Ruth Walczak wins silver at Rowing World Cup regatta

Ruth Walczak silver in the lightweight singles scull final of the Rowing World Cup regatta

Ruth Walczak took silver in the lightweight singles scull final of the Rowing World Cup regatta on Sunday 22 June 2014 on the clear blue waters of Lake Aiguebelette in the South of France.

This World Cup regatta was Ruth’s first time back rowing for Team GB since winning bronze in the lightweight single scull at the World Championships in Korea last August and she continued her upward trajectory by going one colour better to secure a superb silver medal for Team GB.

In the final, after a frenetic start Julia Edward from New Zealand got into an early lead, leaving a very tight battle for silver and bronze between Ruth and Dandan Pan from China. At the halfway mark Ruth had edged past Pan, but by only a tenth of a second. After being beaten by Pan in the semi-final, Ruth was not going to let the Chinese sculler get the better of her again and put in a consistent third quarter to push clearly into the silver medal position. In the sprint to the line Ruth pulled out an enormous finish to close the gap on the leading New Zealand sculler but it wasn’t quite enough to catch the fast starting Kiwi who continued in the lead with a 37 stroke rate finish.

Ruth said “It was an exciting finish to a brilliant regatta and I’m so happy to be here and to be back racing and doing what I love” she will be back in racing action as part as the newly formed lightweight women’s quad combination for the Henley Royal Regatta from 2-6 July, and then carry on forward with preparations for the World Championships in Amsterdam in August.

Ruth is very grateful for support from Sport Lottery Funding towards her costs and gym membership from Rochdale’s Link4Life as she wouldn’t be able to compete at this elite standard without their support. If any companies or individuals would like to support Ruth in her sporting endeavors please contact Gary Walczak on 01706 359 612.