Great Britain’s rollercoaster season took an upwards swing in the third and final World Cup regatta in Lucerne. Having won nine golds in Spain but only one in Germany, Britain will be hoping for a successful weekend after their crews won eight heats on Thursday morning.

The men’s double, men’s quad and lightweight men’s four also progressed. Peter Reed continues at stroke in the men’s pair, having swapped positions with Andrew Triggs Hodge at Henley last week, and they had few problems, leading the second heat from the start to take the only direct qualification place for tomorrow’s final.

They will again face the New Zealand crew of Eric Murray and Hamish Bond, who won their heat in a faster time and have beaten the British pair in their past three meetings.

The men’s four looked comfortable in winning their heat from the United States, having taken a lead of more than a length by halfway, and there was a pleasing victory in the single scull for Katherine Grainger, who missed Henley in order to train for this regatta after a disappointing fourth place in the Munich World Cup.

She took a two-length lead on the field within 500 metres on Thursday and could control the rest of the race. “I’ve done a lot of technical work since Munich and we put it to the test today,” Grainger said.

“As this is the biggest field yet at a World Cup in my event I’m pleased with the result.”

The lightweight women’s double of Hester Goodsell and Sophie Hosking, Britain’s only winners in Munich, showed it was no fluke by leading from start to finish, a feat matched by the lightweight men’s double of Rob Williams and Paul Mattick.

Only the women’s double and the men’s eight were relegated to today’s repechages after failing to qualify. The former unsurprisingly struggled in their heat given the late withdrawal through illness of Annabel Vernon.

Ro Bradbury, 20, was summoned to scull with Anna Bebington and they came fourth. The eight continue to look sluggish, as they have all season, but they are a work in progress.

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