Women's Single Sculls (W1x) - Final

It was a surprise to have the Olympic Champion, Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic relegated to the C-final. Instead this final included three finalists from last year’s World Rowing Championships  including the bronze medallist, Jingli Duan of China. Jeannine Gmelin of Switzerland was the first to show. Gmelin finished fifth last year so she has already qualified for the Rio Olympics.

Going through the middle of the race Gmelin still had the lead with Tatsiana Kukhta of Belarus now moving up to take on Gmelin. But there was very little in it between the field with less than a second separating the entire field. All of these scullers would have to find a second gear for the second half of the race. Now Carling Zeeman of Canada did a huge piece and moved to the front of the field. Zeeman was sixth at last year’s World Rowing Championships and she had been doing some very solid off-season training. Belarus One was now winding up along with winner of yesterday’s semifinal, Sanita Puspure of Ireland.

All scullers sprinted to the line. It was impossible to tell who would medal. A final push from Zeeman gave her the gold medal. Silver went to Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus and Puspure of took bronze.

Results: CAN, BLR1, IRL, SUI, BLR2, CHN

B-final

Olympic silver medallist Fie Udby Erichsen of Denmark had the lead right from the start. But it was Olympic Champion from the quad, Nataliya Dovgodko of Ukraine that had been the closest boat to making the A-final from yesterday’s semifinal races. Dovgodko followed in second before Erichsen did a push and moved away from the field. Meanwhile the rest of the field moved up on Dovgodko and formed a practical line as they moved through the final 500m of the race. In the sprint to the line Erichsen remained in front with Austria racing through to take second.

Results: DEN, AUT, ZIM, LAT, SWE, UKR

Carling Zeeman – CAN – gold
“The start has been something I have been working on because I tend to start in the back. Every 500 metres I looked across and everyone was in a straight line. I knew I have a very strong finish, so I knew I could make a move.”

Ekaterina Karsten – BLR – silver
“I am happy about the result, but I was surprised about Canada. The next race will be a regatta in Belarus and then for the European Championships it hasn’t been decided if I will stay in the single, or go in the double.”

Sanita Puspure – IRL – bronze
“In my preparation I covered all the basics, then had a training camp here in Italy to prepare for the World Cup. My plan was to stay with the pack and be efficient. The finish is the favourite part of the race, because I have a lot of power so I might as well use it.”