Image Credit: World Rowing
With the last semifinals and six more champions crowned, the sixth day of the World Rowing Championships had phenomenally high stakes. Add to the mix some of the best racing of the week so far, and today was must-watch action. If you couldn’t watch, here is everything you need to know from the Shanghai Water Sports Centre.
Women’s Single Sculls
The results largely followed the form guide for the women’s single sculls. In the first heat, the Australian Romy Cantwell initially threatened to upset that by leading at the 500-metre mark. Falling back into the field, the heavy favourite Lauren Henry secured the race, establishing a five-second lead by the start of the final 500 metres. Moving with her was the other heat-winner in the field, the Danish Frida Sanggaard Nielsen, who also had a more comfortable progression, separating from the field by the halfway mark. For the final spot, it was more effort as Alexandra Foester of Germany waited longer, as she could only move into the top three in the second half of the race, moving through Lauren O’Connor of the USA.
The second semifinal was similarly won in the third quarter as Ireland‘s Fiona Murtagh and Viktorija Senkute of Lithuania, who backed up their heat victories to progress into Sunday’s final comfortably. Behind, it was a close race for the final qualification place as the faster starting Esther Briz of Spain was subjected to a late sprint from the Canadian sculler Katie Clark, with the University of British Columbia athlete coming up a few metres short.
Men’s Single Sculls
With such a strong field in the men’s singles, there was a near-guarantee that we would lose some big names before the final. In the first semifinal, we were spared such a clash as the three biggest names: Oli Zeidler, Simon van Dorp, and Stafanos Ntouskos moved comfortably ahead of the remainder of the field throughout. By halfway, the top three had been established, and a close race for the victory saw all three finish within 1.1 seconds.
In the other heat, it was a far more dramatic affair; the early leaders, Giedrius Bieliauska, Yauheni Zalatay, and Bruno Cetraro Berriolo, similarly moved away, leaving the Kiwi Logan Ulrich behind. However, there was a potential change of fortunes in the closing moments. The Lithuanian Bieliauska began to fall back, giving up his lead and falling back towards the chasing New Zealander, but he ran out of water, securing the final spot in Sunday’s A-final by just over a second, forcing the much-fancied silver medallist from the four into the B-final in his debut World Rowing Championships in the single.
PR3 Mixed Double Sculls
In the final semifinals of the week, the relative strengths within the field were pretty straightforward from early on. In the first heat, the German doubles were the best of the field, with Ukraine and France rounding out the progressing crews. In the other semifinal, the British and the Australians had a closer race for top honours, with the former coming out on top by 2.7 seconds. The neutral athletes comfortably claimed the final position in Sunday’s final.
PR1 Women’s Single Sculls
Any jeopardy in this event was very quickly put to rest, as the superior backswing of the Ukrainian Anna Sheremet meant that she was very quickly head and shoulders above the remainder of the field, searching for a world’s best time. This search was unsuccessful in the neutral conditions but claimed gold by 29 seconds. Behind was a much closer race for the minor medals, as the Korean Sejeong Kim led Shao Shasha of China and Claire Ghiringhelli of Switzerland throughout the course. As the race developed, the Swiss sculler dropped back as Shao Shasha advanced on the Korean sculler, but would come up just short in the final sprint.
JRN Prediction: UKR, KOR, SUI
Result: UKR, KOR, SUI
PR1 Men’s Single Sculls
Setting off with an ambition to dominate this field similarly, Ben Pritchard of Great Britain took an early lead of around two lengths but could not disappear up the course. Behind, the Australian and Ukrainian competitors kept the pressure on. By the halfway mark, the gap had expanded somewhat as around four lengths separated the Welshman from the field at halfway, while Roman Polianskyi led Erik Horrie by half a length. In the final moments, it was the battle between the long-term rivals for silver by Polianskyi and Horrie, but the Australian was unable to make significant progress, settling for bronze.
JRN Prediction: GBR, AUS, UKR
Result: GBR, UKR, AUS
Women’s Double Sculls
To the home crowd’s delight, the favoured Chinese double was the early leader, but they could not blow away the field. Alongside them, the Paris medallists from the quad, the Netherlands, were able to match their early move as they both moved away from the French-led field. Though the middle of the race, the two crews exchanged the lead from adjacent lanes, with the Dutch establishing the slightest lead as the crews entered the final 500 metres. Ramping up into their sprint, the Dutch moved first, moving out in the closing stages, ultimately claiming a half-length lead to upset the home favourites. For bronze, the neutral athletes Tatsiana Klimovich and Alena Furman produced a massive sprint in the closing stages to finish a length behind the leaders, briefly threatening to add another twist in the thrilling battle out front but ultimately claiming an impressive bronze.
JRN Prediction: CHN, NED, GRE
Result: NED, CHN, AIN
Men’s Double Sculls
To the shock of the field, the Romanian double was quickly behind the field. Setting the fastest time across the two semifinals. Instead, the Polish double in lane two dominated the field, moving out in the opening stages to ultimately win by a length. Having been moved out of the quad, they repaid the faith given to them by the Polish selectors by winning a World Rowing Championship gold to add to the bronze in that quad. Behind was a battle between Ireland and Serbia for silver in bronze. Initially led by the Irish, the strong Serbian double rowed through them in the race’s final quarter, as they both held off the charging Spaniards behind.
JRN Prediction: SRB, IRL, POL
Result: POL, SRB, IRL
Women’s Four
As the Dutch women’s crews have done across all their finals, the four made a very strong start. However, what was more surprising was that the British crew was ahead of them. By the halfway mark, the diesel engines of the United States had secured their lead, ahead of the British, with the entire field still closely bunched. Entering the final stages, the US crew had elevated themselves with the British still in second, closely challenged by the Romanians and New Zealanders, a duo that claimed the minor medal positions with 500 metres to go. Unleashing their trademark sprint, the Romanians put the US crew under real pressure, as they began to shorten their stroke. Ultimately, the lead built through the middle of the course was enough as the US held on for gold over the Romanians, with the New Zealand crew claiming bronze. The early leaders from the Netherlands and Great Britain finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
JRN Prediction: NED, USA, AUS
Result: USA, ROU, NZL
Men’s Four
The revelation of these championships, the British four with a strong light blue tinge, was the strongest boat in this event. Dominating this event in all four rounds, the brilliant crew of Graham, Robson, de Graaf and Bourne took the lead within the first 300 metres and never let it go, looking back on a phenomenal field. The best of the rest were the Dutch and the Romanians, who traded blows in lanes two and four all the way down the course. The Romanians went out fastest of the two, but it was an effective tie at the halfway point. In the third quarter, the Dutch made their advantage, but the typical Romanian sprint pulled them back towards the leaders as the crew pulled back against the Dutch to finish within a length of the British crew. Behind, the Lithuanians finished fourth, while the World Rowing Cup champions from Australia will go home disappointed with a fifth-place finish.
JRN Prediction: AUS, ROU, NED
Result: GBR, ROU, NED
