Last weekend, on 17-18 July, the Swedish Rowing Sprint Championships were held in my old hometown of Malmö. The 600-metre course was a straight stretch on the Malmö Canal in the centre of town. As the canal is very narrow and can only take two boats abreast several heats were needed to get to the two finalists in each class. My good, old club, Malmö Roddklubb, was the host, together with the regional rowing federation, Skånes Roddförbund. The event went very smoothly, the weather was great, and all the races were televised by the major Swedish national TV-station. I hope that Swedish rowing will get a real good boost out of all this hoopla.
One of the hardest races was in the men’s single scull, lightweight, where Kevin Hermansson (Kungälv RK) met Philippe Romé (Mölndals RK). Romé, who is from France and living with his Swedish girlfriend and their daughter in Göteborg, gave everything he had, and a little more, to become the Swedish Champion in the single scull, lightweight.
Below you can watch the race. The commentaries are in Swedish, and one of the voices belongs to rowing expert Henrik Nilsson, an old Blue who rowed for Oxford in 1998 and 1999, the only Swede who has competed in The Boat Race up to this date.
Following is a short interview in English with Philippe Romé.
Enjoy Hélène!
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Great to watch these videos ! I have had the impression to make a short visit to Malmö ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnd I have loved the Swedish commentaries !
Nice to see a race in the centre of a town too !