The international rowing carousel is back in action today, with the first rounds of the Senior, U23 and U19 World Championships on a fast, bumpy course in St. Catharines. It is the third time the venerable Henley course in St. Kits has hosted the World Championships: 1970, 1999 (“what a man, what a stroke!” (@7:10)) and again this year.
US eights bring heat
Two of the last three races today featured the USA, with the USA U23 women’s eight team prevailing in a close photo finish to secure the only spot in the A final of their heat, crossing the finish line just a sheet of paper ahead of Australia and advancing.
USA U23 W8
For the team, however, it was no big deal. “It was a good race and we still have a lot of work to do,” said Zoe Tekeian, USA U23 W8+ coxswain. “We’re looking forward to being back out there in a few days and are always grateful for the opportunity to race!”
On the official score sheet, which is accurate to only one hundredth of a second, the times of the U.S. and Australian teams were exactly the same. The pixel line in the photo above represents 1/10,000 of a second, giving you an idea of how close the result was.
USA U23 M8
Not to be outdone, the USA U23 eight overtook Australia halfway around the lanes, taking the win with a time of 5:22.65, stopping the clock less than 2/10ths of a second slower than the world best time for their event.
Speaking of world records …
Three new world records were set today on the St. Catharines track, two at U23 level and one at senior level. Italy’s Niels Torre set a red-hot new time of 6:39 in the men’s lightweight singles.
The other two records were set in the U23 women’s singles: Germany’s Alexandra Foester posted a time of 7:19 in the U23 women’s singles, and the Greek lightweight pair of Dimitra Kontou and Evangelia Anastasiadou improved their own world record in the U23 women’s lightweight doubles by almost nine seconds, posting a time of 6:41.8.
Olympic experience is certainly an advantage, as both Foester and Kontou competed in Paris. Kontou and her partner Zoi Fitsiou took bronze in the women’s doubles, and Foester won the women’s singles petite final.
Olympians are back for more
In addition to Foester, Kontou and Fisiou (who are competing in the lightweight women’s singles), other Olympians competing in St. Catharines include Paul O’Donovan, gold medalist in the lightweight men’s doubles, who won his heat in the lightweight men’s singles today (and, judging by the photo evidence, appears to row with an even wider grip in the singles than in the doubles).
Paul O’Donovan competes in the men’s lightweight single
Ionela Cozmiuc of Romania, silver medallist in Paris in the women’s lightweight doubles, is competing in her final international competition in the women’s lightweight singles. Antonios Papakonstantinou of Greece is another Paris medallist competing here, hoping to follow up his Paris bronze in the men’s lightweight doubles with more medals in Canada.
Romania’s Andrei Mandrila (fifth in the men’s four) will compete in the men’s U23 pair in St. Catharines, Italy’s Alice Codato (sixth in the women’s eight) will race in the Italian women’s U23 eight in St. Catharines and Switzerland’s Aurelia-Maxima Janzen, who finished ninth in the women’s single in Paris, will compete in the women’s U23 single here this week.
Also here from Paris is Dutch Olympian and fan favorite Niki van Sprang, who is working for WorldRowing this week, doing stand-ups and interviews.
Team USA in action
The other U.S. teams in action today had mixed results; Sam Melvin, competing in the men’s lightweight single sculls, won his heat with the second fastest time of the day to advance directly to the semifinals.
USA Lightweight Men’s Singles Sam Melvin
The U23 men’s team with Dylan Green, James Schmidt, Harry Hall and Charlie Jones also advanced to the semi-finals with third place in their heat.
USA U23 Men’s Quad
The other U23 teams in action today, namely the U23 men’s and women’s singles, the U23 men’s and women’s doubles, the U23 men’s and women’s fours without coxswain and the U23 lightweight men’s singles, all failed to progress today and will compete in the Wednesday repeats.
It’s windy in St. Kits
In addition to fast times, the wind has turned the World Championships upside down in other ways, including ripping the hats off the heads of crew members on the poles (don’t worry, the hat was successfully rescued – by emergency medical personnel, who were warned that the hat might require CPR).
Hold on to your hats!
Late Sunday, WorldRowing announced that all racing and training on Monday would be cancelled due to the predicted poor weather forecast.
You can find the revised race schedule here.
Water is reflected in the newly designed finish tower in St. Catharines
