Daily digest: Day 1 of Beach Sprint Finals brings tight finishes

The first day of the 2022 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals brought calm weather, but exciting racing. Time trials began early, near the top of the tide, creating a busy atmosphere on the small stretch of beach available, before the first elimination races began a little later. Every rower got a taste of the Pembrokeshire coast on Friday – and those racing in the afternoon also got a taste of Pembrokeshire weather, as the rain poured down.

Reigning champion pushed into second time trial

Reigning Coastal Men’s Solo (CM1x) champion Giovanni Ficarra (ITA) was off the pace in the time trial, raced in poor visibility and heavy rain. He finished 14th out of the 25 solos, and must race the second time trial on Saturday morning to make it to the next round. Christopher Bak (USA) won the time trial for a second year running and will be hoping that the quarterfinals will be more favourable to him than last year, when he missed a buoy and was knocked out.

Olympians to the fore

Helen Glover (GBR) and Emma Twigg (NZL) might be new to coastal rowing, but they’re not new to the big stage and their Olympic experience showed in the time trial for the Coastal Women’s Solo (CW1x). The pair finished top of the rankings, with just 0.04 seconds splitting them. Glover watched Twigg finish with a critical eye; Twigg said afterwards she does not “really have any expectations. Just here to have fun”. The Czech Republic’s Michala Pospisilova was third, some 7 seconds behind Twigg.

Double-double in the double still on the cards for Spain

Last week, Ander Martin and Esther Briz Zamorano (ESP) retained their World Coastal Rowing Championships Coastal Mixed Double Sculls (CMix2x) title – and they’re looking to retain their World Beach Sprint Finals title too. They started out on the right track with a time trial win over Great Britain. With a big entry in this event, the crews ranked ninth to 19th after the first time trial had to race again later; that race was won by Matthew Dunham and Jackie Kiddle (NZL), who were fourth in the CMix2x last weekend at the World Rowing Coastal Championships.

Fast and furious in the quads

France posted the fastest time in the Coastal Mixed Quadruple Sculls (CMix4x+) time trials, but Spain – boasting four members of last year’s World Champion crew – were less than 1.5 seconds back, with the USA and Great Britain also close behind. New Zealand were fifth and had to race the repechage, but as bowman Ben Mason noted, this crew of flat-water internationals are still learning the art of beach sprints and every race could help them.

Home favourite fastest so far

All 16 Under 19 Coastal Men’s Solos (CJM1x) entrants raced both the time trial and repechage on Friday to whittle the field down to eight rowers for Saturday. Great Britain’s James Cox won the time trial and then his repechage. Brian O’Leary (USA) is the only returning competitor from 2021, and he also progressed to the quarterfinals after beating Tomas Neves (POR) in the repechage. The two will potentially meet in the semifinals if they both win their first races on Saturday.

Tunisia’s Belhaje Mohamed stamps her mark

Reigning Under 19 Coastal Women’s Solo (CJW1x) champion Hela Belhaje Mohamed (TUN) has come to Saundersfoot in fine form, and duly sent a message to her rivals with a time trial result that was 4.44 seconds quicker than second-placed Isla MacCallum (GBR). The repechages were won by the next five fastest solos from the time trial, meaning the quarterfinals will feature the eight quickest competitors in this event.

“Rowing hard” in the Under 19 Men’s Doubles

France and the USA recorded almost identical times in the Under 19 Coastal Men’s Double Sculls (CJM2x) time trial, setting up some close racing for the later rounds. Italy were third, meaning they also bypassed the repechages. The closest of the later races was between the Netherlands and Egypt, with the Dutch duo of Owen Knowles and Beer Florijn edging out Egypt’s Marawan Mohamed and Abdelrahman Saad by 0.9 seconds. Florijn, the younger brother of Women’s Single Sculls World Champion Karolien and Dutch Olympian Finn, said after the heat his siblings had given him simple advice: “Row hard.” Clearly, that paid off.

New faces in Under 19 Women’s Doubles

The new Under 19 Coastal Women’s Double Sculls (CJW2x) crew of Annelise Hahl and Annalie Duncomb of the USA were fastest in the time trial, ahead of Spain and France. The duo said they clicked on a training camp at Duncomb’s family home, and have put themselves in a strong position. Japan’s 2021 silver medallists, Sasa Yatsuzuka and Miyuki Yamashita, were eighth in the time trial but looked smooth in disposing of Ireland in the repechage.

Aurore and Aurelien at the top

Last year’s Under 19 Coastal Mixed Double Sculls (CJMix2x) champion, Aurore Combes of France, has teamed up with new partner Aurelien Martin this year. The French look like clear favourites again, with a gap of over 4 seconds to the next-fastest crew, Great Britain, in the time trials. The later repechages saw fairly comfortable wins for Spain, Sweden, the USA, Italy and Tunisia, who will race in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Racing resumes tomorrow, 15 October at 8:50 BST (9:50 CET).

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