British duo sets Olympic rowing record

World champions Anna Watkins and Katherine Grainger of Britain set an Olympic record Monday in qualifying for the finals of the double sculls rowing event. Watkins and Grainger covered the 2,000 meters in 6:44.33 to establish themselves as the clear favorite for the gold medal when it is decided on Friday. Their time was more than 4 seconds faster than the Australian boat that won the second of the qualifying heats. Watkins won the bronze medal in double sculls with a different partner in Beijing. Grainger has been a silver medal winner at each of the last three Olympics in pairs and quadruple sculls. They joined forces after the last Olympics and are unbeaten in the last three years, winning two world titles in the process. They lowered the previous Olympic record by 5 seconds. It had stood for 20 years. In qualifying heats for the men\'s fours race, the United States boat reached the semifinals by winning the third and final heat. The Americans, however, had the slowest time of any of the heat winners and were seven seconds behind the top qualifying time posted by the Australians. Britain, Canada, the Netherlands and Australia moved into the finals of the men\'s eights during the repechage round. The United States and Germany had already qualified for the finals with heat-winning performances during the weekend. The first three rowing finals will be held Wednesday in women\'s pairs, women\'s quadruple sculls and the men\'s eights. There will be 14 finals in all contested over four consecutive days.