Rowing-Campbell, coxless fours lead British gold medal haul

MUNICH, May 11 (Reuters) - Alan Campbell led from the front to win the men's single sculls on a successful day for Britain at the Munich Rowing World Cup event on Sunday.

Campbell's success on the 1972 Olympic Regatta course brought one of five gold medals for the British team in the first important test of form ahead of this year's Beijing Games.

"That was one of the best races I've ever had," Campbell told reporters after finishing ahead of the Czech Republic's Ondrej Synek. "Everything came together."

The other outstanding performance from Britain came in the men's coxless four, where Tom Lucy, Steve Williams, Peter Reed and Andy Hodge dominated the race ahead of the Czech Republic and Germany in second and third.

The British women's quadruple scull, the reigning world champions, could also be satisfied after easily holding off a strong challenge from Germany.

There was joy too for Australia as they won both the men's and women's eights.

World champion Ekaterina Karsten-Khodotovitch won the women's single sculls for Belarus, while in another notable result, the Chinese took first and second in the women's double sculls, with world champions Qin Li and Liang Tian taking gold.

There are further pre-Olympic World Cup events to come in Lucerne and Poznan. (Reporting by Kevin Fylan; Editing by Padraic Halpin)