Early season win for Luini

The Italian Sculling Challenge, the Memorial Don Angelo Villa, is in its fourth year and for the second time Italy’s top lightweight sculler Elia Luini has won.

The challenge begins with a mass start of single scullers and this year a record number of 234 athletes took part. The 6,000m race on Lake Orta, includes a turn-around at a buoy and attracts mainly Italian scullers. But this year there were a number of well-known international names including the first woman home, Sophie Hosking. Like Luini, Hosking is also a lightweight rower and represented Great Britain last year in the lightweight women’s quad.

Hosking, who finished 30th overall, beat top Italian scullers Laura Schiavone and Gabriella Bascelli. Olympic Champion Marit van Eupen of the Netherlands finished fourth woman overall.

Leading the field at the start, Italy’s Jean Smerghetto kept in front until the 1000m buoy before Luini took over in the lead. Luini remained at the head of the field until the finish with Federico Gattinoni pulling into second. Smerghetto held on to third. Italy’s Luca Ghezzi and Slovenia’s Luka Spik finished fourth and fifth respectively.

At the finish of the race a happy Luini said that this win was a great stimulus for the next months of hard work.

For the race the temperatures were mild, in the mid-teens Celsius and despite windy conditions on the previous day, on the day of the Challenge the wind dropped.

For a full list of results click here.

Results

Females
1. Sophie Hosking, GBR 27.16
2. Laura Schiavone, ITA 28.08
3. Gabriella Bascelli, ITA 28.16
4. Marit van Eupen, NED, 28.28
5. Alessandra Caraffini, ITA, 28.57

Males
1. Elia Luini, ITA 24.35
2. Federico Gattinoni, ITA 24.54
3. Jean Smerghetto, ITA 25.02
4. Luca Ghezzi, ITA 25.10
5. Luka Spik, SLO, 25.21