Race Report: Thirteen new World Rowing Under 23 Champions crowned in Plovdiv, Bulgaria

On the final day of the 2023 World Rowing U23 Championships, the final thirteen sets of medals were awarded. Todays’ Finals had sprint finishes, a few surprises, and a new World Rowing Under 23 Championship Best Time. Ten nations picked up World Championship titles with two going to Poland, Great Britain, and Germany each.

Lightweight women’s single sculls (BLW1x) – A-Final

Turkiye’s Elis Ozbay got away  quickly off the start and established an early lead, which she held at 500m where Canada’s Karissa Riley was sitting in second and Italy’s Ilaria Corazza in third. In second quarter of the race, Australia’s Grace Sypher knew she needed to make a move and started to increase her rating to 36. While Corazza had moved ahead of Riley, Ozbay was continuing to lead – clearly keen to improve on her silver medal from last year. Past halfway, Sypher attempted to take advantage of a slight crab from Riley and tried to move into the medal zone. Ozbay looked comfortable in the lead, but the rest of the medals were all still up for grabs. Inside the last 500m, Ozbay gold appeared to set, but the other two medals still could go any way. It looked like Sypher was going to run out of water and miss out on a place on the podium, Riley had held on to the bronze.

Result: TUR, ITA, CAN, AUS, SUI, ESP

Lightweight men’s single sculls (BLM1x) – A-Final

Keen to improve on his silver medal from last year, Switzerland’s Gian Struzina got off the start fast and made his way to the front of the field, narrowly ahead of Rasmus Lind of Denmark. As the race approached 1000m, Struzina continued to lead while Italy’s Giovanni Borgonovo and Finlay Hamill of New Zealand were also close to the medal zone, along with Lind. Struzina  had open water on the rest of the field in the third quarter of the race and while Borgonovo started to make a push, Hamill was holding on to silver medal position. Struzina was at 37 strokes per minute as the race came into the final quarter of the race with the chasing packing having to try and match his speed.  As they increased the rate, they were closing the gap and Struzina was coming under huge pressure. Borgonovo had moved into the lead and Hamill was also threatening – then here came Lind! Struzina appeared to have run out of steam and having led the majority of the race, missed out on a medal all together. What a finish.

Result: ITA, NZL, DEN, SUI, GER, AUT

Women’s double sculls (BW2x) – A-Final

It was Romania, who had taken the long route to the final, via the repechage, that took the early lead with Great Britain and Germany close behind. As the light tail wind pushed the crews along, Romania continued to lead but the British boat was hot on their heels so this was far from secure. Germany was sitting in bronze medal position and barring any upsets, the top three looked fairly set. Or did they. As the Swiss double found another gear in the third quarter of the race, Germany appeared to drop out of the medal zone. Meanwhile, the British boat had the highest boat speed and were chasing Romania hard for the gold medal. It was going to come down to who had the biggest sprint in the last 500m. Great Britain started to sprint for the line, Romania had to respond and wound up their rate – they had just enough in the tank to stay at the front of the field.

Result: ROU, GBR, SUI, GER, FRA, GRE

Men’s double sculls (BM2x) – A-Final

Ireland’s Konan Pazzaia and Brian Colsh that took the early lead but the Polish boat of Jakub Wozniak and Konrad Domanski were going with them and France and Germany were also in the mix. This field was still wide open. The Irish boat continued to lead at halfway with Poland less than a second behind, but the rest of the field was starting to open up slightly. The battle for bronze was on between Germany and France. In the final quarter of the race, Ireland started to extend their lead over Poland – the Irish duo were looking impressive now and it didn’t look like anyone could catch them. While Poland looked set for the silver, the bronze was still up for grabs as Uruguay had also come into the mix. It could still go any way! Germany’s Sydney Garbers and Timo Strache had the most to give and claimed the bronze.

Result: IRL, POL, GER, URU, FRA, LTU

Women’s four (BW4-) – A-Final

Australia appeared to have the early lead, and there was almost nothing between the rest of the boats in the early stages of the race. Poland had taken the lead by 500m with Chile in second and Great Britain in third, but Australia’s boat speed was increasing and they were going to put Great Britain and Chile under pressure. By 1000m, Australia had moved ahead of Great Britain, but this race was far from over! As the race came into the final quarter, Poland continued to lead, but they were starting to come under immense pressure from the chasing crew. Great Britain were also putting the green and gold of Australia under pressure. The field was now really closing up and as all the crews were winding for the line, Chile was attacking Poland’s lead, but the Polish women just managed to hold on, crossing the line 0.40 seconds ahead of Chile. Meanwhile, Australia held off the British charge to take the bronze.

Result: POL, CHI, AUS, GBR, CAN, GER

Men’s Four (BM4-) – A-Final

Great Britain came into this race as defending World Rowing U23 Champions, but it was Australia that established the early lead. It looked like we were going to be in for a classic GBR Vs. AUS in the men’s four! By halfway, Great Britain had moved into the lead, but Australia was less than half a second behind, with France sitting in bronze medal position. In the final quarter of the race, Great Britain was leading with Australia and France close behind. It was all going to come down to the final sprint. The noise from the grandstands increased, as did the boat speeds. Great Britain now looked comfortable for gold while Romania was moving into the medal zone. Australia just managed to hold on to the silver while France held off the impressive charge from Romania.

Result: GBR, AUS, FRA, ROU, GER, ITA

Lightweight women’s double sculls (BLW2x) – A-Final

The Greek combination looked fast off the start with four crews running neck-and-neck for second. It was particularly close between Poland and Germany. Greece crossed the 500m marker first with open water back to Poland who, in turn had open water back to Italy and Germany, battling for the bronze medal. Dimitra Eleni Kontou and Evangelia Anastasiadou of Greece had an absolutely commanding lead at 1000m and with Poland remaining in silver medal position, it looked like Italy had found another gear and had moved ahead of Germany. The Greeks continued to scull a very mature race and other positions remained unchanged. The field continued to open up with clear water between Greece and Poland and then several lengths back to Italy for the bronze medal. Greece had set a new World Championship Best Time!

Result: GRE, POL, ITA, GER, FRA, CHN

Men’s quadruple sculls (BM4x) – A-Final

300m in and Australia was in the lead, but by 500m, the Dutch crew had got their nose in front, 0.20 seconds ahead of Australia with France in bronze medal position. The Netherlands crew continued to lead at 1000m and, while Australia continued to sit in second, France was now closing in hard and Germany was starting to make a move too. This was going to be a close one! With 500m to go, Germany had pulled ahead of the Netherlands and the entire field was starting to close up. The medals could go to anyone. Germany opened up more of a lead, but the silver medal was all to play for between Australia and the Netherlands, while France had slipped right to the back of the field. With gold going to Germany, the Netherlands crossed the line 0.24 second ahead of Australia to take the silver.

Result: GER, NED, AUS, GBR, ITA, FRA

Lightweight men’s double sculls (BLM2x) – A-Final

Spain’s Jorge Knabe and Antonio Diaz Ramos took the early lead with France and Germany close behind. But eyes would be on the Irish boat too, a force to be reckoned with in this boat class. By halfway, the Germany boat of  Nikita Mohr and Finn Wolter had moved into the lead with France close behind and Spain now in silver medal position. Ireland had been sat in sixth place, but what would they have in the second half of the race? The Irish boat was the fastest moving boat as they came into the final quarter of the race, but they had a lot of water to gain to get into medal contention. Germany was continuing to lead. Ireland sprinted towards the line and looked like they would clench a medal until Rory O’Neill caught a crab and they came to a stand-still for a few seconds. Germany held onto the lead with Spain having come back into silver medal position, ahead of France.

Result: GER, ESP, FRA, IRL, NED, ITA

Women’s eight (BW8+) – A-Final

The USA crew had been dominant in the heats, and they had a title to defend. There was absolutely nothing between the USA and Germany at the 500m marker, with Great Britain sitting in third place. By halfway, the USA had established a couple of seconds lead ahead of Germany with Great Britain still in third place. The American boat was now starting to look really strong and like they would repeat last year’s result, they had opened up clear water over Germany. Meanwhile, in the third quarter of the race, Canada had made a move and pushed Great Britain out of the medals. Could the Brits respond? The USA was continuing to look impressive, still with clear water over Germany while the bronze was not confirmed – Great Britain was charging to the line and Canada had to work hard to hold them off. A photo finish was required to separate the crews with Canada eventually being confirmed as the bronze medalists, just 0.06 seconds ahead of Great Britain.

Result: USA, GER, CAN, GBR, NED, ITA

Men’s single sculls (BM1x) – A-Final

There was huge local interest in this boat class after Emily Neykov had impressed with an incredible finish in the semifinals. What could he do today in the final. Piotr Plominski of Poland was the early leader ahead of Germany’s Paul Berghoff with Irish sculler Andrew Sheehan sitting in third. Plominski was looking to be in a strong position, opening up a comfortable lead by halfway. Meanwhile, Portugal’s Andre Pinto had moved into the medal zone and he was trading places with Sheehan. Could the supporters help lift Neykov who was looking to be slightly off the pace in the third quarter of the race? Plominski continued to lead while Sheehan had moved into second place, ahead of Pinto.  The noise from the crowds increased as the scullers approached the line and the field started to close up. Neykov was sprinting. He was going to do it again! He had moved in front of Pinto and was now challenging Sheehan and Plominski too. The top two places remained unchanged, but what an incredible final sprint! What a race for Neykov, to steal a bronze in the closing stages.

Result: POL, IRL, BUL, POR, GER, SUI

Women’s single sculls (BW1x) – A-Final

Keen to improve on her silver medal from last year, Swiss sculler Aurelia-Maxima Janzen got out fast and opened up clear water ahead of the Greek sculler, Evangelia Fragkou with the Czech sculler Anna Santruckova sitting in third place in these early stages. By halfway, Janzen had opened up an absolute ocean ahead of Fragkou. These athletes had raced each other many times before. Meanwhile, Alison Bergin of Ireland had pushed herself into third, despatching Santruckova, who gradually slipped to the back of the field. In the final quarter of the race, Fragkou wound up and started to put the pressure on Janzen, and Bergin was going too. Bergin had moved into silver medal position. Janzen looked comfortable for gold, nobody could catch her.

Result: SUI, IRL, GRE, BEL, RSA, CZE

Men’s eight (BM8+) – A-Final

The final race of the Championships was underway, and it was going to be a fast one! Great Britain was the defending nation, but with a new crew. Germany reached 500m first with the USA, Australia, the Netherlands and Great Britain all within a second of each other. By halfway, the United States had taken the lead. Great Britain had moved into silver medal position with Australia sat in third. Great Britain’s cox was calling for more as they desperately tried to steal the lead from the USA while Germany was trying to push ahead of Australia and get into the medal zone. Great Britain was now sprinting to the line, they were now ahead of the USA and looking really strong. Meanwhile, Germany had moved ahead of Australia and were now sat in bronze medal position. What an incredible race to close on. Great Britain had defended their title!

Result: GBR, USA, GER, AUS, NED, ROU