Competition heating up on Barletta Beach

As the second day of the 2023 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals got underway in Barletta, Italy, we knew we had an exciting day of racing in store. Racing came thick and fast particularly in the knockout races where boats went head-to-head with only the winners progressing in the competition. Conditions were once again relatively calm with a slight cross wind picking up during the racing block which required some adjustments particularly on the return leg of the row.

France fastest mixed double in tight field

As the last 16 of the CMix2x got underway, there was fast and furious racing as for 8 of the crews it would be the end of their Championships. The duo of Kory Rogers and Christine Cavallo of the USA took the first victory and set a very fast time (2:34.73) which wasn’t matched until France took to the water in knockout 7 and Ludovic Dubuis and Edwige Alfred completed the course in 2:33.27. Across the 8 knockout races, there was just 6.35 seconds separating the fastest and the slowest race, so we should expect fireworks in the Last 8 rounds later this afternoon as the boats race for medals.

Can Spain defend their title?

Spain has won gold in the U19 men’s double since U19 events were added to the Beach Sprint Finals programme back in 2021. While they won their repechage over Turkiye this morning, the times across the rest of the repehchages suggest the Spaniards Manuel Vera Montesinos and Nicolas Nunez Forlani are going to have to work hard to retain the title of World Champions in this boat class. The fastest time across the six repechages was posted by Bohdan Hladchenko and Ihor Mazepa from Ukraine who clocked a speedy 2:33.68. The next racing for this boat class will be the Last 8 (quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals) which take place tomorrow afternoon.

First medal final lineup confirmed

The line up for the finals in the PR3 mixed double sculls are now confirmed. As an inclusion event this year, all four boats will race in the finals. Australia and Great Britain will contest the Final A with Turkiye and Italy in Final B. Australians Macintyre Russell and Phoebe Robinson posted the fastest time (2:51.60) across the two heats, but we’ll wait to see what happens in the final!

Second time trials

With the large number of entries in the men’s and and women’s solo, a second time trial took place today from which the top eight from each booked their places to join the eight who had qualified directly from the first time trial. Those 16 will compete in knockout rounds tomorrow morning. In the men’s solo, Germany’s Karl Schulze could be one to keep an eye on. At the European Beach Sprints recently, he didn’t perform particularly well in the time trial, but then went on to win a bronze medal, so it’ll be interesting to see if he does the same again. The second time trial also saw qualification for New Zealand’s Olympian Joseph Sullivan who is new to beach sprint rowing, and learning every race. The second time trial of the women’s solo saw a win for Monaco’s Colline Caussin, she finished in a time 0.88 seconds quicker than Martina Kaic of Croatia.

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