Lightweight women's double sculls (LW2x) - Final

Off to a cracking start was Great Britain. Katherine Copeland of Great Britain is the Olympic Champion in this boat class and this year with Charlotte Taylor they have been battling the reigning World Champions, New Zealand throughout the season. At the first time marker (500m) there was very little in it between the top five boats – just a second separated them. Boat number six, Canada was a bit off the pace, but the Canadians had come storming through at the end of their semifinal a couple of days ago showing that their strength was in their finishing sprint.

South Africa’s Kirsten McCann and Ursula Grobler had a slight lead over the British and New Zealanders and held it through to the middle of the race. Then coming through the third 500m, Sophie MacKenzie and Julia Edward of New Zealand pushed into the lead. McCann and Grobler held on as they found themselves under pressure from Taylor and Copeland.

MacKenzie and Edward had now hit 41 strokes per minute as the tore their way to the finish line. The British had pushed ahead of South Africa rating 43 as McCann and Grobler used their last remaining energy to hold on. The New Zealanders had successfully defended their World Champion title.

Results: NZL, GBR, RSA, CAN, DEN, GER

Julia Edward (s) – NZL – gold  
“We are so happy to be twice World Champion. We are just over the moon, we can’t believe it.”

Charlotte Taylor (b) – GBR – silver  
“Today was about knowing how well we could do, it was a test for the Olympics next year. We are so happy, it is game on.”

Kirsten Mccann (b) – RSA – bronze
“We banged against each other in the single during the winter to be able to race at such a high level event. Credit to the entire field.”