Reed and Triggs-Hodge off to winning start

GREAT Britain have made a near-perfect start to the 2009 season at the Banyoles World Cup in Barcelona, capturing nine gold medals, a silver and a bronze.

DREAM START: Andy Triggs-Hodge and Peter Reed make winning start at Banyoles World Cup (Getty Images)

While the road to London 2012 success remains a long one, Team GB took a giant first stride as the 16 finalists claimed 11 medals.

New-look men's pair Andy Triggs-Hodge and Peter Reed made an impressive start to their campaign, while three-time Olympic silver medallist Katherine Grainger took gold in her first international event in the single scull.

"Our first 500m wasn't as good as yesterday's semis", said Hodge. "But we knew we could move at 1000m and we squeezed it on home. 

"It felt good. It's great to be part of an exciting new project but there are other big challenges from other nations so it will be exciting."

Reed added:  "Andy and I both have big engines and we are mentally tough and I didn't feel very much pressure today. The South Africans are a classy crew and they stayed with us longest today but we felt comfortable in the last 450m."

The men's four - three of which were in the eight in Beijing - also romped home, while Anna Bebington and Annabel Vernon doubled up successfully to win gold in the women's double and quadruple scull - as did Olivia Whitlam and Louisa Reeve in the women's pair and eight.

"Overall, of course, I'm very pleased with what has happened here," said GB performance director David Tanner. "There are many more boats to come in later regattas but it has showed that our top boats are in form.

"This is the first complete crew from our own talent identification scheme to win a world cup senior medal and I like the way they are doing things."

Olympic bronze medalists Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham also topped the podium in the double, as did Alan Campbell in the single by beating double Olympic champion Olaf Tufte of Norway.

And the men's quadruple scull added silver, while the men's eight added bronze to complete an excellent day's work for Team GB.