Tight racing and tricky conditions at Eton Dorney World Cup

The day started in firm cross wind conditions with some wind gusts that turned to a head cross. The temperature stayed in the low teens (Celsius) with the sun trying to break through the cloud cover.

AS Women’s Single Sculls (ASM1x) – A-Final
In the first final at this regatta the AS women’s single sculls opened with a dramatic finish when Paralympic Champion, Alla Lysenko of Ukraine lost her gold medal spot and also nearly got overtaken by the new Norwegian sculler, Birgit Skarstein when Lysenko stopped just before the line.

Russia’s Natalia Bolshakova got out into the lead and although Lysenko worked hard, Bolshakova remained in front. At the Gavirate Para-rowing regatta in Italy last month Bolshakova beat Lysenko on two days of finals and the word was that Lysenko had some more work to do on her fitness. Lysenko could not match Bolshakova today with the Russian winning her first World Cup medal. Lysenko came through in second with Skarstein in third.

At Gavirate, Skarstein had beaten Lysenko in one of the races so it must have felt good for Lysenko to hold off the Norwegian today.
Results:  RUS, UKR, NOR, ISR, SUI, HUN

Birgit Skarstein (NOR) – Bronze
“It was hard to row with the side wind. I had to pull hard on my right the entire way. My right arm is pretty exhausted but I still have something left with my left side.”

AS Men’s Single Sculls (ASM1x) – Final
For one man in this race there must have been a feeling of redemption. Tom Aggar of Great Britain had been on an unbroken winning streak leading up to the London 2012 Paralympic Games. But in the final Aggar ended up out of the medals, and in fourth place. Now on the same Paralympic Games regatta waters, Aggar did what the local crowd wanted him to do – win.

At the start of the race Russia’s Aleksey Chuvashev had the lead. Chuvashev was the Paralympic bronze medallist but at the Gavirate para-rowing regatta last month, Chuvashev finished second to Aggar.

Coming into the half-way point at 500m, Aggar did a piece that inched him past Chuvashev as these two scullers moved away from the rest of the field. Now in the lead Aggar looked like he had really found his pace and he continued to move away, albeit slowly, from Chuvashev. Aggar crossed the line easily ahead of Chuvashev. Great Britain’s number two boat of Andrew Houghton finished a distance back in third.
Results: GBR1, RUS1, GBR2, RUS2, EST, HUN1

Aleksey Chuvashev (RUS1) – Silver
“I didn’t think I could win so I am happy to come second. I’m not sure how I’ll prepare for the World Championships but I’m looking forward to the big test. If you look at the race today I was at 90% of my capability. This is just the start of my training.”

Andrew Houghton (GBR2) – Bronze
“My season went up and down. I had a great result in Varese to beat Aleksey Chuvashev there and I am a bit disappointed to be so far behind today. However I beat Vadim Morozov who beat me in 2012 so I am showing progress.”

B-Final
After the heats yesterday it was not surprising to see Poland’s Leszek Niewiarowski in the lead after his effort in the heat yesterday. Niewaroski burst out of the start at a 46 stroke rate pace. By the middle of the race Niewiarowski had a huge lead over Ireland in second.
Results: POL, IRL

TA Mixed Double Sculls (TAMi2x) – A-Final
In yesterday’s race for lanes France showed the way by a huge margin. Today the margins were a bit closer but Perle Bouge and Stephane Tardieu of France still dominated. Bouge and Tardieu were the 2012 Paralympic Games silver medallists and the duo have a good track record as they move into their fifth year together.

Behind the French, Paralympic bronze medallists Oksana Masters and Robert Jones of the United States found themselves in a very close battle with Israel’s Olga Sokolov and Reuven Magnagey as well as Para-rowing newcomers, Marinus de Koning and Ester van der Loos of the Netherlands.  

Masters and Jones had a small margin over Israel and the Netherlands coming through the first half of the race but then found themselves increasingly under pressure from Sokolov and Magnagey. The Israeli duo raced in the Paralympic Games where they finished ninth overall. Sokolov and Magnagey then did a push that propelled them ahead of the United States and they retained the pressure to the line. With easily in first, Sokolov and Magnagey had earned their first ever international medal by finishing second with Masters and Jones holding on to third.
Results: FRA, ISR, USA, NED, POL, IRL

Stephane Tardieu (FRA) – Gold
“It’s a good continuation from the Paralympics. We have continued to train and it is  good progression to be winner here. This is really special for us as we have only every finished in a major event. This is our first gold medal.”

Oksana Masters (USA) – Bronze
“The wind made it very difficult. But it is nice to be back here in Eton. It’s just good to be racing again.”

LTA Mixed Coxed Four (LTAMix4+) – Final

A two boat race saw Paralympic Champions, Great Britain dominate from the very first stroke. Great Britain had retained two members of their Paralympic crew – Pamela Relph and Naomi Riches – with the new additions of Samuel Murray and Olivier James. In the race for lanes yesterday the British indicated that they had very good speed and today they enjoyed the feeling of being easily in front. Ukraine gave it a mighty effort but they were outclassed by the British.
Results: GBR, UKR

Pamela Relph (GBR) – Gold
“The conditions were definitely trickier today. We knew that we had them (Ukraine) yesterday in the race for lanes but not everyone races to the maximum. We just thought that we would stay in our race and just row our best with the conditions. We got away from them quite quickly and then just held off.