SWINDON-BORN Steve Rowbotham will be part of the first British quadruple scull to compete in an Olympic final after Great Britain came through their semi this morning.

Rowbotham, alongside Charles Cousins, Tom Solesbury and Matt Wells, finished third at Eton Dorney behind Croatia and Australia.

Russia had stormed into an early lead with Croatia second and Australia third at the halfway mark.

But the Russians tired in the second half of the race, allowing Croatia to move into first, while Great Britain pushed Australia all the way for second.

Croatia won in 6:03.39, with Australia clocking 6:05.45 and GB finishing in 6:05.71.

Rowbotham paid tribute to the vocal home support afterwards, saying: "I've been making the calls from bow (the rearmost seat) and it was hard for the lads to hear me.

"At halfway they could hear me but after that I was having to ramp up how much I shouted, and by the end I was using all the energy I could.

"We made a couple of mistakes in the race but we definitely have something to step on now.

"I think those guys (the supporters) are going to give us the extra seconds we need."

The final takes place on Friday morning, with Germany, Estonia and Poland making up the rest of the field having qualified from the second semi.

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