U23 Men's Four (BM4-) - Final

Romania qualified for the A-Final with the fastest qualifying time and occupied favoured middle lane three in this A-Final. The United States lined up in the other middle lane, lane four, as the direct qualifiers from the other heat.

All six crews sat within one boat length at 500m with Great Britain having the edge, Romania following in second and the United States in third. In the second quarter, Great Britain and Romania had distanced themselves from the rest of the field, with Great Britain leading.

Canada and the United States crossed the half-way mark nearly level in third and fourth. Which of the two crews would take the bronze? With 500m left to race, Canada and the United States were still neck and neck. It was impossible to tell which crew would be on the podium. Romania was still in second position, in close contact with Great Britain and refusing to give the British any peace.

In the final stretch of the race, Great Britain’s pace began to slacken and Romania charged ahead to move up into the gold medal position. The British crew held on to take the silver medal, with Canada having the final advantage over the United States for bronze.

Results: ROU, GBR, CAN, USA, ITA, ESP

Alexandru-Cosmin Macovei (s) – ROU – gold
“In 2013 I won gold in the junior men’s four. This time we have two new people in the boat. We had our best race ever, it was very hard, but in the end I am World Champion.”

Richard Clarke (b) – GBR – silver
“We do everything we can to cool down in such hot conditions. We really needed to step up as we came to the final through the repechages and we did it.”

Mackenzie Copp (3) – CAN – bronze
“We had a good race, we came off the start strongly and we found a good rhythm. We made a big push at the bridge. The last 500 was a tough battle with the USA and we went for it.”

B Final 

Germany was a powerhouse in the B-Final of the men’s four and remained untouchable throughout the race. Austria followed in second throughout, unable to challenge the German boat. Lithuania followed in third.

Results: GER, AUT, LTU, UKR, CHN, BUL