At the end of racing FISA’s president Denis Oswald gave medals of honour to the chair of the organising committee, Ben Hunt Davis and to British Rowing chair, Di Ellis. Oswald said that in rowing the weather had to be accepted as a part of the sport but he recognised that the best boats had won the medals.

Junior Men’s Pair (JM2-) – Final

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Toader-Andrei Gontaru (S) and Vlad-Dragos Aicoboae (B) of Romania are magnanimous in victory after winning the Junior Men’s Pairs at the 2011 Junior World Rowing Championships in Eton, Great Britain

In the first final of the day Romania’s Vlad-Dragos Aicoboae and Toader-Andrei Gontaru showed the talent of reigning World Champions. Last year at the World Rowing Junior Championships in Racice, the Czech Republic Aicoboae and Gontaru won the men’s four. Today in the pair they looked big, powerful and in control. Aicoboae and Gontaru also raced at the senior European Championships in 2010 where they finished 10th. Spain’s Avaro Romero Garcia and Alejandro Fernandez Lomba slotted into second and only just a fraction behind Romania. This was turning into a great race for Romero and Fernandez who were third in the semifinal yesterday.

Coming into the line Aicoboae and Gontaru had added another gold to their junior collection, while Romero and Fernandez came in a very close second with Greece, who had the fastest qualifying time yesterday and had a World Champion title to defend, followed in third. With tears in their eyes Aicoboae and Gontaru accepted their gold medals as the Romanian national anthem played for the first time at this regatta.

Results: ROU, ESP, GRE, GER, SRB, RSA

Vlad-Dragos AICOBOAE  (ROU) – Gold
“It’s a beautiful sensation. We were very strong today. And we led from start to finish. I don’t know how I am going to celebrate. I am looking forward to seeing my family in Romania on Thursday.”

Alejandro FERNANDEZ LOMBA (ESP) – Silver
“We were determined to have a very quick start and to be in the front. Before the race we watched the French Men’s Pair winning the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 and that was our inspiration.”

Alexandros LOULOUDIS  (GRE) – Bronze
“We had a bad start, the weather did not help us at all but in our last 500m we found our balance and gave it all we had.”

B-Final

A fleet of rowers who had never raced internationally before made it to this B-final. That is apart from Michael Evans of the United States. This meant that often the mental preparation side of racing would play a big part and Bulgaria looked to have this sorted out. Tsvetomir Grabchev and Romeo Angelov of Bulgaria got into the lead at the start and chipped away at the rest of the field to move into a handy lead. Austen Bolves and Evans of the United States moved into second and tried to get up on the Bulgarians. But Grabchev and Angelov were in control and held the lead until the end. A huge finishing sprint by Hungary got them close to second, but the United States reacted to hold off the Hungarians who finish in third.

Results: BUL, USA, HUN, CHI, FRA, GBR
 

Junior Women’s Double Sculls (JW2x) – Final

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Ieva Adomaviciute and Milda Valciukaite of Lithuania with their Junior Women’s Double Sculls gold medals at the 2011 Junior World Rowing Championships in Eton, Great Britain

After yesterday’s semifinal Lithuania’s Milda Valciukaite and the statuesque Ieva Adomoviciute put themselves in the position of favourites. Valciukaite raced last year in the single when she finished seventh while 16 year old Adomoviciute is new to the international rowing scene. The confidence of Valciukaite and Adomaviciute was obvious as they took off in the lead of the race. But last year’s bronze medallists, Germany had no intention of making it easy for the Lithuanians and going through the middle of the race there was nothing between Lithuania and Germany.

Valciukaite and Adomoviciute had more to give and started inching away from Julia Leiding and Constanze Sydow of Germany. Meanwhile last year’s gold medallists, France, was back in fourth and doing all that they could to get into a medal position that was currently being held by Spain. In a fast and furious flourish to the line Lithuania earned gold, Germany gained silver and France managed to finish just half a second ahead of Spain to take bronze. This bronze for France gave Daphne Socha a second junior medal to add to her collection.

On the medals dais Valciukaite and Adomoviciute, who are coached by Valciukaite’s father, couldn’t hide their absolute joy in winning.

Results: LTU, GER, FRA, ESP, CAN, RSA

Milda VALCIUKAITE (LTU) – Gold
“The start was good as always. In the middle of the race we were down on the field. We just went for a good finish then. We wanted to win a medal and tried. It is our first medal.”

Julia Leiding (GER) – Silver
“Unbelievable race. It was incredible. Around 1200m I thought it might be possible that we could get a medal and that was a great feeling. I hoped to win a medal of any colour so I am happy with silver.”

Constanze SYDOW (GER) – Silver
“It was the best race of our competition. We have only been rowing together for 2 and a half months but we have been training every day for the last four weeks. Before then I had to drive seven hours a day to train with Julia.”

Daphne SOCHA (FRA) – Bronze
“It is wonderful. We have only rowed together for three weeks since July. We rowed on the river Lot. We have worked and worked every day for the final. It is our first race together and it is in a World Championship!”

Elodie RAVERA-SCARAMOZZINO (FRA) – Bronze
“It was a very hard race but we did our best with every stroke. I am looking forward to next year’s Championship very much.” 

B-Final

Brazil burst out at the start but then had to succumb to the Romanians and the Dutch as the race progressed. The tall Roos De Jong and Charlotte De Groot of the Netherlands came to take over in the lead and did their best to hold on. Benedikte Tollefsen and Hanne Midboe of Norway attempted to grab the lead off the Dutch but at the finish they had not found that vital one second of speed which would have given them the lead. De Jong and De Groot finish their regatta seventh overall.

Results: NED, NOR, USA, SWE, BRA, ROU
 

Junior Men’s Double Sculls (JM2x) – Final

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Germany’s Denis Sittel and Kai Fuhrmann with their Gold medals in the Junior Men’s Double Sculls at the 2011 Junior World Rowing Championships in Eton, Great Britain

ast year’s silver medallists, France were the first to show in this 2000m final on the Eton regatta course. This got them ahead of the reigning World Champions, Germany. Germany’s Kai Fuhrmann and Denis Sittel had already beaten France’s Hugo Boucheron and Alberic Cormerais in yesterday’s semifinal and also had the fastest qualifying time.

With that knowledge Fuhrmann and Sittel moved into the lead and let France do the chasing. Boucheron and Cormerais held on grimly, but the Germans had just a bit more push and it was enough to earn them a World Champion title. At the finish Fuhrmann said the race was very hard. This gold medal earns Sittel his second junior gold after winning the men’s quad last year. For Fuhrmann, this is his first international race and his first medal. France came through to silver with Adam Sterbak and Martin Slavik of the Czech Republic picking up bronze.

Results: GER, FRA, CZE, SUI, SLO, GBR

Denis SITTLE (GER) – Gold
“It was a hard race. We did not start very well and we had to push hard. We feel great. It’s awesome. The Championships have been very emotional for us. At the last 300m we knew we would make it.”

Alberic CORMERAIS (FRA) – Silver
“I really wanted to beat the Germans. But once again they were better than us. Last year we were five seconds behind so we are getting closer. We were on training camp for one month so now we can relax and party.”

Adam STERBAK (CZE) – Bronze
“It was very difficult in lane 1 because the waves were very big and it was hard to see how we were performing against Slovenia and Switzerland.”

MartinSLAVIK (CZE)  –  Bronze
“We knew before we started that France and Germany would be very hard to beat so we were determined to keep up with them and that was our race plan.”

B-Final

After an early lead by the Netherlands, Hungary’s Kornel Kaszas and Mark Biro moved out in front. The Dutch held on desperately to the Hungarian’s but could not quite find that extra gear to get them into the lead. Kaszas and Biro raced together to eighth last year at the junior championships and today they bettered that finish by one spot. The Hungarian duo crossed the line first which gave them seventh overall at this regatta and bragging rights that they have raced on the 2012 Olympic regatta course. The Dutch held on to second and Belgium was in third.

Results: HUN, NED, BEL, LTU, POL, EST

Junior Men’s Quadruple Sculls (JM4x) – Final

New Zealand’s race plan must have been to get out fast and hold on. This is exactly what they did. The New Zealanders shot out at the start and still had the lead at the half way point – albeit only just. Romania was coming up hard. The Romanians had beaten New Zealand in the semifinal yesterday and they were looking a lot stronger and relaxed than the New Zealanders. Going through the 1000m mark Prundeanu, Luca, Cionco and Cuciurean of Romania staged a huge attack and it looked like New Zealand had no answer. Instead it was Italy now challenging the new leaders, Romania.

The Italians were silver medallists last year and came to the final as the second fastest qualifiers. There was still 500m left to race and it was now Germany that was impressing. The Germans are the reigning World Champions and also had the fastest qualifying time from yesterday’s semifinals. In a huge sprint to the line Romania managed to hold on to first. Italy managed to just hold off Germany to take second. The Germans had to be happy with third. At the back of the field Netherlands and Hungary ended in a photo finish just behind the New Zealanders.

Results: ROU, ITA, GER, NZL, NED, HUN

Elisabeta LIPA (ROU) – coach
“I am very happy for these young boys. This is very good for us. They will be treated like small heroes. “

Marco CALAMARO (ITA) – Silver
“We thought we had a start for this year because we are more experienced and our determination was the key. But Romania rowed a good race. We knew the Romanians were the strong enemy. The friendship in our team is our strength but when you have more ambition, then silver is not enough. Our mission is our strength.”

Lello POLZELLA (ITA) – coach
“We have harmony in our team and they are all friends. They row for pleasure together. They are our future.”

Finn SCHROEDER (GER) – Bronze
“We won bronze. We had a good feeling going into the race after the semi-final yesterday which we won. Today we did not really find our rhythm but we are very proud. A medal at the Junior Championships is a great thing.”

B-Final

Last year Great Britain raced in the A-final but they had slipped back a notch this year racing in the B-final. The crew of Sloan, Moon, Bowyer and Beaumont made the best of their race, leading from start to finish. The British received strong challenges in the first half of the race from the Czech Republic and Australia, but then managed to earn a small margin. The Australians and the Czech Republic held on pushed and Great Britain to the line.

Results: GBR, AUS, CZE, USA, CAN, AUT
 

 

Junior Women’s Single Sculls (JW1x) – Final

At the end of this race history was going to be made. Was this on Holly Nixon’s (IRL) mind at the start? Nixon is at her first international regatta and she had already made her mark by recording the fastest qualifying time in yesterday’s semifinals. Today Nixon took off at the start blasting out ahead of Elza Gulbe of Latvia. Gulbe raced to fifth in last year’s Junior Championships and she was hoping to increase her position in 2011. Gulbe was doing just that.

Through the middle of the race Nixon remained in first, but there was a barely half a second between the top four boats with Gulbe, Elena Coletti of Italy and Anne Beenken of Germany all on top of Nixon. Then Beenken, did a big piece and got her nose ahead of Ireland. It was all on for the sprint to the line. Beenken and Nixon were both giving it their all and in the cross wind conditions, Beenken was coming closer to Nixon’s lane. Was there going to be a clash? The line came soon enough for Beenken who took gold. Nixon made history with silver by winning the first ever medal for Ireland at the junior championship level. Gulbe came through to take bronze. A very happy Nixon indicated at the end of the race that she’ll be back for more – watch out under-23s!

Results: GER, IRL, LAT, ITA, DEN, CZE

 

Anne BEENKEN (GER) – Gold
“It does not seem real right now. I have never been that nervous before and I was worried navigating through the buoys with the waves. I did not see Italy at all. I was just watching Ireland because she had the fastest time.”

Holly NIXON (IRL) – Silver
“I have been training for this for about five years now and everybody wants to do well. Ireland have not won a world medal in a long time so I took it on my shoulders to get it for them what I did. Maybe I will get gold at U23. These rowers will be around with me and as a group we will be growing up together. The cross wind was so strong out there and an advantage to anyone who is used to rough conditions, and that was probably to my advantage. I ran out of strength in my right arm.”

Eliza GULBE (LAT) – Bronze
“It was a very hard race because it was very windy. But I was very happy with my performance.”

B-Final

Earlier in the regatta, Japan’s Haruna Sakakibara proved that she was a force to be reckoned with. Sakakibara, however, just missed out on the A-final after she finished fourth in yesterday’s semifinal. After overtaking Bulgaria, Sakakibara took the lead in this B-final and then once in that leading position the Japanese sculler moved away from the rest of the field. Bulgaria must have done her best work in the first half of the race as coming through to the second 1000m Boncheva of Bulgaria was slipping back. A solid sprint by Juliette Jeannet of Switzerland was putting her ahead of Boncheva and putting her close to Sakakibara. But Jeannet, who was unlucky in her semifinal yesterday when she fell out of her boat just before the finish, ran out of water. Boncheva takes first.

Results: JAP, SUI, BUL, CHI, BEL, SLO
 

 

Junior Men’s Single Sculls (JM1x) – Final

Last year Germany won both the men’s and women’s single. Could they do it again this year? Could Paul O’Donovan earn another medal for Ireland? Anne Beenken of Germany had just won the women’s event. It was now up to Beenken’s training partner, Stephan Riemekasten to do it for the men. Riemekasten came into this final with the fastest qualifying time from yesterday’s semifinal and he was leading with just 40 strokes rowed. Andrii Mykhailov of Ukraine slotted into second and Alexandros Dafnis of Greece was in third.

By the middle of the race Riemekasten had pulled away to an open water lead. Riemekasten was looking very impressive with controlled, relaxed technique keeping him well in front. The real race was now going on between Dafnis and Mykhailov. These two scullers headed into the final sprint locked together. This fight brought them closer and closer to Riemekasten, denying him of his huge lead. At the line Riemekasten had won with Dafnis and Mykhailov finishing almost together, Dafnis just slightly in front. O’Donovan, in fourth, had just missed out on a second medal for Ireland. The gold for Riemekasten gives him his second gold medal at the junior level, as last year he picked up gold in the men’s double sculls.

Results: GER, GRE, UKR, IRL, LAT, SUI

 

Stephan RIEMEKASTEN (GER) – Gold
“I know I am a quick starter so I gave everything at the beginning. After I saw that I was first,  knew 500m or more that no one would catch me. I heard the hymn when I arrived at the finish so I knew Anne had won. We had trained together for the last five weeks and I am happy that she won, too.”

Alexandros DAFNES (GRE) – Silver
“It is very good to win a medal. It is the first medal for me and my first year in single sculls. Last year I was in the quad but I knew I could be strong on my own. I have only been training in the single for six months. I did not anticipate winning a medal because I am younger than the other boys. But I wanted to believe I could. My goal is to be in Rio but I do not know yet which boat.”

Andrii MYKHAILOV (UKR) – Bronze
“This is a record for my country.  My country never gets medals in single sculls, I think the best was 1995 when we got fourth place. My race plan was good but the last 500m to 250m was very hard.”

B-Final

In yesterday’s semifinal James Fraser-MacKenzie of Zimbabwe was incredibly unlucky not to qualify after finishing outside of third by not much more than a tenth of a second. Today Fraser-MacKenzie pushed hard right from the start to establish themselves in the lead. At the half way point Fraser-MacKenzie still retained a slight advantage. The Czech Republic and Boris Gardijan of Croatia hung on to MacKenzine and in the final sprint Gardijan was able to show his speed and get to the line first.

Results: CRO, ZIM, CZE, AZE, JPN, BLR
 

Junior Women’s Eight (JW8+) – Final

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Deborah Walter, Nadine Seehaus, Mara Koelker, Marisa Staelberg, Sophia Wuellner, Juliane Bosse, Anne Dietrich, Elisavetta Sokolkova and Luisa Uhlig are exstatic at winning the Junior Women’s Eights at the 2011 Junior World Rowing Championships in Eton, Great Britain

In the race for lanes earlier this week Germany had shown themselves as the dominant crew. Romania had chased hard with the United States off the pace. Today these three crews lined up again, this time to race for the medals. The United States are known for top women’s eights and last year they were the silver medallists. Had they been holding back in the race for lanes?

Today Romania got off the line first with Germany chasing hard. Through the body of the race Romania stayed in the lead as Germany followed closely. Already, however, the United States was off the pace and looked like they had lost their power and rhythm. This left it up to Germany and Romania to give the large crowd the race that they had come to see. Coming into the final sprint Romania, coxed by Georgiana Danciu, remained just in front. But it was all to change in the last dash to the line. Germany gave it all they had and not only won, but took nearly a boat length on the Romanians. There was no denying the joy of the German crew as they stood on the medals dais. Germany can also feel very satisfied with their finishing time of 6:20. This stripped seven seconds off the average gold medal time of the last five years.

Results: GER, ROU, USA

Nadine SEEHAUS (GER) – Gold
“We were all so nervous because we did not know about the other teams and that made us very scared, especially because we have only been rowing together for five weeks.We had intended to start more effectively but that did not happen. We were trailing until 700m before the finish line. Then we just gave it our all. At Dorney Lake, the organisation has been perfect.”

Maria SIMION (ROU) – Silver
"It was a very enjoyable race for us, although we would have preferred the weather to be better. Although we have only rowed together for two months, we are a very close team.”

Georgia RATCLIFF (USA) – Bronze
“It was really tough waiting from Thursday to row again. I wish we had one or two more races but this is such a big scale regatta and juniors are not used to that. I think it was windy but I was just so focused on getting through the race, it did not really hit me.”