At the top of the tables a year on from Paris, it was a hugely successful week in Shanghai for the Dutch. In this post-Olympic year, the squad has changed, with new faces and new boats. Across the board, they’re flying home with more gold medals than any other country, four in total, alongside one silver and one bronze.
Success started early in the women’s quad. They had finished third at the European Rowing Championships, behind GB and Germany. The pressure was high this week, especially as this was the first World Rowing Championship for Willemijn Mulder, Margot Leeuwenburgh, and Lisa Bruijnincx. Clearly, though, the programme had timed their preparation to perfection: they led the race from the start and held off the field all the way to the line.
The experienced Benthe Boonstra and Roos de Jong won the women’s double. They had finished second in their heat and weren’t the fastest off the start, but the race for gold quickly became clear as they chased the Chinese to the 500m mark, leaving the rest of the field behind. Side by side through the third 500, nobody could deny that the Dutch combination once again looked smooth and effortless. But the race came down to the line: with just a canvas lead at the finish, the Dutch broke their competition in a fantastic display of experience to take gold.
The men’s four is not typically a strong event for the Netherlands, but this time they stacked it with serious experience and talent, including Melvin Twellaar, who stepped over from sculling to sweep. They showed tremendous force through the first three-quarters of the race, sitting in second place, but sadly, they couldn’t hold off the Romanians, who put in a mighty sprint to the line. It was therefore bronze for the Dutch four—a huge step forward for this boat class since the B-final in Paris.
The men’s and women’s eights can only truly be appreciated when watched live, back to back. By no means the favourites, the Netherlands—a country now so renowned for sculling—made a significant impression in the main events. Both the men and women led from the word ‘go’, putting on spectacular performances and walking away from the rest of the world. Words you’ll hear a thousand times over from commentators, smooth, relaxed, effortless, defined this classic Dutch rowing that carried them to the front and two more gold medals to finish the week.
Now that it’s all over, the athletes can rest, and the coaches will analyse. Next season will undoubtedly be just as intense, but after such a strong show from the Netherlands, the only question in my mind is: how will the rest of the world respond to one of the smallest rowing nations making the most significant impact?
