Nail-biting, hand-wringing top rowing race finishes for 2022

The first full season of racing and regattas since 2019, the 2022 season was massive in terms of comebacks, new faces, surprise results and general in-person rowing excitement.

1 – The A-Final of the M2x at the 2022 World Rowing Cup II

We start off with the good, old traditional 2000m flat water event. It’s the final of the Men’s Double Sculls at World Rowing Cup II in Poznan, Poland. The Lake Malta regatta course has seen some exciting racing in its day and 19 June was no exception. The chance of a dead heat is almost unheard of in rowing. Just think, how hard is it to go for over six minutes, racing your own race, your own stroke rate, your own style and then to cross the line at the same exact time. Australia’s Caleb Antill and Jack Cleary did it against Koen Metsemakers and Stefan Broenink of the Netherlands. Just over a second separated these two crews with 500m left to race. At the line the identical time was 6:18.10 with both crews earning bronze.

Results: CRO, POL, NED1 tied with AUS, NED2, GER1

Rewatch the race here: 2022 World Rowing Cup II – Poznan, Poland – Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) A-Final

2 – The A-Final of the M1x at the 2022 European Rowing Championships

It was a final like no other and the results sent a whole nation into a spin. The Men’s Single Sculls final at the European Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany had the hallmark of perfect finish to the regatta. It went in a direction no one expected or, for the predominantly German crowd, wanted. Zeidler, the reigning World and European Champion was leading with 500m to go. Then, in a sport where anything can happen, things started to unravel for Zeidler. Watch what happened next. Footnote: Zeidler went on to win the 2022 World Rowing Championships later in the year.

Rewatch the race here:  2022 European Rowing Championships – Munich, Germany – Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) A-Final

3 – The A-Final of the W2- at the 2022 World Rowing Cup III

The Women’s Pair opened the day of finals, 10 July 2022 at the World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland. Lining up at their first international regatta since winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics were Grace Prendergast and Kerri Williams of New Zealand. They’d won their heat and were looking good for the final. But in the closing sprint Romania’s Ioana Vrinceanu and Denisa Tilvescu came back from third place to take on Williams and Prendergast. It was a photo finish with New Zealand winning over Romania by just 0.11 of a second.

Result: NZL, ROU, GBR, CZE, CRO, CAN

Rewatch the race here: 2022 World Rowing Cup III – Lucerne, Switzerland – Women’s Pair (W2-) A-Final

4 – The A-Final of the W1x at the 2022 World Rowing Cup III

Also at World Rowing Cup III, the Women’s Single Sculls turned out to be an unexpected result. The 20-year-old German, Alexandra Foester had come through to the final by winning her heat and then finishing second in her semifinal. Foester was at the back of the field with the experienced Liang Zhang of China leading the way. Foester remained in fifth through the middle of the race. But then in the final sprint she pulled out a piece of magic and moved through the field, overtaking everyone, even the very experienced and very medalled Jeanine Gmelin of Switzerland. At the finish Foester could not believe what she’d just achieved. “I’m overwhelmed to get this win,” she told World Rowing.

Result: GER, AUS2, SUI1, AZE, CHN1, FRA1

Rewatch the race here: 2022 World Rowing Cup III – Lucerne, Switzerland – Women’s Single Sculls ( W1x) A-Final

5 – The Repechage of the PR1 M1x at the 2022 World Rowing Championships

The final of our top five is not a final. We go to the repechage of the PR1 Men’s Single Sculls at the 2022 World Rowing Championships. Sometimes the PR1 men’s single finishes with the crews rather spread out from each other. This was not the case when Marcus Klemp of Germany decided to give it his all in the closing 500m of the race. Klemp was sitting in second with Rene Campos Pereira of Brazil rather comfortably out in front. Klemp ground down Pereira and took this repechage to a photo finish. The German was declared the winner by just 0.09 of a second.

6 – The A-Final of the M8+ at the 2022 European Rowing Championships

It was the final of the Men’s Eight at the 2022 European Rowing Championships. The race had barely started when the Dutch caught a mother of a crab that put them seven seconds behind the lead and counting. The Dutch remained at the back through the middle of the race before they started clawing their way back, overtaking Romania, Germany and Italy in the process. The Dutch finished second and four seconds off the winning crew, Great Britain

Results: GBR, NED ITA GER ROU

Rewatch the race here: 2022 European Rowing Championships – Men’s Eight (M8+) A-Final 

 

7 – The A-Final of the CMix4x+ at the 2022 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals

For the 2022 World Rowing Beach Sprints Final, the Mixed Coxed Quad, CMix4x+, Spain and New Zealand battled it out. New Zealand, coxed by lightweight single sculling champion Matt Dunham, jumped out at the finish line (after their bow seas fell getting out of the boat) and raced to the buzzer. They missed out on first by a fraction of a second.

Rewatch the race here: 2022 European Rowing Championships – Munich, Germany – Men’s Eight (M8+) A-Final

Result: ResultsRowing_Overall_WRBSF-CMix4x-FULL.pdf (soticcloud.net)

Jackie Kiddle and Matt Dunham relive their race: 2022 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals – Jackie Kiddle and Matt Dunham relive their A-Final

8 – The A-Final of the CM1x at the 2022 European Rowing Coastal and Beach Sprint Championships

It was the European Rowing Coastal and Beach Sprint Championships. Italy’s Simone Martini was coming in and looking good to take the bronze in the club men’s solo. Ander Koppel of Estonia had different ideas and snuck passed to snatch the bronze just at the end. Being a beach finish, Martini might not have known that Koppel was running up behind him.

Result: result-FINAL_CCM1x.pdf (soticcloud.net)

Rewatch the race here (at 3:59:00) 2022 European Rowing Coastal and Beach Sprint Championships – Day Two Morning