Junior Women’s Coxed Four (JW4+) – Final

The heats for this race saw the only new junior World Best Times to be set at this regatta so far. The time was broken first by Italy in heat one and then by China in heat two. China and Italy sat next to each other in the middle lanes. The Italians jumped out quickly and into the lead with China having a very slow start. Then the United States, who came to this final via the repechages, overtook Italy. The Italians tried to hold on. Italy’s coxswain Giulia Clerici is in three finals today. She will also cox the women’s eight as well as race in the quad. Italy and the United States were joined by China as the final sprint came into view.

There were three boats now clearly at the front but the order had not been decided. But then Germany pulled out a huge sprint. With Italy at 37 and China at 33, Germany was rating 35 and working through the field. The United States tried to hold on, but there was nothing stopping the Germans. Italy remained in front with China grabbing silver and Germany taking bronze.

Results: ITA, CHN, GER, USA, FRA, AUS

Bianca Saffirio (b), Giulia Clerici (c), Italy, Gold
“We had a good start and then made a really controlled push in the middle as it was very close. In the last 700 meters we made another push and broke clear and achieved our position.”

Jiayi Song (c), People’s Republic of China, Silver
“Were happy with second place, it’s really good. We executed our plan well.”

Luisa Gathman, Germany, Bronze
“Our plan was to go out front from the start, but we struggled to do that. We got back at the sprint at the end.”