# ROWING: Sanita Puspure won the C Final of the women’s single sculls with great ease at the Olympic Games regatta at Eton Dorney today, placing her 13th overall. Micheen Thornycroft of Zimbabwe showed well early on, but Puspure took over in the second quarter of the race and had a clear one-length lead by 1250 metres. She then pushed on to win by almost eight seconds.
The A Final winner was Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic. Silver and bronze went to Fie Udby Erichsen of the Denmark and Kim Crow of Australia.
In an interesting twist, the Olympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne had been a good indicator of form at Eton Dorney. Crow had won there, while Erichsen had finished second. Genevra Stone of the United States, who was third in Lucerne, won the Olympic B Final (seventh overall), while Puspure was fourth in Lucerne. Crow had a great Olympics, taking silver in the double sculls.
Olympic Games Regatta, Eton Dorney (Irish interest)
Women’s Single Sculls – C Final (places 13 to 18): 1 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:59.77, 2 Zimbabwe (M Thornycroft) 8:07.52, 3 Cuba (Y Cobas Garcia) 8:14.59, 4 El Salvador 8:19.75, 5 Thailand 8:34.11, 6 Brazil did not start. A Final: 1 Czech Republic (M Knapkova) 7:54.37, 2 Denmark (FU Erichsen) 7:57.72, 3 Australia (K Crow) 7:58.04.
