Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) – Final

New Zealand come to this final as the fastest qualifiers from the semifinals. The duo of Brooke Donoghue and Olivia Loe won at World Rowing Cup III and look to be the favourites today. But Olympiand Meghan O’Leary and Ellen Tomek of the United States had the very loud crowd behind them and had done well through earlier rounds of racing. At the start it was Australia’s Olympia Aldersey and Madeleine Edmunds that had the fastest early pace. Aldersey and Edmunds got to the first 500m point in the lead. But there was nothing in it with just a second separating the entire field.

Donoghue and Loe then did push going through the 750m mark and by the half way point the order had changed. New Zealand had the lead with Australia right on their tails in second and the United States very much on the pace. It was still close and all six boats were still within striking distance of the gold medal as just two seconds separated the fleet. Donoghue and Loe were now showing their stamina and had pushed out to a boat length lead. But the Americans were coming with Australia trying to hold on. The wind had switched to a tail as Donoghue and Loe brought their boat home to a gold medal. The crowd cheered for silver medallists Tomek and O’Leary with Aldersey and Edmunds earning bronze.

Results: NZL, USA, AUS, LTU, CHN, FRA

Olivia Loe (s), New Zealand, gold
“We’re really excited, really  proud of ourselves. We wanted to get out ahead and made sure that no one could pass us in the last 750m. It’s a great start for our career and for the Olympic cycle.”

Meghan O’Leary (b), United States of America, silver
“We were like, let’s see what we can do this season because we were pretty good after our Olympic final. It’s been a really tough year for us and I’m just happy it all came together like this.”

Madeleine Edmunds (s), Australia, bronze
“The conditions were really tricky out there today, but we just stuck to our guns and kept it internal. We had our race plan we just executed it to the T.”

B-final

Coming through from the semifinals Italy and Germany had the best qualifying times, but today it was European Champions, Kristyna Fleissnerova and Lenka Antosova of the Czech Republic leading the way. After overtaking the Germans, the Dutch moved into second and within striking distance of the Czechs. Italy was now very much on the pace. Rating 34-35 in the final sprint Fleissnerova and Antosova held off the Netherlands and Italy to take first and seventh overall at this regatta.

Results: CZE, NED, ITA, GER, SWE, GRE