GB men's eight into final

Great Britain's men's eight have cruised into the Olympic final after taking a comfortable victory in their heat at the Shunyi Rowing Centre.

The British crew, which features Alex Partridge, finished over a length clear of reigning champions the USA.

Partridge is making his Olympic debut after suffering a collapsed lung just five weeks before he was due to take part in the men's four for Athens.

As a result, he had to watch on from home as the crew headed by Matthew Pinsent won gold.

After Monday's victory, Partridge said: "It is brilliant fun to be here. It is an experience you wouldn't get anywhere else.

"When you get a length up on the USA and look back on them you think 'that is such a long way!"'

World champions Canada took victory in the other heat, with Australia trailing in last after suffering a broken rudder.

Earlier, Britain's women finished second in their heat behind world champions the USA.

"That was our aim," said stroke Katy Greves. "We have things to work on, like our start, but we know we have got raw speed. We have been working on the first half of our race and I think it showed today."

Canada, medallists at two of the three World Cup regattas this year, finished a distant third with the Germans coming home fourth.

A thunderstorm and the subsequent cancellation of Sunday evening's session had left the crew stranded on the start-line one day earlier.

However, according to member Natasha Page, the dry-run ultimately proved beneficial.

"It was hard going back home but I think we dealt with it quite well and used it to our advantage," she said.

"It was good to use it as a dry run. We had a really good warm-up so it gave us a lot of confidence."

After their second-place finish, Page and her fellow crew members must now come through a repechage round on Wednesday.

Campbell into semis

Meanwhile, Alan Campbell qualified for the semi-finals of the single-sculls with a second-place finish behind Germany's Marcel Hacker.

The Ulsterman led early in the race before slipping back to third as Hacker and Swiss sculler Andre Vonarburg hit the front.

But Campbell produced a powerful finish to overtake Vonarburg in the final 500 metres.

Campbell, who underwent knee surgery as recently as two months ago, later expressed satisfaction with his performance.

"It was another step forward with the knee. I gave it a little push at the end to test the limits but kept well within myself," he said.

"There is more to come now for the semi-final. I have got to get into the top three and qualify for that A final. This is the big one now."

The women's double sculls of Elise Laverick, a bronze medallist in Athens, and Olympic debutant Anna Bebington qualified for the final after producing a strong finish to beat Germany in their heat.

However, the men's pair of Robin Bourne-Taylor and Tom Solesbury became the first British crew to be eliminated from medal contention after finishing fourth in their repechage.

The duo, who only confirmed their place in Team GB after a late trial in June, now go into the C final with 13th place the best they can now hope for.