2018 World Championships- Plovdiv, Bulgaria
These Championships were conducted at Plovdiv Bulgaria from 9th-16th September 2018. The weather was warm and the racing hot. Unfair conditions on Wednesday racing led to a postponement of some races to the next day.
The men's four won gold again and continue to show their dominance of this category.
A new world best time for PR1 M1x of 9:25.11 was set by Erik Horrie in heat 4 of the PR1 M1x. The previous best time for PR1 M1x of 9:39.48 stood since 2017. The men's eight in their heat were only a second off world best time even though they finished second.
The Australian performed well taking many medals. Australia finished third on the medal tally behind the USA and Italy.
The medal ranking and full details can be found through this link.
Daily Results Summaries
Results—Men
Rowing Australia reported as follows:
The Men’s Quadruple Scull, coached by Mark Prater, wrapped up the A-Finals for Australia today and did so in style. In a tight race, it was Ukraine, the holders of the World Best Time, who came out fastest but by the halfway mark Italy had nipped into the lead, with little separating the rest of the field, just two seconds. Australia began to move in the second thousand, with stroke seat David Watts upping the rating and the Australians moving into fourth.
As the crew approached the final 250 metres, they upped their sprint, to chase Italy and stave off an attack from New Zealand and Ukraine, to cross the line and win a silver medal in what was a photo-finish for the line.
Canberra-local, Caleb Antill, making his senior World Championships debut said, “It feels amazing to win my first senior World Championships medal, it’s unbelievable. We said we’d stick to our guns and work in our boat, as our coach Mark Prater told us to do. That is easily the best race we’ve ever done and it was on the day that it meant something.”
“I think we all had the belief we could do it and we really put out a good race. We knew we would be in the hunt for a medal if we were in contact with the leaders at the halfway mark, which we were. I couldn’t believe what the result was when we crossed the line, I’m so over the moon,” added Alex Purnell.
“Everything just came together today, it’s just hard to believe my first time at a Senior World Championship, I get to win a medal, it’s a really special thing. It’s only a very small group of people who have won a medal at a World Championship, and I’m proud to be one of them. Couple that with to stand alongside the history of Australian rowers is just amazing, I can’t wait to receive my McVilly-Pearce pin and be part of the honour roll of Australian rowing,” added Antill.
Rowing Australia reported:
Australia’s Men’s Four have secured back-to-back World Championships titles after a thrilling race in Plovdiv, Bulgaria today (Saturday). Alexander Hill, Jack Hargreaves, Spencer Turrin and Joshua Hicks held off attacks from both Italy and Great Britain to once again be crowned World Rowing Champions.
In a tight A-Final, the Australian Men’s Four powered out the start and were at 50 strokes per minute to get ahead of their competition. Australia crossed the half way point in the lead, with a virtual line forming behind them between the remaining crews. Italy then did a huge push in a bid to close down the Australians, coached by Ian Wright, but the boys in the green and gold were flying.
With Italy fast approaching, along with the finish line, Hill upped the Australian stroke rate to 43 and the World Champions protected their title by 0.25 of a second.
“It was a good race; we’ve really stepped up through the regatta. We weren’t really happy with our heat, but we got better in our semi and ultimately in the final. I have to say full credit to the other crews who pushed us all the way, but we’re extremely happy to win the World Championships again, it’s been a great year,” said Jack Hargreaves.
Men's Lightweight Double Scull
Results - Men's and Mixed Para Rowing
Jed Altschwager and James Talbot on the podium
Photo from World Rowing website
Rowing Australia reported:
Australia’s James Talbot and Jed Altschwager today won silver in the PR3 Men’s Pair final at the 2018 World Rowing Championships. The duo, coached by Lizzi Chapman, snapped up their medals in Bulgaria, crossing the line in a time of 7 minutes 24 seconds.
The pair, who only began rowing 18 months ago, came through Rowing Australia’s #Train4Tokyo camps before moving into the Australian Rowing Team this year. The South Australian, Altschwager, and New South Welshman, Talbot, combined to finish in second behind an in form Canada, with France claiming the bronze medal.
“It feels amazing, the way the week started, I was very nervous as it was my first time representing Australia. To turn it around, brush the nerves off and get done what we needed to do which was awesome,” admitted the 32-year-old Altschwager.
“I’m pretty stoked, we had a few things to work on after the preliminary race which we got down pat. The final was only our second race ever together, so I think with each race we’re going to get better and better. This was a great start,” added Talbot.
“We’ve been rowing only 18 months, so it’s really exciting to think about where we can take things moving forward. It’s epic, and this is only early days for us,” said Altschwager.
Rowing Australia reported:
Australia’s PR3 Mixed Coxed Four of Nikki Ayers, Alex Vuillermin, Ben Gibson, James Talbot and coxswain Rene Domaschenz, put in a sterling effort in their first ever World Rowing Championships A-Final. The crew, all of whom made their debut at this year’s event, were amongst the medal positions in the first 1000 metres of their final.
As the crew crossed into the third 500 metres, they were in fourth with Great Britain and USA in the lead and France back in third. Despite a sprint in the final 250 metres, it was a fifth place finish for this promising para-rowing crew.
Australian Team
PR1 Men’s Single Scull - Gold
Erik Horrie (NSW)
Coach: Jason Baker (NSW)
PR3 Men’s Pair - Silver
Bow: James Talbot (NSW)
Str: Jed Altschwager (SA)
Coach: Lizzi Chapman (NSW)
PR3 Mixed Coxed Four - Fifth
Bow: Nikki Ayers (ACT)
2: Alex Vuillermin (VIC)
3: Ben Gibson Sydney (NSW)
Str: James Talbot Balmain (NSW)
Cox: Renae Domaschenz (ACT)
Cch: Lizzi Chapman (NSW)
Head Para-rowing coach: Gordon Marcks (RA)
Men’s Single Scull (and Men’s Quad reserve) - Nineteenth
Luke Letcher (ACT)
Men’s Quadruple Scull - Silver
Bow: Caleb Antill (ACT)
2: Campbell Watts (NSW)
3: Alexander Purnell (NSW)
Str: David Watts (WA)
Men’s Pair - Thirteenth
Bow: Andrew Judge (NSW)
Str: Jack O’Brien (NSW)
Men’s Four - Gold
Bow: Joshua Hicks (WA)
2: Spencer Turrin (NSW)
3: Jack Hargreaves (NSW)
Str: Alexander Hill (SA)
Men’s Eight - Silver
Bow: Liam Donald (VIC)
2: Robert Black (NSW)
3: Angus Moore (NSW)
4: Simon Keenan (VIC)
5: Nicholas Purnell (NSW)
6: Timothy Masters (VIC)
7: Joshua Booth (VIC)
Str: Angus Widdicombe (VIC)
Cox: Kendall Brodie (NSW)
Reserve: Nathan Bowden (SA)
Lightweight Men’s Single Scull - Ninth
Hamish Parry (QLD)
Women’s Single Scull - Seventh
Madeleine Edmunds (QLD)
Women’s Quadruple Scull - Seventh
Bow: Genevieve Horton (NSW)
2: Caitlin Cronin (QLD)
3: Rowena Meredith (NSW)
Str: Olympia Aldersey (SA)
Women’s Pair (and sweep reserves)- Eighth
Bow: Addy Dunkley-Smith (VIC)
Str: Hannah Vermeersch (WA)
Women’s Four - Silver
Bow: Lucy Stephan (VIC)
2: Katrina Werry (VIC)
3: Sarah Hawe (VIC)
Str: Molly Goodman (SA)
Women’s Eight - Bronze
Bow: Leah Saunders (NSW)
2: Georgina Gotch (NSW)
3: Rosemary Popa (VIC)
4: Georgina Rowe (NSW)
5: Annabelle McIntyre (WA)
6: Ciona Wilson (TAS)
7: Jacinta Edmunds (QLD)
Str: Emma Fessey (NSW)
Cox: James Rook (VIC)
Lightweight Women’s Single Scull - Tenth
Alice Arch (VIC)
Lightweight Women’s Double Scull - Twelfth
Bow: Amy James (QLD)
Str: Sarah Pound (NSW)
Reserve: Georgia Nesbitt (TAS)
Men’s Coaches
Head Coach: Ian Wright (M4- and M2-)
Senior Coaches: Mark Prater (M4x; LM1x; M1x) and Andrew Randell (M8+)
Women’s Coaches
Head Coach: John Keogh (W8+ and LW2x)
Senior Coaches: Tom Westgarth (W4- and W2-) and Ellen Randell (W4x, W1x and LW1x)
Results—Women
Rowing Australia reported:
Australia’s Women’s Four of Molly Goodman, Sarah Hawe, Katrina Werry and Lucy Stephan faced off an in form United States as well as Denmark and Russia. The Australians, coached by Tom Westgarth, had a good start, and were chasing the USA, who were in the lead with the Danes and Poland hot on their heels.
In the final 500 metres, Goodman upped the Australians rating to 41 in a bid to push on the USA, but there was a sprint up the outside from the Russians to contend with too. The Australians held off the challenge for second and claimed a silver medal, while the USA took gold.
Post-race, Lucy Stephan said, “It was a tough race and it’s great to see how much the competition has stepped up since last year. I’m really proud of the girls and credit to the USA for how they raced. This is only the second year of the Olympiad and, ultimately, we’re building towards Tokyo.”
Women's Lightweight Double Scull
Women's Lightweight Quad Scull