2022 World Rowing Cup Series Leaders Established in Belgrade, Serbia

With light wind and light rain, racing conditions were good on Belgrade’s Sava Lake. After the three medal races yesterday, the remainder of the medallists were crowned in this, the first World Rowing Cup of the 2022 Series.

PR1 men’s single sculls (PR1 M1x) – Final 

Great Britain’s Benjamin Pritchard took the early lead, sitting ahead of last year’s Paralympic silver medallist Erik Horrie of Australia, but they were matching each other stroke-for-stroke. Meanwhile Great Britain’s second sculler, Callum Russel was sitting in bronze medal position. By the halfway marker, Horrie had taken the lead, by less than half a second ahead of Pritchard. In the third quarter of the race, Horrie started to extend his lead with a slightly higher boat speed. In the closing stages of the race, Pritchard tried to challenge Horrie again, but there was too much work to be done, and Horrie wound down towards the line and took the gold. There was a second medal for Great Britain as newcomer Callum Russel crossed the line third to take bronze.

Result: AUS, GBR1, GBR2, MEX, HUN

Erik Horrie, Australia, Gold:

“It was a challenging race. Hats off to Ben and Callum from Great Britain. I was really happy to come away with the win. This is my first hit out since Tokyo. We’ll now go back to Italy and work on a few things and then do it all again in Poznan.

PR2 mixed double sculls (PR2 Mix2x) – Final

The Australian duo of Simon Albury and Kathryn Ross looked in control throughout this final ahead of Hector Arriaga Chavez and Angeles Gutierrez of Mexico. The Mexicans did their best to try and limit the distance between them and Australia, but it was a dominant performance by Ross and Albury to take the second consecutive gold of the day for Australia.

Result: AUS, MEX

Women’s pair (W2-) – Final

 There was very little between the top three crews in the opening stages of the race with Chile crossing the 500m marker just a fraction ahead of Great Britain. In the second quarter of the race, Great Britain’s Emily Ford and Esme Booth moved into the lead, and took control of the race. Meanwhile, Netherlands3 was sitting in third place, and still very much in contention for a medal. By the final quarter of the race, Great Britain had moved into a comfortable position at the front of the pack, whilst Netherlands3 had moved into second place, but Chile weren’t letting them get away. The Abraham twins from Chile really started to go for the line. In the last 100m, Netherlands3 took advantage of a slight crab by the Netherlands1, and just managed to hold them off to take the bronze.

Result: GBR, CHI, NED3, NED1, CRO, NED2

 Emily Ford, Great Britain, Gold:

“We had a bit of a dodgy start and really had to trust our race rhythm. It was an exciting race. It was just really good to get back racing and have some great competition. Conditions were amazing, it was good flat water.”

Men’s pair (M2-) – Final

 There was nothing to choose between all six of the crews off the start, but then Great Britain2 of Wynne-Griffith and George got their noses ahead of fellow Brits Aldridge and Bugajski. Spain was sitting in bronze medal position. By the second half of the race, Great Britain2 had moved into a dominating position. The cheers of the Serbian crowds made a difference in the closing stages as they began to challenge, but an error in their boat allowed Spain to row through and take the silver medal.

Result: GBR2, ESP, SRB, NED1, GBR3, GBR1

 Tom George, Great Britain, Gold:

“I think we need a bit of work on that last 500m. We know we had clear water at 1,250m, but then things closed up. That’s what we’ll go away and work on ahead of the next races.”

Women’s double sculls (W2x) – Final

 Although Great Britain had dominated the heats, Greece and the Netherlands had a blistering start and it was clear that we were in for an exciting final. Netherlands1 of Roos De Jong and Laila Youssifou took a strong lead, but there was still overlap between the top four crews in the second quarter of the race; two Dutch crews, and two British crews. De Jong and Youssifou have a strong history in this boat class, having won bronze together at the 2015 World Rowing U23 Championships, and that experience was really showing. Great Britain1 of Lola Anderson and Georgie Brayshaw were desperately trying to close the gap in the closing stages, but the Dutch duo was just too strong. Great Britain2 got the better of the race to the bronze.

Result: NED1, GBR1, GBR2, NED2, LTU, GRE

Men’s double sculls (M2x) – Final

 The Croatian pair of Martin and Valent Sinkovic didn’t have the best of starts and by 500m, it was still all to play for with Netherlands2, Guillaume Krommenhoek and Guus Mollee, crossing the timing marker at the front of the pack. Moving into the second half of the race, there was still very little between the top four crews but Croatia moved into the lead and took Poland with them. Netherlands2 was still in the medal zone, with Spain sitting in fourth. The Sinkovic brothers were definitely under threat from Poland’s Miroslaw Zietarski and Fabian Baranski. In the final quarter of the race, Poland had half a length advantage over Croatia, and were beginning to move away. Meanwhile, Matthew Haywood and George Bourne had moved into bronze medal position. In the closing stages, Martin and Valent seemed to find another gear and moved back into gold medal position whilst Spain moved in front of Great Britain to take the bronze.

Result: CRO, POL, ESP, GBR, NED2, LTU1

Lightweight women’s double sculls (LW2x) – Final 

China was first to the 500m marker, ahead of the very young Greek double. In the second quarter of the race, Emily Craig and Maddie Arlett from Great Britain moved into silver medal position, and Poland1, Katarzyna Welna and Zuzanna Jasinkska, were definitely not out of contention either. China’s Jiaqi Zou and Xiuping Qiu had a stunning rhythm and held half a length advantage over Great Britain at the 1,500m with Poland1 having moved into bronze medal position. In the last quarter of the race, Great Britain looked impressive and were starting to challenge China. GB had the boat speed to enable them to move into the lead; Maddie Arlett and Emily Craig were absolutely flying in the closing stages and took an impressive gold medal.

Result: GBR, CHN1, POL1, POL2, GRE, CZE.

Emily Craig, Great Britain, Gold:

“We are really pleased with this as the first race of the new Olympiad. It was very unknown competition but we rowed our own race to 1,000m and then we were in a strong position and really pleased to take the win.”

Lightweight men’s double sculls (LM2x) – Final

 Switzerland led the way off the start with a blisteringly high stroke rate, and were first to 500m with Poland close on their tail. By the halfway marker, those positions were unchanged and Spain was in bronze medal position, but it was still incredibly close across the entire pack. In the third quarter of the race, the young Swiss double of Jan Schaeuble and Raphael Ahumada Ireland had broken clear of the pack and looked in a comfortable position for the gold medal. Meanwhile, the Czech Republic had moved in front of Spain and were contesting for the bronze medal. As the race approached the finish, it was a dominating performance for the Swiss double, nobody could catch them. Behind them, there was still a battle for the silver and bronze medals; Spain came back in to the medal zone and took silver.

Result: SUI, ESP, CZE, POL, UKR, BEL

 Raphael Ahumada Ireland, Switzerland, Gold:

“It’s the first time we’ve raced together so our plan was just to do our best and see where we fit in the international field. We are pleased with how it went so are very happy.”

PR3 mixed coxed four (PR4 Mix4+) – Final

 It is a new combination for Great Britain, but they were as impressive as ever. However, Australia was still keeping in touch as they approached the 1,000m marker. Great Britain really started to move away in the third quarter of the race and were looking in a very strong position. Nothing changed in the closing stages and Great Britain took the gold.

Result: GBR, AUS

 Ollie Stanhope, Great Britain, Gold:

“Our start was really good. We found a good rhythm and then held an aggressive rhythm through the middle. We were hunting the record time We fell just a bit short, but it’s just the start for this crew.”

Women’s four (W4-) – Final

 Great Britain had an impressive start and took a strong lead by the 500m marker.  By halfway, Great Britain had established a commanding lead with Denmark in second and China1 narrowly holding third place ahead of China2. Great Britain looked razor sharp and were moving further ahead every single stroke and were really moving away in the third 500m of the race. There was several lengths of clear water separating Great Britain from the remainder of the crews, but it was all getting very tense for the remaining medals. Despite having oceans of clear water, Great Britain charged for the line. Denmark had a length advantage over China1 for the silver.

Result: GBR, DEN, CHN1, POL, CHN2, ESP

 Samantha Redgrave, Great Britain, Gold:

“It was a good race. We had a good test race too and felt pretty confident after that, but knew we had to do the same again, if not better. We trusted what we had done in the test race, and what we had done in training, and it paid off.”

Men’s four (M4-) – Final

 Netherlands2 went off the start at 42 strokes per minute and had a very small advantage over Great Britain. Poland was keen not to get dropped in the early stages, whilst China2 was sat in bronze medal position moving into the second quarter of the race. Going through the 1,000m marker, Netherlands1 had the smallest of margins over Great Britain, but it certainly wasn’t over. In the final quarter, the British crew found more in the tank and powered towards the line to take the gold medal over Netherlands1

Result: GBR, NED1, CHN2, NED2, NED3, POL

 Lenny Jenkins, Great Britain, Gold:

“We had raced most of those crews before in the earlier rounds, so we knew that everyone was going to come out of the start hard and we had to go with them. I think we did a pretty good job of that. I’m really proud of the boys, they did a great job.

 

Women’s quadruple sculls (W4x) – Final

 Stoke seat Anastasia Kozhenkova put the hammer down for Ukraine off the start, but there was very little between all of the crews as they crossed the 500m marker. In the second half of the race, Ukraine held a very narrow. lead over China with the Netherlands sitting in bronze medal position, but they were still under pressure from Great Britain. In the final quarter, there was a charge coming from Great Britain – all of the crew had raced just an hour and half earlier in the women’s doubles. Whilst China had moved into the lead, the Netherlands found some amazing energy in the closing stages and worked their way through the pack and into the gold medal position. China held on to silver and Ukraine took the bronze.

Result: NED, CHN, UKR, GBR, SUI, POL

Men’s quadruple sculls (M4x) – Final

 Poland appeared to take the early least, but there was very little to call between the crews in the first minute of the race. It was still incredibly close at 500m where China1 had taken the lead with Ukraine in second and Poland holding the bronze medal position. In the second half of the race, the Dutch moved into second position, and China was still out in front. Ukraine had crept into bronze medal position, with Lithuania still in contention. It all started to close up in the final stages of the race but China held on to the lead, crossing the line a canvas ahead of the Netherlands. During the sprint to the line, Lithuania had moved into bronze medal position, edging ahead of Ukraine by just over half a second.

Result: CHN, NED, LTU, UKR, POL, SUI

 

Men’s eight (M8+) – Final

 Great Britain took the lead early in the final of the men’s eight, and had established a clear water advantage by 500m. Meanwhile, the Netherlands and China were battling it out for the silver medal. It was a dominating performance from the British eight for the remainder of the race, with a very quick middle section. The Netherlands took the silver medal, just under two seconds ahead of China.

          Result: GBR, NED, CHN

 Harry Brightmore, Great Britain, Gold:

“It went to plan really. We focused on ourselves and some technical things and that enabled us to lead the race from the start. We have some guys back from Tokyo and some new faces too.”

Women’s single sculls (W1x) – Final

 Dutch sculler Karolien Florijn established an early lead ahead of Lenka Antosova of the Czech Republic and Lu Shiyu of China. Great Britain’s Hannah Scott was also still in contention and started to make a move in the second quarter of the race with Antosova being pushed back into fifth place as China’s second sculler, Yunxia Chen maintained fourth. Florijn was looking to open up a clear-water advantage at the halfway marker and with Shiyu holding silver medal position, Scott had moved into third place. Nobody could catch Florijn as she continued to dominate the race but there was a real battle for the silver with Shiyu getting the better of Scott by just over a second.

           Result: NED1, CHN1, GBR, CHN2, CZE1, SRB

Women’s eight (W8+) – Final

The Netherlands looked impressive from the start and despite having doubled up across a variety of events, they had come together very well in this new combination eight. The race was then on between the two China crews with China2 taking the silver medal.

         Result: NED, CHN2, CHN1

Men’s single sculls (M1x) – Final

 Germany’s Oliver Zeidler had an impressive start and took an early lead over Melvin Twellaar of the Netherlands. Zeidler soon established clear water with a real fight ensuing for the silver and bronze medals. In the middle of the race, Great Britain’s Graeme Thomas increased his boat speed to move into third place. As the race passed the halfway marker, Zeidler had a strong lead, but it was still all to play for behind him. Twellaar eventually established a comfortable second position and even started to put some pressure on Zeidler. Meanwhile, whilst Thomas maintained bronze medal position, the young Brit Callum Dixon certainly kept him under pressure and crossed the line just under a second behind.

        Result: GER, NED, GBR1, GBR3, BUL1, SLO