• Submitted by: admin
• Sports
• 07 / 18 / 2007

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 17 - Rowing had its first medal awarding competitions this Tuesday morning at the Lagoa Rowing Stadium. The first race was Womens Coxless Pair, won by the Chilean double formed by Soraya Jadue and Maria Jose Orellana, in 7m28s94. The Canadian double formed by Zoe Hoskins and Nathalie Maurer settled the second place, 1s11 behind the leaders. The American double formed by Ruth Stiver and Jennifer Reck followed behind in 7s18 after the Chileans. Cuba (Yurisleydis Venet / Magela Despaigne) finished in 7m40s09.

Maria Jose, from Chile, declared that the victory was no surprise. "It was just as we planned. Our strategy was to lead from the beginning, keep the rhythm and give no chance to the others."

In the Mens Single Sculls, Argentine Santiago Fernandez earned the gold medal after he completed 2 kilometers in 6m59s41. Yolnnes Hernandes from Cuba, with a time of 5s06 won the silver medal. Brazilian Marcelus Silva finished in 6s06 behind the Pan American champion and earned the bronze medal. Marcelus guaranteed a place in the podium in the last 100m, when he moved from third to fourth position.

Fernandez was surprised with his victory. "The regatta was good. I led since the beginning. I thought it would be more difficult, but it was an easy victory, declared the Argentine.

In the Womens Single Sculls, Cuban Mayra Gonzalez completed the race in 7m49s47 and won the gold medal. The second place went to Maria Gabriela Best from Argentina, 6s58 behind the champion. Salvadoran Camila Vargas settled the third place in 16s96. Fourth place went to Huerta Trillo from México, who finished in 18s83.

In the Mens Coxless Pair, the first place went to Canadas double formed by Dan Casaca and Christopher Jarvis, who scored 6m34s26. The running for second place was so close, it was necessary to check the competitions images record in the photochart to settle the gold-medal winner between the United States and Brazil. Americans Daniel Beery and Patrick ODunnera won the Pan American silver medal with a time of 3s63 behind the champions. Brazilians Anderson Nocetti and Allan Bitencourt followed in 3s90. Jorber Avila and Yenser Basilio Poll from Cuba earned fourth place in 3s98.

In the Mens Lightweight Double Sculls, the Cubans Eyder Batista and Yunior Perez won in 6m24s19. The second place went to Rich Montgomery and Andrew Liverman from the United States in 4s15, followed by Chileans Felipe Leal and Miguel Cerda in 4s73. José Sobral Junior and Thiago Gomes from Brazil were fourth, 6s62 behind the first place.

Source: rio2007.org.br