Racing got underway at the 2023 World Rowing Cup II with heats and preliminary races in the presence of glorious sunshine in Varese, Italy. Local crowds cheered enthusiastically at the presence of Italy, while USA and Great Britain with ten first place finishes today, should be particularly pleased with their performances.

PR2 Mixed Double Sculls

Two heats covered eleven doubles in the PR2 Mixed Double Sculls. It was a close race with Ukraine hanging on to their lead by just over a length and booking the only immediate slot to the A-Final, edging out the Dutch crew.

Britain’s new combination showed good promise in the heats. Lauren Rowles and Gregg Stevenson came first to go direct to the A-Final. Hong Kong China’s Siu Tsun Lau and Ka Yee Ip also remained composed in their international debut. They will compete in tomorrow’s repechage, which will also include Brazil, the Netherlands, Ireland, Uzbekistan, France, Germany, Poland and Mexico.

PR3 Mixed Double Sculls

Stakes were high with only one crew able to progress straight to the A-Final, with the quality of the crews shown by the fast times. We saw a dominating display from Australia’s Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager in the first heat – with a World Best Time of 07:12.70, beating the previous time set in 2017 by over 15 seconds. The second heat would have also been a World Best Time, with Brazil’s Diana Cristina Barcelos De Oliveira and Valdeni Da Silva Junior going straight to the final with a time of 07:23.51 if it wasn’t for the first heat. Brazil 2, Italy, Ukraine, Great Britain and Mexico will race in the repechage tomorrow.

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls

There was joy for the Struzina family as brother’s Andri and Gian Struzina take first and second in the first heat of the lightweight men’s single sculls, with Sid Ali Boudina of Algeria coming third. All three progressed straight to the semis.

Redemption came for Slovakia’s Peter Strecansky who won the repechage later on the same day, with Japan’s Naoki Furuta and Azerbaijan’s Ziya Mammadzada also progressing the hard way to the semis.

Women’s Four

USA won the third Women’s Four heat with clear water, overhauling a fast-starting Great Britain and Italy to set out a clear statement to their competitors, with all three progressing. They might want to keep a close eye on the People’s Republic of China, who won their heat impressively, holding off Canada 1 and Great Britain 2 – who will also join the Semifinals. Australia should also take confidence for winning the first Heat, despite being pushed hard by fellow semifinalists Denmark and Canada. In the repechage, Poland comfortably took first position, followed by China 2 and Japan to continue in the Semis, with Hong Kong China eliminated.

Women’s Single Sculls

Twenty entries form part of a packed women’s single sculls entry. The opening heat featured a strong field, with Germany’s Alexandra Foester coming first and USA’s Olympic bronze medallist Kara Kohler securing second to progress to the Semis. Hong Zhu also shone to come a close third at the age of just 16. She went on the repechage where was given a reprieve to progress further, alongside Poland’s Marta Wieliczko also join the Semis.

The second heat featured Azerbaijan’s Diana Dymchenko winning the heat by a single length ahead of Nika Vos from the Netherlands to earn their spots in the semis. The rest of the field unfortunately did not progress beyond the repechage.

There were loud cheers from spectators as Great Britain’s Kyra Edwards won her heat, with Spain’s Virginia Diaz Rivas coming second to go straight to the semis. This was despite heroic efforts from Japan’s Shiho Yonekawa who led much of the race, she instead had to go through the repechage, where she came second to book the long way to the semis, alongside repechage 2 winner Anna Santruckova from the Czech Republic.

Men’s Eight

Just an optional preliminary race today for the fastest boat class, but nevertheless provided entertaining racing with the crowds going wild. Great Britain made a strong statement, winning by over a length, with the rest of the crew bunched up tightly, with Australia second, Italy third, Germany fourth, Canada fifth and Czech Republic sixth. If this race is anything to go by, the Final will be a nailbiter for medal positions.

Men’s Single Sculls

Thirty-three entries meant fans were treated with both the heats and quarterfinals on the same day for the Men’s Single Sculls.

Japan’s Ryuta Arakawa burst into the scene with the fastest heat time, beating a stellar field, including Netherlands’ Wibout Rustenburg who came second, and multiple World Cup winner Valentin Onfroy of France coming in third. Arakawa went on to win his quarterfinal, with Monaco’s Quentin Antognelli second and Brazil’s Lucas Verthein Ferreira third, to all progress to the semis. There were smiles for France as both Theophile and Valentin Onfroy (first and third) and Italy’s Davide Mumolo progress to the semis in a tight race.

Germany’s Oliver Zeidler looked menacing as he won both his heat and his quarterfinal, with the Dutch sculler Wibout Rustenburg and Hungary’s Bendeguz Petervari-Molnar also progressing to the semis. Denmark’s Sverri Nielsen could also claim some momentum, taking wins for both the heat and the quarterfinal, with Poland’s Piotr Plominski and Belgium’s Tim Brys coming second and third to join the Semis.

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Daily Digest: Racing gets underway at the 2023 World Rowing Cup II

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