Mournful Brit Crews First Twice U.S. Takes Three Gold Medals At World Championship Meet

Two British crews won gold medals at the World Rowing Championships on Saturday and honored the memory of Princess Diana, whose funeral was being held in London.

U.S. rowers won three gold medals - Jamie Koven and Sarah Gardner captured single sculls, while Scott Fentress and Jordan Irving with Nicholas Anderson took the men’s pairs with coxswain.

Britain’s coxless fours won the men’s race, then bowed their heads in tribute to Diana.

“It was very much a spur of the moment thing that we should have our heads bowed. I think that was very apt and the least we could do in the circumstances,” said four-time Olympic gold medalist Steve Redgrave.

He and two-time gold medalist Matt Pinsent, Tim Foster and James Cracknell won by nearly four seconds over France. The crew is unbeaten in 11 races this year.

Redgrave, who won a world title for the seventh time, was especially grim during the awarding of the medals. Then, during the playing of “God Save the Queen”, the four bowed their heads and stood silently with their hands behind their backs.

The Union Jack went up the flag pole at half-mast, below the flags of runner-up France and third placed Romania.

The winning time was 5 minutes, 52.40 seconds for the 2,000-meter course on on Lac d’Aiguebelette.

The British rowers wore black ribbons on their uniform and started the race just after a moment of silence was held at the request of the British, Australian and Canadian teams.

“We actually had our our minute of silence out on the water as it was back in the U.K.” Redgrave said.

Another British boat won earlier.

At the time of the start of the funeral, Susan Walker, Alexandra Beever, Elisabeth Henshilwood and Lisa Eyre were being presented with the gold medals as the winners of the women’s coxless fours event. They, too, wore black ribbons on their uniforms.

All were somber during the playing of “God Save the Queen”. “We want everyone at home to know how sympathetic we are and how much we have been thinking about it,” said Henshilwood. “But we were very focused on the race, and it has been difficult here to realize quite how big it is at home.’

The three American victories were the best by a team in the 12-event program. Britain and Germany each won two titles.

Koven of Green Village, N.J., won the men’s open single sculls easily over Germany’s Andre Willms and Britain’s Greg Searle.

Gardner, a medical research specialist from Philadelphia, won the women’s lightweight single sculls.

Gardner took the lead from the start and won by more than four seconds over Frenchwoman Benedicte Luzuy.

Fentress and Jordan Irving with cox Nicholas Anderson took men’s pairs with coxswain, winning in the final meters in a photo finish with Australia. The margin of victory was less than a foot.

Canada had winners in the women’s coxless pairs of Emma Robinson and Alison Korn. Germany won the women’s double sculls and men’s double sculls.