Battle on for Olympic boat

The battle is on to get on board Great Britain's Olympic quadruple scull with Katherine Grainger, Francis Houghton, Debbie Flood, Annie Vernon, Sarah Winckless, Anna Bebington and Elise Laverick going for just four places in Beijing.

Marlow-based Grainger, who has twice won Olympic silver medals, will compete against the other six women in a series of single sculls races at the trials, which take place on March 9 and 10 in Hazewinkel, Belgium.

All seven athletes are either Olympic or senior world championships medallists and the competition is expected to be fierce.

Elsewhere Marlow's Zac Purchase is facing a race to recover from injury ahead of the GB lightweight trials. Purchase (if passed fit), Mark Hunter, James Lindsay-Fynn, Paul Mattick, Richard Chambers and James Clarke will all be among the front-runners for the lightweight men's single scull.