Para PR2 Mixed Double Sculls (PR2 Mix2x) – Final

A-Final

The Dutch crew of Annika van der Meer and Corne de Koning had won by a handy margin in Friday’s test race. But van der Meer and de Koning are doubling up at this regatta and also racing in the PR2 single sculls. Both of them won their respective single in yesterday’s finals. Did they have enough recovery time for this race?

At the start van der Meer and de Koning had the fastest speed. They are the World Champions in this boat class and also hold the World Best Time. Van der Meer and de Koning settled into a 30 stroke rate pace and led the way over a close battle between Ukraine, France and Poland. These three crews were neck-and-neck and matching each other in their fight for the silver medal. On paper Poland looked to be the one to beat being current World silver medallists and going through the middle of the race Michal Gadowski and Jolanta Majka of Poland managed to break away and get into the silver spot. This left Ukraine and France to fight for bronze.

The Dutch retained 30 crossing the finish line with an open water lead. Poland came through for silver and France, rating 37, managed to just beat Ukraine who were at 43.

Results: NED, POL, FRA, UKR, GER

Corne De Koning (s), Netherlands, gold
“Today we really focused on our technique. We know our strengths and so we rowed long and well. We’re quite used to the conditions as we both raced yesterday so we knew what to expect and how to share the pain.”

Michal Gadowski (b), Poland, silver
“It was a hard race but we had really strong competition so we’re still happy.”

Perle Bouge (b), France, bronze
“We just didn’t want to let Ukraine get ahead of us. It was a very hard but a very good race.”

Re-watch the race here