Image Credit: World Rowing
The events were in full flow on day three at the World Rowing Championships. The opening heats of the lightweight singles provided close, exciting racing while the semifinals in the pairs and men’s quadruple sculls finalised who will be competing for the first sets of medals on Thursday. Here is everything you need to know from day three at the Shanghai Water Sports Centre.
Lightweight Singles
With the removal of the lightweight quads and pairs from the World Rowing Championship schedule, plus the double losing its Olympic status, the premier lightweight event this week is the single. This can be seen in the calibre of athletes participating in the events. On the women’s side, it was double Olympic finalist Michelle Sechser of the United States who set the fastest time in heat three, while triple Olympian in the openweight single, Kenia Lechuga Alanis of Mexico, was the second quickest, winning a very tight heat one, with two scullers within 1.6 seconds across the finish line.
For the men, heat two was by far the fastest, with the four best times of the morning being set within it as Julian Schoeberl led the field across the whole racecourse. A quick finish from those behind brought them closer to the Austrian, who will enter the semifinals on Thursday with a new weight of expectation to post his best result at his seventh World Rowing Championships. In the other heats, younger faces came out on top as the 25-year-old Uruguayan Felipe Kluver Ferreira and the 20-year-old Halil Kaan Koroglu of Turkey crossed the finish line first in heats one and three.
Women’s Pair
With a spot in the A-final on the line, the semifinals of the women’s pair provided excellent racing to watch. In the first of the two, the Czech pair went out in search of an upset. Despite their medals at both World Rowing Cup regattas this season, it would take a lot of work to pull off the surprise in this field, but they were the early leaders, keeping their bow ball in front for the opening 650 metres. At that point, the Italians claimed the top spot, but their lead was short-lived. Heavy favourites for the overall gold medal, the Romanian duo of Olympic champions used their superior speed through the second half to seize control of the race, ultimately winning by six seconds. Behind them, a close race for progression was ongoing. The Italians were secure in second, but the final qualifying position was far more open. At the halfway mark, the Czechs held an open-water lead back to the Great Britain and Switzerland crews, but a decisive move in the second half from the British combination of Witt and Lindo allowed them to move towards the pair from Czechia, who were paying for their initial efforts, ultimately allowing the British through in the final few hundred metres to claim a spot in the medal final.
The lead in the other semifinal was far more stable as the French pair of Emma Cornelis and Hezekia Peron were the fastest starters, never surrendered that lead, and will enter the final with great confidence. Behind them, the Serbians also made a strong opening move but lacked the base pace to keep up with the French. Ultimately, that relative lack of rhythm was very detrimental, as the United States pair used this to row through the Serbians, posting the fastest time in the second half of the race, to claim the second qualifying spot and close in on the French pair. The final spot initially seemed sewn up, but the persistence of the Chilean Abraham sisters and a tough transition into the sprint for the Serbians meant that it became much closer, with the Serbians only holding on by half a canvas.
Men’s Pair
The wins in both semifinals of the men’s pair were dominant: the European champions from Romania set the fastest time, winning the second semifinal by almost five seconds back to a comfortable Swiss crew, while the Varese gold medallists from New Zealand won theirs by a confident length over a similarly comfortable Spanish duo. However, across both races, the competition for the final spot in Thursday’s A-final was electric.
South Africa held this position in the first race through the opening stages, a length up on the remaining competition and pushing for second. However, the opening pace was not decisive. The first challenge came from the Dutch, with the Rienks brothers coming within a few feet of the qualifying position but never seizing it. Instead, an early sprint from the Irish crew would spoil the party, moving quickly on the opposite side of the lake, taking the third-place position in the final few strokes, rowing the South Africans to a standstill.
In the second semifinal, it was a race of two halves. At the midpoint, the British crew of James Vogel and Harry Geffen sat in third place in lane one, with a longer stroke and a lower rate than the rest of the field. Unfortunately for them, while this approach has its advantages, it would ultimately be their undoing, as their opposition on the far side of the course would have more acceleration through the second half of the course. The typification of this was the Lithuanian crew, who were the fastest crew on the course throughout the second kilometre despite being last through the halfway mark. Moving into the qualification spot in the third quarter of the race, they would continue to extend in the fast-moving pack, claiming third place by two-thirds of a length over the French pair, with Great Britain ultimately finishing sixth.
Men’s Quadruple Sculls
The final semifinals of the day were the men’s quadruple sculls. The Italian quad headlined the first semifinal as the Paris silver medallists set the fastest time in Sunday’s heats. They lived up to this favourite tag, jumping out to half a length’s lead in the race’s first quarter and gaining open water before halfway. Behind him, it was a close battle between Ukraine and the United States for second and third, themselves with open water back to the remainder of the field, leaving the qualification spots more uncontested. A contrast in the styles, the more laboured approach of the United States compared to their European rivals, it remained successful as they posted the fastest second kilometre, moving into second place and a better lane for Thursday’s final.
In the other semifinal, there was no dominance as close racing inspired quick times. Poland got the best start, holding a narrow early lead over a tight pack behind. Favourites Great Britain slowly moved back, claiming the lead in the third quarter as the field remained grouped. This move is now a signature of the British quads, allowing them to claim the victory in the fastest time of the day by half a length at the finish line. Behind, a similar dynamic played out as the young German quad trailed the Spanish early in the race for a qualification spot, before pulling into the lead through the middle. Like the British, they underrated their opposition but used their superior strength to claim the final spot in the A-final, holding off a late charge from China to extend out to open water behind them.
