14 Oct 2018
Clashing oars and tight turns; finals at the World Rowing Coastal Championships
The finals were raced over a six-kilometre course beginning with a beach start followed by five buoy turns, then a beach finish.
Women’s Double Sculls (CW2x) – Final
The France01 crew of Nathalie Collet and Diane Delalleau were fastest off the start. But it was Italy02 (Eleonora Denich and Federica Molinaro) that headed towards the buoy with the best line along with Spain01 (Ainoha Sasanova Calpena and Nadia Felipe Garcia). Collet and Delalleau got to the first buoy in the lead, using a stroke rate of 34. Spain and Canada01 (Casie MacCharles and Kaelyn Gauthier) followed in second and third.
Then Italy02, who had won their heat the day before, came up on the outside of the French and bridged the gap before the buoy. The Italians pulled ahead, forcing Collet and Delalleau to pull a very tight turn between Italy02 and the buoy. France02 (Maya and Josephine Cornut-Banjou) also got caught on the buoy, as well as other boats following close behind.
Italy02 took advantage of the situation and broke into the lead, with Germany02 (Barbara Jonischkeit and Hanna Bornschein) behind them and France02 in 3rd. This order held through the 2nd and 3rd buoy turns, as the field started to spread out.
After the last buoy it was a straight 500m sprint to the finish. The Italians managed to keep their lead, staying long and strong in their strokes, and bringing their stroke rate up. The French Cornut-Banjou sisters (aged 16 and 19) tried to close the gap but were not able to. France01 finished third.
Federica Molinaro (ITA)
“That was fantastic. We were first from the start and just maintained that. It’s a strange kind of pressure when you’re out there – both relieving that you’re first but also scary to see the others behind you.”
Men’s Coxed Quadruple Sculls (CM4x+) – Final
A clean start saw Italy01 (Gustavo Ferrio, Stefano, Morganti, Leone Barbaro, Piero Sfiligoi and Piero Dodesco) and Monaco01 (William Ader, Mathieu Monfort, Maxime Maillet, Gaetan Delhon and Clara Stefanelli) take off the quickest towards the first buoy. Monaco, made up of ex-national French team members, were the favourites to win, alongside the Italians.
The boats started to spread out early on in the race, making for a clean first turn at the 1.4km mark, with Italy and Monaco still holding the lead. France01 (Clement Thomas, Romain Denic, Xavier Morelle, Morgan Dugueperoux and Loann Cuvillier) was in third with the young Chinese university crew of China02 (Haoyu Wang, Xiancheng Liao, Xin Hao, Kaipu Wang and Zhouke Zheng) following behind them.
Coming around the 2nd buoy, Ireland01 (Kenneth McCarthy, Vincent Brownie, Andrew O’Sullivan, James Lupton and Clara Deasy) and Germany01 (Simon Kuwert, Henning Maiwirth, Jan Grafe, Max Alexander Koelling and Feli Eckel), in 5th and 6th, had a small clash of oars, but managed to keep their positions in the race.
Still out in front the was Italy01, Monaco and France01 in their respective positioning to cross the line with China02 closely behind.
Piero Sfiligoi – ITA
“The start was really fast. It was 1-2-1 with Monaco back and forth. After the first buoy we started to move away, and from the 2nd buoy onwards we kept out front. There was a bit headwind after the last buoy which made the finish hard. But we’re super happy, and this has been a great weekend.”
Women’s Solo (CW1x) – Final
Janneke Van Der Meulen from The Netherlands (NED01) was the fastest off the start and she quickly settled into the lead. Italy02 of Annalisa Cozzarini and France01 (Edwige Alfred) followed in 2nd and 3rd respectively with Bryony Jones from Great Britain (GBR01) in 4th.
Meanwhile 2017 coastal champion, Diana Dymchenko of Ukraine was picking up her pace and catching up to the Netherlands in the lead. Dymchenko then grabbed the lead coming into the first buoy, pushing the Netherlands into 2nd. There was a clean turn by all rowers around buoy one.
A battle for third and fourth was going down between Alfred and Sweden. Alfred must have wanted to defend her bronze medal from last year’s championship, but Sweden managed to push past her.
Out in front, Dymchenko, rating 31, increased her lead over van der Meulen. France02 managed to takeover Alfred and Sweden at the 2nd buoy, placing herself in 3rd. Van der Meulen fell back into 4th, then worked her way back to second by the next buoy.
As the rowers come around the last buoy they all picked up speed. Dymchenko took gold, while the Netherlands and France02 battled in out just before the line to finish 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Diana Dymchenko – UKR
“That was incredible. I had a lot of fun out there. But I’ll always want more. That’s what this sport is about for me.”
Men’s Double Sculls (CM2x) – Final
Quickest off the start was Spain1 of Antonio Guzman and Patricio Rojas Aznar and Germany02 of Paul Weidenmuller and Malte Hein. The Netherlands (Julien Bahain and Mitchel Steenman) didn’t have a good start and were last coming away from the beach. They were the favourites to win after yesterday’s heats. The Dutch boat included Olympian Bahain who is one of the organisers for these coastal championships. Steenman is also an Olympic rower.
France04 of Gael Chocheyras and Vincent Cavard and Monaco (Paul Mosser and Vincent Noirot) then moved into the lead. Then Spain01 caught up and took 2nd as they rounded the first buoy. Bahain and Steenman fought back on the 1.9km stretch and used the tailwind to their advantage to get into third, behind France04 and Spain01.
The leading crews managed to hold their position through to the second to last buoy. Rounding that turn, the Netherlands puts in the same sprint that they executed in the heats to close on the leading Frence.
In the last 500m, the French and Dutch went stroke-for-stroke. A super close finish saw the Netherlands grab gold, French silver, and the Spanish bronze.
Julien Bahain – NED
“During the heat our start was perfect. We timed it to 4 seconds. Today, it wasn’t so great. The seat came off and we had a hard time getting going. But we came back, gaining on one boat after another. It was a tough race, but it makes the story even better.”
Women’s Coxed Quadruple Sculls (CW4x+) – Final
Spain01 (Sofia Anton Ruz, Sara Perez Caballero, Ana Navarro, Violeta Belda Borja and Sergio Lopez Gomez) and France01 (Charline Le Breton, Elodie Prince, Fabienne Courtois, Virgine Jouffe and Loann Cuvillier) were the quickest off the start. Spain took the early lead. They won their heat yesterday, so were favoured to do well today. The winners of the other heat, Russia, rating at a low 29 strokes per minute, used their power to move out front with the Spanish.
Coming around the first buoy turn, Ireland01 (Emily Bulohery, Cliona O’Regan, Orla Gilsenan, Miriam Sheehan and Camel Connolly), Spain02 (Christina and Laura Moreno Gallego, Maria Alejan Avalos Ramos, Rosa Mari Lopoez Eugenio and Sara Torrijos Cruanes), and Denmark02 (Cecille Lutzen Soltoft, Ragna Kar Siguroardottir, Tanja Igland, Tanja Nors Tardrup and Charlotte Rasmussen) got too close and came to a dead stop. Ireland managed to get out of the mix-up and took off, but Denmark and Spain02 were now in last. Russia and Spain01 were still out in front, with open water over Monaco (Carla Muller, Helena Hehlke, Megali Albin, Kristina Fortuna and Coline Caussin).
Russia was still powering ahead, pushing away from the Spanish and the rest of the pack. Russia looked calm and collected, keeping their stroke rate under 30. Coming into the last two buoy turns, the podium seemed pretty much set – Russia, Spain, Monaco. They kept this order through to the line.
Elena Daniluk – RUS
“That was a great race. I am thrilled with the results. So exciting to win here.”
Men’s Solo (CM1x) – Final
Peru’s Eduardo Linares Ruiz was fastest into his boat and off the start. He took the early lead, but the Swede Gustavsson was also up there with him. Italy01 (Simone Martini) was creeping up to be with the leaders. Linares managed to keep the inside line. Martini played it safe and was right behind him. Gustavsson had a small oar collision with Lars Wichert of Germany02 just before the buoy turn and the following pack was able to catch up. Ireland took advantage and moved into 3rd.
Linares could feel the pressure from Martini. Martini is the reigning coastal World Champion, while Linares finished second in 2017.
Italy04 (Federico Garibaldi) then made his way into third with Wichert moving up. Wichert raced this year on the German national team in the lightweight single and he was able to overtake Martini around the next turn. The order at the finish was Linares, Wichert and Martini in the medals positions.
Eduardo Linares Ruiz – PER
“That was incredible. Really. It was for my family… and my parents… and yeah. Incredible. That’s all I can say.”
Mixed Double Sculls (CMix2x) – Final
This boat class is newest addition to the World Rowing Coastal Championships, making its debut at this regatta. The entire field was quick off the start, all making clean entries into their boats.
The Netherlands01 of Mitchel Steenman and Janneke van der Meulen had both won medals earlier in the day in the CM2x and the CW1x respectively. France01 (Pierrick Ledard and Edwige Alfred) follow the Dutch close behind.
Coming into the first buoy, the Netherlands took the lead ahead of Ledard and Alfred and Monaco01 (Ludovic Dubuis and Clara Stefanelli). Germany01 of Gero Mimberg and Pia Leonie Otto had a run-in with Italy01 (Annalisa Cozzarini and Rosario Panteca) at the buoy, bringing both boats to a stand-still.
Progressing into the fourth buoy, France01 and the Netherlands01 were way out ahead of Monaco01 and the pack. Canada05 (Florian Girard and Michelle Truax), in 5th, started to edge up on Monaco and Spain. Canada04 (Norman Healey and Anna-Marie De Zwager) headed directly towards the buoy and pushed to the wrong side of it. They opted to take the 1 minute penalty and not go back around the buoy.
In the last 400m it was clear that Steenman and van der Meulen would take home the first place, but it was a close battle for second to fifth position. This ended up as France01 in silver and Spain02 in bronze position.
Van der Janneke – NED
“We proved we are a fit couple I guess. We were not expecting anything going into that race. We just focused on our race and togetherness.”