Rotorua rower Jeff Francis' New Zealand men's quadruple sculls team has qualified for tomorrow's semi-finals of the Under-23 World Rowing Championships in Trakai, Lithuania.
Francis is the first male rower from the Rotorua Rowing Club to compete in a world champs. He is part of the four man strong crew
of Francis, Giamcomo Thomas, Jonathan Wright and Karl Mason.
The crew moved directly through to the semi-final after beating reigning under-23 world champs, Ukrain in heat one of four yesterday.
New Zealand won in a time of 5m 55.07s ahead of Ukraine, Norway, Switzerland and the United States.
The men's quadruple sculls semi-finals get underway at 3.20pm (local time).
Results:
Men's Quadruple Sculls heats;
Heat one; NZL 5:55.07, 1; UKR 5:56.73, 2; NOR 6:02.63, 3; SUI 6:03.84, 4; USA 6:04.97, 5.
Heat two; AUS 5:53.74, 1; GBR 5:55.21, 2; BLR 5:57.11, 3; POL 6:01.19, 4; HUN 6:01.24, 5.
Heat three; CZE 5:52.92, 1; EST 5:55.49, 2; ROU 6:00.73, 3; AUT 6:06.84, 4; LAT 6:11.89, 5.
Heat four; ITA 5:49.99, 1; FRA 5:51.47, 2; GER 5:54.18, 3; RUS 6:01.55, 4.
