Image Credit: World Rowing
We are truly into the business end of the World Rowing Championships today. The eights and PR3 mixed doubles opened their campaigns, the last of this championship’s athletes to get started. While for some this is the beginning, for others the season will end today, as six world champions were crowned in the afternoon session. Add to the mix semifinals in the men’s double and the lightweight singles, today had arguably the best schedule of the whole championships. With so much going on, here is everything you need to know from Shanghai, China.
Women’s Eight
In the women’s eights, the Olympic champions from Romania stamped their authority on the field, winning the first heat by more than three seconds, setting the fastest time in all four quarters of the race to comfortably set the fastest time across both heats. Going with them early in the race was the Netherlands, staying within a few seats of the leaders for much of the race, but could not match their final sprint to fall back to a length behind, with the Australians finishing third, demonstrating solid speed across the course after a poor start.
The other semifinal was a far closer affair as the perennial eights powers of Great Britain and Germany were closely matched. The Germans made the best of the start, moving out to more than a half-length lead at the halfway mark. However, British crews have become known for their strong, consistent speed, and the British women moved back throughout the final kilometre, unleashing their strong closing acceleration to claim the lead with 200 metres to go and win the heat by half a length. Behind them, it was a close battle for the final qualification spot between the United States and Italy, as the US crew initially held close to the leading par, the Italians almost broke into the race with a typically dynamic sprint, but it was ultimately not enough to make Saturday’s A-final.
Men’s Eight
On the men’s side, there was a brilliant close race in the first heat. Australia had the best of the starts, leading the field at the first timing point, but surrendered that lead to Great Britain just before halfway, with the typical strong second-half of the race pulling them clear to win. Behind, the Italians were charging, initially sitting behind Poland, the men in azzurri had comfortably the fastest closing speed, moving through the Australians to give the British a scare, finishing just a canvas behind the defending world champions.
The other heat was far less close, as the crew from the Netherlands dominated the heat. Taking the early lead, they simply extended down the course, moving gradually away from their nearest rivals from the United States to win by open water. Behind them, the United States was similarly comfortable in the second automatic qualification spot, with the Germans in third. Ultimately, the ‘Deutschland-Achter’ were not fast enough in this heat, failing to post a fast enough time to make the A-final, meaning that no German men’s sweep boat will compete in the final at the World Rowing Championships, a rare sight for the powerhouse.
Lightweight Single Sculls
In the men’s lightweight single, the Austrian Julian Schoeberl continued to impress, setting the fastest time of the morning in a controlled victory of the first semifinal. On the other side, the Uruguayan single sculler Felipe Kluver Ferreira was dominant, taking his foot off the gas in the final stages to still win comfortably. Across the board, the progression was rarely in doubt with the notable exception of the Uzbek Shakhzod Nurmatov, who faded in the final quarter to fall out of the top three, allowing the Irish Jacob McCarthey to claim the final spot in the A-final.
For the women, Michelle Sechser of the United States continued to impress in the first semifinal, using her double-Olympic pedigree to once again control her race. In the other heat, it was a much closer battle. While the progression was secure, all three finalists finished within a few feet at the finish line, with the Irish Siobhan McCrohan taking the best lane for Saturday’s final.
PR3 Mixed Double Sculls
The final athletes to open their campaign were the PR3 mixed double sculls. With 12 of the 13 entries progressing to the final, the major protagonists were not in too much jeopardy but still provided strong racing. Across the three heats, there were three comfortable victories as Australia, Germany, and Great Britain showed their desire to repeat the podium from the Paris Paralympic Games. Of the three, the British had the closest race, only breaking clear of their challengers from Romania in the race’s final stages.
Men’s Double Sculls
Delayed from yesterday’s racing, the semifinals of the men’s double sculls treated us to some great racing. The first heat was the faster of the two, producing the three fastest times of the round. Throughout that race, the three qualifiers quickly established themselves, as the top three were most of a length clear by the first timing point. The two heat winners in the race, Romania and Ireland, were joined by Spain in the leading group. At the end of the race, the Spanish did not execute their famous sprint but could hold off Italy as the former lightweights came up just short of making the A-final in the openweight event.
In the second heat, there was a similar dynamic, as the order of the racing did not change across the four major markers on the course. Serbia moved out into an early lead, with Poland slowly moving back on them throughout the race. In third place, the Swiss crew remained consistently a length behind the leading Serbs but were constantly badgered by the Kiwi combination. Ultimately, the Swiss moved away, making the first move and claiming a spot in the A-final by more than half a length over the promising double from New Zealand.
Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls
In the headwind, it was a challenging race for the lightweight athletes, with various crews looking for different ways to gain speed. Nowhere was this more stark than between China and Peru, as while the Peruvians sat at a very high rate, the hosts instead opted for a heavier gearing as the duo of Zou Jiaqi and Fu Ling rowed at a much lower rate. The latter technique came out best as the Chinese dominated this final as they had the opening race for lanes, claiming the first world title of these championships. Behind, Peru was engaged in a tight battle for the silver with Tunisia, leading across much of the race, but with just a few hundred metres to go, the North African crew pulled ahead to claim silver, the first ever medal for the nation at a World Rowing Championships.
JRN Prediction: TUN, CHN, PER
Result: CHN, TUN, PER
Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls
The men’s event was a relatively simple affair, as the preliminary race results held clear across the course. The Chinese crew established an early lead, comfortably claiming the gold medal. Behind, the Indonesians finished second to claim their first-ever medal at the World Rowing Championships, holding off a late charge from Germany, a nation with a proud history in lightweight sculling who would settle for bronze.
JRN Prediction: CHN, INA, GER
Result: CHN, INA, GER
Women’s Pair
In the women’s pair, two crews have stood out across the event: the favourites from Romania and the French crew, including the new young star Hezekia Peron. Off the start, these two crews moved away as the Romanians claimed around a boat length’s lead over the French. The Romanians managed the race, sitting ahead of the French before moving away in the sprint, allowing the French to manage challenges from behind. The Italian crew provided the early challenge, keeping themselves in the battle across the race’s first quarter before dropping back into the field. The late challengers from the United States were phenomenal in their late move. Coming from almost five seconds behind at halfway, the United States demonstrated a brilliant turn of speed to move through the Italians and challenge the French, coming up just short as the French rose to match them, winning the silver medal by a canvas.
JRN Prediction: ROU, ITA, CZE
Result: ROU, FRA, USA
Men’s Pair
For eight years, the Kiwi pair of Murray and Bond struck fear into the hearts of all others in the men’s pair and in the final of the men’s pair in Shanghai, a new combination may have emerged. Ten years on from the last time New Zealand won the World Rowing Championships in the men’s pair, Oliver Welch and Ben Taylor took this race by the scruff of the neck, claiming an early lead over the favoured Romanians. With the expectation of a weaker sprint than their rivals, the New Zealanders needed to move quickly, but a dominant third quarter put all doubt to rest as they cleared the field behind. Suddenly, the Romanians were being threatened from behind by the Swiss pair, but they held strong using that strong sprint to remain in the silver medal position by just a third of a length across the line.
JRN Prediction: ROU, NZL, SUI
Result: NZL, ROU, SUI
Women’s Quadruple Sculls
Throughout this race, comparisons were abundant with the final of the Paris Olympic Games. In that year, the Dutch were rowed through in the final moments by the British crew. But there was not to be a dramatic comeback today. From the start, the British had potentially excessive patience, handing their opposition half a length in the opening few strokes. Extending their lead at 500 metres, the Dutch were almost a length up on the Germans and Romanians, with the British a few metres further back. The low-rating British crew was moving back on their opponents, claiming the second position and moving back on the Netherlands crew, but in the closing quarter, they could not push back on the Dutch, posting the exact same time in the final 500 metres to finish half a length behind the winners. Instead, the crews moving back were in the race for bronze, as the Germans held off a Romanian charge to repeat their bronze medal from Paris.
JRN Prediction: GBR, NED, GER
Result: NED, GBR, GER
Men’s Quadruple Sculls
Billed as another clash of styles, it was the fluid, high-rating style of the Italians against the strong diesel engines of Great Britain. As was expected, the Italians had the early advantage, moving to half a length of clear water over the remainder of the field. Across the championship, the British have relied upon their final kilometre to win their heat and semifinals. However, they did not have enough today, still sitting a length behind with 500 metres to go. Instead, they were forced to deal with a threat from behind as Poland moved away from the United States to challenge for silver but ultimately settled for bronze, an impressive showing for the second-priority boat in the Poznan-based programme.
JRN Prediction: GBR, ITA, USA
Result: ITA, GBR, POL
