B Finals begin at the Under 23 Champs

Finals B and A will continue on Sunday, the fourth and last day of racing.

Men’s Coxed Four (BM4+)

There was no wasting time in this fight for seventh to twelfth place in the world at the under 23 level and Canada’s coxswain Matthew Swaile made sure of it by taking the lead from the start. Canada has brought a very strong squad of sweep men to this regatta, many of them currently attending United States universities on rowing scholarships. Today they took seventh overall when they fought off a strong challenge from Germany.

Lightweight Men’s Quadruple Sculls (BLM4x)

Three boats took this race to a photo finish when they went head to head for the entire 2000 metres, but it was the strong middle 1000 that gave Austria the edge at the finish despite a massive sprint by Belgium. Only 0.02 of a second separated Austria and Belgium at the finish with Ireland in third and ninth overall.

Women’s Pairs (BW2-)

Great Britain had the will and the expertise of coach and former Olympian Peter Haining behind them helping with their impressive lead and unrelenting sprint at the finish. Despite their lead Great Britain got their rating up to 37 at the end, easily in front of Greece in second.

Men’s Fours (BM4-)

This event has turned into one of the most competitive of these championships and the B Final certainly exemplified this. South Africa started off in the lead for the first half of the race. Spain took over in the second half with South Africa holding on to take second and Great Britain and Latvia also very much in the race in the final sprint.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (BLW2x)

Canada held a tenuous lead over Switzerland and Japan, moving away from Switzerland as the race progressed but never able to shake off Japan. In the final sprint Eri Wakai and Yuki Tamagawa of Japan were unrelenting taking their stroke rate to 35 then 37. Canada tried to match it getting up to 38 strokes per minute. Japan got the edge and finish the regatta in a credible seventh overall with Canada just behind them. This is Japan’s first appearance at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships, showing some excellent base form especially in lightweight events.

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (BW4x)

No contest. Two boats. One leader. Hungary held on to the pace of the Italians for the first half of the race then slipped further and further back. Italy finish seventh overall.

Women’s Eight (BW8+)

This is the first year the women’s eight has been at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships and eight entries showed an excellent standard. Canada overtook Ukraine after an initial slow start and spent the rest of the race extending their lead. Many of Canada’s eight row at United States universities so come together during their school summer holidays.

Men’s Eight (BM8+)

With the same crew as 2005 Estonia finish seventh overall by leading this B Final and in the process earn the same spot as last year. Estonia’s lead was only marginal throughout the race and they were forced into a final sprint, rating 39, by a flying Croatian crew.