An Italian windfall at the World Rowing Junior Championships

The first day of finals at the 2013 World Rowing Junior Championships in Trakai, Lithuania showed the strength of under-19 rowing in Italy.

Of the five finals raced, Italy picked up medals in four of the races. This included silver in the women's and men's four as well as gold in the men's coxed four and the women's quadruple sculls.

The finish of the women's quad had the entire crowd gasping as all six finalist boats closed in on finish bunched tightly together. Leaders for the majority of the race and reigning World Champions, Romania then took a bad stroke with five strokes to go allowing Italy to storm through to win. The United States took silver and Germany won the bronze medal.

The Germans also had medal success in the men's coxed four with a silver and the women's four with a bronze.

Australia took a lone gold in the women's pair when the duo of Jessie Allen and Genevieve Horton raced an aggressive, high stroke rating race that saw them hold off winners of the 2013 European Junior Championships, Romania through to the finish line. Romania took silver and a last minute sprint by Spain earned them the bronze medal.

Romania's men's four proved to be one of the classiest crews of the day when they set a fast pace early on in the race and held it through to the end. Despite the bumpy water for the first part of the course, the Romanian crew still recorded a time of 6:01 – one of the fastest ever recorded in this event at the World Rowing Junior Championships.

Racing continues on Sunday 11 August 2013 with the ranking finals starting at 9:30 hr and then the remaining eight A-finals starting at 13:30 (EEST).

In the finals of the men's and women's double sculls tomorrow, Romania has demonstrated their strength in the early rounds of racing and look to be favorites. In the women's eight Romania are the reigning World Champions and they will again find their strongest competition coming from the United States which finished second to Romania in 2012.

Poland's  Natan Wegrzycki-Szymczyk is lining up as a top contender in the coveted men's single sculls race.  Wegrzycki-Szymczyk has been racing within his comfort zone to get through to the final, but he will be up against the powerful Boris Yotov of Azerbaijan in Sunday's final.

For the women's single sculls Great Britain's Jessica Leyden will face off against Tatsiana Klimovich of Belarus. These two scullers are likely to be at the head of the field in a bow to bow battle.