A FINALS
The strong winds that blew the early-morning storms away provided very testing conditions for the junior rowers but the GB crews rose to the challenge to win three medals.
GB had won silver in both the men’s four and women’s quadruple scull at the 2015 Junior World Championships in Rio and repeated those achievements on a choppy Willem-Alexander Baan rowing course.
The men’s four of Oscar Lindsay, James Plaut, Oswald Stocker and Freddie Davidson have been in fantastic form this week, leading from the front in both their heat and semi-final.
They came up against an outstanding Romanian crew in the final, who produced one of the performances of the week to go below six minutes and take gold in a new championship-best time.
The British four also produced an excellent performance to maintain a clear-water advantage over the rest of the field. Germany ensured the podium positions were the same as 12 months ago by taking bronze but only after the Italians lost a blade in the last 100m.
Lindsay said: “We’re really happy with the silver. We all raced in Rio last year but didn’t win a medal, so it’s very nice to be going home with one this time. We knew Romania were going to be fast and we tried as hard as we could to stick with them but they were just a bit too quick for us.”
Stocker added: “It’s great to step on from last year and get a medal. It was a real test of boat-handling skills in those conditions but we managed to keep it clean and keep our rhythm.”
Plaut said: “There was a point when we knew we couldn’t catch the Romanians but we also knew that no-one else was going to catch us. It was all about keeping our concentration and we did it well.”
Davidson added: “Once the Romanians had broken clear, it was all about winning that silver medal. It was a really good race by us in those conditions and it’s been a pretty awesome week all round.”
While the crew members in the men’s four were all racing at a second successive Junior World Championships, it was a first appearance at that level for the women’s quad of Annabel Stevens, Lola Anderson, Sheyi Blackett and Lucy Glover.
They have quickly looked at home on the world stage, dominating both their heat and semi-final before producing a fantastic effort to take the silver medal behind China in a dramatic final.
Germany got off to a strong start and were half a length up on Britain and China at the 1300m mark when disaster struck, with a massive boat-stopping crab sending the leaders to the back of the field.
It was now a two-horse race for the gold medal, with both China and GB cranking up their stroke rate. It was a tremendous battle but China just had the edge and went on to take gold by half a length.
The British quad were delighted with their efforts, with Blackett saying: “It was probably the worst conditions I have raced in but the best race of my life. The girls were absolutely amazing and I am so proud.
“I didn’t know what was happening out there! The Germans lost a blade in the lane next to us and we knew that was our moment to really go for it. From that point on we didn’t stop pushing.”
Stevens added: “It’s brilliant to get silver, I can hardly believe it! I was sat at bow so I saw a huge splash of water [when the German quad crabbed].”
Glover, in the stroke seat, said: “We just had to keep moving together, stick to our race plan and make sure we executed it.”
A British junior men’s eight had not won a medal at the World Championships since 2012 but Charlie Pearson, Oskar Arzt-Jones, Dom Jackson, Oliver Ayres, Patrick Adams, Benedict Aldous, Seb Benzecry, Felix Drinkall and cox Vlad Saigau had demonstrated they were ready to end that wait with a confident win in Wednesday’s heat to progress directly to today’s final.
It was the 432nd race of the week and it proved to be a fitting finale, with Germany taking the last gold of the Championships by just three-hundredths of a second from the United States after a pulsating contest.
The British eight were fourth at the halfway mark but cranked the rate up to surge past New Zealand into the bronze-medal position, eventually finishing nearly two lengths up on the chasing pack.
Cox Saigau said: “It was a really good race to finish on. We were really up for it, so we weren’t worried when New Zealand were ahead of us at halfway. We have been really driven all week and we knew we would come through.
“The senior eight won Olympic gold and the U23s won World silver this week, so it’s not been a bad summer for the GB men’s eights.”
Drinkall added: “We obviously wanted to win but it was a great race. It has been an amazing experience for us all. We have dedicated our summer to this and we have had such a fun time along the way. We realised this morning that we were winners no matter what the result was.”
Benzecry said: “I’ve won two bronze medals at the Coupe de la Jeunesse and two at the Munich International but this one today is really quite special. The conditions threw everything at us but we kept our heads and put together a really strong performance. I am incredibly proud to have represented Great Britain with these guys.”
Aldous added: “We’re happy with that. Conditions were not fantastic which meant we were never going to have the perfect row but we did as well as we could.”
Ayres said: ” We tried our hardest to take it to them but that’s how it ended up. There were really tough conditions out there but it was a great race.”
Jackson added: “I’ve been really enjoying the past seven weeks and it’s all been worth it for this.”
Pearson said: “I wasn’t completely sure [we had bronze] – you see a bit but you don’t know what’s going on. This is what we’ve been working towards all year and it’s amazing to get something out of it.”
The women’s four of India Somerside, Bryony Lawrence, Frances Russell and Alex Rankin could not have come closer to winning a fourth medal of the day for Britain, being edged off the podium by just four-hundredths of a second after a dramatic final.
With Germany and Italy powering at the front, there was a cracking three-way battle between GB, the United States and China for the bronze medal. Neck and neck at 800m, the Americans were able to pull away slightly but there was still just half-a-length separating the crews with 400m to go.
Somerside, Lawrence, Russell and Rankin dug deep to put in a massive final push, clawing their rivals back with every stroke, but the US – who had finished clear of GB in the semi-finals – did just enough to hold on to third place by the narrowest of margins.
B FINALS
The early-morning storms meant that the four GB crews competing in the B finals had to wait an hour before getting out on the water for their last races of the week.
Matthew Rowe, Alex Green, Seb Newman, Bertie Woodward-Fisher and cox George Cozens were first up in a three-way men’s coxed four B final with South Africa and Ukraine.
The Brits got off to a great start and held a narrow lead at the 500m mark but South Africa upped their rate to edge clear. The Ukranians responded and their battle with South Africa – who just held on for the win – took them away from GB, who finished ninth overall.
Hope Cessford and Lauren Irwin are making their GB debuts this week and were the only crew to match the fast pace of Romania and Lithuania in their women’s pair B final.
The front three were well clear of the field, with Cessford and Irwin producing a good kick in the third 500m to finish just a length down on race winners Romania. Third place for the Brits placed them ninth in the world.
It’s been a busy week for the men’s pair of Alexander Wythe and Adam Teece, who were contesting their fourth race in five days.
Sitting fourth at the halfway mark, they dug deep into their energy reserves to produce a determined sprint finish and were closing on third-placed Mexico but just ran out of water. Victory went to New Zealand.
The men’s quad of James Mawby, Tom Digby, Josh Armstrong and Nick Plaut were also in their fourth race and found themselves off the pace at the start of their B final.
Winding up their rate, they surged through the field to sit third at 1000m but Belgium and Hungary responded to the challenge. There was a real battle behind leaders Greece for places in the second half of the race, with GB just being edged into fifth and 11th overall.
The junior women's quad
The junior men's eight
