SCOTTISH duo Angus Groom and Harry Leask helped Team GB’s men’s quadruple scullers produce a markedly improved performance as they came through the repechage in style to book their spot in an Olympic final. 

While the heats saw the quartet of Glasgow’s Groom, Edinburgh’s Leask, Tom Barras and Jack Beaumont miss out on an automatic place in the final, they responded with a much more convincing performance in Sunday morning’s repechage. 

Victory in a time of 5:55.91 was exactly what the doctor ordered, providing a boost of confidence as they head into the A final – which was originally scheduled for Tuesday but will now be moved as expected adverse weather has caused the rowing to be cancelled at the start of the week. 

And although there are still improvements to be made ahead of their shot at a medal, Barras claims the crew are growing into the regatta nicely after their second race of the Games at the Sea Forest Waterway. 

“We really built on the heat really well and executed our pattern in the first 1,000m of that race,” he explained. “Maybe in the second 1,000m we tried to take two inches rather than one inch at a time. 

“Maybe we got a little ahead of ourselves but I think it’s a really good stepping stone from the heat and gives us somewhere to go again in the final. 

“I’m really looking forward to executing our race in our lane in a couple of days’ time.” 

Groom and Leask weren’t the only Scottish rowers to shine on Sunday en route to reaching an Olympic final as Rowan McKellar and Karen Bennett did likewise in the women’s four. 

They were in a similar position to the men’s quad scullers as they contested a repechage following a sub-par performance in the heats and achieved a similar outcome – winning the race in a time of 6:46.20, 0.37s ahead of Poland in second. 

The final now awaits Glaswegian McKellar, Edinburgh-raised Bennett, Harriet Taylor and Rebecca Shorten after a big step up on Day 2. 

“When I spoke after the heats, I said we knew what not to do,” explained Bennett, who is able to train full-time and benefit from world class facilities, technology, coaching and support teams thanks to National Lottery funding – which has never been more important in getting her to the start line after a turbulent year.

“We had a really good debrief – we spoke about what we can do better and how we were going to do that. 

“Today, even on the pre-paddle, we were straight on it. We all knew exactly what we wanted to do and kept doing it every stroke. 

“From stroke one we were on it, we backed each other up and there was never a moment where I was in doubt that we were going to do it. I just knew that we were rowing well enough, long enough and strong enough, while being relaxed. 

“We trusted it, we believed it and we came through on top. I thought we rowed really well and I’m really happy with that.” 

No one does more to support our Olympic and Paralympic athletes than National Lottery players, who raise around £36 million each week for good causes including grassroots and elite sport. Discover the positive impact playing the National Lottery has at http://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk and get involved by using the hashtags: #TNLAthletes #MakeAmazingHappen