05 Aug 2018
Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – Finals
A–Final
The British looked like the crew to beat following yesterday’s semifinals and they were proving their worth at the start. Harry Leask and Jack Beaumont of Great Britain held World Best Time pace through the first 500. Leask is a Scottish local and he definitely had the crowd support behind him. All six boats were in striking distance of the leading Brits through the second 500 with France’s Matthieu Androdias and Hugo Boucheron now pushing into the lead. Had the British gone out too hard? Poland now began to move. The Polish crew of Miroslau Zietarski and Mateusz Biskup won at World Rowing Cup III last month and they had now moved into second.
In the final sprint the gap between the top four boats was nothing. All boats took their rating up. The crowd came alive. Poland was at 39, Romania at 42, Great Britain at 39 and France at 44. The French had done it. Boucheron and Androdias were sixth at last year’s World Rowing Championships and fifth at World Rowing Cup III. Now they were the European Champions.
Results: FRA, ROU, GBR, POL, SUI, ITA
Hugo Boucheron (s), France, gold
“I think we had the same as the winning French women’s double yesterday. We had he effort and we had the sprint. There were adversaries here we had never beaten and to beat them at such a big competition is really good. I think France and put forward some really impressive results this weekend.”
Marian-Florian Enache (s), Romania, silver
“Feels amazing to medal here. It’s my fourth medal at this level, and this one gives me a lot more courage moving forward towards the World Championships and then Tokyo. It’s also my birthday so it’s pretty cool to medal on my birthday.”
Jack Beaumont (s), Great Britain, bronze
“It feels fantastic to come away with a bronze medal. We came to win but fair play to Harry for jumping in the boat, it was really cool. We gave it everything but I still really want a gold at the World Rowing Championships as I’ve never been able to win won before.”
B-final
The Netherlands had the best time coming out of yesterday’s semifinals and they came out in third behind Germany and Norway. All three leading boats settled into a 35 pace with Greece at 37. Germany’s Stephan Riemekasten and Max Appel remained in front with the Dutch moving up into second and closing on Germany. The Germans reacted and they sprinted to a 37 pace to cross the line easily in the lead.
Results: GER, NED, NOR, GRE, BEL, SRB