The Australian Rowing Team ended the World Rowing Cup season with five medals at World Rowing Cup 3 in Poznan, Poland.
The Men’s Quad Sculls with VIS athlete Karsten Forsterling and crew mates James McRae, Cameron Girdlestone and Sasha Belonogoff, won gold in a convincing display in Poznan.
The crew were the fastest qualifiers alongside Germany and therefore began in the middle two lanes. By the halfway mark, Australia had taken the lead and were pulling away from the pack, leaving Germany and Poland to battle it out for second and third place.
At the close, it was Australia who celebrated the win with a strong and composed race and in the process of winning gold also won the World Rowing Cup series for the boat class, having won back-to-back gold medals.
The Australian Women’s Quad Sculls had a sensational race in their A-Final which saw the crew with VIS athlete Jen Cleary and crew mates Maddie Edmunds, Kerry Hore and Jess Hall challenge Germany right at the line. The crew sprinted at the line, for a photo finish with 2015 World Championship silver medallists, Germany and were rewarded with a silver medal, finishing just 0.32 of a second behind the gold medal winners.
The Men’s Coxless Four with VIS athletes Joshua Booth, Joshua Dunkley-Smith and Will Lockwood and SASI crew mate Alex Hill, took home a bronze medal in their A-Final. Chris O’Brien’s crew were second fastest at the start of the A-Final, after Olympic champions, Great Britain, with 2015 World Champions, Italy in third.
Through the middle of the race Great Britain and Australia began to push away from the remainder of the field, while Italy sat back in third. As the crews hit the 1500m mark, the British had pushed ahead of the pack to take a clear water advantage, and ultimately gold, while Australia continued to sprint, with Italy hot on their heels. The Italians surged in the final few metres, upping their rating, and pipped Australia at the line to take silver, while Australia took bronze.
PHOTO: C ROWING AUSTRALIA
