Japanese entertainment the indoor rowing way

The championships attracted United States Olympians as well as Danish rowers, with these international representatives giving stand-out performances. Mark Hartsteen of Denmark won the open men’s category in a time of 6’02” over the 2000m distance. The lightweight men’s category was won by American Joshua Konieczny in a time of 6’17”. Konieczny was fifth in the lightweight men’s double sculls in Rio with partner Andrew Campbell.

Danish under-23 rower, Mathilde Persson was first in the lightweight women’s category. Her time was 7’14”. The open women was won by 18-year-old Frida Nielsen of Denmark who finished in a time of 7’01”.

Three members of the Japanese Rio Olympic team, Hideki Omoto, Hiroshi Nakano and Ayami Oishi, competed.

The success of the championships was seen in attracting the biggest number of competitors ever with 792 taking part. Seta Rowing Club member, Motoki Kyo put this down to the upcoming Tokyo Olympics and the presence of international athletes. “Our motivation for 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games also is also uplifting our mind to participate in this event,” said Kyo.

The ages ranged from seven-year-old Yosuke Uemura of the Kobe Rowing Club through to two 70-year-olds . Atsuji Adachi of Seta Rowing Club finished 2000m in 7’35’ and Tsuneo Hashizume of Uozaki Rowing Club took 8’28’. Uemura completed 500m in 3’11”.

Video edited by Kazuto Ihara: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTQ0sEu6UrY

Top results:  

Open Men  
1 Mark Hartsteen 6:02.9, age 25, Denmark
2 Yasuyuki Masuji 6:20.5, age 22, Kyoto University
3 Naoya Tobinaga 6:20.9, age 22, Osaka University
4 Naoya Ishida 6:21.1, age 25, Toray Shiga
5 Sho Fukuda 6:21.9, age 20, Ritsumeikan University
6 Oscar Petersen 6:23.1, age 24, Denmark

Lightweight Men
1 Joshua Konieczny 6:17.5, age 25, USA (Olympian)
2 Kotaro Umeda, 6:26.3, age 21, Osaka City University
3 Hiroshi Nakano, 6:26.4, age 29, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal (Olympian)
4 Andrew Campbell, 6:27.0, age 25, USA (Olympian)
5 Mitsuo Nishimura, 6:27.1, age 27, Iris Ohyama
6 Hideki Omoto, 6:28.3, age 32, Iris Ohyama (Olympian)

Open Women
1 Frida Nielsen 7:01.0, age 18, Denmark
2 Mikino Nishida 7:24.9, age 21, Doshisha University
3 Miku Uekyo 7:27.8 age 20, Ritsumeikan University
4 Ayami Oishi 7:30.9 age 25, Iris Ohyama (Olympian)
5 Shoko Ueno 7:32.7 age 26, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance

Lightweight Women  
1 Mathilde Persson, 7:14.9, age 20, Denmark
2 Yumiko Shoji, 7:31.1, age 24, DENSO
3 Yurina Sano 7:34.4, age 20, Ritsumeikan University
4 Asumi Suehiro, 7:35.3, age 29, DENSO
5 Kana Fujii, 7:41.7, age 21, Ritsumeikan University

Copy thanks to Motoki Kyo, Seta Rowing Club