The best under-23 rowers take on Florida’s heat to become world champions

Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (BLW1x) – Final

Great Britain’s Susannah Duncan has been having a great regatta and in Friday’s semifinals she recorded the fastest qualifying time. Her nearest rival looked to be Johanna Reichardt of Germany. At the start Laura Tiefenthaler of Austria got away quickly with Reichardt chasing hard. The chase paid off and going through the middle of the race Reichardt had the lead. Reichardt kept her stroke rate at a 35-36 to stay ahead of Tiefenthaller who had dropped to 32 strokes per minute. Duncan then started to move.

Duncan had been holding a very steady 34 stroke rate and was using this even speed to close on Reichardt. The British sculler is no stranger to international racing. She has already medalled at two world junior championships and raced at three under-23 championships including medalling in the lightweight double last year. Coming through to the final sprint Reichardt retained the lead with Duncan closing in from second and Tiefenthaler quite a way back now in third. Duncan took her stroke rate to 36, then 37, then 38 and overtook the German in the closing strokes of the race. Duncan had added gold to her growing collection.

Results: GBR, GER, AUT, USA, SUI, HKG

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Johanna Reichardt, Germany, Silver
“That was a great race! My aim was to get a medal. I knew it would be a tough final.”

Lara Tiefenthaler, Austria, Bronze
“This is my first international regatta so I’m really happy with a medal. I didn’t know I actually could achieve this so it’s a great feeling. I’ve also had a really good time here in Sarasota.”

B-final

Results: CZE, URU, AUS, ROU, MDA, DEN

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Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (BLM1x) – Final

In yesterday’s semifinals Obbe Durk Tibben of the Netherlands proved to be the fastest. Tibben was fifth last year in this boat class. But today he was up against last year’s fourth-place getter Rainer Kepplinger of Austria. Kepplinger shot out to take the lead at the start. But his leading edge was minimal with just over a second separating the entire field at the first 500m mark. Then Samuel Melvin of the United States made a move. Despite a slightly lower stroke rate, Melvin got his nose just a fraction ahead. But there was still nothing in it as the top five boats were all within half a boat length of each other. Only Malte Koch of Germany was a little back.

Melvin then started to show his true colours. The American had come through to this final after finishing third in his semifinal and he thus sat in an outside lane. But Melvin is no stranger to top racing after taking bronze in the lightweight quadruple sculls at last year’s under-23 championships. Melvin held a 36 stroke rate and had the fastest speed in the third 500 to get nearly a boat length lead over Tibben in second. Meanwhile the remaining four crews were having the battle of their life to try in get the bronze medal. China’s Chen looked to be the closest. Then Kepplinger started to move. It was like he was doing an opening sprint as his stroke rated continued to rise into the 40s, hitting 45. With Melvin holding first and Tibben closing in second, Kepplinger gave it his all grabbed the bronze spot.

Results: USA, NED, AUT, CHN, CYP, GER

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Samuel Melvin, United States of America, Gold
“This is a great feeling! It surpassed all my expectations as I was just looking to get a medal. This result hasn’t sunk in yet at all.”

Obbe Durk Tibben, Netherlands, Silver
“That race went ok. I expected a battle with AUT. At 1200, I saw from the corner of my eye the USA went off. I thought he was gone, and then I was trying to fight for silver. In the last 100m it was really close. I’m happy with my silver here, but I came for gold. Next – I’m hoping to race the world cups next year, and hopefully make a lm2x for the Olympics, and if not, the non Olympic worlds.”

Rainer Kepplinger, Austria, Bronze
“I had a good start, and was in front. By the middle of the race I started to suffer a bit, and fell down into 3rd. I have everything to stay

B-final

Results: GBR, FRA, NOR, HKG, DEN, CAN

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Women’s Double Sculls (BW2x) – Final

Hungary and Germany had earned a direct path to this final when they won their heats on Thursday. They met for the first time today, taking up the two middle lanes. But it was Greece’s Anneta Kyridou and Dimitra-Sofia Tsamopoulou who shot into the lead. Greece had won their repechage earlier in the week and were now showing what they could do in a final. But the field was still very tight with Hungary, Australia, Germany and China all within half a second of the lead. Then Greece and Australia managed to inch away from the field with these two boats battling each other through the middle of the race.

Australia’s Giorgia Patten and Harriet Hudson had also raced and won their repechage and in a time faster than the Greeks. These two countries continued to race each other. Australia was at 36 and Greece at 37. They were outrating the rest of the field and were moving to an open water lead. The gold would come down to who was the best sprinter. It proved to be Greece. Taking their stroke rate higher than Patten and Hudson, Kyridou and Tsamopoulou not only won, but won by breaking clean away from the Australians. Kyridou had finished fourth last year in this boat class. She now had the gold medal.

Results: GRE, AUS, HUN, GER, AUT, CHN

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Anneta Kyridou (s), Greece, Gold
“That was a really hard race for us but we came here to win the gold which we’ve been training all year for. It was hard until the last stroke but we did it!.

Harriet Hudson (s), Australia, Silver
“We’ve had a really tough campaign, and the start of this regatta was really a shock. We’ve been able to build through this regatta, and build on every race, and top it off with this one :).”

Vivien Preil (b), Hungary, Bronze
“Our only expectation was to do our best and have. I thing left. The race went well, we were really nervous at the start, but quickly found our rhythm.”

B-final

Results: USA, CAN, EST, BRA, NGR

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Men’s Double Sculls (BM2x) – Final

The fastest boat from Saturday’s semifinals was the New Zealand crew of Jack Lopas and Oliver MacLean. Lopas and MacLean both go to American universities where they are student athletes in rowing, so their preparation for this regatta was done far away from the usually New Zealand training venue. Russia’s Nikita Eskin and Aleksandr Matveev got away to a very quick start despite under-rating the rest of the field. They hit the first 500m mark in the lead ahead of Italy and the Netherlands. Then Lopas and MacLean started to close on the Russians and from lanes two and three, these two countries went stroke for stroke.

The mid-race battle paid off for New Zealand who got their nose ahead of Eskin and Matveev. New Zealand had been holding a 40-41 stroke rate through the entire body of the race. The Russians now found themselves under threat from Andrea Cattaneo and Luca Chiumento of Italy. The Italians were going through the third 500 at a 39 stroke rate and were not only about to overtake the Russians, they were closing on the high rating Kiwis. In the sprint to the line New Zealand watched Italy creep closer and closer. Just 20m before the line Cattaneo and Chiumento found the lead and the gold medal spot.

Results: ITA, NZL, RUS, GER, NED, EST

Luca Chiumento (s), Italy. Gold
“We started out strong but as the race went on the other crews were very fast so we had to speed up and put in some effort. We succeeded as we found our speed.”

Jack Lopas (s), New Zealand, Silver
“We did everything that we could there but they were just faster at the end. It’s been a great week and I’ve really enjoyed the course and the event.”

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B-final

Results: GBR, DEN, SUI, USA, CAN, NOR

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Women’s Four (BW4-) – Final

The United States and Spain qualified directly to this final from Wednesday’s heats giving them three days of no racing leading up to today’s final. Ireland and Great Britain had won their respective repechages and got an extra race in. At the start of the race the fastest speed went to Great Britain’s crew of Currie, Cessford, Irwin and Rankin. They settled into a 37-38 stroke rate pace and tried to hold the lead. But the rest of the field was matching this stroke rate and a push from Ireland got them ahead of Great Britain. The battle of these two boats now began in earnest through the middle of the race. This saw the rest of the field drop behind with all four boats fighting for the bronze medal spot. And fight they did. Only a second and a half separated these four at the half way point.

Meanwhile at the front of the field, Great Britain had pushed back into first ahead of Ireland and the United States had broken away from the chasing bunch to sit solidly in third. Great Britain and Ireland continued to battle for the lead. Both boats were at 40. The British were moving just a fraction faster. The British had won gold.

Results: GBR, IRL, USA, CAN, ESP, CHN

Alex Rankin (s), Great Britain, Gold
“This is everything that we dreamed of, I really didn’t think that this would happen. The weather has been great today along with the course and the people.”

Emily Hegarty, Ireland, Silver
“I think that we stuck with the pack, and that gave us confidence. We knew our start was the weakest part, so when we were still with the pack at 500m, I knew we had a shot

Chase Shepley (b), United States of America, Bronze
“I think races never go according to plan. But we didn’t back down, and we’re happy to be on the podium with the flag.”

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B-final

Results: RUS, NZL, AUS, ITA, GER

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Men’s Four (BM4-) – Final

In the heats on Wednesday New Zealand and Great Britain had qualified directly to today’s final, Great Britain with the faster time. They must have been keeping active over those days. At the start it was Germany and Great Britain that managed to break away first. They crossed the 500m mark with their noses ahead of the rest of the field. These two crews held a 38-39 stroke pace through to the middle of the race with Ambler, Digby, Davidson and Elwes of Great Britain managing to pull away to nearly a boat length lead over Germany.

The Germans now found themselves under threat from Italy and New Zealand. Just half a second separated these three countries with New Zealand showing the best speed. This tussle saw the New Zealanders move into second and close on the British. It was now coming down to who had the best speed in the final sprint. Both Great Britain and New Zealand went into the low 40s stroke rate with the Kiwis hitting 44 and moving at a faster speed. But they ran out of water. The British crossed the line half a second ahead of the New Zealand crew. The British time proved to be just seven seconds outside of the under-23 World Best Time.

Results: GBR, NZL, ITA, GER, ROU, CHN

David Ambler (b), Great Britain, Gold
“That was a really good race! We just focused on our boat. We knew that New Zealand would be strong as we’ve raced them before. It’s been a great experience for me here. We have a great team which helps everyone a lot.”

Benjamin Taylor (b), New Zealand, Silver
“The race went sort of to plan. We knew Gb would come off hot. We tried to move but it was super hard.”

Nicholas Kohl (b), taly, Bronze
“The race went really well. We changed up our tactic after the heats and reps. We stayed in contact with New Zealand in the first 1000 meters and then gave all the second 1000m, to pass through Germany.

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B-final

Results: SUI, USA, AUS, CRO, ESP, DEN

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Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (BLW2x) – Final

The fastest qualifier from the heats, Switzerland’s Eline Rol and Sofia Meakin lined up in the middle lane today as favourites. Right from the word ‘go’ Rol and Meakin looked to be the fastest on the water. They got out to an early lead and by the half way point the Swiss duo had nearly open water over Germany’s Luise Asmussen and Cosima Clotten in second. Rol raced last year in this boat class and finished sixth with a different partner while Meakin finished fifth in the lightweight single at last year’s under-23 championships.

The race was now looking rather like a procession with Rol and Meakin extending their lead, Germany holding on to second and the Netherlands’ Iris Hochstenbach and Femke van de Vliet not far back in third. The distance to Denmark in fourth looked like it would be too much for them to close to get a medal. Switzerland, rating 35-36 remained easily in front at the line with the real battle going on for silver. In a last minute flurry Hochstenback and van de Vleit had manged to outsprint Germany. The Germans had to settle for bronze by just 0.11 of a second.

Results: SUI, NED, GER, IRL, DEN, USA

Sofia Meakin (s), Switzerland, Gold
“We always have a plan A and a plan B: plan A is start ahead, and stay there. plan B is if we aren’t ahead to make a move and get there. We were able to pull off plan A from the start today! Today, this perfect race, is the result of 1-2 years of constant work to obtain it together. I think we each did it for ourselves, and it’s great to have done it.”

Iris Hochstenbach (b), Netherlands, Silver
“That was incredible! I thought we were going to win bronze but then we pushed. We only realised we had won silver when our coached shouted it at us.”

Luise Asmussen (b), Germany
“We weren’t satisfied so we sprinted. We may have sprinted a bit early as the Netherlands ended up winning silver but we’re still very pleased with our medal. It’s our first medal in the double.”

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B-final

Results: CHN, GBR, JPN, MEX

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Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (BM2x) – Final

Germany’s Jonathan Schreiber and Eric Magnus Paul won their semifinal yesterday and also recorded the fastest time overall. Today was a clean slate. Italy’s Niels Torre and Giuseppe di Mare jumped off the line in first. They hit a 53 stroke rate to get their speed going. But despite this higher rating, the margins remained close with Germany, Switzerland and Spain all well within striking distance. Spain were the defending champions in this boat class but this year had two new rowers.

Going through the middle of the race Italy continued to lead. Germany and Switzerland, however, were challenging with every stroke. Italy was holding a 40 stroke rate, Germany was at 38 and Jan Schaeuble and Matthias Fernandez of Switzerland kept their speed with a 36 stroke rate. Spain was back in fourth and would have to do a lot of work to get into the medals. The sprint to the line was on. Schreiber and Paul had nudged ahead of Italy and continued to power forward. Italy seemed to have no answer. The Germans had won.

Results: GER, ITA, SUI, ESP, BEL, GRE

Eric Magnus Paul (s), Germany, Gold
“That was a hard race! At the 1000 meters to 1700 meters we started to sprint and upped the rating. It was a tough race to the end.”

Niels Torre (b), Italy, Silver
“We had a good start but that was a hard race. Germany and Switzerland were very strong! We tried to accelerate away but they were faster. We’ve had a really nice Championships.”

Matthias Fernandez (b), Switzerland, Bronze
“It was a very good race. We had a nice start, a nice rhythm. Our goal was to get a medal and be able to secure it in the first thousand. Coming into the second half, we tried for gold but the others were faster.”

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B-final

Results: AUS, NZL, POR, URU, USA, HKG

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Men’s Eight (BM8+) – Final

The United States are the reigning under-23 champions, but in the heats it was Great Britain and Romania that had recorded the fastest time. This made Great Britain the potential favourites. They took silver at last year’s under-23 championships and had retained four of those silver medallists. At the start the British proved to have the best opening speed and they moved into the lead just ahead of Romania. The United States, who have retained five members of their gold medal 2018 crew, were in third.

Australia, the United States and Romania were all rating higher than the British, but Great Britain were holding them off and continued to lead. The US then did a push and closed the gap on Great Britain. The British were ready and managed to pull away as the final sprint came into view. The US continued to charge, their stroke rate getting to 42. The US must have also seen the Dutch coming. At the line the British had held off the United States and the US managed to hold off the Dutch by just 0.15 of a second.

Results: GBR, USA, NED, ROU, GER, AUS

Matthew Rowe, Great Britain, Gold
“I’m ecstatic! That was an incredible race! We knew we wouldn’t outwork everyone and that it would come down to the rowing, I think that it showed. This is my first gold as a Under 23.”

Andrew Gaard (s), United States of America, Silver
“We knew that the British were going to be fast, and their cox is on it and their rowers are aggressive and they translate that to the water. We made a big push near the 1000 meters. It’s easy in this race to get distracted and get your head out of the boat, but we managed to focus in.”

Joris Moerman, Netherlands, Bronze
“Our warmup was the best rowing we have done but then we lined up and I missed the first stroke off the start. The rhythm was a little off. We were able to pick it up and move through the field. We could have got the USA in the last bit. I blacked out the last 150 meters.”

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B-final

Results: CAN, HUN, FRA

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Men’s Single Sculls (BM1x) – Final

This boat class began with 24 countries entered. Now narrowed down to the final six, it looked like Germany’s Marc Weber was the one to beat. Weber had recorded the fastest time from the semifinals and was last year’s silver medallist in this boat class. Weber, however, had the slowest start. This slow was relative as the margins remained incredibly tight through the opening of the race with only just over half a second separating the entire field. With his nose ahead was Stefanos Ntouskos of Greece. Ntouskos had raced in the pair at last year’s under-23s and finished fourth. He has also been racing this season at the senior level in the double.

Going through the middle of the race only Russia had dropped off the pace with Austria, Romania, Norway, Greece and Germany still tucked tightly together. Ntouskos retained a small leading edge ahead of Weber in second. Then Weber made his move. In the third 500, Weber took his stroke rate to 37-38 and took the lead. The sprint was on to the line with Ntouskos, now in the silver medal spot, under threat from both Jonas Juel of Norway and Mihai Chiruta of Romania. With Weber crossing the line in first there was nothing between Chiruta, Juel and Ntouskos. A photo finish showed Chiruta had missed out on the medals by just 0.03 of a second.

Results: GER, GRE, NOR, ROU, AUT, RUS

Marc Weber, Germany, Gold
“It’s a hard field – we are all fast in the first 1000 meters, and all side by side. Stefanos is strong in the third quarter and got ahead. I fought it out with him towards the end.”

Stefanos Ntouskos, Greece, Silver
“I enjoyed the race! I tried to maintain my speed as much as possible and sprinted in the last 500 meters. I didn’t take the gold but I tried my best so I’m happy.”

Jonas Juel, Norway, Bronze
“I’m super pleased, it was a really tough race. I tried to stay with the pack and then it was just who wanted it in the last 500 meters. I’m super happy to have made the podium.”

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B-final

Results: AUS, BUL, RSA, SUI, LTU, JPN

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Women’s Single Sculls (BW1x) – Final

The United States and Australia were the two scullers that got a direct path to today’s final after winning their respective heats. Australia’s Ria Thompson had the fastest time and looked like the favourite going into this final, but Emily Kallfelz of the United States had the home crowd advantage and also won silver at last year’s under-23 championships. Kallfelz took the early lead with the closest challenge coming from Juliette Lequeux of France. Lequeux could not maintain her opening speed and Bulgaria moved into second.

Meanwhile Kallfelz had worked her way to over a boat length lead and looked to be working towards an open water lead. Then Thompson did a huge push in the third 500. Thompson had been maintaining a 35-36 stroke rate through the body of the race and she was maintaining her speed as the other boats started to tire. The final sprint was in view and Thompson was retaining her speed. Kallfelz was noticeably slowing. Then former lightweight, Clara Guerra of Italy pulled out an awesome sprint. With Thompson overtaking Kallfelz and grabbing gold, Guerra had moved through the field to earn her first medal as a heavyweight – bronze. At the finish Guerra was the happiest of the trio.

Results: AUS, USA, ITA, CAN, BUL, FRA

Ria Thompson, Australia, Gold
“Most surreal race ever! Emily was so far ahead I didn’t know where she was but congratulations to her. I just went for it on every single stroke and it paid off.”

Emily Kallfelz, United States of America, Silver
“My start and sprint aren’t so strong. Clearly my sprint wasn’t here (laughs). I’m good at the base beat, but I need to work on bumping up the rate. I think the heat really got to me, I couldn’t see at the end there. So it’s not one of me better races, but there are good aspects to it. Next I’m going back to my full time job in Boston, and training with some of the senior women scullers out there.”

Clara Guerra, Italy, Bronze
“This means so much to me. It wasn’t an easy decision switching from lightweight to heavyweight. I am so happy! It is so so hot out there. I only thought about how badly I wanted to medal.”

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B-final

Results: GER, RSA, GBR, DEN, SUI, POR

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Women’s Eight (BW8+) – Final

In the preliminary race the Netherland and Great Britain had raced each other at the head of the field. Today they raced for the medals. Great Britain got off the quickest, but there was really nothing in it between them and the Dutch. The United States and Romania followed very closely behind. The Netherlands, coxed by Eline Berger, then settled into a 37 stroke rate pace and moved ahead of Great Britain.

The British now had to keep an eye on the United States who in turn were watching out for Romania. The Dutch continued to move away from their competition with Great Britain now comfortably ahead of the United States. It looked like the race had all but been decided going through the third 500. Still rating 37, the Dutch continued to hold the lead. The US then went to 39 and closed on Great Britain who went to 40 with Romania giving it their all at 42-43. The order did not change. The Netherlands had become the new world champions. They were greeted by a huge flock of swimming supporters as the celebrations began.

Results: NED, GBR, USA, ROU, GER

Eline Berger (c), Netherlands, Gold
“We just planned our race and executed that. It went well and that really just gave us wings!”

Holly Dunford, Great Britain, Silver
“That was a really tough race out there! We had a good start and we’re really pleased we managed to take home a medal.”

Isabel Weiss (c), United States of America, Bronze
“It was a really great race! It really came together at the end of the season. We have some really tough competition so this is a great result and even better to have done it on home turf!”

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