Adaptive finals keep Aggar on top at World Champs

Tom Aggar of Great Britain again asserted his absolutely dominating form by romping away in the arms and shoulders men’s single sculls. Although the head wind conditions meant that Aggar did not have a chance of going after another World Best Time, there was no denying his power and skill. 

AS Women’s Single Scull (ASW1x) – Final

Nathalie Benoit, 30, of France took silver last year in this event. She stepped up a notch this year by leading from start to finish over Claudia Santosof Brazil. Santos took a break from international racing in 2009 after competing at the 2008 Paralympic Games and is back in fine form. Santos outstroked Benoit, but Benoit remained in front and becomes the first adaptive medallist at the 2010 World Rowing Championships. 

Paralympic Champion, Helene Raynsford of Great Britain raced in the preliminary race earlier this week, but did not race today due to medical reasons. 

Results: FRA, BRA, HUN, ITA

Nathalie Benoit (FRA) – Gold
"I'm very tired, but very, very, very happy. I was no sure I could win before the race, because I knew that the Brasilian would be a strong opponent. The atmosphere here was fantastic. The crowd was amazing and helped us in the last 250 last meters. It was important because the struggle with Claudia Santos was not over.”

“Before rowing I was a basket ball player and I began to row just two years ago in Marseille. I'm sure I'll come back to New Zealand. It's a fantastic country with such nice people."

Jose Lima (BRA) – coach of Claudia Santos – Silver
"I’m very happy with the result here. Claudia was very successful in Bled this year and successful here again and I think all the work is going in the right direction.” 

 

AS Men’s Single Scull (ASM1x) – Final

There is no doubting the power of Paralympic and World Champion and World Best Time holder, Tom Aggar of Great Britain. Despite well understroking everyone else in the field, the strong Aggar pulled clear of his competitors within the first 250m of the race. As Aggar moved to an open water lead a virtual line formed behind him with the fight for silver and bronze being fierce.  A happy Aggar crossed the line in first with a tense pause forming as the remaining athletes waited for the results.  Ukraine’s Andrii Kryvchun had earned silver and, to the cheers of the crowd, Karapiro local, Daniel McBride takes bronze in his first year of international competition. 

Results: GBR, UKR, NZL, RUS, FRA, BRA

Tom Aggar (GBR) – Gold
“This is my third World Championship gold. I was very confident going into the race, but everybody else obviously was as well. This is the best World Championship I have ever been to. ”

Andrii Kryvchun (UKR) – Silver
"I’m very, very satisfied with this race. Everything went well, only a few moments of doubt. But I only realised that I actually won silver when I saw the names and countries come up on the board."

Daniel Mc Bride (NZL) – Bronze
“There wasn’t too much left in the tank, but it’s a great feeling.”

B-final

This was a tight race at the head of the field with Spain and Ireland’s Karol Doherty being the boats to beat. But a skilled second half by Benjamin Houlison of Australia propelled him into the lead and he crossed the line in first.

Results: AUS, IRL, USA, POL, ESP

TA Mixed Double Sculls (TAMix2x) – Final

The reigning World Champions showed the reason why they are reigning World Champions. Iryna Kyrychenko and Dmytro Ivanov of Ukraine dominated this event. As in the former event, this left the rest of the field to race for the silver and bronze. As Ukraine remained in the lead three boats formed a virtual line in the fight for medals. Again, there was a pause… France (Perle Bouge and Stephane Tardieu) and Australia (Kathryn Ross and Grant Bailey) had done it. Brazil were the unlucky ones.  All three medalling crews looked decidedly happy.

Results: UKR, FRA, AUS, BRA, ITA, ISR

Iryna Kyrychenko (UKR) – Gold
“After the race Dmytro felt very, very bad. It was a very difficult race with a head wind. New Zealand is very, very nice and I will be back.”

Stephane Tardieu / Perle Bouge  (FRA) – Silver
"We're happy! We had a bad start, maybe because we had too much pressure. But then we did our best to finish at second place. We didn’t know during the race what our position was. We understood that we were medallist just when we saw our names on the scoreboard. It's not the best medal, but we hope to win it next year."

“It's a big success for us. We began to train together just four months ago, Perle trained every day in Bayonne and I in Boulogne Billancourt near Paris. We met to train together just two or three days a month. To obtain this result in those conditions is a good thing for the next Paralympic Games."

Kathryn Ross (AUS) – Bronze
“It was very uncertain where we finished until we saw it on the board. I only saw three boats out of the corner of my eyes. That’s what you call racing. We were way back, but we managed to put our foot down.”

Grant Bailey (AUS) – Bronze
“This is my first World Championship medal, my first rowing medal ever in fact. I’ve only been rowing for eight months. It feels really good and will feel even better when I feel the medal around my neck."

ID Mixed Coxed Four (IDMix4+) – Final

“Not much tension in this race,” commentator at the Lake Karapiro course Sebastian Franke described the virtual procession that went by in this three-boat final. But it did not all go smoothly at the start. A clash of oars coming out of the start between Hong Kong China and Italy stopped the race and brought all boats back to start again. Then in the second attempt, Hong Kong China got away cleanly and left Italy and Russia in their wake. It is the second year of this event and Hong Kong China won in 2009, so it was not surprising that they dominated.

Results: HKG, ITA, RUS

Yuen Wah Lee (HKG) – Gold
“I’m very happy and I’m very proud of them. We tried our best and we got gold. We were nervous at the start, but we enjoyed our race and we did our best. We have been preparing for one year and I’m very happy!”

Andrea Lenzi  (ITA) – Silver
"We had a good race. We knew that Hong Kong would be strong so we tried to have a strong start and keep up with them. The guys were great and were very concentrated. I’m very proud of my team.”

Irina Kostyukhina (RUS) – Bronze
“We are very happy with the race.”

 

LTA Mixed Coxed Four (LTAMix4+) – Final

Coming through the heats it was clear that the final would come down to Canada and Great Britain. The British are the reigning World Champions, but Canada had shown their speed by setting a new World Best Time during the heats. In a show of fine technique, Canada (Theriault, Montgomery, Nolan, Blair) and Great Britain moved away at the head of the field. By the half way point, the Canadians and Great Britain were conducting a race of their own. In a huge sprint to the line, Canada managed to get their nose in front. A very happy Canadian crew become World Champions and receive a medal plus a greenstone pendant for their efforts.

Results: CAN, GBR, GER, UKR, IRL, USA

David Blair (CAN) – Gold
"My teammates began to row together four years ago, and I am the last one, arriving just this year. We row together the whole summer, working hard. We came here to win, we knew that it was possible, but it remains incredible. The race was very hard. Because it's a short distance, there is high intensity during 1000 meters, so high that I was out of strength after the arrival."

James Roe (GBR) – Silver
"We had a good row. It’s a good reflection of where the crew itself is at now. It was a tough row though. We’ve been together since September and hopefully we’ll stay on as a crew until the World Champs next year and then on to London 2012. ”

Anke Molkenthin (GER) – Bronze
“Honestly, I can’t remember that much. I know we did everything we were supposed to, but the rest is a bit of a blur. We thought that everything between place one and four would be possible. And all boats are aiming for the same, everybody is trying to do their best. The level in the LTAMix4+ is very high, so we are very happy about the medal. ”

B-final

The Polish were unlucky in their repechage. They were leading easily but a boat stopping crab just before the finish saw them overtaken and out of the final. Today it was not surprising to see them lead the B-final from start to finish.

Results: POL, ITA, RUS