New Zealand Women's Pair takes Silver at World Rowing Championships
New Zealand's first medal was won today at the World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
New Zealand's Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler took Silver in the Women's Pair, with six other crews on the water in a competitive day of racing.
Women’s Four (W4-) – B final
The New Zealand Women’s Four of Ellie Jeurissen, Georgia Perry, Phoebe Spoors and Ruby Tew missed out on a qualifying spot in their semi-final and moved to the event’s B final. Great Britain were off to a powerful start and it was it was Italy close behind until the 1000 mark. At 1500 Italy dropped back, the Netherlands advanced and New Zealand made a push. Great Britain took first place with the Netherlands in second and New Zealand in third.
Women’s Pair (W2-) – A final
In the Women’s Pair semi-final earlier this week, New Zealand’s reigning World Champions Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler were knocked back to second place after Canada’s Hillary Janssens and Caileigh Filmer made a remarkable performance and beat them to the finish. Still the ones to beat in today’s final, Prendergast and Gowler had a strong start and were first to the 500 mark but it was Canada in the lead shortly after. Canada took Gold, Prendergast and Gowler took Silver and Spain took home Bronze. Prendergast and Gowler’s Silver is the first medal for New Zealand.
Men’s Pair (M2-) – A final
Thomas Murray and Michael Brake of New Zealand missed out on a medal in the Men’s Pair with Croatia’s Sinkovic brothers Martin and Valent taking Gold, Romania taking Silver and France taking Bronze. Murray and Brake placed a narrow fifth with only 0.3 of a second between themselves and fourth place Canada.
Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2X) – A final
After a consistent performance across heats and semi-finals, New Zealand’s Zoe McBride and Jackie Kiddle were unable to close the A final with a medal after incredible race with Netherland’s World Best Time holder Ilse Paulis and new partner Marieke Keijser, Romania, US, Switzerland and Great Britain. Romania lead from the 500 mark eventually taking Gold, with the US and Netherlands taking Silver and Bronze respectively.
Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2X) – A final
New Zealand’s Ben van Dalen and Matthew Dunham took an impressive fourth place in the Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls after making a comeback from sixth position at the 1500 mark. Ireland’s Gary and Paul O’Donovan were ahead by 1500 and eventually took Gold, with Italy taking Silver and Belgium taking Bronze.
Men’s Quad (M4X) – A final
The Men’s Quad semi-final marked the first occasion in 44 years that New Zealand has qualified for the A final, and also saw the crew beating World Champions Lithuania. In today’s A final Nathan Flannery, Mahe Drysdale, Cameron Crampton and Lewis Hollows missed out on a Bronze medal by just over a tenth of a second, with Italy taking Gold, Australia taking Silver and Ukraine taking Bronze.
Men’s Four (M4-) – C final
The New Zealand crew of Thomas Russel, Tom Mackintosh, Matt MacDonald and Angus McFarlane took third place in the C final of the Men’s Four, with US taking first and France taking second. The youngest crew in the Rowing NZ team, Russel, Mackintosh, MacDonald and McFarlane were selected after an impressive performance at the World Rowing U23 Championships.