Para PR3 Men’s Pair (PR3 M2-) – Final

A–Final

It was a quick start for Canada and France. This is the first year for the PR3 men’s pair to be at the World Rowing Championships and these would be the crews that would set the standard. Earlier this season France’s Taranto and Jesel raced at World Rowing Cup II and won. Here in Plovdiv France had a new crew lining up of Jerome Pailler and Laurent Viala. Canada’s Kyle Fredrickson and Andrew Todd got to the first 500m mark in the lead with Australia’s James Talbot and Jed Altschwager following in second. Canada won the preliminary race two days ago and they were proving it was well deserved as they moved further away into the lead.

Talbot and Altschwager tried to close on Canada, but Canada was able to hold them off. Fredrickson and Todd became the first ever World Champions in this boat class. Australia took silver and France held on for bronze.

Results: CAN, AUS, FRA, JPN, RUS

Kyle Fredrickson (b), Canada, gold
“We had a good race. Today was about executing our race plan which is what we’ve done throughout the regatta. Next year is qualification year and I think we’ll be shifting our focus to the four and adapting our training for that.”

Jed Altschwager (s), Australia, silver

“We were very nervous about the start but after that it was good to get back into it. It is only early days for us so it’s very exciting to see where this can take us.”

Laurent Viala (s), France, bronze

“Our steering was a bit tough at the beginning, we went from lane to lane. We’ve only been together for 6 months and only at training camps so we haven’t had much practice. This boat is very technical so it makes it very difficult.”

Re-watch the race here