Bak Golden, U.S. Wins Three Medals on Final Day at World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals

Christopher Bak (Cincinnati, Ohio/University of Cincinnati/Next Level Rowing/Cincinnati Rowing Club/Great Miami Rowing Club) brought home the gold medal in the men's solo event, while the junior men's double sculls won the silver medal and the junior women's double sculls won the bronze medal on Sunday at the 2022 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Saundersfoot, Great Britain. In total, the U.S. won five medals in Wales, tied for the most medals with Spain and Great Britain.

After missing a buoy and getting knocked out of the competition in the round of 16 at last year's World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals, Bak was on a mission to reach the medal stand in 2022. He had a singular focus towards this day, and his hard work paid off with a dominant performance in Wales.

"Honestly, the feeling has not sunk in yet," Bak said. "I am extremely grateful for the entire U.S. team, as well as my family, for their support. Today was a matter of technical ability, not strength, and I want to thank my coaches, Marc Oria and Ben Booth, for helping guide me and teach me over the past year and a half on how to navigate waves. I again want to thank the entire U.S. team through the course of the endurance racing, training, and beach sprints for their dedication and their belief in each other and as a team."

Bak opened Sunday's racing with an eight-second victory over Portugal's Claudio Rodrigues Barbosa in the round of 16, winning the race in a 2:44.02. No one would come any closer to Bak the rest of the day. The University of Cincinnati graduate took out defending world champion Giovanni Ficarra of Italy in the quarterfinals, covering the course in a 3:14.24 to finish more than 16 seconds ahead of Ficarra. Bak then solidified a medal by defeating Finland's Joel Naukkarinen in the semifinal by more than 18 seconds. Bak clocked a 3:23.45 in the semi.

"Last year, there was a bit of bad luck," Bak told WorldRowing.com. "Props to Gio (Ficarra). Since last year, he was probably one of the most gracious competitors. We kept in touch all year, kept each other motivated. This year, it was the same. You never know what's going to happen out there, just because of the conditions."

In the final, Bak and Tunisia's Mohamed Taieb were in a reasonably tight race through the turn, but the America was able to handle the return trip in magnificent fashion, keeping his boat straight and using the swell to his advantage. Taieb struggled in the final stretch, and Bak was able to row away to a dominant victory. Bak clocked a 3:25.29 to win the gold medal, with Taieb finishing in a 4:05.11 to win the silver. Naukkarinen won the bronze-medal race.

"I ended up quitting my job back in February just to focus on rowing," Bak told WorldRowing.com. "(I was) challenged (with) some other adversity throughout the year, but it was amazing – all worth it, 100 percent. Let's do it again next year."

For Bak, it was his second medal at this year's World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals, having won bronze in the mixed quadruple sculls with coxswain event yesterday.

In the junior men's double sculls, the U.S. duo of Malachi Anderson (Hamilton, Ohio/Butler Technical Institute/Great Miami Crew) and Gary Rought (Mason, Ohio/William Mason High School/Great Miami Crew) took home the silver medal behind Spain. The national team rookies, who reached the knockout round thanks to a second-place finish in Friday's time trial, took out Ireland's Shane Rafferty and Aidan Kearney in the quarterfinals, clocking a 2:56.99 to finish more than 12 seconds ahead of the Irish boat. In the semifinal, Anderson and Rought locked up a medal with a 10-second victory over Great Britain's Robert Collen and James Purves Liddelle, covering the course in a 3:08.34. In the gold-medal race, Spain's Marcos Delgado Marquez and Ricardo Gonzalez Bermudez took home an easy victory after the American boat got sideways in a wave, winning by nearly 17 seconds. Spain clocked a 3:00.97, with the U.S. finishing in a 3:17.80.

"Racing today was quite hectic," Rought said. "If you try to fight the waves, you just won't win and that showed true in the final race when the wave took us and turned us sideways, effectively knocking us out from winning the gold. But it feels great. The true realization of being second in the world hasn't set in yet, but the Spanish (crew) did a great job and were fantastic competition. I set big goals for myself, and I achieved them. Now it's time to set new goals."

The junior women's double sculls crew of Annelise Hahl (Cary, N.C./Needham Broughton High School/Triangle Rowing Club) and Annalie Duncomb (Mason, Ohio/William Mason High School/Great Miami Crew) won the bronze-medal race to reach the podium.

"The conditions today were wild, which made the races so much more exciting," Duncomb said. "Although our result in the semifinal was not as great as Annelise and I had hoped for, we are incredibly proud of a solid third-place finish for Team USA. Our final went well, and I had so much fun racing in it. The feeling of stepping out of the boat knowing we had earned a medal on a global platform was incredible. I look forward to more awesome racing in the future alongside Annelise."

Hahl and Duncomb took the top spot in Friday's time trial but drew Japan's Sasa Yatsuzuka and Miyuki Yamashita, who won the silver medal last year, in their quarterfinal. However, the American duo handled the Japanese crew, clocking a 3:20.06 to finish more than eight seconds in front. That set up a semifinal matchup with Germany. The German duo of Elsa Romer and Monika Bundschu managed the conditions well, winning the race in a 3:26.41 to finish nearly 20 seconds ahead of the U.S. Hahl and Duncomb responded in the B final, covering the course in a 3:30.38 to finish nearly 12 seconds ahead of Great Britain's Isabel Lancaster and Elisabeth Sekinger, securing the bronze medal. Spain defeated Germany to win the gold medal.

"We're feeling amazing. I'm feeling great," Hahl told WorldRowing.com. "These conditions out here were very, very rough, and it was a learning curve for me, but I had so much fun. This is all so fun; the team here is phenomenal. The energy here – the sport – it's all just incredible."

In the junior mixed double sculls event, Brian O'Leary (Port Charlotte, Fla./Jesuit High School/The Stewards Foundation) and Britt Wotovich (Redington Beach, Fla./Berkeley Preparatory School/The Stewards Foundation), the defending silver medalists, finished fourth. O'Leary and Wotovich got off to a strong start, defeating The Netherlands crew of Anniek Van Beusekom by more than seven seconds to advance to the semifinals in a 3:33.06. In the second semi against Italy, the duo struggled with the rough conditions on the sprint back to the beach, got sideways, and ended up finishing a minute back in what was a close race at the turn. Italy's Michelangelo and Alessandra Quaranta won the race in a 3:30.11, with the U.S. finishing in a 4:32.19. In the bronze-medal race, the U.S. boat again struggled on the return to the beach as Tunisia's Hela Belhaje Mohammed and Mohammed Rayen Hafsa were able to win the sprint home. Tunisia won the bronze in a 3:37.57, with the U.S. clocking a 4:03.65. Italy defeated Spain for the gold medal.

In the women's solo event, Cassidy Norton (Hamilton, Ohio/Robert Morris University/Great Miami Crew/Next Level Rowing) got knocked out in the round of 16 by Spain's Teresa Diaz Moreno. Norton, who advanced to the knockout round through the second time trial, covered the course in a 3:32.64, finishing nearly 14 seconds behind Diaz Moreno.

In total, 250 athletes from 27 countries competed in Wales. USRowing's coverage of the event can be found here. Complete results are available on www.worldrowing.com. Join the conversation by using the hashtags #WRBeachSprints, #WRBSF, and #BringOnTheWaves.