The Second Chance – World Rowing Championships Milan, Italy

The day of repechages gave crews a second chance to progress onto the semi-final. But it wasn’t just a semi-final spot at stake. To put themselves into an Olympic qualifying position crews needed to move onto the semi-final. Tension was visible.

Wind adjusted from tail to side to windless throughout the day altering times between races but still offering excellent, flat water racing conditions.

Lightweight Women’s Single

The formula of only the top two boats advancing to the semi-final increased the intensity on these already hot crews. Of four repechages it was the second repechage that delivered a full 2000 metre race when the three leading boats – Australia, Ireland and the Netherlands – challenged each other for the top two spots. Australia’s Zita Van de Walle spent the first half of the race pacing Maud Klinkers of the Netherlands, but it was Heather Boyle of Ireland who had a faster second 1000 metres.

All three crews looked exhausted as they pushed through the final 250 metres with Van de Walle missing out.

The fastest qualifying time was recorded in repechage four when Lea Fluri of Switzerland, competing in her first World Championships and 21 year old Ibtissem Trimech of Tunisia going one-on-one at the head of the field. Comfortable in front Trimech decided to conserve energy in the last 500 and let Fluri overtake her. Trimech qualified from second place.

Repechage one had Croatia’s Mirna Rajle tussling with Lourdes Guillen Cruz of Spain. Together they left the rest of the field behind and both qualified comfortably.

Coming from a famed lightweight rowing nation, Kirsten Jepsen of Denmark has competed at the World Championships in both the double and quad. Today she came from behind in the third repechage that began with a false start. Jepsen first worked her way past the United States and then past Sanna Sten of Finland to take the lead. Both Jepsen and Sten will qualify.

Lightweight Men’s Single

Six repechages saw a true cross-section of nations head for the start line as a developing tailwind led to faster times. The list of qualifying countries included Guatemala, Portugal, Chile, Algeria and Hong Kong and can only be a reflection of the sports increasing international base.

But taking out the fastest qualifying time was lightweight champion nation, Denmark. Martin Nielsen led for the complete 2000 metres over Brian Young of Ireland who also qualifies. Young’s coach, Tony O’Connor is well placed to give advice being the 2001 World Champion in the lightweight pair.

Slovenia’s Bine Pislar and Kostadin Kolimechkov of Bulgaria tussled for the lead in repechage four and in the process both qualified despite a late challenge by Japan. Pislar clocked the second fastest time.

Repechage one read like a procession as Portugal’s Paulo Pereira moved his boat further and further into the lead ahead of Edgar Nanne, from Guatemala, who also qualified comfortably. Pereira comes off a solid World Cup season which saw him improve through the World Cup races.

Mohamed Aich is part of a contingent of three Algerian rowers at these World Champs and today he won his repechage with Milano flair by taking an early lead over Chile’s Abraham Gonzalez Carvajal. Both crews advance to the semi-final.

Andrew Liverman of the United States created another procession when he led repechage five from the start. This is Liverman’s first World Championships and he warmed up for racing by competing in the Pan American Games earlier this month. Sitting very low in the water Liverman easily held off the rest of the field. In second Vladimir Varfolomeyev of Russia also qualifies.

The final repechage was dominated by Geroge Jelbart of Australia who made easy work of the Idroscalo course. Jelbart remained unchallenged by Hong Kong’s Hiu Fung Law, the second placed qualifier.

Women’s Single

Four repechages with the top two boats advancing opened with Spain’s Nuria Dominguez Asensio and Kristiana Rode of Latvia taking control. The two paced each other at the head of the field. Rode’s fast start propelled her into the lead but mere inches separated her from Spain. This was the story for the remainder of the race with Dominguez Asensio using a stronger sprint to take first. Both crews will qualify for the semi-final.

Alex Beever of Great Britain was struggling to find a rhythm but knew she wanted to be in the semi-final and going through the 1000 metre mark Beever laid it on the line giving away nothing in boat speed. Beever moved into second behind vegetarian Caroline Luethi of Switzerland who had been leading from the start. Luethi remained in first position at the line with a very happy Beever also qualifying.

Repechage three featured two top scullers. China’s Xiuyun Zhang and Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic who easily held command over the remainder of the field. Knapkova missed last year’s World Championships due to injury, but won the Under 23 Championships that same year and now at 23 years old, she will remain a rowing force in the coming years. 1996 Olympian, Zhang was not permitted by her country to compete at the Sydney Olympics and is making no mistakes this year. Both Knapkova and Zhang put themselves into a solid Olympic qualifying position by moving onto the semi-finals.

New Zealand’s Sonia Waddell is keeping the Waddell name alive in rowing
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The final repechage was dominated by New Zealand’s Sonia Waddell who is keeping the Waddell name alive in rowing. Both she and Olympic Champion husband, Rob, moved away from the sport in 2002. But Sonia is back while Rob lends his sporting prowess to sailing and rugby. Waddell led over Kristen Goodrich of the United States and felt comfortable enough to drop her rating down to 25 strokes per minute in the last 500 metres of the race. Goodrich also qualifies and will be hoping to improve on her thirteenth place finish in 2002.

Men’s Single

Bulgaria’s Ivo Yanakiev set the standard in the first of six repechages. Olympian Yanakiev posted the fastest qualifying time and places himself in a handy position to qualify for another Olympic Games. Behind him, France’s Frederic Kowal is an Olympian from the double and also moves onto the semi-final.

Santiago Fernandez of Argentina made no mistakes in the second repechage. Getting ahead of Jakko Hasu of Finland, Fernandez remained in first throughout the race. Hasu comfortably qualified from second position.

There was no contest in the third heat. Austria’s Ralph Kreibich already had a boat length lead in the first 400 metres and Peter Gardner of Great Britain was comfortably ahead of his nearest rival, Korea, by the same stage. Nothing changed in boat order over the next six minutes with Kreibich and Gardner moving away from the rest of the field, qualifying without challenge.

Egypt are well known for their fast starts and it was no exception in the fourth repechage when Sobhy Abdel Ghny Soliman Zhougba leapt to an early lead. However, Italy’s Marco Ragazzi soon took charge and remained in front while Christophe Raes of Belgium worked his way through Egypt and into second position. Both Raes and Ragazzi keep Olympic hopes alive as they move onto the semi-final. Although it was disappointment for Egypt, under the qualification system, Soliman Zhougba will get another qualifying opportunity through the African Qualification Regatta next year.

Estonia’s Jueri Jaanson knows international rowing intimately from years of experience including a sixth place finish at the Sydney Olympics. The hearing impaired Jaanson battled with Volodimir Pavlovskij of Ukraine who finished thirteenth in 2002. Jaanson and Pavlovskij move onto the semi-finals.

The final repechage qualified Slovakia’s Jan Ziska and Dirk Lippits of the Netherlands for the semi-final. Lippits lead from the start and sat a boat length ahead of Ziska who was never under threat in second spot.

Women’s Pair

Lianne Nelson of the United States last competed for her country at the 2000 Olympics. After having a baby, Nelson is back in international form and has joined pair partner Katie Hammes. Today they qualified for the semi-final by winning repechage one. With the top three boats moving onto the semi-final second placed South Africa and Ukraine in third also keep their qualifying hopes alive.

Hopes were bolstered and shattered in the second and fastest repechage. Sophie Balmary and Virginie Chauvel of France ran out of steam in the heat two days ago so today they used a more conservative start to guarantee second 1000 energy. Coming through from third position Chauvel and Balmary retained enough power to move into first position with 600 metres to go. This was at the expense of Germany who led for most of the race.

But it was the battle for third place that set the course on fire. The slow starting New Zealanders were delivering a sprint and attempting to close a five second deficit over Australia. All Australia could do was hold on and hope the finish line would come soon enough. It did – just. In the process New Zealand recorded the fastest final 500-metre split of all repechages – by far – but not enough to qualify.

Katherine Grainger and Cath Bishop of Great Britain led their rep and advance to the semis
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Great Britain’s Katherine Grainger and Cath Bishop finished fifth in 2001 and after a 2002 break for Bishop the crew is together again. They led the final repechage. The Brits retained a comfortable gap between themselves and China who were tussling with Bulgaria. These three crews move onto the semi-final.

Men’s Pair

Two days ago the first boat in each race moved onto the semi-final. Today, as the wind died away, crews had to be in the two top spots for advancement and six repechages indicated the size of the field.

New Zealand arrived in Europe for the third World Cup in July and Rob Hellstrom and Nathan Twaddle added to the already exceptionally competitive field by taking bronze. Today they held off an opening challenge from Cuba to take the lead and retain it for the rest of the race with both crews content to drop their rating in the closing 250 metres. Cuba and New Zealand move on to the semi-final.

Lithuania and Russia were under no qualifying threat in the second repechage although they still gave each other a contest for the first half of the race. Next up Walter Naneder and Marcos Morales of Argentina have come off a Pan American gold medal earlier this month and today they led the third repechage. Behind them Spain wrestled with Egypt but got the upper hand and also qualify.

Luke Walton, bowman of the United States pair, recovered from an early race crab to overtake Latvia and lead through the middle 1000 of the race. But Andrej Hrabar and Matija Pavic of Slovenia were keeping in touch. They managed to sneak ahead with a final 500 metre sprint. Slovenia and the United States will return for the semi-finals.

The Czech Republic have been consistently in the final all season but were beaten by Australia in the heat. Today Adam Michalek and Petr Imre made sure they would qualify by leading from the start. Behind them Germany were holding onto only a slight advantage over the Netherlands. The Germans retained this advantage and also qualify.

The final repechage had Serbia & Montenegro and Brazil qualify from first and second spots respectively with little challenge.

Men’s Four

Four repechages with a top two finish required was the formula for these crews who were fighting to keep Olympic qualification alive. Slovenia have been consistently in fourth all season but today they remained in first from start to finish despite a hard push by Poland. Both crews now move on to the semi-final. This repechage – assigned as fourth – was raced first to give third placed Egypt time to get back and race in their country’s eight later today.

New Zealand followed Slovenia’s example and grabbed an early lead. But the pressure was on. Going through the middle 1000 less than a second separated them from France. However the main excitement was yet to come. In the final 200 metres Romania began to gain on France. With 70 metres left the French still had half a boat length over Romania. However, just before the line disaster struck when the French clipped a buoy that altered their course. That one buoy cost France the potential for Olympic qualification. That single buoy gave Romania the opportunity to move to the semi-final.

Repechage two was controlled by the United States at the head of the field with Russia following closely behind. Both boats remained unchallenged and comfortably move onto the semi-final.

Denmark wanted to show that it was not just lightweights that row in their country. They stuck with leaders Australia throughout the race who were easily in control at the front of the field. These two crews both qualify.

Women’s Double

One repechage with the top three boats advancing gave Viktoria Szekely and Lidia Veroeci of Hungary an opportunity to get a feel for racing from the lead position. But right beside them Ukraine also wanted a taste of first with France in third position keeping the game alive. The three crews remained in this order until the line and all qualify for the semi-final.

Men’s Double

The World Champions, Akos Haller and partner Tibor Petoe of Hungary opened the first of six repechages. Sentimental favourites, Dr. Haller and Petoe shook off any injury worries to clock the fastest qualifying time. Under slightly more favourable conditions the time of 6.17 is better than anything recorded in the heats and may signify a comeback of the champions. However Sweden did not let the World Champion label concern them and kept in contact throughout the race, even taking the lead after a push through the 800-metre mark. Both boats move onto the semis.

Olympic Champion Luka Spik of Slovenia along with partner Matej Prelog kept hopes for the Olympics alive by finishing second in the second repechage. Their trademark extravagant hair styles have been toned down and they looked all about business as they kept in touch with leaders Igor Kuzmin and Andrei Jamsa of Estonia throughout the race. Slovenia and Estonia now add their names to the semi-final list.

Pavol Kuhajda and Pavel Lackovic of Slovakia marked Kestutis Keblys and Einaras Siaudvytis of Lithuania in the light wind conditions. But they were not alone. With 500 metres to go Ukraine was still in touch when the ugly side of racing reared its head. Ukraine’s stroke, Sergij Bilushtchenko could barely keep rowing and had to leave his Olympic qualifying hopes behind. Lithuania remained in first and Slovakia chose to button off and cruise into the second qualifying spot once Ukraine’s threat was gone.

Germany and Poland have seen many finals races and today they moved their chances closer to reality in repechage four. The two crews were virtually unopposed in their first and second spots. Norway pushed the United States in the fifth repechage, but Americans Brett Wilkinson and Steve Gillespie, at their second World Champs together, remained in first place. Norway advances from their unchallenged place two position.

The final repechage was dominated by Cuba’s Yoennis Hernandez and Yosbel Martinez who were under no threat of qualifying. Hernandez comes to Milan having won three gold medals at the Pan American Games and he is part of the small four-member Cuban squad. In second place Greece also qualifies.

Lightweight Women’s Double

Another Olympic qualifying event, the double, featured four heats with a top two finish requirement. Repechage one set the standard when Canada’s Mara Jones and Shona McLaren went under seven minutes to qualify with the fastest time. They did this by getting out in front of Monika Remsei and Edit Stift of Hungary and holding them off. Both boats will qualify. The United States has seen Olympic medals in this event and today 38 year old Lisa Schlenker and partner Rachel Anderson kept these hopes alive by coming through from third to win the second repechage. They left Bulgaria in second when Anderson and Schlenker pulled out a final 500 sprint. The United States and Bulgaria both move on to the semi-final.

It’s not often World Champions must race the repechage, but it was Australia that found themselves racing and leading the third repechage after an upset yesterday saw them beaten by the Romanians. Behind them Spain moved through a fading China to also qualify.

The rowing demons struck again in repechage four when leading crew, Poland were unable to finish the race. This left Denmark, Greece and Japan to fight for two qualifying spots. Today the superior sprints of Denmark’s Juliane Rasmussen and Johanne Thomsen and Greece’s Chrysi Biskitzi and Maria Sakellaridou gave them the coveted positions.

Lightweight Men’s Double

A tailwind that opened the first of six repechages was used by Vasileios Polumeros and Nikolaos Skiathtis of Greece to their best advantage. They used this to move into a slight lead over New Zealand at the start. But the Kiwi’s stuck with them. With half the race gone, both boats still overlapped and less than a second separating them. Greece remained in front until the finish and together with New Zealand they qualified, virtually unopposed, for the semi-final.

A similar story unfolded in the second repechage. Hungary were the victims of a surprise beating by Belgium yesterday and today they left nothing to chance. Zsolt Hirling and Tamas Varga led from the start but not without challenge. Russia’s Andrej Shevel and Denis Moiseyev finished eighth in 2002 and look to be stepping up through the ranks. They kept in close touch with the Hungarians and in the process the two boats moved away from the rest of the field. Russia and Hungary now advance to the semis.

Last year’s bronze medallist, Denmark were handed a new challenge in repechage three in the name of China. Jun Tian and Zhifu Zhu are new to the international scene but appear to be handling it well. Tian and Zhu stuck with leaders, Denmark and successfully held off a last minute charge by Brazil. Denmark and China now move on to the semi-final.

As the tailwind faded repechage four featured the bronze medallists from July’s final World Cup. The United States had returned to Boston to polish up their World Championship form and today they faced Switzerland. Swiss man, Markus Gier won the first-ever Olympic gold in this event in 1996 and he returns with new partner, Silvan Aerni, to go after his third Olympics. Together Aerni and Gier led for the first half of the race but by half way the Americans had a small lead and held that position to the line. Both boats will qualify.

Repechage five saw silver medallists from the third World Cup, Japan lead the field over Canada who remained unthreatened in second position. Both boats will advance to the semi-final.

In the final repechage Olympic Champions Poland had to work their way through Turkey to move into a qualifying position. But at the head of the field were the experienced Anthony Edwards and Haimish Karrasch of Australia. This is their first season together but Edwards comes from Olympic silver medal stock and Karrasch is a veteran of two Olympic Games. They held off Poland and felt comfortable enough to drop their rating to 25 strokes per minute for the close of the race. Australia and Poland will now move onto the semi-finals.

Lightweight Men’s Four

Chile burst onto the scene earlier this season when they added World Champion pair, Christian Yantani and Miguel Cerda Silva to the four. But disappointment struck today when the Chileans could not sustain the pace in the first of four repechages. Out in front Russia and then Spain were battling for the top spot. For a full 2000 metres less than a second separated these two crews and together they pulled ahead of Chile. At the line Spain had a mere bow ball advantage over Russia. The two boats both qualify.

Ireland wanted this race. They took an early lead and kept an eye on Great Britain in the second repechage. Despite a strong push in the third 500 by stroke Nick English of Great Britain the green of Ireland remained in front. The effort puts both crews into the semi-final.

France took an early lead in the third repechage and kept their bow in front through the first 1000. But Poland, then Germany, were on the hunt and with only 500 metres left to race there was nothing between these top three crews. On paper Germany has the most experience. Like Poland they are in their second season together and have a fifth place finish from 2002. The experience paid off and a superior sprint by Germany and Poland put them into the two qualifying positions with disappointment for France.

The final repechage was all about North America versus Asia. Canada, who ended in an unaccustomed third yesterday after taking a bad stroke, led the field. But the United States stuck with them and with a powerful push through the second 500 the Americans propelled themselves into the lead. Behind them China and Japan were trading places between third and fourth position. But that is not enough to qualify. Canada pushed back into the lead with the two North American crews advancing through to the semi-final.

Women’s Quad

The top three boats would advance from this repechage and it was Poland that grabbed an early lead. But they had misjudged their pace. With half the race gone the Poles began to fade. Taking advantage of the situation was, first the Netherlands, then Romania and then China. This remained the finishing order and the three qualifying countries.

Men’s Quad

Four repechages lined up with all crews vying for the top two spots and it was the Czech Republic in repechage one that set the standard. Pushed by Australia the two boats never had anything more than half a second between them and in the process moved away from the rest of the field. At the line seven hundredths of a second separated these two boats with the Czechs keeping the upper hand. Both boats move onto the semi-final.

The second repechage turned into a three boat all out brawl when Ukraine from third position refused to concede. Barely a whisper ahead of them Belarus and the Netherlands attacked and counterattacked. Ukraine held on but in a photo finish and despite being in second with 50 metres to go, mere inches kept Ukraine out of the qualifying position. The Ukrainians won every World Cup in 2002 but then suffered at the World Champs finishing fourth. This year has been uneven for them and today’s third and non-qualifying spot indicates the depth of this field.

There’s guaranteed celebration in the Stofer household tonight. Brothers Christain and Florian Stofer make up the middle combination of Switzerland’s quad and today they held off Estonia to qualify their boat for the semi-final. Despite a strong early challenge from the United States the Americans ran out of steam and Estonia also qualifies.

France weren’t hitting any buoys in this repechage. They got off to a solid start and kept a very cautious eye on the rest of the field from the front. First the French held off a Slovenian challenge, then Hungary and finally Great Britain. With full throttle Simon Cottle in bow for Great Britain his crew moved through Hungary to challenge France in the final sprint. This effort qualified the Brits in second with France holding onto first.

Men’s Eight

The three repechages opened with a Romanian charge. With the goal to be in one of the top three positions Romania decided they wanted to do it from the front. Behind them Poland hung onto second while the Czech Republic in third tried to work themselves free of the high rating Dutch who remained on their tails. At the line this order remained the same – Romania in front with Poland and the Czech Republic finishing virtually together in the final two qualifying spots.

A similar scenario followed in the second repechage with the order unaltered throughout the race except, this time, it turned into more of a procession as Australia showed off their new found speed in the front, followed by Croatia who remained comfortably in second over France in third.

It’s not often you get to witness a relaxed coxswain. Usually their face is contorted and their arms tense as they voice their commands while trying to steer and keep their body from being thrown around by the speed of the boat. Christian Cormack of the British eight demonstrated calm when he took his crew into a handy clear-water lead in the final race of the day. The leading British crew had opened up four seconds by half way and six by the finish. This left Egypt and Italy to battle for second. Egypt’s newfound sprint gave them the honour while Italy qualifies in third.

Tomorrow opens with the remaining repechages and the lesser finals.