Wednesday in Tokyo is set to be a jampacked day for Australia’s rowers with all nine Olympic boats set to race after poor weather on Monday and Tuesday forced a revision of rowing’s schedule.
Australia’s Men’s and Women’s Four and Men’s and Women’s Quadruple Sculls will all be in action on Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo, in a bid to medal in their A-Finals. The day will also feature crews aiming to make A-Finals – with semi-finals for the Men’s and Women’s Pairs and repechages for the Men’s and Women’s Eights all on the schedule. Additionally, Australia’s Women’s Double Scull will compete in its B-Final to secure a final overall Olympic ranking.
Australia’s Women’s Four will be the first crew on the hunt for rowing silverware for Australia on Wednesday. The boat class, which is making its return to the Games after 29 years, will race at 9.50am local time. The crew of Lucy Stephan, Rosie Popa, Jessica Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre will take on Great Britain, Ireland, Netherlands, China and Poland. The Australians stiffest competition is likely to come from their Dutch counterparts along with late qualifiers, Ireland.
Post-race, McIntyre and Morrison will have to back up their final just two hours later to race the Women’s Pair semi-final at 12.20pm local time. The duo Ireland, Great Britain, Canada, Denmark and Greece in their semi-final, with the top three progressing to Thursday’s A-Final.
Immediately following the Women’s Four A-Final, will be the Men’s Four A-Final, where Alex Purnell, Spencer Turrin, Jack Hargreaves and Alex Hill will be aiming to win Australia’s first Olympic gold medal in the boat class in 25 years. The last time Australia won gold was when the ‘Oarsome Foursome’ of Drew Ginn, James Tomkins, Nick Green and Mike McKay won in Atlanta, with the boat class dominated Great Britain over the last five Olympic Games.
The Australians stiffest competition will come from the British and Italians, while the crew will also face off Romania, USA and Netherlands in the final set for 10.10am local time.
Following the sweep rowing, comes Australia’s scullers, with the Men’s Quadruple Scull next up in their A-Final. The crew of Olympic debutants, Jack Cleary, Caleb Antill and Luke Letcher and Rio Olympic silver medallist, Cam Girdlestone are drawn in Lane 5, They face Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Netherlands and Estonia – with the Netherlands the reigning 2019 World Champions in the boat class.
Should Australia claim a gold medal, it will be the first time in Olympic history that an Australian crew has won gold in the boat class.
The Women’s Quadruple Scull of Ria Thompson, Rowena Meredith, Harriet Hudson and Caitlin Cronin had a stunning repechage to qualify for Wednesday’s A-Final at 10.50am local time. The crew, who qualified late for the Games, by virtue of winning the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta, will take on the world’s top scullers in their A-Final. Should they medal, it will be the first time since 2004 that Australia has made a podium in the boat class.
The Australians will take on favoured crews in Poland, China, Germany as well as the Netherlands and Italy in what is sure to be a fantastic final in Tokyo.
Following on from the A-Finals will be the two semi-finals of the Pairs. The Men’s Pair of Joshua Hicks and Sam Hardy will take on Belarus, New Zealand, Romania, Denmark and Spain in a bid to make Thursday’s A-Final. Following them will be the Women’s Pair of McIntyre and Morrison.
Australia’s Eights will wrap up the day with both crews needing top four finishes in their repechages to make Friday’s A-Finals. The women are first up at 12.40pm local time and will take on Great Britain, China, Canada and Romania. Should the crew make Friday’s A-Final, it will be the first time since London 2012 that Australia has made a final in the boat class, while if they medal – it will be an Olympic first for Australia.
The Men’s Eight have a tough repechage including Romania, USA, New Zealand and Great Britain. The crews will be vying to join Germany and Netherlands in the final on Friday. Should Australia make the A-Final, it will be the first time since London 2012 that Australia has featured in an Olympic final, while should they medal, it will be the first time since the 2004 Olympic Games, when Australia won a bronze medal.
