MORE OLYMPICS NEWS:

Stephan and crew mates Rosemary Popa, Jessica Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre qualified with an Olympic best time of 6:28.76.

They led through each 500 metre mark in the 2km race, Ireland their only real challenger throughout, who finished second with a time of 6:28.99.

The top two crews of the respective heats qualify for the A Final directly, the remaining crews to row in a repechage on Sunday to decide the rest of the field for the final.

Stephan and the crew will look forward to the A Final next Wednesday, scheduled for a 10:50am AEST start.

Katrina Werry and the women's eight boat were unable to win through to the A Final, coming third in their heat with a time of 6:18.95.

They were originally scheduled to row on Sunday but all races from that day were bought forward to Saturday.

The crew came through the first 500 metres in second place, the race a tight one between Australia, Romania and the United States.

The United States powered to the lead in the second 500 metres, however, never relinquishing the lead on its way to a win.

Werry and her crewmates will now look forward to the women's eight repechage next Wednesday, the race scheduled for an 11:30am AEST start.

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.

Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.