Men's Pair (M2-) - Final

This race featured a dual between two British crews who are both aiming to be the Olympic boat for their country. It also featured the World and Olympic Champions, Eric Murray and Hamish Bond of New Zealand. Murray and Bond got away quickly, but the field was very tight and only a couple of seconds separated the entire field with 500m rowed. By the middle of the race Murray and Bond had earned a small lead over Great Britain Two of Alan Sinclair and Stewart Innes with Australia and Great Britain One neck-and-neck for third.

Coming into the final 500m New Zealand had the lead and behind them three boats were on top of each other – the two British boats and Australia’s Spencer Turrin and Alexander Lloyd. A wild sprint to the line saw Murray and Bond hold first with Australia coming through in second and the two British boats going to a photo finish. Sinclair and Innes had only just beaten Matthew Tarrant and Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell.

Results: NZL, AUS, GBR2, GBR1, SRB, ITA

Hamish Bond (s), New Zealand, gold
“We are going well, we are in good shape and we know how fast we can go. The next weeks we just are going to training camps in Switzerland.”

Alexander Lloyd (s), Australia, silver
“We really wanted to get our rhythm in the first 1000m and make our move in the second thousand. We knew the Kiwis were too far away, but we were happy to push through the field and take second place.”

Alan Sinclair (b), Great Britain 2, bronze
“There were two GBR boats in the race because the selection is not complete for the Olympics. We finished again with a very close margin. The selection for the Olympics will be based on this regatta, but we will have the results on Thursday.” 

B-final

Romania Two got away very quickly and remained in the lead at the half way point. But then Australia Two did a push and got into the lead. The field then began to close and with just 500m left to row there was less than three seconds separating the top five boats. The best sprint was Germany One of Weissenfeld and Johannesen and they crossed the line in first.

Results: GER1, NZL2, AUS1, GER2, ROU2, HUN