31 May 2015
Lightweight Men's Double Sculls (LM2x) - Final
Defending European Champions, France’s Jeremie Azou and Stany Delayre had the fastest time following the heats two days ago. They were also the fastest in the semifinals, but only by 0.28 of a second over Great Britain. France and Great Britain (Richard Chambers and William Fletcher) thus met today in the final and both crews left the start together. Stroke for stroke France and Great Britain crossed the first 500m mark at exactly the same time. Just before the 1000m mark Azou and Delayre made a move. Could the 2014 World silver medallists shake the new British crew?
At a 36 stroke rate, France was rating a notch above Great Britain and with that they had got their boat ahead of Chambers and Fletcher. Meanwhile Norway and the Netherlands were battling as Turkey and Ireland held their own battle at the back of the field. The French aggression was paying off and in the final sprint Delayre and Azou absolutely powered home to a convincing win. Chambers and Fletcher were just able to hold on to stay ahead of the 2013 World Champions, Norway who were coming through in third.
Not only had Azou and Delayre defended their title, they had also set a new European Best Time. Their time of 6:11.38 is the new standard.
Results: FRA, GBR, NOR, NED, IRL, TUR
Stany Delayre (FRA) – Gold
We gave it all we had in the 3rd 500metres and we just moved away from the field stroke by stroke. We continue to write our story winning this third European title. We rowed an intelligent race keeping calm and waiting for our time.
William Fletcher (GBR) – Silver
It’s a really high level, we had a lack of speed at the end of the race but we will work on it. The French are together for longer than us, it has been a while without a medal for me, so I am glad.
Are Strandli (NOR) – Bronze
We had a fantastic training period and this race doesn’t reflect it. We love this kind of fight, this is what we live for.
B-final
The Vetesnik brothers from the Czech Republic have a lot of racing in their careers and they were unlucky to be racing in the B-final. By the middle of the race Greece was very much within striking distance of the lead. Then, rating 44 strokes per minute, Hungary charged. They nearly got into first. The Czech’s had just held them off.
Results: CZE, HUN, POR, SUI, AUT, GRE