Great Britain's Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins have broken the Olympic record in the women's double sculls to book their place in the double sculls final.
The Team GB rowers smashed the previous Games best by nearly five seconds, which was set at the 1992 Barcelona Games by Germany. Grainger and Watkins, unbeaten since they teamed up in 2010, won their heat in six minutes and 44.33 seconds.
It was the pair's 21st race win in a row, as they head into Friday morning's final as favourites. Grainger has won a silver medal at the three past Olympic Games in Sydney (2000), Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008).
Grainger and Watkins celebrate their record
Grainger told the BBC:
"I'm really pleased with our first event. You can hear the crowd but you feel it in your body, pulsing through you.
"We're very lucky to have this incredible support from around the country. It lifts you like nothing else.
"The plan for the next four days is feet up... not! We've got an adrenalin high now and we're both aware we can enjoy it for the next few hours, but we need to bring it back down."