Resetting best times – the lightweight women’s double sculls

The lightweight women’s double sculls event featured on the Olympic programme for the first time at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games. Of the five Olympic podiums to date, Romania occupied the golden spot three consecutive times. Three remarkable Romanian athletes made their name in the women’s lightweight double field in the late 1990s and early 2000s: Constanta Burcica (five Olympic medals, three of them gold), Angela Alupei-Tomas (two-time Olympic Champion) and Camelia Macoviciuc (one-time Olympic Champion).

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No one single nation has yet taken ownership of the event quite as strongly as the Romanians did up until 2004. So far, at the two most recent Olympic Games in Beijing and in London, two nations claimed the Olympic title – the Netherlands and Great Britain, respectively.

Over the past decade, two nations have claimed the world title more than once at World Championship level: Greece with the talented Alexandra Tsiavou and Christina Giazitzidou (2009 and 2011) and more recently New Zealand with the youthful combination of Sophie Mackenzie and Julia Edward (2014 and 2015).

New Zealand topped the World Cup standings this year, thanks to a silver medal at World Rowing Cup II in Varese and a gold medal at World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne. Great Britain’s win in Varese and fourth-place finish in Lucerne placed them in second position in this year’s overall World Cup standings.

The four World Best Times set since 2012 attest to the high competitiveness of this event and the ongoing tight rivalry between Great Britain and New Zealand. New Zealand set a world best in 2012 at the World Rowing Cup in Lucerne at 6:49.43, three tenths of a second faster than the one set by China six years earlier. In 2014, Great Britain re-set the best time in the B-final of the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, only to see New Zealand overturn it one hour later in the A-final with a time of 6:48.56. This year, at World Rowing Cup II, Great Britain set a new World Best Time yet again, in their semifinal. It currently still stands at 6:48.38.

The Kiwi-British duel at World Rowing Cup II in Varese saw New Zealand leading the way up until the 1500m mark. Great Britain, including 2012 Olympic Champion Katherine Copeland, then did a fantastic sprint in the final stretch to cross the line in gold in photo finish fashion, just three tenths of a second ahead of the Kiwis.

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At World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne, New Zealand saved their strength in the first half of the final to charge through to first in the second half. Initially led by the strong South African combination of Kirsten McCann and Ursula Grobler, the Kiwis crossed the line just four tenths of a second ahead of the South Africans in gold.

These three crews (New Zealand, Great Britain and South Africa) would remain on top at the World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette, France. In the championship final, the South Africans once again started out in front and dominated the first half of the race. Great Britain were in third with the Kiwis in fifth position at the 500m mark. New Zealand gradually moved up the ranks to third by 1,000m and then upped their stroke rate to charge up and take the lead, staying there until the line. Great Britain overtook the South Africans and the two nations finished with silver and bronze, respectively.

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This was Great Britain’s first World Championship medal in this Olympic cycle and South Africa’s first World Championship medal ever in this boat class. Great Britain are the reigning Olympic Champions, with Copeland having been part of the winning crew in London. Copeland and her new partner Charlotte Taylor won this year’s European Rowing Championships. Despite having won several World Championship medals in this boat class historically, Great Britain earned their only world title back in 1985.

Other A-finalist crews at this year’s World Championships included the 2011 and 2014 world silver medallists Canada, with Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee in fourth.  Jennerich was also part of the 2010 World Champion crew in this event.

Denmark followed in fifth, with Anne Lolk Thomsen and Juliane Rasmussen making a comeback in 2015 after a post-London 2012 break. Rio 2016 will be Rasmussen’s fourth Olympic Games.

Germany finished the World Championship regatta in sixth, after having won European Championship silver and a World Cup bronze this year.

A total of 20 boats will line up in this event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. So far, eleven boats qualified in Aiguebelette, and one boat qualified at the Olympic Qualification Regatta for Africa. Three more boats will qualify at the Olympic Qualification Regatta for Asia and Oceania, three at the Olympic Qualification Regatta for the Americas and two at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta. The boats qualified so far include:

1.       New Zealand

2.       Great Britain

3.       South Africa

4.       Canada

5.       Denmark

6.       Germany

7.       China

8.       Poland

9.       Ireland

10.   Russia

11.   United States

12.   Tunisia (African Olympic Qualification Regatta)