On the fourth day of competition at the 2015 Under-23 World Championships four crews advanced from semi-finals to fight for medals tomorrow on the last day of the regatta. Two crews will compete for medals overnight in the women's coxless four and men's coxed four.
Germany took the first men's lightweight double scull semi-final by the scruff of the neck claiming the front of the field early and never relinquished the lead, finishing in a time of 6:29.25. The New Zealand combination of Bryce Abernethy and Matt Dunham were sitting in second through to the halfway mark before Italy pushed ahead, New Zealand put up a fight and were neck and neck with Italy, but Italy broke away into the final sprint and claimed second with the New Zealanders rounding out the A final places in third. The first semi-final qualifiers will meet the second semi-final contenders from The Netherlands, Spain and Czech Republic.
Italy were leading the charge in the women's double semi-final through to the 1500m marker but ran out steam to dip out completely. The Netherlands soared past and claimed the win in 7:08.57, while the kiwis Brooke Donoghue and Claudia Hyde also jolted into action to finish second with Belarus rounding out the remaining qualification spots for the A final. In the second semi-final Romania, Great Britain and Germany progressed to the medal final.
The lead swapped between four crews in the first 400m of the women's lightweight double scull race, but once the kiwi crew of Jackie Kiddle and Zoe McBride hit the front of their semi-final they were off. Once in the lead they left the other crews in their wake to fight for the two remaining A final spots. New Zealand won the semi-final in 7:05.58 with a five second margin back to Switzerland and Italy claimed the last available qualifying spot. In the second semi-final China, Romania and Greece progressed to the A final.
Ukraine were three quarters of a boat length up at the first 500m timing point and New Zealand were battling with Italy and Slovenia in the men's quad semi-final. New Zealand made a break away from the other crews to claw the Ukraine crew back in from the 750m mark, at halfway the kiwis were just a third of a length back. Flexing their muscles New Zealand put in a big power piece which was enough to break the Ukrainians. New Zealand went on to take a convincing win crossing the line in 5:52.94. Ukraine were second and Italy was the final qualifier. Canada, Australia and Poland were through to the A final from the first semi-final.