Rowing: Great day of finals as St Catharines says goodbye. WORLD ROWING

The curtain came down on an incredible combined World Rowing Senior, Under 23 and Under 19 Championships today as the finals for the 14 Under 19 boat classes took place in St Catharines, Canada. Next year's Senior, U23 and U19 Championships will be held at Shanghai (China), Poznan (Poland) and Trakai (Lithuania).

In front of a packed grandstand, seven nations took home new U19 World Under Championship titles and a total of 13 nations had at least one podium finish. Romania topped the medal table with an impressive four golds, while Germany took the most medals with one gold, two silver and four bronze. 

The first gold of the day went to Italy in the women's coxed four with Marta Orefice, Giulia Orefice, Carolina Cassani, Letizia Martorana and Margherita Fanchi coxing. They finished almost 10 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Australia prevented Italy from completing the double, defending their men's title with Samuel Basha, Matias Moloney, Tomas Moloney, Ambrose Hennessy and Henry Burton coxing. 

The Romanian national anthem was played out three times in a row after victories in the women's and men's pairs, and the women's four. The women's pair of Iulica Maria Ursu and Gabriela Tivodariu dominated their race to finish over nine seconds ahead of Greece. It was Tivodariu's second consecutive world title in this boat class.


In the men's pairs final on Canadian waters, Mateus Simion Cozminciuc and Fabrizio Alexandru Scripcariu finished just 18 hundredths ahead of Germany, with Spain in third. In the women's four, Ionela Elena Scutaru, Adina Alexandra Florea, Stejara Olariu and Bianca Elena Draghici won by more than two seconds, with Great Britain taking silver and the Czech Republic bronze. 

After three consecutive victories for Romania, it was the turn of the Italians. They beat Great Britain to take gold in both the men's four with Leonardo Sostegni, Luca Cassina, Filippo Bancora and Giovanni Paoli, and in the women's quadruple sculls with Noemi de Vincenzi, Beatrice Ravini, Valentina Mascheroni and Melissa Schincariol. Germany won the men's quadruple sculls with Jonathan Ebel, Felix Krones, Oscar Krause and Mads Schmied. 

It was a double for Greece in the double sculls. Gavriela Lioliou and Varvara Lykomitrou overtook Great Britain, who had led most of the race, in the final sprint to take the women's double sculls title. In the men's double sculls, Konstantinos Giannoulis and Nikolaos Cholopoulos led from the start of the A final.

Romania's Bianca Ifteni won gold in the women's U19 single sculls. WORLD ROWING
Romania's Bianca Ifteni won gold in the women's U19 single sculls. WORLD ROWING

Despite Great Britain's best efforts to defend their women's eight title, a dominant USA crew with Delaney Lundberg, Emily Tierney, Lia Nathan, Cecily Shaber, Claire Van Praagh, Charlotte Jett, Lauren Dubois, Carly Brown and Lucy Herrick coxing, controlled the race from the start. Great Britain took silver and Italy bronze. 

Greece's Panagiotis Makrygiannis won gold in the men's single sculls with an epic final sprint. Romania's fourth gold came in the women's single sculls as Bianca Ifteni defended her title from last year - beating South Africa's Danelia Price-Hughes. 

In the final race of the day, an impressive Great Britain men's eight of Harry Oliver, Oliver Richardson, William Harper, Elam Hughes, Edward Bayfield, Alec Wild, Leopold Hainlein, Timothy Gutsev and cox Edward Crosthwaite-Eyre led all the way, finishing over two seconds ahead of the USA. It completed a hat-trick of Olympic, U23 and U19 medals for the GB men's eight. The USA took silver and Germany bronze.