Great Britain fielded their first-choice line-up in the men's coxless four for the first time this season yesterday and it proved an instant success at the World Cup regatta in Poznan, Poland, where they won their heat by more than three seconds.

Tom James took his place in the bow for the first time this season, having struggled with a back injury, and Andrew Triggs Hodge, the stroke, returned after missing the previous World Cup regatta, in Lucerne, Switzerland, where the boat failed to reach the final. The added power showed as the crew led from the front and, hearteningly given the way that they faded in the final 500 metres in Lucerne, pulled away as they neared the finish line.

They needed to turn in a good performance, not only for their own morale but also to avoid having to compete in a repechage, with only the winner of the heat qualifying directly for tomorrow's final. “We could have done with another week together, but the amount of work we have done has put us in a competitive place,” Steve Williams, the Olympic champion in the No3 seat, said.

A second Great Britain four, made up of young rowers from Cambridge University, came last in the second heat, which was faster.

If the four, with a fine Olympic pedigree to live up to, tend to gather the headlines, Britain's most reliable boat quietly carried on winning races. The lightweight double scull of Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter, who joined forces only last year, won their eighth race in a row, beating Denmark, the world champions, by less than a second at the line.

The lightweight men's four, world champions in Munich last year, continue to have a frustrating time in one of the most competitive of classes. Second in the opening World Cup regatta in May but fifth in Lucerne, they had a fight all the way down the course with France yesterday, coming second by 2.5 seconds, and must qualify for the final through a repechage today.

The women's open double of Anna Bebington and Elise Laverick won their heat, holding off the Czech Republic by two tenths of a second, to show pleasing signs of a return to form after both have had time away with illness, while the eights have their first races tomorrow.

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