Lightweight Women's Double Sculls (LW2x) -Final

At the start, up-and-coming crew of Cecilia Lilja and Emma Fredh of Sweden grabbed the bull by the horns and took the lead with Alice McNamara and Ella Flecker of Australia One holding the pace. This new Australian crew had shown their worth by winning yesterday’s semifinal, the question was could they hold it together for another day.

Half the race was over and winners from Aiguebelette, Imogen Walsh and Katherine Copeland of Great Britain, were moving up to join the front runners. Walsh and Copeland moved so well that they were able to grab the lead.

The British, now with their nose in front, still had more to give and started to move away from the field. The final sprint was upon them and Olympians Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee of Canada were flying. At the line the British struck gold, Australia One held on to second and the Canadians earned bronze.

Results: GBR, AUS1, CAN, ITA, SWE, POL

Gold – WALSH, Imogen (GBR)

We knew it was going to be a hard race. We’ve had a win before so the expectations were great. Australia was really pushing hard throughout the race but we stuck to our rhythm, which allowed us to pull away at the end. Lucerne is an iconic place; it is great to have a win here. We haven’t been on training camp yet, which makes this win all the more amazing. We have a lot of progress to look forward to.

Silver – MCNAMARA, Alice (AUS)

It was a big turnaround from Aiguebelette. Drew [Ginn] put us into a room for a big chat and just whipped us into shape. The turnaround was mostly mental rather than physical; we built trust and camaraderie over the two weeks in Italy. Drew made us realise what we hadn’t seen.

Bronze – OBEE, Patricia (CAN)

I didn’t know what was going on. We had a pretty good heat and a pretty good semi, both without a finish, so we just executed the same 1750 as last time, but actually finished it off, and it is costing us a lot right now. Lindsay just felt so strong and powerful behind me, she just went right into the finish. One moment it seemed impossible, and the next it felt like YEAAAHH!!!

B-Final

Germany and South Africa only just missed out on making the A-final through yesterday’s semifinals. Today Leonie Pless and Anja Noske of Germany took off in the lead with Denmark chasing hard. A strong second half gave Helene Olsen and Runge Holmegaard of Denmark the first place at the end.

Results: DEN, GER, CZE1, RSA, AUS2, AGR