The Rowsellas have their first medal of the Paris Olympic Games with Annabelle McIntyre and Jessica Morrison claiming bronze in the final of the Women’s Pair.
The duo were part of the gold-medal Four in Tokyo and have since shifted their attention to the smaller boat.
Now they have another Olympic medal to add to their collection after a brave row at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium to kickstart the first of four medal races for Australia in coming days.
Victory went to the brilliant Dutch crew of Ymkje Cleverling and Veronique Meester (6:58.67), who added the Olympic title to their world title.
They were dominant throughout, blasting out of the start to set up a commanding lead and never looked in danger.
Annabelle and Jessica tried gamely to stick with them and make a late charge, but couldn’t make up any ground, then were rowed through near the line as the Romanians made a late surge to just nab the silver.
The Dutch finished in 6:58.67, Romania 7:02.97 and the Australians in 7:03.54.
The Rowsellas have three more boats in A Finals on Saturday with Tara Rigney in the Single Sculls and the men’s and women’s Eights.
Phil Lutton
