China unstoppable at Lucerne Rowing World Cup

China finishes first and second in the women's double

Five gold medals came their way in spite of the strengthened competition on the Rotsee course in Lucerne, Switzerland.

The wins for China were spread nicely between women and men, sweep and sculling, heavy and lightweight. The women’s pair of You Wu and Yulan Gao dominated their race as they had done at the first Rowing World Cup. On the medals podium Wu and Gao towered over their opponents. Gao, 25, at over 183cm, is the build of many of the Chinese women rowers.

China’s lightweight women’s double set a World Best Time a couple of year ago but did not finish out 2007 at the top of the medals table. In Lucerne they were back on top. Dongxiang Xu and Hua Yu are now likely to be the chosen Olympic boat. The lightweight men’s four struck gold in 2006 and struck it again at Lucerne earning eight points for their nation.

The women’s quad pulled off a coup winning gold over the three-time reigning World Champions, Great Britain. This quad is part of the strong stable of women scullers which include winners of the double, Qin Li and Liang Tian.

China also scored points in the men’s eight with their silver medal finish. Like the Chinese women, the Chinese men also stand tall. Five seat, Chuanqi Zheng is a typical example. Zheng, 24, measures in at 200cm tall with 95kg of power to work with.  
 
China’s total of 63 points was well above Australia in second (43 points) and the United States in third (37 points). These top three results are in stark contrast to results over the last 11 years that the Rowing World Cup has been running. For the majority of these years Germany has ruled the roost with Great Britain always near the top.

Australia, in second, picked up gold in the men’s four, a gold that was a relative surprise. The four is prioritised behind their country’s eight and at recent regattas the four has not ranked highly.

The United States is still to select their Olympic squad. This meant that many of the crews racing at Lucerne were doing it with selection in mind. The US men’s quad caused one of the biggest upsets of the regatta when they beat three-time World Champions, Poland. United States’ women’s eight also won gold.

Standings after the two regattas put China in the lead with 112 points, Great Britain second with 95 points and Germany remain in the top three with 87 points.

The final Rowing World Cup will be raced in Poznan, Poland beginning on 20 June.