World Championship venue boon for Holland Beker

A total of 22 countries and well over 600 athletes competed at the Holland Beker with the two key events, the men’s and women’s single sculls, attracting 21 and 24 competitors respectively. The men’s single, otherwise known as the Holland Beker, was won by Roel Braas from the Netherlands. Braas defended his 2013 title and did it by setting a new Dutch record. Braas finished in a time of 6:44.33.

The main competition for Braas came from Canada’s Julien Bahain who chased Braas for the entire race. Both Braas and Bahain recently competed at World Rowing Cup in Aiguebelette where Bahain was sixth overall and Braas finished seventh. In third place was Nicholas Purnell of Australia who has arrived in Europe to prepare for the third World Rowing Cup in Lucerne.

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In the women’s single, the Ladies’ Trophy, current World Champion Kim Crow of Australia came out on top.  Like Braas, Crow successfully defended her 2013 title. Crow had a convincing win over Jingli Duan of China with Genevra Stone of the United States finishing in third. Crow’s winning time was 7:24.

As well as the popular singles race, the international entries made for exciting racing, with finals being raced on both days of the regatta. On the first day, the men’s four was a truly global affair with the United States, who were third at the World Rowing Cup in Aiguebelette, beating crews from the Netherlands, Canada and China.

Meghan Musnicki and Victoria Opitz of the United States finished first in the women’s pair, beating China and the Netherlands to the line. Musnicki and Opitz were part of a large medal haul by the Americans which included both the men’s and women’s eights on Sunday.

One of the oldest regattas in the world, this was the 121st time that the Holland Beker has been held.

For full results: http://regatta.time-team.nl/hollandbeker/2014/results