End for Some, Progression for Others - Olympic Qualification Regatta

By Melissa Bray

The afternoon of repechages gave athletes their second chance to keep Olympic qualifying dreams alive. Starting at 5pm CET, these athletes had all day to plan, prepare, keep their nerves in check and alter their boat set up to take into account tail wind conditions.

A case of give it all you’ve got from the very first stroke saw some crews burn out by taking too fast a pace at the start. Then on the far side of the finish line a subdued silence spelt the end for many rowers Olympic hopes.

Women’s Single Sculls

One repechage, four scullers and three of them advancing to the semi-final meant that for each rower it was all about keeping ahead of one boat ? this is when the advantage of going backwards comes into play. Poland’s Julia Michalska got off to a very sound start and had a boat length lead with 500 metres of the race gone. Michalska continued to hold the front spot advantage over Greece’s Paraslevi Dimitriadi and Andrea Korom of Serbia and Montenegro. Slovania in the last spot posed no threat to the rest of the field and a sprint for the line became unnecessary.

Klerauskas’s boat, no longer needed
© FISA

Men’s Single Scull

This is brutal. The top two boats would move to the final, the rest of the field would return home to regroup. In the first heat Sigitas Klerauskas of Lithuania got off the line in first place but soon had to succumb to Munich’s bronze medallist, Tim Maeyens of Belgium and the United States’ ex-lightweight Olympian Conal Groom. By the half-way mark the order had once again changed as each boat challenged and counterchallenged. This is when Lassi Karonen of Sweden began to move. Karonen finished fifth at Munich and knew he had the boat speed. He was the benefactor of Groom and Klerauskas’s fast early pace as these two scullers began to suffer.

Coming into the final sprint Klerauskas still held onto the second qualifying spot while Maeyens stayed at the head of the field. But Klerauskas had emptied all of his energy early in the piece and started to suffer. This gave the sprinting Karonen the edge. Maeyens and Karonen move on to the final. Klerauskas, who had given 100 percent effort, required medical help for exhaustion. 

Ireland’s Sean Casey held a slight lead over Ukraine at the start and remained in the coveted leader position while the rest of the field fought for second. With half the race gone Ukraine’s Kostyantin Pronenko was still in qualifying position, but Great Britain’s Ian Lawson was challenging. Moving through the 1200 metre mark Lawson’s pulled out a strong piece that propelled his boat into second and closed the gap on Casey. Pronenko had nothing left to give and Casey and Lawson were able to finish without needing the final sprint.

Men’s Pair

Finishing in the top two would keep Olympic qualifying hopes alive and the first heat was very clear-cut. Poland’s Marcin Wika and Piotr Basta took off at the front of the field with Derek Holland and Neil Casey of Ireland in close tow. This order remained with Brazil giving it their best effort in third position. But Poland and Ireland were taking no chances. They kept the pressure on and for their effort both boats move on to the final.

The tension was evident as the first false start of this regatta played out in repechage two. As boats lined up again Denmark’s Gunnar Levring and Morten Olegaard shook off any false start nerves and left the starting blocks with Spain close by.  The fast early pace cost Spain dearly and gave Lithuania’s Giedrius Zadeika and Einius Petkus the opportunity to push through the 800-metre mark and into second place. This order remained with Spain slipping further back. Denmark and Lithuania move on to the final.

Women’s Double Sculls

China’s Guixin Feng and Xiaoli Gu had a wiz bang heat yesterday and returned today in repechage one refreshed and ready to keep their Olympic hopes alive. After taking over the lead from Ala Piotrowski and Carol Skricki of the United States the Chinese tried to hang on to first ? although tenuously. Skricki is aiming for her second Olympics and has joined with first time national team member Piotrowski to go for another qualifying spot for her country. China and the United States continued to challenge each other with China keeping a slight advantage. Both boats move on to the final. 

An early burst by the Czech Republic soon fell to the speed of Marianne Nordahl and Heidi Veeser of Norway in the second repechage. But it was France’s Caroline Delas and Gaelle Buniet that had taken the bull by the horns, setting the pace at the head of the field. With a three second advantage and only 500 metres of the race gone, France were making a clear statement to the rest of the field. Delas and Buniet continued to extend this lead with the Czech Republic slipping further and further back. France and Norway move on to the final.

Men’s Double Sculls

They came twelfth at last year’s World Championships. Coming twelfth meant being one position off qualifying for the Olympics. Nils-Torolv Simonsen and Morten Gundro of Norway were not giving up their Olympic hopes. Complete with their own personal fan club on the shores, Simonsen and Gundro took off at the head of the field just behind Poland’s Adam Wojciechowski and Michal Jelinski. Poland finished thirteenth last year and today going head-to-head with Norway kept these two boats in the qualifying positions.

Going through the 1000 metre mark Norway had a half boat length advantage, but Poland were not giving in. The sprint continued. Poland and Norway move on to the final in first and second respectively finishing with less than half a second separating them.

Repechage two was even closer. At the front of the field Aliaksandr Novikau and Dzianis Mihal of Belarus were contending with Ivan Podshivalov and Aleksandr Lebedev of Russia with Ukraine still on the pace. Going through the half way point less than two seconds separated these top three boats and with only two positions available no crew could afford to relent. With less than 500 metres to go there was still less than two seconds between these crews. With the finish line gone the margin remained just as tight. Belarus and Russia qualify ? just. 

Men’s Four

One repechage meant that crews had to be in the top four and finishing spots started to reveal themselves very early in the race. Croatia has prioritised this boat over the eight and with Olympian Igor Boraska in two seat they took a slight early lead over Denmark. Last year Denmark finished one spot out of qualifying for the Olympics and today they kept their Olympic hopes alive by staying firmly in second position. In third France was boating a completely new crew from the 2003 thirteenth placed line-up.

Meanwhile the new Netherlands crew was working at reversing a bad start that had them in last place. They still wanted to pull themselves up into the final qualifying spot and were coming back from a four second deficit. One thousand metres had been completed and Croatia remained in front with France taking over second spot from Denmark and the Netherlands now comfortably in fourth. The pressure remained to the line with these countries all moving on to the final.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls

She comes into the double for being 2001 World Champion in the single. Sinead Jennings of Ireland paired up with Heather Boyle and, after overtaking Bulgaria, sat with Angeliki Gremou and Chrysi Biskitzi of Greece at the head of the field. But both boats knew the race is not over until the final buzzer and the pace remained hot.

As the race came in to the final 500 metre zone New Zealand was putting in the sprint of their life. Closing in on number two spot, Biskitzi and Gremou were holding on by the skin of their teeth. If there had been 10 metres more? Greece remained in second and Ireland also qualify for the final by staying at the head of the field.

The second repechage was much more clear-cut as Denmark’s Juliane Rasmussen and Johanne Thomsen led the race, but only just ahead of Sanna Sten and Minna Nieminen of Finland. Denmark and Finland going head-to-head at the front of the field slowly moved away from Switzerland in third. The two crews continued to widen the gap and by the finish Finland was comfortably in second with Denmark qualifying by finishing first.

The high standard today was reflected by both Ireland and Denmark’s finishing time being within nine seconds of the World Best time set by Denmark in 1995 in Copenhagen.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls

In repechage one Justin Gevaert and Wouter Vanderfraenen of Belgium moved away to a small lead over Vaclav Malecek and Michal Vabrousek of the Czech Republic. Belgium finished fourteenth in the world last year so just missed out on Olympic qualification but today they put themselves back in the running. The Belgians were in fine company as their competitor, Vabrousek has a slew of single sculling medals including a gold from the 2000 World Championships. Despite their medalled rival, Vanderfraenen and Gevaert remained ahead at the half-way point, maintaining a very respectable pace.

Meanwhile the Czech Republic worked to keep out of trouble and their boat ahead of Slovenia. At the line Belgium and the Czech Republic remain in qualifying positions and in the process both boats got within nine seconds of the World Best time.

Slovakia’s Lubos Podstupka and Lukas Babac led the race ahead of Paulo Pereira Dos Santos and Pedro Fraga of Portugal. Both of these boats totally controlled the race and outclassed the rest of the field. They easily move on to the final.

Lightweight Men’s Four

France then China soon ran down an early quick start by Ukraine, as the first repechage got under way. But out in front Poland was keeping just enough between them and the following boats while a suffering Ukraine was wishing the race was only 1000 metres long. As the boats moved into the final sprint China had firmly secured number two position and was going after Poland. Both boats now go to the final.

After yesterday’s heats it was clear that Chile would be the boat to beat in the repechage. But today Japan was the crew that had found a new level of boat speed and was at the head of the field. With half the race gone Japan still had their the number one spot over Chile, but only by a small breath. Chile, holding their solid pace, then moved past Japan and by the final sprint, with Chile now in the lead, both boats qualify for the final.