Spectacular saves coming off waves,Boats clashing, water splashing,
Oars stroking air, placed back with care.
The second annual World Rowing Coastal Championships for Clubs had all of the elements of extreme rowing, uniting a mixture of surfing, sailing and swimming skills for the rowers to get to the end of the 8km rectangular course.
Italy’s San Remo attracted specialised coastal rowers as well as some big names in international flat water rowing from 16 countries and at the end of the weekend the spread of medals indicated the continued growth of the sport.
Rough water and big waves made for exciting heats on the first day of racing. A number of rowers found themselves tossed out of the boat. But the race went on and the skilled climbed back in to continue the race. One rower attempted to climb back in his boat four times, each time the boat flipped over preventing him. The skilled made use of the waves by surfing along the tops. The unskilled headed back to shore, including Olympic medallist from Croatia Igor Boraska. By the end of each race, those that had made it to the finish line all qualified for the next day’s finals.
Finals began with 15 clubs competing in the women’s quad with coxswain. Switzerland won their first coastal championship medal despite a broken rudder. The crew from Lausanne, Switzerland, which included two-time Olympian Colleen Orsmond, lost their steering during the race, but the innovative coxswain (Nicolas Parquic) grabbed the spare oar and used it to steer the boat. France finished second.
The women’s double followed with the leading order established right from the start of the race. The reasonable distance between each boat meant the positions did not change. Hungary finished in the lead with rowers Lidia Veroci and Zsofia Bende both current members of the Hungarian national team.
A close race between seven boats in the women’s single produced close finishing times. France ended up taking out the top two spots. Winner Marie Le Nepvou finished 10 seconds ahead of Charlotte Culty after overtaking Culty just 600m before the finish.
The men’s coxed quad had 24 clubs and high expectations with a number of coastal rowing specialists racing as well as the largest number in one event of international flat water rowers. But the expectations were not to be met with France’s Saint Malo club taking off in the lead followed by Italy’s Ravenna club (including Beijing Olympian Marcello Miani). These two boats managed to develop a solid lead with the only tight finish going to third place, with Poland’s Bydgostia club overtaking Murcarolo club of Italy just before the line. Saint Malo had plenty of loud supporters for encouragement and an 18-second lead over Ravenna at the end.
The men’s double was the closest race of the day with five boats finishing within one minute of each other at the end and a photo finish needed for place 14 and 15. France completely dominated this event taking out the top five spots with Chablais Aviron Thonon in first place.
The day of finals finished with the men’s single. Twenty-two clubs lined up for the mass sailing-inspired start and the leading order was established very early on in the piece. The winner, Matthew Le Nepvou of France’s Gouet club came into the race as the favourite after dominating his heat the day before. Le Nepvou’s sister won the women’s single earlier in the day. French rowers also won spots second to fifth.
Overall France had the most successful championships with four gold medals, four silvers and two bronzes from the six events.
Next year the World Rowing Coastal Championships for Clubs goes to Plymouth, Great Britain.
W4x+, Gold, SUI, Lausanne Sport Aviron
Bettina Schaefli: We train on Lake Geneva where waves can be two metres high when the wind is blowing. We trained well for these championships and did a lot of erging. Although we took the lead from the start, we lost our rudder after 500m of racing, which made us do a 90 degree turn. Our cox tried to fix a spare rudder but it was also broken. We did what we could and the cox steered us with our spare oar. We then took the lead again at the last buoy. Apart from Colleen who is new to the boat, we’ve been rowing together for five years.
Colleen Orsmond (1996 and 2000 Olympian in the women’s pair): They needed someone in the boat and asked me to join. It’s the first time I’ve done coastal rowing – it’s great and a lot of fun.
W2x, Gold, HUN, Mohacs Torna Egylet
Zsofia Bende: We decided to come here because some friends went to Cannes last year and said a lot of good things about these championships. It is our first race together. We rowed poorly at first, but managed the first buoy well, which allowed us to take the lead and stay there until the end. I raced at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships and my crewmate went to the World University Rowing Championships.
M4x+, Gold, FRA, Saint Malo
Julien Leclanche: We started preparing these championships in June. Morgan Dugueperoux and David Coudron are also flat-water rowers. We trained once a day and then twice a day as the championships were getting closer. Our crew is the same as the one that won the world title with last year.
M2x, Gold, FRA, Chablais Aviron Thonon
Simon Dubouloz: It is possible to combine coastal and flat-water rowing. As the coastal championships are held at the end of the season, they are a good way to start training again. In coastal rowing, the feeling of going as fast as an eight in the single or as slow as a single in a big boat is impressive.
M1x, Gold, FRA, Aviron Club Gouet
Mathieu Le Nepvou: I’m more of a flat-water rower, but I like both. Coastal rowing is a good way to finish the year and flat-water training helped me perform well here.
For complete results, click here.
Thanks to Pat Lambert, Marc Ventouillac and Marco Callai for their input.
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