The very best are crowned champions at the World Rowing Championships

Para PR2 Women’s Single Sculls (PR2 W1x) – Final
It took only 250m for Kathryn Ross of Australia to break away from the rest of the field. Ross has moved from the double to the single and very successfully. She broke the World Best Time earlier in the week and has moved herself into the favourite – a position that has been held by Annika van der Meer of the Netherlands. Van der Meer was in second with Ireland’s Katie O’Brien following in third. Ross last raced internationally at the 2016 Olympics where she finished in the b-final in the double. Ross had now created a huge yawning gap between her and van der Meer in second as the sun came out and the temperatures began to rise. The race was all but over with Ross taking the gold.

Results: AUS, NED, IRL, USA, LAT

Kathryn Ross, Australia, Gold
“This is pretty special. I took a break after 2016 and really had to re-evaluate starting again. But I have a coach who worked with me to make sure I was in the best shape possible.”

Annika Van Der Meer, Netherlands, Silver
“That was a tough race for me! Kathryn from Australia is just amazing and Katie from Ireland was very close. I’m feeling a bit tired as this is my fourth race but I’ll drink a lot of water and be ready for the next one. The championships have been really exciting and it feels like a great tournament.”

Katie O’Brien, Ireland, Bronze
“I didn’t come off great in the start, I missed a few strokes. Coming home I caught a crab,  but I think it was the nerves that got to me. This is my first World Rowing Championships so this is a great result. Next I’ll focus on bled for next year, as I don’t have a partner to row with and try to qualify with in Ireland.”

Para PR2 Men’s Single Sculls (PR2 M1x) – Final
The order at the start mirrored the results from 2018. In the lead was Corne de Koning of the Netherlands with Canada’s Jeremy Hall in second and Italy’s Daniele Stefanoni in third. De Koning has been dominating this boat class and he set the World Best Time at last year’s World Rowing Championships. Spain tried to move up on these three leading boats, but experience was showing through. De Koning will race again in the final of the double, but it wasn’t stopping him from putting in his best effort. The speed of the Dutch sculler was just superior to anyone else in this race. Hall was rating higher that de Koning at 32 with de Koning at 29 and was doing his best to close the gap to get that gold medal. De Koning responded and moved away again. Would it be a new World Best Time? Would he sprint the finish?

Results: NED, CAN, ITA, ESP, USA, NZL

Corne De Koning, Netherlands, Gold
“It was a really good race for me and it’s a great feeling to be able to defend my world champion title. I was also pleased with my performance, I felt like I was in control and could respond to the Jeremy’s pushes.”

Jeremy Hall, Canada, Silver
“This week has really been up and down, doubling up with the double, which is a new crew. It has been challenging, which was tough emotionally, so tougher than usual. But I executed a good race today and I’m happy with that.”

Daniele Stefanoni, Italy, Bronze
“It’s a beautiful feeling! I had a very good race. I’ve really enjoyed the World Rowing Championships, it’s been a great experience. Thank you to the organisation.”

B-final

China and Germany raced each other with Germany’s Leopold Reimann, 22, dominating.

Results: GER, CHN

Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (LW1x) – Final
Coming through from the semifinals Germany’s Marie-Louise Draeger had recorded the fastest time. The 38-year-old has a huge long pedigree in rowing including rowing as an open-weight at the Olympics. Draeger was the first to show with Nicole van Wyk of South Africa moving with her. This was a gutsy move by the less experienced van Wyk. The field remained quite tight with Japan’s Chiaki Tomita also showing good opening speed. Tomita now got ahead of van Wyk. Draeger and Tomita then created a small break at the head of the field. Tomita was pushing on, but Draeger was ready and held off Tomita.

The sprint was on and Draeger was moving away with Tomita doing her best to hold off Madeline Arlett of Great Britain. Arlett had overtaken South Africa coming through the final sprint and had also closed on Japan as the race came to an end.

Results: GER, JPN, GBR, RSA, CAN, NED

Marie-Louise Draeger, Germany, Gold
“In this moment I am really proud. My son told me this morning that gold was a possibility. I went out there and did it for him.”

Madeleine Arlett, Great Britain, Bronze
“It’s an unbelievable feeling. I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a long time and to do it myself is even more special. I’ll take some time off now to recover.”

B-final

After an initial lead by Ireland it was Emily Schmieg of the United States that took over in the lead. But this race was incredibly tight and a mad flurry for the finish line say Australia’s Alice Arch just pip Denmark for first.

Results: AUS, DEN, USA, NOR, IRL, ITA

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x) – Final
The European Champion Peter Galambos of Hungary had the best start. They all got away rating in the low 50s and then started to settle down into the high 30s. But then Martino Goretti of Italy then did a big kick and not only took the lead but started to break away from the field. Goretti has an international career that goes back to 2003 and earlier this season he raced to fifth at the World Cup and third at the European Championships. Goretti now had an open water lead with Galambos being challenged by Sean Murphy of Australia. Then Samuel Mottram of Great Britain started to push to try and get into a medal position. The sprint to the line was on. Mottram was winding. Goretti held on to the lead as Galambos sprinted to the finish. Galambos was closing on Goretti. He ran out of water. Goretti is the World Champion.

Results: ITA, HUN, AUS, MEX, GBR, CAN

Martino Goretti, Italy, Gold
“Now I cry. I said before this regatta that this would be my last world champs. Now I am old enough to quit. When the LM4- was cancelled I lost my Olympic dream. I thought the sport was no longer for me, then I discovered rowing in the single and realized I could still enjoy it.”

Peter Galambos, Hungary, Silver
“I put in the maximum amount of effort and managed to come away with the second place. Everything at the World Rowing Championships has gone really well. I believe it is a fair and equal course.”

Sean Murphy, Australia, Bronze
“That race went a lot better than I thought it would. Last week I was out of the boat due to a back injury and I’ve only really just got back in. I’m really amazed that I was in that final. It was just about giving the race a good go and having fun.”

B-final

The start saw take the lead before Switzerland’s Jan Schaeubel took over with Austria taking chase. In the final sprint they were joined by Poland and Ireland. Five boats went for it for the line, all within a shot of leading. The crowd was ecstatic. Austria’s Reiner Kepplinger had won in a very good time of 7:00. Just two seconds separated the top five boats at the line.

Results: AUT, POL, USA, IRL, SUI, TUR

Para PR3 Women’s Pair (PR3 W2-) – Final
This was a two-boat race. In the second year as a World Championship event the reigning World Champions, the United States led the way over Italy. Jaclyn Smith was part of the 2018 boat that won and she has a new partner this year. Molly Moore has joined the boat. By the middle of the race the United States was showing pure class and they were more than 40 seconds ahead of Italy’s Greta Muti and Maryam Afgei. The order didn’t change through to the end.

Results: USA, ITA

Jaclyn Smith (s), United States of America, Gold
“That was really great, I really enjoy racing the pair! Today was a great experience and lots of fun!”

Greta Muti (b), Italy, Silver
“This is a fresh boat and Maryam is really young. It’s always tough to find a balance between our disabilities and rowing, but it’s great to see our team grow.”

Janika Koelblin (b), Germany, Bronze

“The race was decent. I think we wanted to place better. Last year we got silver at U23s.”

Para PR3 Men’s Pair (PR3 M2-) – Final
The World Champion Canadians sat inn the centre lane. The crew of Kyle Fredrickson and Andrew Todd won their heat on Monday. But Australia won the other heat and in a much faster time. At the start of the race France’s Jerome Hamelin and Laurent Viala had the lead. They have already medalled earlier this season but they needed a repechage to get to this final. Canada then went a bit crooked and towards France. After being corrected by the umpire Canada was part of the leading mix along with Australia. These three boats had now moved away from the rest of the field and formed a line. Then Australia did a push and William Smith and Jed Altschwager had the lead. Canada went to 34 to try and catch up. Australia was at 31 and looked to be running out of steam. The sprint to the line was on. Canada and Australia were both at 35. Canada had defended their World Champion title.

Results: CAN, AUS, FRA, UKR, AUT, USA

Andrew Todd (s), Canada, Gold
“This is pretty cool. I think we had a big target on our backs after last year’s result. I was in a cast until the day we left to come here, so it’s been a pretty challenging year since 2018 champs.”

William Smith (b), Australia, Silver
“Overall we’re very happy with our results. We got pushed a lot during the race. This was my first year for World Rowing Championships so it was a bit daunting but I’m really happy.”

Laurent Viala (s), France, Bronze
“It was a very good race, we are disappointed we didn’t win though. We’ve only been in the same boat for four months and this is our third race. Overall it is a good third position. This was definitely our fastest 2000 metre time.”

Lightweight Women’s Pair (LW2-) – Final
The United States was the quickest qualifier from the preliminary race but they were up against this year’s under-23 world Champions Italy. The Italian crew of Sofia Tanghetti and Maria Ludovica Costa grabbed the lead early on causing Margaret Bertasi and Cara Stawicki of the United States to be in the chasing position. The race was still very tight and Germany was moving with the United States. Italy and the United States went through the middle of the race neck-and-neck. Bertasi and Stawicki then did a push and moved away from Italy. They then tried to drop Italy and solidify their gold medal chances. It was successful. Italy sat in the silver medal spot. Then the US missed a stoke. It didn’t matter. USA take the gold.

Results: USA, ITA, GER, LAT

Cara Stawicki (s), United States of America, Gold

“The race was great! We were behind at first but we rowed with confidence and gained it back inch by inch. This is a great end to the season!”

 

Sofia Tanghetti (b), Italy, Silver

“We knew that we had a chance at a medal, but we also knew that the US is really strong. We’re both under 23, but to race here and see boats qualify for Tokyo is really special.”

Lightweight Men’s Pair (LM2-) – Final
In the heats Italy’s Giuseppe di Mare and Raffaele Serio had won their heat and recorded the fastest time. They sat next to the Czech Republic crew of Jiri Kopac and Jan Hajek who had won the other heat. Italy got away the quickest and moved into their cruising speed in the lead. The Czech Republic and Brazil both followed very closely. Italy maintained 39 strokes per minute and had clear water at the half way mark. De Mare is a silver medallist at the under-23 level, Serio is a gold medallist at the under-23’s. The Czech’s were in second with Russia and Brazil holding their own battle for third. This Russian-Brazilian battle brought them up to the Czechs and then overtook them. Kopac and Hajek were out of the medals. Brazil went to 44 to get ahead of Russia. Italy continued to lead and win. Russia held on to silver with Brazil taking bronze.

Results: ITA, RUS, BRA, HUN, CZE, AUT

Giuseppe Di Mare (b), Italy, Gold
“It was a difficult race, everyone was very strong but we managed to be quicker today. I’m very happy to win again!”

Maksim Telitcyn (s), Russian Federation, Silver
“The race was excellent! Throughout the championships, we’ve been getting better and better as our first race wasn’t very good. Today we really believed we could get a medal and we got one.”

Emanuel Dantas Borges (s), Brazil, Bronze
“It was a good race, Italy was really fast. We were back and forth with Russia around the 1000 meters. But we’re really happy with the result.”

B-final

A two boat race had the United States dominate with James Nelson and Alex Twist winning and therefore finishing seventh overall.

Results: USA, ARM

Para PR3 Mixed Double Sculls (PR3 Mix2x) – Final
Russia did a flying start and kept at 38 strokes per minute with 250m rowed. In the preliminary race Russia had won easily and it was looking like a repeat today as they raced for the medals. Valentina Zhagot and Evgenii Borisov were bronze medallists from last year. Austria took the silver medal in 2018 but they did not look like they could beat Russia this one year later. Austria’s Johanna Beyer and David Erkinger sat in second. This left a huge battle for third between Israel and the United States.

Russia had now broken away from the field with Austria solidly in second. The race for the bronze had just gotten more intense as China had joined in. Then the US did a piece and broke away into a solid bronze position. The order did not change through to the end.

Results: RUS, AUT, USA, CHN, ISR, ITA

Evgenii Borisov (s), Russian Federation, Gold
“We’ve been racing together three times before, but this is the first time we’ve won. We are very happy with the result.”

Johanna Beyer (b), Austria, Silver
“I’m happy with this result. We kind of expected second – we know the Russians are really strong after our preliminary race the other day. Our start was faster than normal, I think we were really excited out there. But we managed to stick with our plan.”

Joshua Boissoneau (b), United States of America, Bronze
“Third is good! I’m happy with this. We have a lot to work on but I’m happy with this. (Pearl) kept up with all my mistakes out there and helped me out.”

Lightweight Men’s Quadruple Sculls (LM4x) – Final
Italy and China won their respective heats earlier in the week and they recorded almost identical finishing times. They sat in the middle lanes to race each other for the first time today at this regatta. All other crews had come through a repechage to get to today’s final. With 200m gone Italy had a small lead over China. Then the Chinese moved into the lead. They took bronze at World Rowing Cup III. Italy was holding on to second with Austria and the Netherlands neck-and-neck for third. The field remained tight with the race for silver now going on between four boats. The Dutch moved into second as China got a clear water gap. Italy tried to come back into silver with Austria right with them. The gap on China closed but they held on. China is the World Champions.

Results: CHN, ITA, NED, DEN, AUT, FRA

Zhiyuan Zhang (b), China, Gold
“We are extremely excited about this gold! All the efforts are worthful. We’ve expected for a gold for a long time but we’ve lost to NED for two times. Now we finally achieve it! It’s time for celebration.”

Gabriel Soares (s), Italy, Silver
“We expected the gold, but here we are. We did our best out there, but we’re not super happy. It’s all part of the sport though. We did all we could, and we were all spent at the finish.”

Ward Van Zeijl, Netherlands, Bronze
“That was a really amazing race as there was such high competition here today. At 1000 meters we had to push to get a medal and at 400 meters we were neck to neck with Italy and we all reacted by shouting “yes!” Then it was lights out and we went for it. We had a lot of fun here this week and it’s been a really positive experience.”

B-final
A two horse race between Ireland and the United States. These two crews are built around the 2018 under-23 crews. They were incredibly close to each other through the first half of the race before the United States was able to break away and hold off any Irish challenge.

Results: USA, IRL

Lightweight Women’s Quadruple Sculls (LW4x) – Final
This was the last chance to win medals today and Italy looked like they wanted the gold the most. But the margins remained tight and all six crews were still in medal contention. China then got a slight edge to be the closest to Italy. China did very well in the preliminary race and Italy must have known to keep an eye out for them. Germany and the United States, meanwhile, was battling it out between each other for third. Italy continued to power on and held off anything that China threw at them. Germany and the United States kept coming. Italy was at 38, China at 37. The US took a bad stroke. Germany got into the bronze medal spot.

Results: ITA, CHN, GER, USA VIE

Silvia Crosio, (s), Italy
“We were afraid of the other crews after the test race. We knew China was really good. But we tried to have a really good start and then just focus in on our race.”

Fang Chen, People’s Republic of China
“We’ve reached our limits in this race. We could’ve done a little bit better in the last 500m, but we are satisfied with this result.”

Vera Spanke, Germany, Bronze
“I didn’t know our position until the end, I had no view on where USA was so it was really close. I’m happy with our result.”