Australia will suit up 11 crews in medal races as World Cup II reaches the business end of racing in Varese, Italy, on Sunday night (AEST). Day two produced another […]
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McIntyre and Morrison power down the course in the Women’s Pair at World Cup II in Italy.
Australia will suit up 11 crews in medal races as World Cup II reaches the business end of racing in Varese, Italy, on Sunday night (AEST).
Day two produced another series of strong returns for the Green and Gold, with the Men’s and Women’s Four, Men’s and Women’s Pair and the Women’s Single Sculls among the boats in medal contention in the A Finals.
The PR3 Mixed Double of Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager had already punched their ticket with a barnstorming opening day row, while the Men’s Double, Men’s Quad, Men’s Eight, Women’s Double, Women’s Quad and Women’s Eight will also race for some hardware.
Both Fours went head-to-head with old rivals Great Britain, with the Women’s crew of Lucy Stephan OAM, Sarah Hawe, Giorgia Patten and Katrina Werry (6:19.41) pipping the Team GB boat (6:19.76) to take a confidence-boosting win into the A Final.
With USA (6:19.82) taking out the second semi, it means three crews are within half a second of each other, setting up what might be the hottest race of the day on Sunday.
”We played a bit of leapfrog with the GB crew. We led from the start, they worked through us in the middle there but we were able to find another gear and row through them to win, which is really exciting,” Werry said.
”We focus on remaining calm and staying together. The most important thing is we stick to our rhythm and row in time.”
The roles were reversed in the Men’s Fours semi-final, with Alex Purnell OAM, Alex Hill OAM, Spencer Turin OAM and Jack Hargreaves OAM looking to hit back after a narrow defeat on their way to the decider.
The USA once again shape as the other serious medal danger, along with France and Italy.
Tara Rigney continued her good form to start the regatta, finishing second in her semi-final behind American Kara Kohler. But the close spread of times suggests it could be anybody’s A Final, with Rigney laying some solid groundwork as she tries to repeat the 2022 World Championship heroics that saw her claim a Bronze Medal.
Jessica Morrison OAM and Annabelle McIntyre OAM navigated a safe passage to the A Final of the Women’s Pair, dominating their semi-final (6:51.32) and looking in terrific shape as they put the building blocks in place to chase a maiden World Championships crown as a duo.
Check out the full results at World Rowing and keep an eye on Rowing Australia’s social media channels for full coverage from World Cup II in Italy. The racing will be live on Kayo in Australia from 6pm AEST on Sunday night.
The post Australians ready to race for medals after another strong day at World Cup II appeared first on Rowing Australia.
