What did they say?

BLM1x / NZL / Race 148
Storm Uru (Gold)
WR: What do you think about the race?
Uru Storm: It was a very hard race. Mete Yeltepe from Turkey started quickly and I was not sure I would be able to catch up with him.

BLM1x / FRA / Race 148
Maxime Goisset (Silver)
WR: What do you think about the race?
Maxime Goisset: It was a good race. My coach asked me to start very fast, which I did. I was much faster at the start than in the semifinals. tried to finish as fast as I could but the end was very hard: I couldn't keep my stroke rate as high at the last 300 metres because I made a very good race between the 1'000 and 1'500 metre mark and was tired after that. Apart from the end of the race, I'm very happy.

BLM2- / RSA / Race 149
Brad Smith (Bronze)
WR: How was the race?
Brad Smith: It was tuff, very tuff. The conditions were quite fast. Great Britain and Italycame out first and Spain also came out well. We pushed really hard the last bit.WR: What did you think of the organisation of the championships?Brad Smith: It was really good and professional. It's the second time we've been here.

BLM4x / GER / Race 150
Felix Oevermann (Gold)
Karim Djamshidi Gilani (Gold)
WR: What do you think of the race?
Felix Oevermann: I just can't believe we're first. The races in the heats were very hard.
Karim Djamshidi Gilani: I didn't expect to win, but I believed in it. From the start we were first but at the 1'000 metre mark the others came closer. We could keep our rhythm until the end. The last 500 metres our stroke rate was at 40, so we kept first place.
WR: How have you handled the temperature conditions?
Felix Oevermann: They were very good – they weren't too hot for me.
Karim Djamshidi Gilani: The conditions are perfect today. The third day it was too hot, but today is perfect.

BLW1x / GRE / Race 147
Alexandra Tsiavou (Gold)
WR: How do you feel about your win?
Alexandra Tsiavou: For the last two years I was very unlucky. Once I hit a buoy in the last 100 metres so didn't make it to the final. Last year I missed the podium by one second. This year is better.WR: Will you go to Eton?Alexandra Tsiavou: Yes, in the LW2x.

BLM4x / AUS / Race 150
Hugh McLeod (Bronze)
WR: How was the race?
Hugh McLeod: Enjoyable – close to the best thing we've ever done! We were never certain during the race that we could be on the podium until the end.
WR: How have you handled the hot temperatures?
Hugh McLeod: The summer weather in Australia is very much like the conditions we had here in Hazewinkel for this regatta.
WR: Did you go to other international regattas this season?
Hugh McLeod: We did not go to the Rowing World Cup this year, but we've been watching the races in Lucerne. For the three other crew members it is their first international regatta, but I went to the World Rowing Championships last year, where we did not do too well at all, so this is a good comeback.

BM4+ / NZL / Race 146
Daniel Quigley (Gold medallist and new U23 World Best Time holder)
WR: What do you think of the race?
Daniel Quigley: We had a bit of a shaky start, with good speed from the middle and a lot of power in the last 1'000 metres.
WR: Has this crew been racing together for a long time?
Daniel Quigley: For more or less three months – since April.

BM1x / GER / Race 152
Karsten Brodowski (Gold)
WR: What do you think of your race?
Karsten Brodowski: It was very fine. My time was 6:46, my best time ever – 10 seconds better than my second-best race. So, of course, this was a very good race.

BM1x / NZL / Race 152
Nathan Cohen (silver)
WR: Why are rowers from New Zealand so fast here?
Nathan Cohen: I guess it is our development programme that is starting to pay off.
WR: How was your race?
Nathan Cohen: For the race, I tried to start in front and stay in front. That was my plan, but the race was very hard and I finished 2nd.

M1x / ROM / Race 152
Daniel Frateanu (bronze)
WR: How was the race?
Daniel Frateanu: I am almost happy with my race. I wanted gold, of course. I had a race plan but could only follow it for 50%, the rest was improvisation. It is the second time I go to the World Rowing Under 23 Championships – last time was in Amsterdam in the double, but we had a problem and finished in Final B.

BM2- / GER/ Race 154
Kristof Wilke (Gold)
WR: How was your race?
Kristof Wilke: It was very good. We had a plan and the plan worked.
WR: What was your plan?
Kristof Wilke: To fight against Serbia and Montenegro and it worked at 100%.
WR: You sound like it was easy.
Kristof Wilke: It was not easy but we had a great feeling in the water.

BM2X / ITA / Race 156
Federico Gattinoni (Silver)
WR: How was the race?
The race was very hard, but it was a very good race. In fact we had a “problem” with the boat: we just had some trouble to feel how the hull was moving which made it difficult for us to be together at the catch.

BM2X / RUS / Race 156
Alexander Kornilov (bronze)
WR: How was the race?
It was a very difficult race because the other teams, our opponents, were very strong, but we did what we came to do and we ended up third. The conditions of the race were very good for us.

BW1x / POL / Race 151
Julia Michalska (Gold)
WR: What do you think of the standard of racing here?
Julia Michalska: Very good! I'm very happy because it was my own record that I broke! I rowed a much better time and I'm very happy because of that. I didn't expect to win with such a margin.
WR: Is this the end of the season for you or do you have more competitions?
Julia Michalska: In a couple of weeks I will be competing at the University Championships.

BW1x / SCG / Race 151
Iva Obradovic (silver)
WR: How was the race?
Iva Obradovic: Very hard. I row better in the head wind because I'm kind of heavy and big, so the conditions were kind of difficult for me.
WR: Are you a bit disappointed to be second?
Iva Obradovic: Well, I'm not because I won the two previous races with a good margin.

BW1x / SUI / Race 151
Regina Naunheim (bronze)
WR: How was your race?
Regina Naunheim: It was a very difficult race, and the hot weather made it even more difficult, but I'm very happy I reached 3rd place.
WR: Is this the end of the season for you or do you have more competitions?
Regina Naunheim: Next month I'll be racing at the World Rowing Championships in Eton.

BW2- / ROM / Race 153
Ana Maria Apachitei (Gold)
WR: What do you think of your race?
Ana Maria Apachitei: For this race I changed my partner from last year. Camelia and I wanted to win and beat the best time, which we did not manage to do, but we are happy anyways.
WR: What are your plans for the future?
Ana Maria Apachitei: Next year I will no longer be under 23, but my partner will and she will need to find a new partner in Romania to win this race again. We were together in previous races this year, but in the W8+: we won at the Rowing World Cup in Poznan and Lucerne.

BW2- / GER / Race 153
Kerstin Hartmann (Silver)
WR: How was your race?
Kerstin Hartmann: The race was very hard for us because we had to fight until the end. We didn't expect to finish 2nd – we thought we would end in 4th or 5th position so we are very glad.
WR: How were the conditions?
Kerstin Hartmann: The conditions were difficult for us because we're not very heavy. We were speechless when we ended 2nd!

BW2X / CZE / Race 155
Gabriela Varekova (gold)
WR: How was the race?
We planned to lead the race and win, and were really hoping to be in a position where we could control the race. It worked well, except there were a few waves at the start. It was a very fast race because we had some tail wind. In the future we will race the 2x in Eton. We hope we will be in the final A and we will be very happy if we can reach that goal. Here in Hazewinkel, the weather was hot, but this was really not a problem for us.

BW2X / NED/ Race 155
Katie Steenman (bronze)
WR: How was the race?
Our race was over the whole line good, only a pity that the Germans passed us in the end.
WR: Did you expect to end in 3rd place?
No, we started with the expectation that everyone could win it.

BW4- / AUS / Race 145
Verena Stocker (Gold)
WR: What do you think of the standard of racing here?
Verena Stocker: Really fast conditions, but we had a perfect race.
WR: Did you ever feel sure of your medal position during the race?
Verena Stocker: No, not really. We had a relatively easy heat but anything could happen in the final.