Crews Fight for Finals

Day four at the 2010 World Rowing Championships saw athletes fight for spots in both semi and A finals.

Kicking off the day was the women’s double sculls repechage, with only four spots available in the A final.  The United States, Czechoslovakia, Australia and Germany all made it through, unfortunately the crowd support didn’t help the New Zealand girls who will race in the B final on Sunday.

The first semi final of the Championships was the women’s lightweight double sculls.  World Champions Greece went through to the A final along with Great Britain, New Zealand, Canada Australia and Germany.

“We all want to get out there and prove something.  We’ve got to the final in a good state,” said Hester Goodsell, bow for Great Britain.

The semi finals for the men’s lightweight double sculls saw a battle between current World Champions Pete Taylor and Storm Uru of New Zealand and Olympic Champions Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase of Great Britain.  Great Britain won the race by half a boat length and qualified for the A final along with New Zealand, Portugal, China, Italy and Canada.

“You want to go out there and win every race.  That’s what being a champion is all about.  You want to perform at your best in every round,” said Mark Hunter, stroke for Great Britain.

There was some close racing today particularly in the repechages of the Men’s four.  Australia and Germany just missed out on a place in the A final on Friday.  The four spots available were taken by the United States, Italy, Greece and France.

Another close race was in the women’s quadruple sculls.  Australia crossed the line first, with the young New Zealand crew taking second place just ahead of China.  Australia and New Zealand will race in the A final on Friday along with the United States and Germany.

The host nation, New Zealand now has eight crews rowing in A finals.

For full event news and updates visit the World Rowing Championships website.