Crews congregated on the Rotsee this Sunday, as the finals of the 2024 World Rowing Cup II took place. The Netherlands leave the regatta at the top of both the medals table and the World Rowing Cup points table, with only the third and final event in the series to go. Twenty one nations finished on the podium across the 14 World Rowing Cup boat classes and the nine International boat classes.

PR1 women’s single sculls (PR1 W1x) – Final

In the first final of the day, the reigning World and Paralympic Champion Birgit Skarstein of Norway got out fast to try and establish a lead but it was actually Moran Samuel of Israel that got to the 500m marker first, by 1.19 seconds. However, by halfway, Skarstein had taken the lead although there was very little in it, just 0.25 seconds in fact! Germany’s Manuela Diening was sitting in bronze medal position. The lead had changed again at 1,500m with Samuel back at the front, but Skarstein was hot on her heels. What a race! It was all change yet again in the final quarter of the race and Diening took the lead and was first across the line to claim the gold!

Result: GER, ISR, NOR, UKR, SUI, BRA

PR1 men’s single sculls (PR1 M1x) – Final

With Polianskyi withdrawn before the race on medical grounds, the door was open for Italy’s Giacomo Perini to take gold today. He quickly established the lead and was sitting just under two seconds ahead of Paralympic silver medallist, Australia’s Erik Horrie at 500m. Perini continued to open up more of a lead as the race progressed and by 1,00m, was nearly five seconds ahead. Egamberdiev Kholmurod of Uzbekistan was sitting in bronze medal position. The Italian further extended his lead and looked absolutely dominant – nobody could catch him and it was gold for Perini!

Result: ITA, AUS, UZB, ESP, ISR

Women’s Pair (W2-) – Final A

The first A Final in Olympic boat classes got underway with the Netherlands looking to repeat their success from World Rowing Cup I. Clevering and Meester got out fast and established a lead with Australia and Ireland hot on their heels. The Dutch were first to 500m with Morrison and McIntyre of Australia just behind, while the fight for bronze was really on between Ireland and the young Greek pair. At halfway, with the Dutch duo continuing to lead ahead of Australia, the Greeks had pushed Keogh and Murtagh of Ireland out of the medal zone – but could things change again in the second half? They did! While the Dutch and Australians held their position, the Irish mounted an attack on the Greeks and with a super sprint, reeled them in with every stroke towards the finish line. It was another World Cup medal for Keogh and Murtagh.

Result: NED1, AUS1, IRL, GRE, NED2, USA1

World Rowing Cup Leader: Netherlands

Men’s Pair (M2-) – Final A

This was an absolutely stacked field and included two British pairs going side-by-side. Wynne-Griffith and George (GBR1) got out fast but GBR2, Stewart and Robson perhaps a point to prove and were going with them! The reigning World Champions from Switzerland, Roman Roeoesli and Andrin Gulich were also stamping their authority on the race and were in silver medal position at 500m, behind Great Britain1. The second British crew had slipped back by halfway with Spain having moved into bronze medal position, but it was still extremely close. Great Britain1 were continuing to look impressive as they came into the final quarter of the race – the Swiss were really going to have to work hard to overhaul them. While the gold was set, the sprint to the line for silver was on! What a race! It was a photo finish – with three crews finishing within 0.69 seconds. Spain got the silver and Switzerland the bronze.

Result: GBR1, ESP, SUI, RSA, GBR2, IRL

World Rowing Cup Leader: Great Britain

Women’s Four (W4-) – Final

It was the reigning World Champions from the Netherlands Vs. the World Rowing Cup leaders (Great Britain) and we were expecting one hell of a race! Keen to lay down a marker, Great Britain got out fast and were the first to the first timing point at 500m, but only 0.12 seconds ahead of the Dutch crew. There was then a small gap back to the USA sat in third. The British were looking strong and had opened up a slightly bigger lead ahead of the Netherlands by halfway, but it certainly wasn’t over yet. Meanwhile, New Zealand had moved into bronze medal position. With 500m left to go GB continued to lead – could anyone catch them? They now had over two seconds lead over the Dutch and the bronze medal race had changed again with the USA back in third. The British boat looked really comfortable as they crossed the line with clear water ahead of the reigning World Champions while the USA had held off New Zealand to take bronze.

Result: GBR, NED, USA, NZL, CHN, AUS

World Rowing Cup Leader: Great Britain

Men’s Four (M4-) – Final A

This was billed to be one of the closest finals of the day based on what we had seen in the heats. The classic rivalry between Australia and Great Britain. However, it was actually the USA that got out the fastest, and held the lead at 500m with New Zealand in second and Great Britain sitting in bronze medal position with Australia in fourth! The reigning World Champions from Great Britain were going to have their work cut out here, as were Australia if they wanted to be on the podium! The USA crew was really motoring and started to look comfortable out the front of the field at halfway. The Americans were sprinting to the line, the field was chasing. New Zealand still sat in silver position. It was bronze for Great Britain and Australia missed out on a medal altogether, what a turn up!

Result: USA, NZL, GBR, AUS, FRA1, NED

World Rowing Cup Leader: Great Britain

PR3 Mixed Double Sculls (PR3 Mix2x) – Final

With four boats racing for three medals, it was all to play for in this race. The race was playing out fairly similar to the preliminary race with Jan Helmich and Hermine Krumbein of Germany getting out ahead and leading at 500m in front of Dariia Kotyk and Stanislav Samoliuk of the Ukraine. Germany continued to lead into the second half of the race, with Ukraine not far behind. There was then several lengths back to the race for bronze between Egypt and Mexico. Germany were untouchable and crossed the line comfortably ahead to claim gold. Meanwhile, it was Egypt that won the race for bronze.

Result: GER, UKR, EGY, MEX

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – Final A

The British were by far the favourites in this one; this line-up being unbeaten for a very long time. While they were the fastest off the start, the New Zealanders, Shannon Cox and Jackie Kiddle were chasing them hard and were only just over a second behind at 500m. Cox and Kiddle were keeping the pressure on Great Britain’s Emily Craigh and Imogen Grant every single stroke – this was the most this British crew had been tested for a while. Into the final quarter of the race, Great Britain started to make their move at the front of the field and by the line had opened up clear water ahead of New Zealand. Their unbeaten streak continued. Meanwhile, American’s Michelle Sechser and Molly Reckford had claimed the bronze.

Result: GBR, NZL, USA, CAN, IRL, CHN

World Rowing Cup Leader: Great Britain

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) – Final A

Another stacked field in this boat class and we had seen exciting racing in the earlier rounds! The World Rowing Cup series leaders from Italy, Stefano Oppo and Gabriel Soares got out fast out of the blocks, but were being chased hard by Ireland and Switzerland. This was going to be a close one! Italy sat out on front at 500m, they were on a mission! Could the reigning World Champions, Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan of Ireland catch them? The 2023 silver medallists from Switzerland were still well within the mix too. Italy were first to 1,500m and starting to look dominant! The sprint to the line was incredible, but nobody could better the speed of Oppo and Soares who claimed their second gold of the 2024 World Rowing Cup series. The race for silver was still on and Switzerland had reversed the result from last year’s World Championships beating Ireland to the line!

Result: ITA, SUI, IRL, NOR, ESP, BEL

World Rowing Cup Leader: Italy

PR2 Mixed Double Sculls (PR2 Mix2x) – Final

After a pause for lunch, the first of the second block of finals got underway with four boats racing for three medals. Similar to the preliminary race, it was Israel’s Shahar Milfelder and Saleh Shahin that picked up the early lead which they held on to ahead of Ukraine. While it looked like it might be all over, Ukrainians Anna Aisanova and Iaroslav Koiuda had a perfectly executed race and stole the lead from Israel int he last few strokes. What a finish!

Result: UKR, ISR, NED, POL

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) – Final A

With some of the early favourites in this boat class having been knocked out in the earlier rounds of racing, this was lined up to be an exciting final. It was China that went out fast to get to the front of the field and indeed Shiyu Lu and Shuangmei Shen did go through the 500m marker first, just ahead of Australia with Ireland sitting in third. Into the second quarter, Australian’s Amanda Bateman and Harriet Hudson were really starting to put the pressure on China and closing the gap with American’s Sophia Vitas and Kristina Wagner having moved ahead of Ireland. Australia took the lead in the third quarter and crossed the 1,500m marker first, but the USA were hot on their heels. It really started to close up in the closing stages with Norway coming into the medal zone too. Bateman and Hudson just couldn’t quite catch Vitas and Wagner, it was gold for the USA while 2024 European Rowing Champions Norway had secured a bronze. The fast start from China hadn’t paid off and they crossed the line in sixth.

Result: USA, AUS, NOR, IRL, NZL, CHN

World Rowing Cup Leader: Norway

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – Final A

After a false start, the men’s double sculls got away cleanly on the second attempt. The reigning World Champions and World Rowing Cup leaders from the Netherlands Melvin Twellaar and Stefan Broenink went out hard and established the early lead which they held at 1,000m, sitting ahead of Italians Luca Rambaldi and Matteo Sartori. Nobody could catch the Dutch and Twellaar Broenink matched their World Rowing Cup win from Varese with another gold medal here in Lucerne. Meanwhile, Italy took silver and it was an impressive bronze for Spain’s Aleix Garcia I Pujolar and Rodrigo Conde Romero.

Result: NED, ITA, ESP, NZL, FRA, NOR

World Rowing Cup Leader: Netherlands

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x) – Final

Keen to repeat their performance from last year’s World rowing Championships and this year’s European Rowing Championships, the British quartet got out fast and established an early lead, but China and the Netherlands were chasing them with intent! Last year’s World silver medallists from the Netherlands mounted a charge in the third quarter of the race, but it just wasn’t enough. Nobody could catch the World Champions; it was an emphatic win for Great Britain as this crew were really setting their stall out ahead of Paris!

Result: GBR, NED, CHN, GER, SUI, AUS

World Rowing Cup Leader: Great Britain

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x) – Final

The reigning World Champions and World Rowing Cup Series leaders from the Netherlands stormed out the blocks but Italy was going with them and there was just a canvas across the boats with Poland also well in the mix. At 500m, the Dutch had taken the lead but all crews were absolutely flying and there was less than half a second separating the top three crews. Approaching halfway, the Dutch had established half a length lead with Poland having pushed Italy back into bronze medal position. Germany were in fourth and neither Great Britain nor Switzerland were out of contention. Into the last 500m, the Dutch crew continued to lead and had opened up more of a lead over Poland while Italy were starting to pay for their fast start. Great Britain made a desperate attempt for a bronze in the closing stages and at one point looked like they could do it, but the famous Italian sprint kicked it and it was not to be for the Brits. It was another World Rowing Cup gold for the Netherlands.

Result: NED, POL, ITA, GBR, GER, SUI

World Rowing Cup Leader: Netherlands

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) – Final A

This field was absolutely stacked but all eyes were on Germany’s Olli Zeidler! Last year’s World silver medallist had unfortunately had to withdraw on medical grounds. The reigning World Champion and World Rowing Cup series leader got the early lead but he was being chased hard by 2023 World silver medallist Simon van Dorp of the Netherlands. The bronze was still well up for grabs! Zeidler had opened up slightly more of a lead over the Dutch sculler by halfway, but certainly wasn’t comfortable yet. The gap had closed again by 1,500m and Zeidler was really having to respond! As the race came into the closing stages, Zeidler appeared to run out of steam whereas van Dorp had more to give and came through to claim the gold by 1.04 seconds. What a finish!

Result: NED, GER1, AIN, DEN, BUL1

World Rowing Cup Leader: Netherlands

Women’s Eight (W8+) – Final

With four crews racing for just three medals, this one was lined up to be an amazing race. Would it go the same way as the preliminary race or would there be a change. Great Britain, who had finished fourth in the preliminary race clearly had the bit between their teeth and were first to 500m and maintained the lead at halfway, just 0.36 ahead of Canada – a complete turnaround of the results from the preliminary race. It was still far too early to call it though. Into the final quarter, Canada were piling the pressure on Great Britain and they broke through in the very last part of the race. With a last-minute medical substitution on board, it was a particularly impressive for Canada while Great Britain had improved on their fourth place finish from the preliminary race.

Result: CAN, GBR, USA, AUS

World Rowing Cup Leader: Great Britain

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – Final A

The unbeatable Karolien Florijn absolutely flew off the start and quickly established a lead but Australia’s Tara Rigney was chasing her hard with the Olympic Champion Emma Twigg of New Zealand sat in bronze medal position. There was still less than half a second between Florijn and Rigney at hlfway, this could potentially be an upset! 500m to go and there was still less than a second separating the top two scullers, could Florijn hold on to the lead? Emma Twigg was still looking set for bronze. Another epic race in the single sculls! Rigney was sprinting towards the line, Florihn was having to respond and here comes Emma Twigg too. What a finish!

Result: NED, AUS1, NZL, AIN, GER1, LTU2

World Rowing Cup Leader: Netherlands

Men’s Eight (M8+) – Final

Keen to make amends from the preliminary race, Great Britain flew off the start and had a canvas lead over the USA with Australia 0.01 seconds behind the USA at 500m. The British men had opened up more of a lead by halfway and were really starting to look impressive now. The race for silver was still well on between the USA and Australia at this stage. An amazing race to finish the regatta, the USA started to sprint early and were really starting to pile the pressure on now, but it wasn’t enough. The British responded again and held on to the lead by just 0.20 seconds. A fantastic display of rowing and a taste of what to expect in Paris. It was bronze for the Netherlands!

Result: GBR, USA, NED, AUS, GER

World Rowing Cup Leader: Great Britain

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Epic finals on the Rotsee for the 2024 World Rowing Cup II

Monday Debrief: Potential Paris Preview at World Rowing Cup II

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