All Huskies Remain In Medal Hunt At 2020 European Championships
Eight former and current Washington rowers saw action Friday on the first day of the 2020 European Rowing Championships at Malta Lake in Poznan, Poland. All eight have either qualified for or remain in contention to reach an A final on Sunday.
In the second of two women's fours heats, Chiara Ondoli stroked her Italian crew to a win, moving them directly into Sunday's A final (only the first-place finisher from each heat was so rewarded). The Italian crew held third place after the first 500 and second at the halfway mark, but moved in front of Russia in the third 500 and held on for a three-second victory. Greece won the first heat, meaning only those two crews have secured their place in the top final.
Another Husky representing Italy also earned a trip to the A final as Carmela Pappalardo and her boatmate finished second in their women's pair heat, just good enough to avoid a repechage. Fourth place at 1,000 meters, Pappalardo's pair passed crews from Russia and Ireland in the third 500 and rowed the fastest final split to finish second, about two seconds back of Greece.
Needing a top-two finish to move directly to the A final, the Italian women's quad, with Valentina Iseppi in the two seat, finished fourth. Iseppi and her teammates will compete in a Saturday repechage, needing a top-two finish in a six-boat field to reach the A final.
In the women's eight exhibition race, Germany, stroked by Tabea Schendekehl, led after the first 500 meters, but had fallen into third place at 1,000 and into fourth at 1,500. The Germans rowed the fastest final 500, but it was only enough to earn third place, a little over three seconds behind Romania, which took first. All four eights will compete for medals on Sunday.
In the men's pairs heats, Serbian veteran Viktor Pivac and his countryman earned a third-place finish, which was enough to place them into an A/B semifinal race on Saturday. The Serbs held third place for essentially the entire race, and finished comfortably ahead of fourth-place Denmark, who had to row in a repechage later on Friday. Serbia will row in the second A/B semi, needing a top-three finish to contend for a medal on Sunday.
In the men's four, Croatian Ivan Piton and his crew had to row twice on Friday. After finishing fourth in its heat, Piton's crew had to race in a repechage later Friday, needing to finish among the top-three in a four-boat field to move on to the A/B semifinal. They accomplished that, finishing second, and will race in the semi Saturday.
Finally, in the men's eight, a Dutch crew featuring two Huskies – Bram Schwarz and Simon van Dorp – finished third in an exhibition race. All five entries will race for the medals in the A final Sunday. Powerful Germany won the exhibition with a time of 5:24.84, about one second faster than Romania and three seconds ahead of the Netherlands eight.
Here are the results from today's races for crews featuring UW athletes, along with each individual's next race.
Women's Pair (W2-)
Carmela Pappalardo '20, ITA
Friday: Finished 2nd in heat
Next: A final, Sunday at 2:46 a.m. PT / 11:46 a.m. CEST
Women's Four (W4-)
Chiara Ondoli '18, ITA
Friday: Finished 1st in heat
Next: A final, Sunday at 3:46 a.m PT / 12:46 a.m. CEST
Women's Quad Sculls (W4x)
Valentina Iseppi '20, ITA
Friday: Finished 4th in heat
Next: Repechage, Saturday at 3:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. CEST
Women's Eight (W8+)
Tabea Schendekehl '20, GER
Friday: Finished 3rd in exhibition race (all boats to A final)
Next: A final, Sunday at 5:16 a.m. PT/2:16 p.m. CEST
Men's Pair (M2-)
Viktor Pivac '18, SRB
Friday: Finished 3rd in heat
Next: A/B semifinal, Saturday at 1:03 a.m. PT / 10:03 a.m. CEST
Men's Four (M4-)
Ivan Piton '17, CRO
Friday: Finished 4th in heat and 2nd in repechage
Next: A/B semifinal, Saturday at 2:35 a.m. PT / 11:35 a.m. CEST
Men's Eight (M8+)
Simon van Dorp '20, NED
Bram Schwarz '20, NED
Friday: Finished 3rd in exhibition race (all boats to A final)
Next: A final, Sunday at 6:01 a.m. PT / 3:01 p.m. CEST
(photo credit: Federazione Italiana Canottaggio)