Coastal finals: snapped oar? Here, use mine! Clashes, crashes, rowing carnage … and medals – coverage of regatta and event coverage

From the photos we posted over the past few days, it became clear that collisions, falls, dunking and rowing slaughter are an almost everyday part of the race. So it is probably not surprising that some rowers almost became lifeguards during the race, including an impressive sporting performance from a Belgian men’s double.

The Norwegian men’s doubles of Kjetil Borch and Jan Oscar Stabe Helvig had taken the lead in their A-final, but an oar broke on the first buoy in an impact. Maxime Andre and Gaston Mercier’s Belgian doubles also broke an oar and the Belgian crew gave their intact oar to Norway so they could finish the race.

A total of nine nations won medals; Ukraine topped the medal table with three gold, one silver and one bronze medals. Spain finished second with an impressive two gold, one silver and four bronze medals.

USA results

The United States had five boats in the A final at Praia da Torre.

In the men’s foursome with helmsman, the crew of the Great Miami Rowing Center, consisting of helmsman Bennett Rossell, Kory Rogers, Chris Bak, Marc Oria and Ben Booth, took sixth place in the A-final with a time of 24: 01.90. The Ukrainian SO RC “Dnipro” ZCU won the gold medal in 22: 40.91 minutes and was second more than 30 seconds ahead of the Czech Rowing Federation. The British UL Tyrian Club took bronze with 23: 26.99. Great Miami stayed fighting for a medal until the third turning buoy, following UL Tyrian just one canvas as the crews worked their way back to the beach. But the British crew, which included Tokyo 2020 British Olympic medalist Jack Beaumont, managed to break away over the last third of the route and secure bronze.

In the A-final of the double fours with helmsman, the crew of the Great Miami Rowing Center with Rossell, Elizabeth Hinley, Brooke Downes, Cassidy Norton and Hannah Huppi took ninth place and crossed the finish line in a 30: 00.15. The Ukrainian National Guard ZCU easily won the race in 27: 29.70 minutes and pulled away from the rest of the field by almost 20 seconds. The Frenchman Libourne won the silver medal, the Spaniard RC Mediterraneo De Malaga took the bronze medal. At the Coastal Championships with club entries instead of national team teams, long-time US team members Molly Bruggeman and Vicki Opitz drove in the rear duo of the British UL Tyrian Club and finished fifth.

In the A-final of the women’s solo, Hannah Wayment-Steele of the Bair Island Aquatic Center took 14th place, while Dayna Deuter of the Park City Rowing Academy took 16th place. Wayment-Steele crossed the finish line in 38: 07.06, Deuter followed less than 30 seconds later in 38: 34.03. The Italian Stefania Gobbi won the race for Carabinieri in 34: 08.66 minutes and finished 21 seconds ahead of the Ukrainian Diana Dymchenko from Concorde. The French Jessica Berra from Hendaye Endaika won the bronze medal.

In the women’s double scull, Hillary Saeger of the Newport Aquatic Center, a seven-time member of the US national team in shallow water, and Erin Roberts, a member of the 2015 national team, finished 15th in the A-final. Saeger and Roberts finished the race with a time of 31: 49.90. Ukraine won gold and bronze while Denmark took silver. The Ukrainian SO “RC” Dnipro won the race in 27: 55.94 minutes, with the Danish top crew 42 seconds behind. The Ukrainian ZCU crew took bronze.

In the B final of the mixed double sculls Bridget Schodorf and Luke Rein from the Green Racing Project took fourth place and finished the track in 21: 48.08 minutes. Germany’s rowing club “Allemannia von 1866” won the race in 21: 01.60.

Overall result

In total, more than 800 participants competed in 342 boats from 34 countries at the World Rowing Coastal Championships 2021. Saturday closed two race weekends in Oeiras, with the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals taking place last weekend.

Overall, a record number of crews have been enrolled for the 2021 edition of the Coastal Rowing Championships, with Oeiras, Portugal, welcoming 34 nations from countries as distant as Japan, New Zealand and the United States. The three days of competition and seven different boat classes offered the 700 participants varied conditions in this exciting rowing format.

The first gold of the championship went to the female quad with helmsman of the Ukraine, consisting of experienced flatwater rowers, including the double Olympic and multiple indoor rowing record holder Olena Buryak. Two of Buryak’s team-mates, Yevheniia Dovhodko and Daryna Verhogliad, won bronze in women’s doubles later that day, finishing behind Ukrainian compatriots Kateryna Dudchenko and Anastasiia Kozhenkova, who took gold.

It was gold again for Ukraine in the four-man helm, followed by silver, followed by the Czech Republic, who overcame a ten-second penalty for a false start. Meanwhile, Britain won bronze despite getting tangled with the first navigation buoy.

Stefania Gobbi from Italy ended the winning streak of the Ukrainian Diana Dymchenko in the women’s solo with gold. Dymchenko, who won gold in this boat class at the last three world championships in coastal rowing, went home with the silver medal this year.

The men’s solo was full of drama, as the reigning world champion Adrian Miramon Quiroga capsized on the first turning buoy, made a miraculous recovery and worked his way back through the field to win bronze. His compatriot and Olympic participant from Tokyo Jaime Canalejo Pazos won gold and Eduardo Gabriel Linares Ruiz from Germany won silver.

There was more success for Spain in the last race of the day when Ander Martin and Esther Briz Zamorano equated their gold from last week’s World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals with gold from the Coastal Championship. Spain also took silver and bronze in this boat class, Canalejo Pazos and Miramon Quiroga both won their second medals of the day.

Next year, both the beach sprints and the coastal championships will be held in Saundersfoot (Wales), Great Britain.