Women’s Eight (BW8+) – Final

By a handy margin Canada had won the heats three days ago and recorded the fastest time. Canada is the reigning under-23 champions and five of the crew from 2017 have returned for this year. The United States took silver in 2017 and they finished second to Canada in the heats. The United States, stroked by Brooke Pierson, shot out to an early lead with Canada in second. The United States held their pace into the second quarter, but Canada was coming closer. Germany and the Netherlands, meanwhile, battled for third.

Canada must have decided that the third 500 was theirs to own and they picked up the pace and overtook the United States with the Netherlands now charging and closing on the Americans. Great Britain and Germany were still very much in the running. Canada looked fabulous in the final sprint and at a 38 stroke rate they successfully defended their 2017 title. The Netherlands sprint paid off in the form of a silver medal and the United States just held on to bronze over Great Britain.

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

Sydney Payne, Canada, gold
“The race was fantastic. We stayed calm and collected and kept our focus internal. We stayed with our race plan and everything went as well as it could have. To repeat as champions, means more than words can describe.”

Anne Eva Petersen, Netherlands, silver
“Really enjoyed that! It was our best race that we’ve had together. I had confidence in everyone and glad we raced so well.”

Leigh Warner (c), United States of America, bronze
“When you race at an international level you have to expect everyone to be very fast. We really just stuck to our game plan and I think we had the gustiest 1000m but I think this race really shows how high the calibre of women’s racing is.”

Six of Romania’s athletes come from their 2017 bronze medal junior eight. This crew must be on the way up. They led the way in this b-final with Russia holding on to their lead. Romania was at 38 and Russia at 35 was keeping up. Romania held them off.

Results: ROU, RUS, FRA