They will complete the entire season together for the first time and have already shone by advancing to the A final at the famous World Cup in Lucerne. In the full competition of the world’s best crews in Račice, the fight for seventh place was dominated by the well-filled main stands, where among the fans from European countries, as well as New Zealand and the USA, domestic fans naturally prevailed.
“The greatest satisfaction! Nervousness was rising, but we wanted to win. The support was mainly felt on the last five hundred. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t hear, but there was such a roar that kicked us in the ass and pushed us to the finish line,” laughed the 27-year-old Novotníková.
The Czechs built up a decent lead during the two-kilometer race, but in the final quarter of the course they sometimes ran out of strength in previous races. This time too, the Irish came after them, but Novotníková and Flamíková resisted.
“We still have to work on the last quarter, but today we proved that we can keep it up. And we can ride with everyone, which is a great motivation to keep up the pace,” warms her partner, who is three years younger.
Seventh place is a better result for Tomáš Kacovský’s girls than they achieved at the European Championship in Munich. “It’s a confirmation that the training, which the coach planned well, is working for us,” praised Flamíková.
Photo: Ivana Roháčková
Radka Novotníková (left) and Pavlína Flamíková during the B final in Račice.Photo: Ivana Roháčková
And the experienced coach Kacovský, who led Mirka Knapková to Olympic gold, praised both rowers in return. “Of course,” smiled Novotníková, who studied in California for four years.
“We have a quality group with a light double skiff (Kristýna Neuhortová, Veronika Činková)now the girls have joined in on the heavy (Alice Prokešová, Markéta Nedělová). The crews are close to each other in terms of time, which is an incredible advantage, we push each other in training,” he boasts.
The next world championship will be even more important, in a year in Belgrade it will be about Olympic places. There will be eleven in the women’s double without a coxswain. “It would definitely be better to participate than to wait until the last moment for requalification,” says Novotníková.
