China, Great Britain, and Netherlands on form at World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne
Olympic contenders took to the water in Switzerland and gave us a small glimpse of what's to come at Tokyo 2020 Games in 2021
Rowing
There were plenty of thrills on the final day of the World Rowing Cup II on Sunday 23 May in Lucerne, Switzerland.
The Rotsee regatta course saw a thrilling last race as Great Britain's eight edged out the German crew by just three hundredth's of a second.
It was a showdown of the British Olympic champions versus the German World champions, and the two boats didn't disappoint, powering along, side-by-side, stroke-for-stroke right to the line where Britain took it by a fraction.
It capped off a marvellous day for British rowers, who bagged three big race wins, matched only by China, who also had a fine day on the water.
Team GB dominated the men's four too as Carnegie, Gibbs, Rossiter, and Cook powered away from a South African boat that had two Olympic medallists in it - one of them John Smith - a champion at London 2012.
And in the Lightweight Women's Double Sculls, GB came out on top once more, Imogen Grant and Emily Craig claiming victory ahead of Romania in second and France in third.
The Chinese had podium-topping performances in the women’s quadruple sculls and men’s double sculls, and while both are reigning World champions, it was impressive considering neither crew had raced since the 2019 World Rowing Championships.
The men's double sculls was a real scrap as China’s Zhiyu Liu and Liang Zhang were challenged by Ireland’s Ronan Byrne and Philip Doyle, the Irish led at the halfway mark but Liu and Zhang dug deep to win the final sprint, the Netherlands placing third.
Huiru Li won China's other first place finish in the lightweight women’s single sculls, at 20 years of age she'll be one to watch at Tokyo.
Another race that went right down to the wire was the women's single sculls as Russian Rowing Federation's Hanna Prakhatsen managed to hold off USA's London 2012 bronze medallist Kara Kohler and Ireland's double world champion Sanita Puspure.
Prakhatsen stormed into the lead early on but was slowly reeled in by Kohler who hadn't raced since the 2019 Worlds and Puspure, Prakhatsen just doing enough to hold on for the win.
In the men's single sculls World and European champion Oliver Zeidler of Germany confirmed his class in the final, winning ahead of Denmark's Sverri Nielsen in second and Norwegian Kjetil Borchthird.
Meanwhile there was joy for Ireland as Rio silver medallist Paul O'Donovan with Fintan McCarthy claimed a big World Cup win in the men's lightweight double sculls.
O'Donovan and McCarthy (who has replaced Paul's brother Gary in the boat) stayed calm as the German pair of Rommelmann and Osborne opened with a furious pace rating over 50 strokes per minute.
The Irish held firm at 39 strokes per minute and lead by the length of the boat towards the end of the race.
Ireland finished first with Norway, who claimed bronze behind Ireland at the Rio Olympics, edging out Germany in third and Italy close behind in fourth.
O'Donovan/McCarthy are now 2019 World champions, 2021 European champions and World Cup II champs as momentum builds before Tokyo.
There was Dutch delight too as the team took home five medals, including two first-place finishes.
The men's quadruple sculls asserted their authority once more as reigning world champs, but had to work for it with Italy and Great Britain forcing them to empty the tank.
And the Dutch women's four win also comes as a boost to the team's Olympic hopes as that event is back on the programme in Tokyo.
This World Cup in Lucerne was the second of three events in the World Rowing Cup series with the third and final meet set for Sabaudia in Italy from 4-6 June, where the ultimate winners will be determined.