SA women rowers still in hunt for Olympic spot after finishing sixth in semifinal

Katherine Williams and Paige Badenhorst were emphatically bundled out of the race for double sculls silverware at the world championships in Belgrade on Friday, but they’re still in the battle for Olympic qualification.

After finishing last in the first semifinal, the duo will go on to compete in the six-lane B-final on Sunday where they must finish no worse than fifth to book their tickets to the Paris 2024 showpiece.

In Friday’s semifinal, Williams and Badenhorst were fifth at the 500-metre mark, just ahead of France, but after that they slipped to last spot and never looked like improving their position before completing the 2km course in 7 min 16.62 sec.

Americans Kristina Wagner and Sophia Vitas won in 7:01.76, ahead of Ireland (7:02.22) and France (7:06.03). 

The Romanian combination of Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis, the Olympic and defending world champions, won the other semifinal 10 minutes later in 7:04.97, with New Zealand second in 7:12.62 and Italy third (7:22.93).

At the back of that race were Norway (7:21.55) and Netherlands (7:16.17), suggesting Williams and Badenhorst have a fighting chance for an Olympic berth on the final day of the regatta in Serbia.

Matthew Bales-Smith ended fifth in the B-final of the lightweight men’s single sculls, a non-Olympic event. He clocked 8:08.99 behind winner Samuel Melvin of the US in 8:02.59. Manel Balastegui of Spain was second in 8:04.34 and Algerian Sid Ali Boudina was third in 8:06.17.