Synek and Thiele win at 125th Aegon Koninklijke – Holland Beker
The 125th edition of the Aegon Koninklijke – Holland Beker has been won by the World Champion Ondřej Synek, while German Olympic Champion Annekatrin Thiele proved the strongest in the Ladies’ Trophy.
Ondřej Synek wins the Holland Beker
In the Holland Beker final Drysdale struggled with the waves at the start, while Synek blasted off to take an impressive clear water lead early in the race. Mahé Drysdale pushed at the halfway mark. It seemed a good move as Drysdale pulled into a clear second place in front of Julius Peschel and crawled back towards Synek. The Czech remained in full control however, and charged on to win in a time of 7:41,98.
Synek: “It took me a minute longer than last year. It was a tough race. But I love it here, it is my second favourite course, and I’m really happy to be back’’. Drysdale commented: ’’It was good to have some tough racing, probably a bit frustrating out of the start, but it was good that I managed to turn it around during the race. It felt like I finished strongly’’. About losing his brand new Fillipi shell in an accident this week, Drysdale replied: ‘’Thankfully nobody got hurt. I have my back-up boat, which is the boat I rowed in Rio, so it’s not a bad back-up boat to have’’.
Annekatrin Thiele wins the Ladies’ Trophy
There was no stopping Olympic Champion Thiele in the final of the Ladies’ Trophy as she pulled clear from her opponents in the first 100 meters. With an explosive rowing style, Thiele cut through the waves and the headwind to accumulate a lead of 16 seconds at the finishline. In her wake, Mette Dyrlund Petersen from Danske Studenters Roklub and Cara Grzwskowiak from Capital Lake Rowing Club emerged in second and third place respectively. The best Dutch rower was Euros’ Minke Holleboom finishing in fourth place, almost 6 seconds off the podium.
Congratulations to the top three finalists of the Holland Beker and the Ladies’ Plate!