Men's Eight (M8+) - Final

The race for lanes two days ago took quite a turn when the Netherlands beat the Olympic Champions, Germany and the World Champions, Great Britain to the line. But today was the day that mattered with medals and World Cup points up for grabs. The rain was still falling but now it was a small tail wind. New Zealand had a very fast start before Great Britain and the Netherlands moved up and pushed ahead. The Netherlands then took a 1/4 boat length lead with New Zealand sitting in second.

The Netherlands finished third in 2015 and then won World Rowing Cup I last month. The United States now began to move and got into second with Germany really piling it on in the final sprint. The United States, Germany and the Netherlands were all on 40. Great Britain was on 45. The Netherlands had done it. Gold at World Rowing Cup II. Germany took silver. The United States who had raced earlier this week to qualification at the Final Qualification Regatta, got the bronze.

Results: NED, GER, USA, GBR, NZL, RUS

Robert Luecken (s), the Netherlands, gold
“We’re not very surprised, but we’re very happy. We have known for a long time that we could do this, we’re just not very consistent yet, so we don’t always show. To be up there at the Olympics, we need to still take an extra step, so that’s what we’ll be working on over the next few weeks.”

Martin Sauer (c), Germany, silver
“It was a normal race. The Netherlands were really strong. We are a bit disappointed about our performance.”

Robert Munn, United States of America, bronze
“It was burner. Everyone came out so strong. It was speed on speed. We now fly back home to get faster. The Olympics are in two months, I can’t wait to race again.”