Men’s Single Sculls (BM1x) – Final

In the heats Romania’s Marian-Florian Enache looked like the one to beat, recording the fastest time. Then last year’s silver medallist Natan Wegrzycki-Szymczyk of Poland stepped up. But in the semifinal the fastest time went to Canada’s Trevor Jones with Kyle Schoonbee just a fraction back. Both Jones and Schoonbee raced in the men’s double final at last year’s under-23 championships. Today they all came together to go after the World Championship title in the single.

Early speed went to Enache with Schoonbee coming through the first 500 in second. Canada and Australia followed closely behind. Enache kept his stroke rate high and managed to break away from the rest of the field and gain an open water lead. Enache raced earlier this season at the European Championships finishing in the c-final. As Canada and South Africa went head-to-head through the middle of the race, Enache continued to lead.

Enache was now in the final sprint but looked to be running out of steam. Jones now moved and took his rating up. He was on 36 with Schoonbee also at 36. It would be a battle of wills as both of them charged for the lone. Schoonbee then looked to run out of steam. Jones was the new under-23 World Champion. Wegrzycki-Szymczyk’s pedigree had come through and he grabbed bronze.

Results: CAN, RSA, POL, ROU, BUL, AUS

Trevor Jones, Canada, gold
“I wanted to just stick to my plan. I stuck with the pack off the start, I didn’t want to drop off. Then I attacked in the middle thousand and just emptied the tank. It was a good race. I’ll be going back to school in the fall and doing a few club regattas.”

Kyle Schoonbee, South Africa, silver
“The race was incredible. I followed the same race profile as I did in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Generally a change in speed is what works for me, but the Canadian used my own medicine against me and stuck with me. Gold was in sight, but it was a very tough middle thousand, you can only stay at that red line.”

Natan Wegrzycki-Szymczyk, Poland, bronze
“That was a really hard race, but I’m really pleased with this. I’ve only spent 5 weeks in the single scull after being in the eight in the U.S. while studying. It is great to be here again, I’ve been here three times and it’s always a great venue, always quick water. I am hoping to be in Sarasota.”

B-final

Great Britain’s Josh Armstrong looked to be the one to beat following racing earlier in this regatta. But he was back in fourth at the start of the race. Instead it was Norway’s Jan Helvig that had a flying start. Helvig still had the lead at the half way point but he was paying for it and the tall Scots-man, Armstrong moved into the lead. Junior champion from Greece, Ioannis Kalandaridis was going after Armstrong and these two boats came into the final sprint in the top two spots. No one could catch them. This was a five-boat race as Germany withdrew for medical reasons.

Results: GBR, GRE, DEN, NOR, BRA