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Aleix Garcia Pujolar (b), Rodrigo Conde Romero (s), Men's Double Sculls, Spain, 2023 World Rowing Cup III, Lucerne, Switzerland / World Rowing/Benedict Tufnell

It’s heating up here at the Rotsee – both on the water, and under the sun. Racing at the 2023 World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland continued this afternoon, with Quarterfinals and Repechages.

Second chances

With only two spots in each race for the A/B Semis, there was no room for error in the men’s double sculls. Moldova and Australia managed to grab those spots in the first Rep, followed by Romania and Great Britain in the second. A very close race between Germany, New Zealand 2, and Greece saw Germany miss out. The Spanish, World Silver medallists, and winners at Henley Royal Regatta last week, were racing in the fourth Repechage alongside France, who have Olympic Champion in this boat class, Hugo Boucheron, onboard.

Photo finish – LW1x, Repechage 1

The last A-Finalists in the lightweight women’s single sculls were determined with today’s Repechages. In a nail-biting race, France’s Aurelie Morizot and Canada’s Karissa Riley crossed the line with a difference of 0.02. Morizot will join Olivia Bates of Great Britain, who finished first in that Repechage. The second repechage of that same event saw a 0.03 difference between the USA’s Liz Martin and Australia’s Georgina Miansarow, both of whom will progress to the Final.

A healthy dose of Quarterfinals

Quarterfinals were contested today in the men’s pair, as well as the men’s and women’s single sculls.

In the first Quarterfinal of the men’s pair, it seemed to be a gentle paddle for the leading crews – Great Britain, Spain, Australia – as they came into the finish, clearly comfortable with their positions to qualify for tomorrow’s A/B Semis. The second race was the complete opposite – while Serbia had a length lead over the next crews, Canada managed to finish second, with a very close sprint between Italy and Switzerland 2 for that third spot. Italy won out. The Swiss, who progressed from the third race alongside Romania and New Zealand 1, posted the fastest time across all four quarterfinals.

Germany’s Alexandra Foester asserted her dominance in this boat class, finishing ahead of the Tokyo Olympic silver medallist, Anna Prakaten, who now represents Uzbekistan. Serbia’s Jovana Arsic completed the field that will advance to the A/B Semis. In the second race, the reigning Olympic Champ, Emma Twigg of New Zealand, lead by a considerable distance. Behind her, Desislava Angelova was trying not to get caught up in the battle for third – Diana Dymchenko finished just 0.02 seconds ahead of Spain’s Virginia Diaz Rivas. It was the reigning World Champion, Karolien Florijn, who won the third Quarterfinal, but perhaps surprisingly, it was the Lithuanian Viktorija Senkute who crossed the line first in the fourth Quarterfinal.

Oliver Zeidler led his QF from start to finish, being closely followed by Ryuta Arakawa, who had posted the fastest time across the heats. It was the Belgian ex-lightweight Tim Brys who claimed the third spot. In the second race, Tom Mackintosh of New Zealand also led the wholerace. Canada’s Trevor Jones looks to be on form after having to pull out in Varese, and also qualified alongside Lithuania’s Dovydas Nemeravicius. Stefanos Ntouskos and Sverri Nielsen won their Quarterfinals as well.

And to finish off the day…

The day concluded with the Preliminary race in the women’s eight. Since this race is not mandatory, Romania had opted to not participate. Great Britain, Australia, and Canada got a first run down the course, before they will be joined by Romania for Sunday’s Final – and it was Great Britain coming home in first, ahead of Canada and Australia.

 

For today’s full results, visit our event page.

 


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