Lightweight Men’s Pair (BLM2-) – Final

In the heats Italy scored the fastest time with Ireland finishing second to the Italians. Ireland, however, had to go through a repechage to get to the final which they won over France. Great Britain won the other heat and sat next to Italy in this final. Denmark had the fastest speed in the first few strokes before Italy took over in terms of speed. Italy’s crew of Giuseppe Di Mare and Alfonso Scalzone finished third in this year’s European Rowing Championships. Then Turkey started to really push and Mert Kaan Kartal and Faith Unsal of Turkey had the lead. Margins were very tight though and only one second separated the top five boats.

Turkey continued to lead over Ireland with Italy holding on to the leading pace. Great Britain had dropped back along with France and Denmark. The top three boats then moved away from the rest of the field with Shane Mulvaney and David O’Malley of Ireland holding on to second. Ireland has been doing very well at the senior level in this boat class and they must have been inspired by their senior counterparts. Di Mare and Scalzone then charged into the finishing sprint and with 250m left to row they were at 45. Turkey and Ireland were at 37. Turkey went crooked at the finish but didn’t impact on any other crew so the race was declared fine.

Results: ITA, TUR, IRL, GBR, FRA, DEN

Giuseppe Di Mare (b), Italy, gold
“It was a beautiful race. Turkey were very strong, but we never gave up and we tried to win every stroke.”

Mert Kaan Kartal (b), Turkey, silver
“We tried to go out in the first thousand with a high tempo. We were in front of Italy, but they put on a good sprint and passed us.”

Shane Mulvaney (b), Ireland, bronze
“Really hot today, but we knew we had the fitness to pull through. The plan was just to get a medal and we’re not sure when our next race is, potentially Sarasota.”

B-final

Mexico only just missed out on making the a-final and the crew of Francisco Gonzalez and Adolfo Peralta took control of this race at the start. Gonzalez and Adolfo raced as juniors last year. Germany followed in second. But then Hungary picked up the pace and moved into second. Rating above 40 Hungary kept the momentum going and hit 44 coming into the end. Bence Szabo and Akos Privaczki-Juhasz of Hungary had won the race.

Results: HUN, MEX, USA, GER, CHI, NOR