Lightweight Women’s Pair (BW2-) – Final

Racing for the first time this year at the under-23 level, this boat class has been added as part of gender equality in rowing. Four countries lined up and in the preliminary race the United States won by a handy margin. Today they raced for the medals. Hungary shot out at a 50 stroke rate pace and then settled to a high 43 with Italy at 44! Hungary had raced earlier today in the lightweight double d-final and they must have been very well warmed up. But it was the United States crew of Sarah Maietta and Caroline O’Brien who led the way.

Germany had now slotted into second and looked to be the only boat within striking distance of the Americans. The US boat then went a bit crooked. They have rigged their boat to be bow stroked and it looked like steering may be an issue. But they continued to lead and were able to pull away from Germany. The US continued to charge for the line and left the rest of the of the fleet far behind. The American time of 7:43 becomes a new under-23 World Best Time.

Results: USA, GER, ITA, HUN

Sarah Maietta (b), United States of America, gold
“We actually had a bit of a crooked start, which I think was due to our excitement but we then managed to stay calm in the first 1000m as we knew we had good speed. It’s really exciting to be here in this boat class and to be able to represent the USA at this stage.”

Janika Koelblin (b), Germany, silver
“We knew it would be very hard to compete with the Americans but I think we had a really good first 1000m and we are really proud of the race.”

Bianca Laura Pelloni (s), Italy, bronze
“We knew that the USA was very strong and that they would be far ahead, so we really raced our race against Germany. We had a few problems with direction as there were boats crossing the buoys lines. We’re really happy with this race and this result, especially with it being a new category.”