The pair made an emphatic start in the very first heat of rowing at Eton Dorney, setting an Olympic record in the women's pair to progress direct to Wednesday’s final.

Stanning, a University of Bath Sports Technology graduate, and Glover, who also trained in Bath, looked comfortable in winning their heat in six minutes 57.29 seconds, breaking a record set by the Aussies at Atlanta in 1996.

Stanning and Glover, who were part of the GB Rowing Team’s Start programme at the University of Bath, had their eyes set on the final from the start, speaking after the race Stanning said:

“We felt we had a relaxed row and now it's all about the final. That's the race we came here for.”

The final is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 1st August at 10.10.

In other news, University of Bath Sports Performance student Michael Jamieson just missed out on a place in the 100mbreaststroke final, despite finishing third in his semi-final at the London2012 Olympics on Saturday.

Michael, whose best event is the 200m breaststroke, came home in third place in semi-final two. His time of 59.89 equalled his time in this morning’s heats – but it placed him ninth overall. That meant he just missed out on a place in the 100m breaststroke final tomorrow (Sunday).

“It was pretty close, but it bodes well for the 200m,” said Michael, who trains at British Swimming’s Bath Intensive Training Centre. “The crowd here were amazing.”

Michael returns to action in the 200m breaststroke heats on Tuesday 31st July.

By Tara Saghafi