Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x) – Finals

A–Final

This was shaping up to be a battle between Jason Osborne of Germany and Michael Schmid of Switzerland. Osborne won the two World Cups earlier this season, beating Schmid both times, and then at this regatta he set a new World Best Time in the heats. Schmid comes to Plovdiv as the European Champion but yet to beat Osborne. Osborne got off to a lightening start with Canada and USA chasing hard. The United States sculler of Andrew Campbell raced in the final of the Rio Olympics in the lightweight double and then took last year off from international rowing. Coming through the middle of the race Osborne continued to lead with Campbell in second and Schmid pushing into third.

Campbell and Schmid went neck-and-neck through the third 500 and in the process managed to close a bit on the flying Osborne. These three crews looked to be in the medal spots with the final sprint going to decide the order. Osborne was holding them off with a stroke rate of 36. Schmid got ahead of the US with a 39 stroke rate and Campbell held on the third place.

Results: GER, SUI, USA, CAN, CHN, HUN

Jason Osborne, Germany, gold
“This year it’s a very tight field. After the semis I knew I had to go out fast. At the end of the race, if they would have come for me, I would have had something left in the tank.”

Michael Schmid, Switzerland, silver
“I knew Jason would be very strong today. I hadn’t raced against him this year so I tried to beat him but I felt a bit stiff at the end. Considering Andrew was on a comeback he was very strong.”

Andrew Campbell Jr, United States of America, bronze
“I went off pretty steady and then with 750 meters to go, I tried to step it up but I simply couldn’t keep up with Michael. To be honest my goal was to get on the podium today, so this was a great result considering my comeback.”

Re-watch the race here

The under-23 silver medallist, Hugo Beurey of France went off really quickly and took nearly a boatlength over Mexico in second. Mexico took the lead for a short time before Martino Goretti of Italy came roaring through and not only took the lead but opened up a gap. Australia’s Hamish Parry followed suit with Samuel Mottram of Great Britain also right there. Mottram was gaining on Goretti with every stroke in the last sprint. He ran out of water.

Results: ITA, GBR, AUS, SLO, MEX, FRA