“A sport anyone can do”
Italian crews were no strangers to success at the World Rowing Coastal Championships for
Clubs in years past, and at the 2011 edition, held in Bari, Italy, they held their own. In the men’s
coxed quadruple sculls, the Italians secured a clean sweep – taking gold, silver and bronze.
“We had high expectations and we knew our boat
was fast,” said stroke Tranquilli, “but for the first
time, we didn’t really know our competition.”
Vincenzo Di Palma(cox), Andrea Tranqulli(stroke), Sergio Canciani, Domenico Montrone, and Salvatore Di Somma (bow) rowed for Gruppo Nautico Fiamme Gialle, a military-based rowing club, and came out on top, winning by over a minute on home waters.
which prepared us for tough conditions, but this
was our first coastal regatta.”
“It was a new experience for us and very different
to flat water rowing,” said Di Palma. “There was a
lot more to think about in the race, such as buoy
direction, the wind and the waves.”
The victory was all the more impressive, as it was
only the crew’s second coastal race together,
the first being the heat, in which they qualified
fastest for the final.
Cox Di Palma stated: “We trained a few times on
the Mediterranean Sea before the championships,
The crew is no stranger to racing hard. Canciani
raced in the men’s eight at the 2004 Athens
Olympic Games while Di Palma coxed the eight
at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Tranquilli,
Montrone and Di Somma also all have a wealth
of experience from racing at World Rowing Cups
and World Rowing Championships.
But what of racing on the sea? How different is
it to flat water rowing?
The Italian men’s coxed
quadruple sculls racing at
the 2011 World Rowing
Coastal Championships in
Bari, Italy.
