MEDALS FOR PARA-ROWERS AT 2015 WORLD ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The medal rush at the 2015 World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette, France began today with the four para-rowing boat classes.

Australia had a great start to these championships with two gold medals. Erik Horrie took gold in the para men’s single sculls (ASM1x) to become a three-time World Champion. Horrie stayed ahead of 2008 Paralympic Champion, Tom Aggar of Great Britain with Igor Bondar of Ukraine in third.

Australia’s second gold came in the para mixed double sculls (TAMix2x). Gavin Bellis and Kathryn Ross successfully defended their World Championship title in the double holding off Great Britain and France. Bellis commented on the tight finish, “It’s amazing to have such a close race, it is great for the sport.”

MEDALS FOR PARA-ROWERS AT 2015 WORLD ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Israel’s Moran Samuel improved on her 2014 silver medal by becoming a World Champion for the first time in the para women’s single sculls (ASW1x). Samuel finished ahead of Great Britain’s Rachel Morris and the 2014 World Champion Birgit Skarstein of Norway.

Overall Great Britain finished second on the para-rowing medals table winning medals in all four boat classes. Their best result came in the para mixed coxed four (LTAMix4+) when they defended their World Championship title by outsprinting the United States. Canada finished with bronze in this boat class.

Today’s racing also included semi-finals for six Olympic boat classes. These crews not only earn places in the A-finals but also secured Rio 2016 Olympic qualification spots. The men’s and women’s pairs have been dominated by New Zealand’s Eric Murray and Hamish Bond, and Great Britain’s Helen Glover and Heather Stanning respectively in recent years. Both are the reigning Olympic Champions and both have now qualified for the Rio Olympics. They will go to Saturday’s finals as favourites.

The lightweight men’s double sculls of France is looking in good form to lead the way. Jeremie Azou and Stany Delayre finished ahead of the reigning World Champions South Africa in their semi-final. For the lightweight women’s double sculls Canada’s Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee won their semi-final and recorded a time slightly faster than the winner of the other semi-final, current World Champions Sophie MacKenzie and Julia Edward of New Zealand. They will meet in Saturday’s final.

2015 World Rowing Championships, Aiguebelette, France ©FISA Igor Meijer

Italy and the Netherlands are looking in winning form in the men’s four after winning their respective semi-finals today. Neither crew has dominated through this season, and they will both be pushed hard by Great Britain and Australia. The men’s quadruple sculls saw a turn of events when the World Champions Ukraine missed out on making the A-final. Instead an outstanding performance by Lithuania brought a new boat through to the final when they won their semi-final . They will meet Germany, the winner of the second semi-final, in Saturday’s final.

Friday’s finals begin at 11:50 CET and continue through to 13:35 CET with the International boat classes. All of the finals will be live streamed on http://www.worldrowing.com.

PARA-ROWING FINALS SET AT 2015 WORLD ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Para-Rowing Finals are now set for the 2015 World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette, France. This event started off with the largest para-rowing entry ever seen at a World Rowing Championships indicating the growth of the sport and also that this regatta doubles as the main qualification regatta for the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games.

The team from Great Britain has put themselves in a strong position with boats in all four finals. This is led by the rowers in their para mixed coxed four (LTAMix4+) who are the World and Paralympic Champions, and have not lost a race since 2012. The British crew will meet, for the first time in the final, the crew from the United States who recorded a very fast time in their semi-final. They will also be up against last year’s silver medallists Italy.

Looking very impressive in the para women’s single sculls (ASW1x) is Moran Samuel of Israel. Samuel dominated her semi-final and will go on to meet the reigning World Champion Birgit Skarstein of Norway in the final as well as the ever-improving Rachel Morris of Great Britain. Morris started competing in para-rowing last year with a fifth-place finish in 2014 and this year she has been improving with every race.

The para men’s single sculls (ASM1x) attracted the biggest field with 24 countries entered. This has been narrowed down to the final six with two-time World Champion Erik Horrie of Australia, the favourite to retain his position. Horrie’s regular rival Alexey Chuvashev of Russia will be aiming to dethrone the Australian hoping to win a World Championships title.

The para mixed double sculls (TAMix2x) sees the return of 2014 World Champions Gavin Ellis and Kathryn Ross of Australia. They are likely to find their strongest competition coming from Brazil’s Josiane Lima and Michel Gomes Pessanha.

2015 World Rowing Championships, Aiguebelette, France ©FISA Igor Meijer

The top eight boats in each para-rowing boat class will qualify for the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, thus all six finalists have already guaranteed their boat for their respective country. Horrie commented after today’s race, “Qualification is stage one of this championships and it is excellent to qualify the boat for Australia.” Skarstein added, “It feels incredible to be qualified for Rio. It has been a goal since the London Olympics and I am really excited that it will be my first Paralympics.”

The para-rowing finals begin at 16:40 CET and will be live streamed on http://www.worldrowing.com. The B-finals will also be live streamed beginning at 16:08 CET.