Raced in four boat classes, the mixed double sculls (CMix2x), mixed coxed quadruple sculls (CMix4x+) and the men’s and women’s solo (CM1x & CW1x), the competitors began with a beach sprint to their boat. Then they rowed a slalom course around two buoys, a final buoy turned back to the beach for a total of 500m water racing. Then a final beach sprint by one crew member to the finish line. On the first day of finals the mixed double went through quarterfinals, semifinals and then finals. This meant that for the finalists it would be their third race of the day, all in the space of 45 minutes. China’s Wen and Wang raced off against Ledard and Alfred in the final. China got into their boat the quickest and were away ahead of France. Using a higher stroke rate of 41, compared to France’s 39, China was able to move away in the lead. The much straighter course by China – with buoy-hitting part of the strategy – saw Wen and Wang return to the beach first. They crossed the line in 2:23.
The mixed coxed quadruple sculls had Spain come into the final as the fastest qualifier. These crews had raced through heats and semifinals prior to this final. Spain was up against China and at the start both crews were even in getting their boat going off the beach start. China was rating 49 and Spain on 48 with China able to get into a slight lead. The speed on the way out was around 17 km/hour and once around the final buoy the speed picked up to nearly 20 km/hour. China’s crew of Li, Xie, Li, Mi and Guo managed to then push away from Spain and cross the line to win gold in a time of 2:20.
The second day of finals featured the men’s and women’s solo races. On the water it was an offshore cross breeze. It came down to Spain and China in the final of the men’s solo. Adrian Miramon Quiroga of Spain was up against Zhe Huang of China. Miramon had the better sprint to his boat and got away the quickest. Both crews rated high with Spain on 49 and China hitting 46. China had the better course and took a better final buoy turn, but Miramon had the rowing power. Miramon became the inaugural gold medallist in the men’s solo. For the women’s solo China and Great Britain raced for the gold medal. China’s Yuting Zheng had the faster run to her boat and got away first. Zheng then took her stroke rate to 44, a full 6 pips higher than Great Britain’s Robyn Hart-Winks. This saw Zheng move away from Hart-Winks and grow her lead as the race progressed. Coming through to the finish Zheng raced to the line in a time of 2:45.
