Women’s Eight (W8+) – Final

The test race yesterday saw New Zealand winning with Great Britain in second and the Olympic Champions, the United States in third. Today these crews went after the medals and World Cup points. The British were first to show with New Zealand slotting into second. Great Britain medalled at the Rio Olympics while New Zealand finished fourth. The British remained in first through the middle of the race as the United States and New Zealand went after the leading crew. A new rule allowing the coxswain to be either gender saw Sam Bosworth move into the coxwain’s seat for New Zealand and he took his crew to a 37 stroke rate to push into the lead. With 500m remaining they had found the lead. The United States has dominated the race since 2006, but it looks like today was not their race. Coxed by Olympic coxswain Katelin Guregian, the Americans charged. So did New Zealand with their rating now in the low 40s. Great Britain held on. New Zealand had won, the British held on to second and the United States was third.

Results: NZL, GBR, USA, CHN1, CHN2

Katherine Douglas (s), Great Britain, silver
“We are all pleased about the race. We stepped up from the European Championships. We are very positive about the future, first Lucerne and then we are looking to perform great in Sarasota.”

Emily Regan (s), United States, bronze
“We are very proud, it’s a real stepping stone. We are looking forward to the future and ultimately Tokyo. We are pretty excited about the World Championships in our country, we are hoping to have a strong supporting crowd and to show the world rowing in the U.S. It has been a long time.”