, they were second in
:09:28. > :09:35.Munich earlier this year. Still a force to be contended with. Canada
:09:35. > :09:39.are the likely winners here. Canadians gone out strong, the
:09:39. > :09:44.Canadians are the world silver- medallists from 2011. They were
:09:44. > :09:48.first in Munich and came second at Lucerne. They were beaten on that
:09:48. > :09:58.occasion by the United States of America, but it wasn't that large a
:09:58. > :10:00.
:10:00. > :10:04.gap between the two. We expect them to have moved on. The coach of the
:10:04. > :10:08.Canadian crew has been around for years, coached many a Canadian
:10:08. > :10:15.group to an Olympic and world medal. The Canadians stretching into their
:10:15. > :10:25.race pace. The Romanians have a good steak now, they move well into
:10:25. > :10:46.
:10:46. > :10:50.point of view, Holland have a history of pulling out medals as
:10:50. > :10:58.well. Second in 2008 behind the Americans, not this crew. They've
:10:58. > :11:03.got a strong Olympic pedigree. Dutch are good, rangy athletes.
:11:03. > :11:10.Very relaxed, very nice rowers but very easy, fluid and tall, long
:11:10. > :11:14.levers. I always loved watching Lesley Thomson, the cox of the
:11:14. > :11:19.Canadian group. She always sits upright, she's been sat upright
:11:19. > :11:25.like that for years. Her poise and confidence. When I was in the boat
:11:25. > :11:35.at the up-and-down, screaming and yelling. I would love to be able to
:11:35. > :11:35.
:11:35. > :12:37.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 62 seconds
:12:37. > :12:42.sit as calm and cool as she does are probably the closest rivals to
:12:42. > :12:47.the USA, the champions. But there isn't quite the same dynamism about
:12:47. > :12:54.it. That impact. You just feel that the power and focus of the American
:12:54. > :13:01.crew was just that much more aggressive, more exciting. Lesley
:13:01. > :13:11.Thomas and his 51 years of age, the coxswain of the Canadian group. --
:13:11. > :13:22.
:13:22. > :13:32.for the energy they are expanding, we'd have thought they'd be clear
:13:32. > :13:39.
:13:39. > :13:42.quarter of this second heat of the women's eight. The Romanians have
:13:42. > :13:48.an overlap. It will be a big job on their hands if they are going to
:13:48. > :13:54.catch Canada. Only one of these three crews going through to the
:13:54. > :13:57.final, everybody else to the repechage. It is worth throwing,
:13:57. > :14:03.from a Romanian point of view, it's worth throwing everything at it
:14:03. > :14:10.with this overlap. But they are not having any impression whatsoever.
:14:10. > :14:19.The Canadians, one length just shy of. Into the grandstands. The
:14:19. > :14:29.Canadian team well-supported here. On the far side, the Netherlands
:14:29. > :14:29.
:14:29. > :14:34.are starting to spend up. Romania kick on. The Canadians holding out
:14:34. > :14:38.to their three-quarters of a length lead. Canada looking completely in
:14:38. > :14:44.control. You always know that the Romanians were going to attack, but
:14:44. > :14:48.they don't have the class that they used to have 10 to 15 years ago.
:14:48. > :14:58.They are building a new group of athletes. But they are good. They
:14:58. > :15:00.
:15:00. > :15:03.will certainly be handing down for all they needed to qualify. They
:15:03. > :15:07.will have a bigger race on their hands in the final. The Romanians
:15:07. > :15:13.will be in second. They are coming back but they are running out of
:15:13. > :15:23.water. Canada, first, and through to the final. Romania, second. The
:15:23. > :15:24.
:15:24. > :15:30.Netherlands in third place. Those The that is the end of the second
:15:30. > :15:34.day at Eton Dorney, but you can see a gaggle of individuals here. Zac
:15:34. > :15:39.Purchase's that is here, and he is a fashion icon, as you can see. Is
:15:39. > :15:43.it right you will have a pair of trousers to the final on Saturday?
:15:43. > :15:51.That is what you are asking me to wear. He was supposed to say, yes
:15:51. > :15:53.of course. We had some pretty good training the last few months and we
:15:53. > :15:57.were looking forward to coming out and putting together some good
:15:57. > :16:01.stuff. And that is a good start for us. Some more things to add and we
:16:01. > :16:09.are looking forward to Thursday. But bit nervous at the start given
:16:09. > :16:12.the performances in Munich and Lucerne? That isn't what we plan
:16:12. > :16:18.when they wanted to execute the Olympic season, but we have worked
:16:18. > :16:23.really hard to an get ready in the last six weeks. It was awesome, we
:16:23. > :16:30.loved it. We came here to race hard and fast, and we showed it in the
:16:30. > :16:34.heats, but there is a lot more to come. Steve was impressed. Very
:16:35. > :16:39.impressed. The positions you finish in the last two regattas was not a
:16:39. > :16:42.position we wanted. When you saw the draw and you got the Kiwis, way
:16:42. > :16:48.you please, or disappointed? I think I know what the answer will
:16:48. > :16:53.be now we know the result, but going into it? I spoke to John a
:16:53. > :16:58.couple of weeks ago and we wanted a top crew out there to show what we
:16:58. > :17:04.can do. That is what we wanted. We had an inkling we would get
:17:04. > :17:07.somebody fast, but what a better way to start than against the World
:17:07. > :17:12.Cup winners and the silver- medallists from last year? A great
:17:12. > :17:15.start, but more to do. You didn't have to win the race, but we got
:17:15. > :17:21.the impression that 500 metres from the end, whatever, we are going to
:17:21. > :17:24.win it. The most important thing was to put into practice what we
:17:24. > :17:28.did in training. To be honest, the result was not the be-all and end-
:17:28. > :17:33.all. We want to win the final and it's not important to win the heat,
:17:33. > :17:37.massively, but we wanted to put out a race that we were happy with it.
:17:37. > :17:41.We have done that and we can step on and look forward to the semi-
:17:41. > :17:46.final. Have the nerve has been banished? Happy that the boys are
:17:46. > :17:51.in good shape? After a dodgy season we were anxious that there is no
:17:51. > :17:56.one more determined and if they want something, they will do it, so
:17:56. > :18:01.fingers crossed. It is interesting talking about this. At least these
:18:01. > :18:05.guys can influence things. They are on the water, but it is so hard for
:18:05. > :18:14.parents and friends. Is there a sense of camaraderie among store of
:18:14. > :18:18.the beleaguered Poms And Dance -- mums and dads? The team supporting
:18:18. > :18:24.us in the stands is brilliant and you can see the stress going around
:18:24. > :18:27.the parents as their children before. I had my turn today. The
:18:27. > :18:31.lightweight parents are very supporting -- supportive and the
:18:31. > :18:38.whole team is brilliant. I am looking forward your outfit at the
:18:38. > :18:43.weekend, make. I'm not! We look forward to seeing you guys on the
:18:43. > :18:46.water on Thursday as well. That is it from Eton Dorney, and we have a
:18:46. > :18:51.good moment to hand back because there are forks of lightning coming.
:18:51. > :18:57.No oh, it is just fireworks. will have a head full of fireworks
:18:57. > :19:01.after the other night. And now that something we in a presentation role
:19:01. > :19:05.get a chance to say very rarely, once every four years. Now time for
:19:05. > :19:10.a bit of fencing. I actually went to the fencing in Beijing in my
:19:10. > :19:16.quest to view every Olympic sport for myself and it was dramatic and
:19:16. > :19:25.theatrical and a really great to watch, but it time -- at times it
:19:25. > :19:33.Fencing. There are three categories of weapon in the sport of fencing.
:19:33. > :19:40.The epee, the foil and the sabre. Each has different characteristics
:19:40. > :19:44.and rules of engagement. The epee: it is a thrusting weapon, and only
:19:44. > :19:48.the point may be used to score a hit. The target area can be any
:19:48. > :19:53.part of the body which produces tactical contests that generally
:19:53. > :19:59.last longer than any of the other weapons. Pepe is the only category
:19:59. > :20:03.in which fencers can score points simultaneously as a result of a
:20:03. > :20:07.double attack. The foil is also a thrusting weapon. But the target
:20:07. > :20:13.area is confined to the trunk of the body, front and back. It does
:20:13. > :20:17.not include the arms and the their head. To win a point, a right of
:20:17. > :20:27.way must be established with a correctly executed attack or by
:20:27. > :20:27.
:20:27. > :20:30.parrying an attack and hitting with The sabre: the sabre is a cutting
:20:30. > :20:36.and thrusting weapon. So the matches are often decided very
:20:36. > :20:40.quickly. Fencers can use the tip, the edge and to the back of the
:20:40. > :20:48.blade to hit a target area anywhere above the waist, except for the
:20:48. > :20:58.One that moved to watch out for is the spectacular if Lunch -- one
:20:58. > :21:01.
:21:01. > :21:07.Now we are geared up, and by the way that is the first time we have
:21:07. > :21:11.had that word on the BBC, and it is time for the sabre. Apparently
:21:11. > :21:15.slashing and thrusting is advisable in this one. Say no more. James
:21:15. > :21:19.will be doing that for us, the 21- year-old from Truro, the only
:21:19. > :21:25.British entry in the sabre event and is up against a very good
:21:25. > :21:35.opponent from Belarus. This time Grier -- Graham Bell is leading the
:21:35. > :21:51.
:21:51. > :21:58.through this fight. And the period to make sure the equipment
:21:58. > :22:04.is working. Any change of tactics for James? He was have to work the
:22:04. > :22:13.distance. There we go. Very nice. He has got him on the way forward.
:22:13. > :22:23.There we go. So much of fencing is a game of bluff and double-bluff.
:22:23. > :22:29.
:22:29. > :22:39.It is about working out your so it is funny bone's attack. And
:22:39. > :22:39.
:22:39. > :22:49.James hits with the continuation of then the referee will not give a
:22:49. > :23:01.
:23:01. > :23:09.went for the second and he has given that. James has called for a
:23:09. > :23:19.video review here. Unfortunately, for him, that stayed with the
:23:19. > :23:21.
:23:21. > :23:26.referee. For 10-5. The counter- attack. A block out from James.
:23:26. > :23:36.That has worked for him twice in this period. If you are new to
:23:36. > :23:40.fencing, we go up to 15. 10-6. It is not all over. No, you can get
:23:40. > :23:50.this back in at the sabre because it is so fast that you cannot
:23:50. > :24:00.
:24:00. > :24:05.review. It is whether the referee considers that he started before he
:24:06. > :24:15.went. It was not clear from the slow motion. We will need to see
:24:16. > :24:16.
:24:16. > :25:00.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 62 seconds
:25:00. > :25:10.just two points away for making it into the round of 32, the
:25:10. > :25:14.
:25:14. > :25:24.Belorussian. That one goes to James. Is it? Yes. 13-made. -- 13-eight.
:25:24. > :25:25.
:25:25. > :25:30.Together. He will not call upon. No mistakes can be afforded now.
:25:30. > :25:35.referee will have to look at that one because he thinks it's his.
:25:35. > :25:45.think he starts just ahead. But the referee went and had a look at the
:25:45. > :25:46.
:25:46. > :25:56.video, a good look at this one. The attack is good. The crowd are
:25:56. > :26:05.
:26:05. > :26:15.wrist again. Coming in from far out, tapped him on the wrist, get out of
:26:15. > :26:15.
:26:15. > :26:19.the way. The next. Will see the Belorussian athlete through. Watch
:26:19. > :26:29.the back line! The attack has gone through, and the Belorussian goes
:26:29. > :26:34.
:26:34. > :26:40.certainly came out fired up and have the sport the crowd. He
:26:40. > :26:50.certainly put on his best effort, but the Belorussian perhaps a
:26:50. > :26:50.
:26:50. > :26:53.Only 21 years of age, and well played to James. Hopefully that is
:26:53. > :26:57.the first of many international experiences. We are shortly heading
:26:57. > :27:01.to the news, but this is what is on around the out but for us. Live on
:27:01. > :27:10.BBC Three, uninterrupted coverage of the 87 miles of the women's
:27:11. > :27:15.peloton. And plenty of judo on the mats. Two categories in action
:27:15. > :27:20.today, and two gold medals of the 14 available through the Olympic
:27:20. > :27:29.sports will be decided as the afternoon progresses. And then, in
:27:29. > :27:34.sailing, that is the situation. Ben Ainslie in second right now. But
:27:34. > :27:38.the men's star, Ian Simpson and Andrew Percy will be there. And
:27:38. > :27:41.Lucy MacGregor will be skippering her crew in the women's Elliott 6m.
:27:41. > :27:45.That is the situation and plenty more to come after a break for the
:27:45. > :27:50.news. But look at this, it is dramatic, and the omens look good.
:27:50. > :27:54.Four years ago a tremendous thunderstorm heralded Great