Opening showdown at the Paralympic Games rowing regatta displays the best

Rowing has returned to the Sea Forest Waterway on Tokyo Bay as the Tokyo Paralympic Games rowing regatta got off to a great start with the first round of heats. This is the first time the para rowing regatta at the Paralympic Games has been raced over 2000m so every race would set the new standard.

There was a very small head wind on the regatta course and flat water. High humidity meant the 29 degrees Celsius felt a lot hotter.

PR1 Women’s Single Sculls (PR1W1x) – Heats

The reigning World Champion, Birgit Skarstein of Norway got off to a cracking start in the first of two heats. The goal here was to finish first for a direct path to the final. Skarstein is sitting on an unbeaten racing streak that goes back to 2017. She has also competed in the Winter Paralympics since finishing fourth at the Rio Paralympic Games. Skarstein settled into a 30 stroke rate pace to get out to an open water lead with just 500m rowed. France’s Nathalie Benoit with Brazil’s Claudia Sabino in third. Sabino has competed at every Paralympic Games since para rowing was added in 2008.

The order remained the same through the middle of the race as Skarstein continued to pull further away from the rest of the field. Then Korea’s Sejeong Kim did a big push and moved ahead of Sabino as Benoit remained firmly in second. At the line Skarstein had taken the one qualifying spot in a time of 11:11 with Benoit in second and 30 seconds down.

Heat two had Moran Samuel of Israel the fastest out of the starting blocks. Samuel is a favourite to medal at this regatta after finishing with a bronze at the Rio Paralympic Games. She has kept her form taking silver this year at the European Rowing Championships. Samuel juggles training with being a mother of two and her partner is currently expecting number three. Following most closely behind Samuel was Sylvia Pille-Steppat of Germany. The 53-year-old is one of the most experienced at this regatta and most recently raced at the 2020 European Rowing Championships where she picked up a bronze.

Samuel extended her lead going through the middle of the race with Ukraine’s Anna Sheremet getting the better of Pille-Steppat and moving into second. Sheremet, 20, has been racing internationally since 2018 and took bronze at the 2021 European Rowing Championships. Samuel remained the fastest boat on the course as she headed into the home straight. Sheremet was not able to break into Samuel’s lead and will have to return to race the repechage. Samuel recorded 11:03.

Qualifiers: NOR, ISR

Birgit Skarstein-“you never think that you can really relax, but I figured at 1000m I could take down the stroke rate. You always have to be aware that anything can happen and the race is never finished until you cross the finish line.”

*Note official communications following Heat Two meant that Sheremet earned the qualifying spot over Samuel. Link here.

PR1 Men’s Single Sculls (PR1M1x) – Heats

The two heats in this boat class meant that a first place finish was needed for a direct path to the finals on Sunday. Belting out at a fast pace in Heat One was Rene Pereira of Brazil. But Pereira was up against the former World Champion and Paralympic silver medallist Erik Horrie of Australia. In side-by-side lanes both Pereira and Horrie were rating 39 strokes per minute and remained neck-and-neck at the first 500m mark. Pereira is a doctor when not training whole Horrie is a youth worker. Both of them have a long para rowing pedigree. This two-way duel remained through the middle of the race and the rest of the field no chance of getting into a qualifying spot. Spain was the next closest, but it would take something extraordinary to catch up.

Pereira then did a push in the third 500, gaining a slight edge over Horrie. This was an impressive race by Pereira who regularly makes the a-final but has rarely medalled. Horrie is a regular medallist. In the final sprint Pereira had a boat length lead over Horrie. The Australian then took his stroke rate down. Horrie must have decided to go for the repechage. Pereira finished in a time of 9:57.59.

Benjamin Pritchard of Great Britain meant business in Heat Two when he shot out ahead of the reigning World and Olympic Champion Roman Polianskyi of Ukraine. Polianskyi has a near straight winning streak since Rio with just a couple of second places along the way. Israel was also on the pace. Then Polianskyi rating 40, managed to get ahead of Pritchard and started to move away as he headed for the middle of the race.

Pritchard finished second to Polianskyi at the 2021 European Rowing Championships and has been cementing his position in para rowing in the last couple of years. Israel’s Shmuel Daniel remained in third with Nigeria and the United States further back. At the line Polianskyi had recorded 9:56 to get him through directly to the final on Sunday.

Results: BRA, UKR

Rene Pereira- “where I was training before, I didn’t have access to water and was only training on the ergometers. This year, I’ve been training in Sao Paolo where I’ve been on the water a lot more” (when asked what he’s done in the last 2 years of training since Linz)

PR2 Mixed Double Sculls (PR2Mix2x) – Heats

The 12 boats competing were divided into two heats with the winning of each heat getting to go straight to the final. In Heat One China was the fastest out of the start. The crew of Jijian Jiang and Shuang Liu finished 7^th at the 2019 World Rowing Championships. This is the last time they raced internationally with Liu also the silver medallist in this boat class from the Rio Paralympics. Liu and Jiang had the lead at the first 500m marker with the Netherlands crew of Annika van der Meer and Corne de Koning following very closely behind. Van der Meer and de Koning are the 2020 European Champions and the 2021 European silver medallists. They have been racing together since 2017.

China held their lead over the Dutch at the half way point with a very tight battle going on between Italy, Brazil and France behind the two leading crews. Liu and Jiang held their speed as they headed through the third 500, but van der Meer and de Koning were not conceding and remained right on the Chinese tail. Meanwhile Italy had got the edge over Brazil and France to be firmly in third. In the final sprint China kept up their pace and built a wider margin over the Netherlands. They finished with a time of 8:46.

It was a fast start for Ukraine in Heat Two with the United States also looking hot off the line. Then Great Britain began to show as all six crews raced towards the first 500m mark. The British crew of Lauren Rowles and Laurence Whiteley got there first. Rowles and Whiteley are the reigning Paralympic, World and European Champions and they have been racing together since 2015. Australia had now snuck through to second with Ukraine, the United States and Poland neck-and-neck for third. This was shaping up to be the tightest race of the day.

Rowles and Whiteley then managed to get a boat length lead over Australia’s Kathryn Ross and Simon Albury. Ross has been to every Paralympic Games that’s had para rowing and Albury is racing internationally for the first time. It looked like the third 500 was going to cement the positions. Great Britain continued to move ahead with Australia now being challenged by Ukraine. This battle moved Australia and Ukraine away from the rest of the field. At the line the British have won with Ukraine getting the better of Australia but a couple of seconds. Rowles and Whiteley had clocked a time of 8:42.

Qualifiers: CHN, GBR

Laurence Whiteley – “great to get the first one under out belts in not perfect conditions. We did what we had to do. It was nice to get the quickest time, not just in our heat but overall”

PR3 Mixed Coxed Four (PR3Mix4+) – Heats

The mixed four had two heats with the top boat in each heat earning a spot in Sunday’s final. The United States got off to a fast start. The crew of Reilly, Hansen, Nordin Tanguay and coxswain Petrik raced together at the 2019 World Rowing Championships and finished second. They haven’t been able to race internationally together since so all eyes were on their progress since the world championships. Australia followed the closest behind the US with Israel, Ukraine and Canada all packed tightly together. Then the US was able to expand their lead and it did not look like Australia would be able to catch them. Canada and Ukraine remained in a close battle with each other as Israel snuck out ahead of them.

Coming into the final sprint the United Stated continued to increase their lead, but only slightly over Australia who was still keeping the pressure on. The US kept their rating at 35 as Australia looked to be taking their stroke rate down. This gave the US an easy win in a time of 7:19. Australia was second ahead of Israel in third.

The dominating Great Britain lined up in Heat Two. However only James Fox remained from the Paralympic Champion crew of 2016. Since then the crew has been rebuilt and they have indicated their boat speed by winning this year’s European Championships. Quickest moving off the line was Great Britain. Joining Fox in the boat is Ellen Buttrick, Giedre Rakauskaite, Oliver Stanhope and coxswain Erin Kennedy. They were the first to get to the 500m mark with already an open water lead. This left France in second just a smidgen ahead of Italy and Brazil. France finished second to Great Britain at the 2021 European Rowing Championships and they have high hopes for this regatta. Sitting in the lane next to Great Britain, it gave them impetus to judge their speed.

By the middle of the race the British had extended their lead to a yawning gap. France had pulled away from Italy with Brazil and the RPC battling it out behind Italy. The British continued to move further ahead, racing their own private race at the head of the field. Italy was doing a big effort in the outside lane and looked to be moving up on France. But there was no doubt who would cross the line in first. Great Britain had qualified for the final in a time of 7:09 and go on to race the United States on Sunday.

Qualifiers: USA, GBR