Day two in Plovdiv, Bulgaria saw eight of the ten crews back in action. After yesterday’s performances, the Men’s and Women’s Eights advanced directly to the A Final. Joining them were five more crews after some thrilling performances across the semi-finals.
The Men’s Double Sculls continue to produce some of the most tantalising racing across the Championships. Quinn Mosley and Alfie Webb took to the water for the third time in two days as they raced for a spot in the A Final. The Brits took an early lead, before Slovenia pushed their bows ahead by 1000m. Come the finish, the positions stayed the same, with less than a second separating the two boats. Estonia were just over a second back on the Brits. Across the two semi-finals, there was three seconds’ difference between the six boats advancing to the A Final. Expect fireworks tomorrow.
After Mosley and Webb took care of business, the next race down the track was the Women’s Four. It was clear from the early stages of the race that Romania, the European Champions, and Great Britain would distance themselves from the field. Isis Thurnham, Ottilie Campbell-Reide, Henriette Smit, and Anna Trapmore led at 500m, but the Romanians kicked on in the second quarter of the race. Both boats were able to fend off charges from Australia and Serbia to finish with a clear water advantage, and the Brits crossed the line in second place.
In the Men’s Four. Great Britain won their semi-final to set up a mouthwatering encounter with New Zealand. Csombor Hanzcar, Edward Ludgate, Guy Parson, and Nick Conway led from start to finish despite pressure coming from the United States of America, Germany, and Italy. Both Great Britain and New Zealand have posted similar times all regatta to the key markers, and tomorrow’s race is not one to miss.
Much like the Women’s Four, the Women’s Quadruple Sculls saw Romania and Great Britain hit the front of the field in the early stages of the race. Romania, the U19 European bronze medallist, established a strong foothold in the race. In return, Kate Cohalan, Lauren Kennedy, Alice Moss, and Holly Weddell built up a comfortable margin over the field in the first 1500m. As France, Italy and Greece battled for the third and final qualification spot, the field caught up with the British quartet but they held steadfast and crossed the line second, heading through to tomorrow’s A Final.
Joining them in the A Final is the Men’s Quadruple Scull. Finley Corby, Gabriel Lorenzi, Isaac Thornton, and Louis Sheasby posted the fastest time of the two semi-finals as they went toe to toe with Italy right the way down the course. Come the finish, they had clear water over France, who were third.
In the semi-final of the Women’s Pair, Great Britain found themselves in the quicker of the two races. As has been a constant narrative across the women’s events, Romania led out and never looked back. After a quick start, Isabelle Hughes and Bella Okunola raced hard but couldn’t match the speed of their opposition in the second half, placing sixth come the finish. They’ll race again in tomorrow’s B Final.
The Men’s Pair will also race in the B Final. Jonathan Cleugh and Wilder Daffey were third through 500m, but the coattails of Romania, Greece, and Italy slipped through their fingertips in the middle section of the race. Come the finish, they placed fourth, comfortably ahead of Czechia and Kazakhstan.
Semi-finals weren’t the only races on the track today. Lewie Harris kept his composure in an explosive quarter-final of the Men’s Single Sculls. Belgium’s Sepp Driesen established an early lead, with Harris slotting into third place behind the Individual Neutral Athlete Daniil Talyka. With 250 left to go, the race reached its crescendo as Hungary’s Barnabas Botond Kup thundered into life. He pushed himself into second place; Harris stayed strong in third, meaning the AIN sculler missed out on a spot in the top 12.
“Our crews approached today’s racing maturely and despite the heat and variable conditions, achieved a strong set of results,” said U19 Team Manager John Layng.
“Five crews have progressed to join the Men’s and Women’s Eights in the A Final. The Pairs, after some tough racing, will now go on to contest the B Finals, whilst tomorrow’s semi-final in the Men’s Single Sculls will test Lewie Harris.
“We are looking forward to some more exciting racing on Saturday and Sunday.”
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