Last day of racing starts off with Final Bs

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x)

Final C
Finals day dawned with a blustery wind tickling the surface of the Dorney Lake. The first race of the day saw Colin Smith of Great Britain out to avenge his narrow miss of yesterday where he fell just short of the B Final. Today was a different story. Tim Maeyens of Belgium started well but it was Smith who led him down the course and sculled fiercely to take the win. The experienced Akos Haller of Hungary lifted his rate to take second a length back and Maeyens fell even further adrift as Hamburger, from the Netherlands sculled through him to take third, an exhausted Mayens fell back to fourth place.

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x)

Final B
This promises to be a tough day for Fleur Chew of Australia: she has been drafted in to the eight to replace the injured stroke Natalie Bale. First though, Chew had to take care of her single sculls B Final. Keeping her powder dry for the A Final of the women’s eight she left the racing to the trio of the Swede Frida Svensson, Jaklin Bushman Anet of Bulgaria, and Kristiana Rode of Latvia with the Latvian sculler back in third. It was an impressive victory for Svensson of Sweden and in the last 500m the race became somewhat of a procession, Bushman in second, Rode in third.

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x)

Final B
Halfway the field was well stretched out. By 1250 the Swiss sculler Andre Vonarburg had taken this race by the scruff of the neck and led Matt Wells of Great Britain by five lengths with Tufte staying back in third. At 1500m Tufte fought with real pride and sought to scull through Matt Wells with the Swedish sculler Lassi Karonen in close attendance. A great last 100m saw Wells battle for second place with Tufte, the reigning Olympic and World Champions. Tufte took second with Wells in third and Karonen in fourth. Vonarburg took the valuable World Cup point on offer for winning the B Final.

Women’s Pair (W2-)

Final B
At 500m there were four pairs separated by less then a bow ball and at half way a great race was clearly well under way. The British pair had taken the lead with Bulgaria in second and Netherlands in third bout only three lengths covered the entire field. With 500m to go Great Britain still held a lead of just under a length and were desperate to reward the packed grandstands of British fans. With less then 200m to go the British extended their lead to just over a length to the cheers of the partisan crowd with the Bulgarians back in second and the Dutch in third over a Danish crew that could never quite get on terms.

Men’s Pair (M2-)

Final B
After a slightly lethargic start the Czech pair excelled in the middle 1000m to exert a stranglehold on the field which they maintained to the line. Behind them the positions were traded between three crews the Germans, the pair from the United States of America (by way of Oxford University’s Blue Boat) and the Greek entry. The Germans started well but gradually fell back from second at halfway to fourth with 500m to go. The American made a heroic but futile attempt to take second but fell back exhausted in the last 500m falling from second at 1500m to third at the line. It was the Germans who rallied the strongest and having fallen to fourth with 500m to go were able to steal back second from the fading American pair. The Greek pair came in one second back from the USA to take fourth.

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x)

Final B
It was the Greek double that took home the single World Cup point in this race by vanquishing the Polish combination by four seconds. The Estonians held second until the last 400m but struggled to cope with the cross wind and faded to third as the Polish double recorded the fastest 500m of the race to take the second slot. The Egyptians came in fourth and last following the withdrawal of the French double due to illness.

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x)

Final B
After a collision between the Romanian and Dutch double in the first 100m instigated by the cross wind assaulting Dorney Lake this morning the race had to be restarted. In the pack at 500m gone the Dutch double stepped up a gear and strode away to a five second lead with 500m to go which they comfortably held to the line. The Norwegian double had work to do in the last 500m and succeeded in moving from third to second. It was the Germans who suffered the most in the last 500m as they fell from first at halfway to third by the line.

Men’s Four (M4-)

Final B
At halfway the French had taken a narrow lead of one meter rating the thirty-six strokes per minute with China just back in third. However at 1500m gone the French and Swiss could not be separated with the Chinese still lurking just behind. A great race ensued as they dashed for the line. The Chinese uncorked their trademark sprint for the line but were blown onto the buoys by the wind. As they missed a stroke tangled in the red buoys signifying 250m to go they paid dearly. Up front the French stretched clear to win by two seconds and the Swiss just held second by 0.11 of a second over the still shaken Chinese four. 

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x)

Final B
A result for their fans to celebrate as the Swedish double romped home to win by 7 seconds. The slightly disappointed first British double fought off the attentions of the second British double to take second by three seconds having been one second behind them at halfway, but the race was really a procession behind the rampant Karlsson twins who never looked remotely threatened to capture another single World Cup point for their native Sweden.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x)

Final B
A casual cruise for the Portuguese crew who gradually stretched out a lead of six seconds by the finish. In second were the Czech Vetesnik brothers and in third were the Spanish crew with the remainder of the field well back. The second half of the course was something of a formality with the positions remaining static.

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-)

Final B
Heroic second thousand from the Irish four saw them move from fourth at a thousand to win by just 0.17 of a second over the Greek four. In third was the Russian four and it was the Dutch, who lead up to halfway missing out in fourth place.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x)

Final B
After a steady first 500m it was the Australian quad that took this one by an impressive five seconds over Spain in second and Danes just behind in third.

Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (LW1x)

Final B
A fiercely fought B final with Spanish sculler Teresa Mas de Xaxars Rivero desperate to record a win today and in the grueling conditions for the women raced neck and neck to the line with the Greek sculler Chrysi Biskitzi. The lead changed hands several times in the last 200m by the Spanish sculler surged her bow over the line first to record a narrow victory over the Biskitzi and Nora Fiechter of Switzerland who herself engaged in a hard fought battle for the ninth place with Irish sculler Sinead Jennings.

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x)

Final B
Neck and neck at halfway between Michal Vabrousek of the Czech Republic and Fabrice Moreau of France, the Czech sculler asserted himself to open up a clear lead. For him the last 250m were a formality but the Polish sculler Pawel Randa mounted a stern challenge in the latter stages of the race to keep the French athlete honest. Moreau was equal to the challenge and maintained his second position with the Pole in third.

The World Rowing team values feedback