London's Louisa Reeve rows in the women's eight

Olympic rowing: 1. USA 2. Australia 3. Great Britain 4. Germany

London's Caroline O'Connor is the cox for the women's eight

Londoners Louisa Reeve and Caroline O’Connor will compete in the reperchage for a semi-final spot after Team GB’s women’s eight finished a disappointing third in their heat at Eton Dorney.

London-born Reeve and the crew’s cox O’Connor, who comes from Ealing, were powerless to keep pace with World and Olympic champions USA, who finished a massive nine seconds ahead of Team GB.

And despite their best efforts in the latter stages of the race, Great Britain were pipped to second place by Australia.

The imperious USA, who have not lost a race in six years, got off to a devastating start, and for Team GB the race quickly became a battle for second place with Australia.

The Brits began to find a rhythm in the second 500meters but Australia were able to keep their noses in front despite appearing to struggle in the second half of the race.

Team GB can fall back on the reperchage in their bid to reach the semis, but it’s clear that overhauling the USA for a gold medal will be a near impossible task for the rest of the field.