Daily Digest: Lucerne prepares for fireworks in finals

Saturday brought sun and fair conditions to the Rotsee, as the remaining finalists were decided for Sunday’s medal races at the 2024 World Rowing Cup II. Based on some of the results in yesterday’s and today’s rounds of racing, we’re expecting fierce competition in tomorrow’s finals!

PR1 singles finalists confirmed

Day two of racing began with repechages in the PR1 women’s and men’s single sculls. In the women’s boat class, we saw Israel’s Moran Samuel, the Tokyo silver medallist confirm her place in the final, along with 2022 and 2023 World bronze medalist Anna Sheremet of Ukraine. Meanwhile in the PR1 men’s single sculls, the youngest entrant in this boat class, Egamberdiev Kholmurod of Uzbekistan took the win. Qualification was also secured by Spain’s Javier Garcia Martinez who qualified for the Paralympic Games a few weeks ago at the European Continental Qualification Regatta.

Double Dutch

The Netherlands secured two places into the final of the women’s pair and will be challenging for two medals too! In semifinal 1, the reigning World Champions in this boat class, Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester overhauled Australia in the final quarter of the race. The win in the second semifinal went to Ireland’s Aifric Keogh and Fiona Murtagh. Interestingly, both the Dutch and Irish rowers were all medallists in the women’s four in Tokyo. While it was victory for Ireland in semifinal 2, the Netherlands booked their second slot in the final when Ilse Kolkman and Willemijn Mulder finished third. Netherlands1 had the fastest time across the two semifinals.

Two British Pairs to race for medals

After the Netherlands had qualified two boats for the final of the women’s pair, Great Britain matched the achievement in the men’s pair. The first semifinal saw Oliver Wynne-Griffith and Tom George (GBR1) wind down to a paddle across the line as they had achieved a comfortable win ahead of Switzerland and South Africa. In the second semifinal, it was a win for the Spanish pair Jaime Canalejo Pazos and Javier Garcia Ordonez, with Great Britain2 less than second behind. Ireland1 took the final qualifying place for tomorrow’s final in which it will be interesting to see if the British can claim two places on the medal podium!

Surprise results in Women’s double semifinals

Semifinal 1 of the women’s double sculls certainly didn’t go quite as we expected as we saw both the winners of World Rowing Cup I and also the 2023 World Rowing Championship silver medallists miss out on a place in tomorrow’s final! Both the Netherlands and Lithuania had already had to come through yesterday’s repechage and perhaps that made the difference. The win in that race went to Ireland’s Zoe Hyden and Alison Bergin, with Norway and New Zealand also confirming their place in the medal final. The second semifinal was a slightly less dramatic affair and saw a win for Australia’s Amanda Bateman and Harriet Hudson, the second qualifying places going to USA and China.

Single sculls finals showdown

Two absolutely loaded finals are expected tomorrow in the single sculls after the semis were raced today. In the men’s event, we will see Germany’s Olli Zeidler looking to repeat his success from World Rowing Cup I in Varese. He’ll face opposition from Thomas Mackintosh (NZL) who won gold in the men’s eight in Tokyo and also 2023 World Championship silver medalist Simon Van Dorp of the Netherlands. The Netherlands will certainly also be a nation to watch in the women’s single sculls as Karolien Florijn looks to secure her second World Rowing Cup win of the 2024 series. Florijn is likely to face opposition from Olympic Champion Emma Twigg (NZL) who hasn’t done as much racing since Tokyo, but has certainly proved she is on form. The field will also include the 2023 World bronze medallist, Tara Rigney (AUS1).

World Champions Vs. European Champions in lightweight men’s double sculls

On home waters, Switzerland’s Jan Schaeuble and Raphael Ahumada Ireland were keen to stamp their authority on the first semifinal of the lightweight men’s double sculls. Sat in the next to the reigning World Champions form Ireland, the Swiss duo went out hard off the start at 48 strokes per minute. Despite the best efforts of McCarthy and O’Donovan (IRL), the Swiss continued to lead to the finish, crossing the line 1.43 seconds ahead. Norway took the third qualifying place from semifinal one. The second semifinal was also a close one, indicating we’re in for an exciting semifinal tomorrow! Current World Rowing Cup series leaders, Stefano Oppo and Gabriel Soares (ITA) led from the start to win by 0.98 seconds ahead of Spain with Belgium securing the last place in the final. The field is set for an epic race tomorrow!