Race Report - First medals awarded at the 2023 World Rowing Cup II

The second session on Day 2 of racing at the 2023 World Rowing Cup II in Varese included seven medal winning Finals, picked up by eleven nations.

PR2 Women’s Single Sculls

The PR2 Women’s Single Sculls was the first race with medals at stake. Brazil’s Josiane Dias De Lima was determined to take that honour and pushed hard with a high rate off the start. Ukraine’s Anna Aisanova, with a lower rate, did well to stay within touching distance, holding De Lima to six seconds between the halfway and the final 500m. As the buoys turned red, De Lima stamped her authority and stretched her lead to win Gold by over eight seconds, with Aisanova winning Silver. Hong Kong China gets Bronze with a determined performance from Ka Yee Ip in her international debut.

PR2 Men’s Single Sculls

Three rowers from two countries competed in the PR2 Men’s Single Sculls. Corne De Koning from the Netherlands flew off the start and stayed ahead to win a well deserved Gold, leaving the two flanking Italians Daniele Stefanoni and Gian Filippo Mirabile behind by over four seconds within the first 500m. The Italians pushed each other hard all the way with Mirabile trailing Stefanoni for the majority of the race before a late surge earned him Silver over his compatriot, with Stefanoni having to settle for Bronze.

PR3 Men’s Pair

This category was a two-way duel between Ukraine and Brazil. In yesterday’s Preliminary Race, Brazil took away what appeared like a confidence boosting win. However, evidently Ukraine had more in the tank and Stanislav Samoliuk and Andrii Syvykh led the race to win Gold in convincing fashion, stretching out a lead to nearly ten seconds. This is despite Brazil’s Keizy Bonine and Gabriel Mendes De Souza commendable efforts to limit the gap in the final quarter and coming home with a Silver in an impressive international debut.

Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls

A full slate of six scullers lined up for the Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls. France’s Aurelie Morizot led from the start and rowed the majority at the not too hurried stroke rate of 32. Despite pressure from Great Britain’s Olivia Bates, who rowed large stretches of the punchier rate of 35 and USA’s Sophia Luwis, Morizot’s Gold was never truly threatened. The battle for the other medals were more intense, with Luwis making up nearly a second deficit with 500m to go to jump ahead of Bates to win Silver. Bates herself earned Bronze by holding off the surging Dutch Sculler Tosca Kettler, who came away fourth.

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls

The Italian home crowd’s patience pays off as Italy win their first Gold in the Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls. Italy’s Niels Torre took a patient approach and was not worried when Switzerland’s Andri Struzina took the lead in the first quarter of the race. From there, Torre gradually stepped up the intensity, wrestling back a one second lead by halfway with the gap only growing to over five seconds by the finish line. The contest for Bronze was tighter, with France’s Baptiste Savaete managing to keep away from a dogged Manel Balastegui from Spain to win Bronze.

Lightweight Men’s Pair

Three pairs faced off in the Lightweight Men’s Pair Final. In the first half of the race, Italy and Germany were neck and neck, with just half a second separating them. Perhaps sensing the Italian crowd at the grandstand, Italy’s Francesco Bardelli and Stefano Pinsone made for a hard push in the third quarter, breaking clear from Germany’s Zeno Robertson and Max Von Buelow, to the jubilation of the Italian crowds as Italy win two Golds in a row. The Hungarians also had a strong finish and surged in the final 500m to gain a spectacular Silver ahead of the slowing Germans, who were relegated to Bronze.

Lightweight Men’s Quadruple Sculls

The three boats on the very last race of the day displayed a masterclass of technique in the Lightweight Men’s Quadruple Sculls. All three stayed close, but could not get past Italy’s initial fast start, and they rated above 40 for the entirety of the race to maintain their lead. The home crowd once again celebrated for the third time as Italy takes home another Gold. Germany kept close throughout but could only hold on to their second position to win Silver, ahead of the Netherlands.

Well done Italy for winning Gold three races in a row – there will be lots of celebrations in their camp tonight.