There was a spectacular start for Team GB in the 10th European Nations Championships. While the rest of the world prepared for that 'other' event it was business and racing as usual for our sport. The lottery of the 2K provided the usual excitement and spectacle with the guest crew from Tahiti swamping barely metres over the finish line after completing the race in a blistering time. GB collected four Golds, a Silver and a Bronze, only missing out in one division.

The Senior Mixed crew set the tone with a Gold just 0.1s ahead of Russia. The Premier Mixed lead the way from Russia again but with a comfortable margin of 6s. The Grand Dragons had to fight their way through the mix of crews from fourth off to chase down a Silver medal behind Ukraine who lead the field.

The U18s completed the whole race with a short choppy stroke at a rate similar to many Asian crews but were rewarded with a Gold medal, nearly 5s up on Poland. Just a few strokes and less than 2s separated the whole field in the Premier Open race. The result was impossible to call by spectators and GB took Bronze, 0.06s off Silver (Russia) and less than a second off Gold (Germany). All the Premier Women crews faced a level playing field when they followed the Premier Open crews. The GB Women were seeded first and proved it with a convincing win in front of Germany, despite a minor short cut.

Today (Saturday 28th July) it's a tenth of the distance but it could be 10 times as many races for those crew members doubling up in open and mixed. A full National League style programme will mix all the divisions in open and mixed racing to establish an overall ranking before the divisions break out in to their divisional Grand Finals to decide the medals. It's going to be hot.