Magical duos in women’s double

At the season’s highlight event there seemed to be something magical about boats with two rowers; the Kiwi pair’s historic 16th consecutive win, Italy’s first medal in women’s rowing from the lightweight women's double sculls and Nils Jakob Hoff’s Viking pose after Norway’s dominating performance in the men’s double sculls to recall just a few.

To add to the memorable moments by the greatest duos of 2013 you cannot forget the moment Donata Vistartaite and Milda Valciukaite of Lithuania crossed the finish line in Chungju. The women's double sculls features this week in World Rowing's look back at the best of 2013 and Vistartaite and Valciukaite are truly worth a second look.  

At the finish of the Chungju final, the look of confusion over the result followed seconds later by complete disbelief on the face of 19-year-old Valciukaite. That ‘it’s us?’ moment – is the essence of what makes sport so magical to watch. However the drama and entertainment of the women’s double  did not start here. This was the closing scene of the rollercoaster of a season that had played out in 2013.

A post-Olympic season is always a scramble. Crews, be they newly formed or tried and tested combinations, launch into the year to put their stamp on their boat class at the beginning of the Olympiad. This year the women’s double was the textbook definition of a scramble to assert dominance.

The first showing of dominance this season was by New Zealand's new combination. Fiona Bourke, who came from the London 2012 Olympic quad, and the young and promising Zoe Stevenson had proved to be the fastest duo at New Zealand trials. Their domestic speed was internationally transferrable as seen at the first Samsung World Rowing Cup in Sydney where they showed fine form in the final to finish ahead of China and Great Britain. We would not see this Chinese combination again, but the British duo would be ones to watch.

Great Britain's Frances Houghton started out her 2013 season with the enthusiasm one would expect from someone’s international debut. However Houghton is no stranger to international racing with four Olympic Games resulting in two silvers to her name. Houghton teamed up with Victoria Meyer-Laker in 2013 to launch her fifth Olympic assault. The British duo then used the power of the ‘Dorney Roar’ to row to gold at the second World Cup in Eton Dorney. After a boat-stopping crab, China’s Dongxiang Xu and Feihong Pan lost their leading advantage which allowed Houghton and Meyer-Laker to take the win with Denmark’s talented duo of Mette Petersen and Lisabet Jakobsen earning their first World Cup medal with a second place finish. In a showing of brawn and pure determination the Chinese double managed to finish on the podium with bronze.

When the final World Cup of the season came around, nobody could guess who would be victorious on the ‘Lake of the Gods’ in Lucerne. How much speed would the Kiwis have gained after their European training camp? Would the British crew add another gold to their 2013 collection? Or would a lesser-known combination spoil the hopes of their challengers? It was to be the latter. They had won the European Rowing Championships in Seville in May, but Vistartaite and Valciukaite had not faced many of the crews in this boat class yet this season. However from their first row in Lucerne it was clear that there was something special about this combination.

Expectations quickly built for them crew and Vistartaite and Valciukaite rose to the challenge. Some say winning is a habit and this talented duo made it clear that they had the mental and physical strength to make it their habit. At the finish line Lithuania had just a 0.02 second margin over New Zealand with Americans Meghan O’Leary and Ellen Tomek taking bronze. It was clear that any extra speed the crews of the women’s double could gain in the time between Lucerne and Chungju would have maximum impact on the final result.

The initial rounds of racing resulted in a final line up that would make for intense racing in Chungju. The reality was exactly that. The crowd may have had their favourites, but from the first stroke it was clear that every duo on the water considered itself to be the top crew.

The women’s double final was a display of drama as the crews passed the grandstand. Two of the outstanding crews of the season, New Zealand and Lithuania were fighting it out at the front of the field. Valciukaite had been struggling with a back injury throughout the regatta but her rhythm and power in the closing stages of her first senior World Championships would never have indicated it. She and Vistartaite went stroke-for-stroke with Bourke and Stevenson, as though it was a replay of the final at Lucerne.

As the finish line got closer it was anybody’s race but a missed stroke by New Zealand just metres from the line confirmed victory for the Lithuanians. “It doesn’t compare to any other victory,” Vistartaite said after the race.
Behind the leading two boats was 2013’s top female rower and multi-Olympic medallist Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus who defied the rumours that she would retire after the London Games. She came back this season with Yuliya Bickyk to stand visiblyproudly on the Chungju podium.

After a season that showed tremendous depth in the women’s double, this boat class looks set to produce some of the tightest racing over the next three years.