This was the Koninklijke-Holland Beker Day 1

Jun 25, 2023

This was the Koninklijke-Holland Beker Day 1

Day 1 is done and dusted, and what a day it was! Although slightly on the warm side, conditions were perfect. A mild tail breeze resulted in a world best time (AUS W2-) and national best time (NED W4x). Kicking the day off were the heats of the BM2x. With a gap just below 1 second separating the number 1 and 2 of that heat, the crews laid down the basis of an exciting day of racing ahead.

It truly was a day that had it all: a great ambiance at the entire Regatta venue, very powerful and dominant crews getting their bowball in front in the start all the way until victory, and also some other really tight races such as the W2x where the Dutch duo Vos/Scheenaard managed to finish just 0.11 seconds in front of the GBR2 crew.

Want to know more about day 1? Read our recap of today’s results below!!You can find all results here.

Holland Beker
The heats of the Holland Beker were packed with talentTwellaar, van Lierop, Broenink and van Dorp directly qualified for the A/B semi’s tomorrow by winning their heats. Of these four Dutch rowers, Broenink was the fastest over the 2000m course, closely followed by van Dorp in the second heat (just a 1 second margin). Racing nearly 2 seconds faster than current European Champion van Lierop, van Dorp has showed that he is up to the challenge and can compete with the top in the single. The runners-up who also directly qualified for the semis tomorrow were Franz Werner (GER), Mats van Sabben (NED) and Aussies Hamish Harding and Blaine Heseltine. Surprisingly Tone Wieten (NED) had to row the repechage. However, he did so very successfully, showing that we should still count the comeback kid in for tomorrow’s victory. The others who claimed a spot in tomorrow’s semis via the repechage are Jannis Romanowski (GER), Lars Kreiter (NED) and Oskar Martinius Gjerland (NOR). Best of luck tomorrow! Youngster Gianni Perotti could not surprise and will row against Holland Beker routinieer Privel Hinkati in the D-final tomorrow.

Ladies Trophy
Although she explained to us in an interview that she is not at her best level yet, it came to no surprise to us that Emma Twigg (NZL easily won her heat. As she told us she was able to conserve some energy in the final part of the race, which is likely to help her row to victory tomorrow! Although Roos de Jong (NED) also easily won her heat and likely did the same as Twigg did, she managed to row nearly 5 seconds faster than Twigg. Martine Veldhuis (NED claimed victory in the third heat. This race was a bit closer, with just two seconds separating the numbers one and two, however, it is notable that she did manage to row a faster time than Twigg! We are excited to see the racing between these three unfold tomorrow! Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne (GBR) claimed the final direct qualifying spot.

In the repechages Chloe Ahixsa Callorda Bordacosta (URU), Iris Neijzen (NED), Ida Görtz Jacobsen (DEN), Alejandra Alsonso Aldrete (PAR), Mazarine Guilbert (BEL), Juliana Faralisch (GER), Cara Grzeskowiak (AUS), and Suzannah Duncan (FRA) proved themselves worthy of a spot in the A/B semi-finals. The fourth repechage was the fastest of them all. However, the difference with the third repechage was only one second, so we are ready for some exciting racing tomorrow!!

Other events
Too much happened today to sum up in this race review. We want to mention that we saw some delightful racing across the scope and are even more happy and proud to see everyone having enjoyed it so much.

In the ‘other’ events it was predominantly the Dutch national team that stood out. For example, in the W4-, the GBR crew was no match for the awakened force of the Dutc. This unchanged crew since last European’s is looking well on their way for the world’s later this summer. Also, the Dutch W4x set a new national record! Very surprisingly Dutch national team duo Ritsma/Wiersma was seriously outclassed by the duo from Utrecht: Eli Brouwer and Pieter van Veen. The belgian duo of Claeys/Mercier came in third. The Dutch men eight was a delight to watch, but the real rowing lover was also looking behind them to the race between the Indonesian/Triton crew and the Dutch U23 crew. The Indonesia/Triton crew surprised everyone. They managed to stay in front of the Dutch U23 crew, and the commentators rightly complimented this team with their great rowing.