Marching in on the World Best Time

In the men’s pair, New Zealand’s Hamish Bond and Eric Murray raced by themselves at the head of the field and recorded a time just five seconds outside the World Best Time. Later in the morning fellow New Zealanders, Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan got just six seconds out of the World Best time in the men’s double sculls when Argentina pushed them to the line. 

 

Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (LW1x) – Heats

The weigh-in room at any rowing regatta always holds a level of tension. Early this morning, two hours before their race, these rowers had to be at weight, 59kg, before they would be allowed to race. That out of the way, two heats lined up in this event with the aim of being in first place for a direct path to the finals on Saturday evening.

Fabiana Beltrame of Brazil is having a good season. She finished fourth at last month’s World Cup and she’s back to do better in Hamburg. Beltrame took the lead at the start and pushed on, leaving the rest of the field behind. Beltrame, 29, has raced in the open single at the last two Olympic Games and it is likely she’s heading for Olympics number three this year. At the line Beltrame was the very easy winner and will move directly to the final.

In the second heat the race started off as a duel between the two German crews, Lena Mueller and Claudia Mack. Mueller, rowing as Germany’s second boat, stamped her name on this race by rating an aggressive 34 stroke rate for the first half of the race. Mueller was sending out a message to her country’s team selectors and Mack seemed unable to reply. Mueller settled to a 31 as she raced the second 1000m with a comfortable open water lead. Mueller easily qualifies for the final.

 

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x) – Heats

This popular event had 20 boats entered with these athletes divided into three heats. A first, second or third place finish would earn a berth in the semifinals. Heat one opened as a three-way battle between Germany’s Jonathan Koch, John Graves of the United States and Ailson Silva of Brazil. Koch led the way with Graves holding on tightly. Through the middle of the race Silva slipped back a fraction but remained in the third qualifying place. But Silva picked it up towards the end, while Koch was happy to race a low 23 across the finish line. Koch, Graves and Silva are the qualifying crews.

The best qualifying time was set in heat two when World Record holder on the indoor rowing machine, Henrik Stephansen of Denmark got into the lead and moved fully away from the rest of the field. Stephansen’s goal is to race at the Olympic Games, preferably in the lightweight double, but lightweight competition in his home country is extremely tight and Stephansen for now will have to settle for the non-Olympic event, the lightweight single. At the finish Stephansen had a full 11 seconds over Artyom Kudryashov of Uzbekistan in second. Kudryashov also qualified for the semifinal and so does early leader Juan Jumenez Regules of Mexico’s second boat.

Former three-time World Champion, Duncan Grant of New Zealand has taken the long flight from the Southern Hemisphere winter to compete at this event. He made the most of shaking off any jetlag by leading heat three from start to finish. Grant won this event in 2007, 2008 and 2009 but missed out on the top honour in front of his home crowd last year at the World Rowing Championships in Karapiro. Grant, in his black boat, kept his strokes long and his rating high to cross the line first. Behind Grant Norway’s second boat, Svein Urban Ringstad took second and Javid Afandiyev of Azerbaijan qualified for the semifinal from third.

 

Women’s Pair (W2-) – Heats

The two heats in the women’s pair opened with a show of Chinese seat racing. Heat one had three Chinese crews racing head to head, but none had a show against the leading crews. Surprisingly out in front at the start was Naydene Smith and Lee-Ann Persse of South Africa. Even more surprisingly they were leading the current World Champions, Juliette Haigh and Rebecca Scown of New Zealand. This is Smith and Persse’s first international race together and Smith’s first international race ever. What a confidence boost it must have been for these two South Africans.

However, Scown and Haigh were not going to take this race lying down. Coming into the third 500, Scown and Haigh started to show their true form and they not only closed the three second gap of the South African’s, they pushed past and proceeded to move away rating 38 in the final sprint. With two boats qualifying for the final, South Africa was still safe in second.

Germany’s top pair, Kerstin Hartmann and Marlene Sinnig had a reasonably comfortable time of it in heat two. Hartmann and Sinning came out in the lead over Russia and Croatia and slowly inched away from their competitors as the race progressed. Hartmann and Sinnig are in their third season together and they are likely to be the biggest challenge to the New Zealanders at this regatta. Coming into the close of the race Hartmann and Sinnig remained in the lead with Croatia’s Sonja Keserac and Maja Anic taking second, despite having a close encounter with some Canadian Geese 20m before the finish. Germany and Croatia go directly to the final.

 

Men’s Pair (M2-) – Heats

The men’s pair was divided into two heats with the top boat only qualifying for the final on Sunday. All other boats would have to return for a repechage. Heat one turned out to be the race of the day – time-wise – when World Champions, Hamish Bond and Eric Murray of New Zealand decided to shake off any jetlag blues and race their own race at the head of the field. Murray and Bond proved that they were in a class of their own breaking away from the rest of the field within the first 200m of the race.

By the half way point Murray and Bond had produced a yawning gap ahead of all other crews and by the finish line they were about 100m in front, rating 40 strokes per minute in a sprint of their own to the finish. Murray and Bond’s time of 6:19 was less than five seconds outside the World Best Time. They qualify for the final. Meawhile Chile, Poland and Argentina held their own race for second with Argentina having the edge at the line.

Germany’s Maximillan Munski and Felix Drahotta raced at the head of the field in heat two. But their lead was nothing like the New Zealanders in the first heat. Drahotta and Munski are in their first season together with Drahotta coming into it with the experience of a 2008 Olympic fourth place finish. They were pushed hard by Olympic medallist Ramon Di Clemente of South Africa rowing with his new partner Lawrence Brittain as well as Germany’s second boat of Beckmann and Makowski. Coming into the line Drahotta and Munski rated a solid 37 to cross the line first with South Africa missing out on qualifying despite their 39 stroke rate sprint.

 

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) – Heats

This event was divided into three heats with the top three boats in each heat earning a spot in the semifinals. Germany third boat (Julia Lier and Lisa Schmidla) led the way in heat one – but only just. After taking a small margin at the start Lier and Schmidla found themselves strongly challenged by Switzerland. Lier and Schmidla managed to just hold them off with Austria then moving up to take on the leaders. As the finish line came into view Denmark’s Jakobsen sisters charged at a 40 stroke rate. Austria and Germany fought back. The finish was close with Germany, Austria and Denmark being the qualifying boats.

The fastest qualifying time was recorded in heat three when 2009 World Champions, Magdalena Fularczyk and Julia Michalska of Poland took the lead. The duo had a sub-par season in 2010 as they both battled injuries, but they could become the biggest threat to reigning World Champions, Great Britain when the British join the international action again.

Behind Fularczyk and Michalska Germany’s first boat  (Dunsing and Wengert) slotted into second with Belarus’s second boat back in third. Nothing changed in what turned into a procession down the course with Poland crossing the line at a solid 33 strokes per minute and a time of 6:59. Germany’s first boat and Belarus’s second boat also qualified.

Heat two was also close with Tatsiana Kukhta and Yuliya Bichyk of Belarus holding a small advantage. Behind them Germany’s second boat (Domscheit and Waleska) followed closely with China’s Shimin Yan and Wenyi Huang also on the pace. Going through the half-way point there was very little between these three crews as Bichyk and Kukhta continued to hold just a fraction of an advantage. At the line Belarus, Germany’s second boat and China were through to the semifinal, Belarus recording the second fastest qualifying time.

 

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – Heats

Divided into two heats, this event required these double scullers to finish first or second if they wanted a direct path to Sunday’s final. In heat one Estonia and Poland did battle at the head of the field. Estonia’s Allar Raja and Kaspar Taimsoo have been together for three years and were fourth last month at the first Samsung World Rowing Cup and come to this regatta as definite medal hopefuls, but Michal Sloma and Wiktor Chabel of Poland are in their fourth year of rowing together and were challenging the Estonians with every stroke.

As the boatpark came into sight and Poland passed the grandstand at the finish line, the crew were pushing just a bit harder. Both Poland and Estonia qualified directly for the final with Poland gaining the psychological advantage of first place.

In heat two the reigning World Champions, Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan of New Zealand must be out to prove their 2010 form was not an anomaly. They overtook a fast starting Latvia to take the lead with Ariel Suarez and Cristian Russo of Argentina challenging hard. Suarez has been racing internationally since 2001 with this duo finishing 13^th last year at the World Rowing Championships.

Despite New Zealand’s World Champion status, Russo and Suarez were giving them no wriggle room and the two boats remained locked together through the middle of the race. Then finally Sullivan and Cohen managed to push away, albeit just a bit, near the finish. Full credit to Argentina for holding on to the World Champions. Both crews qualified for the final with Cohen and Sullivan recording a time just six seconds outside of the World Best Time.

 

Men’s Four (M4-) – Heats

This event was divided into two heats with the first boat only in each heat earning a direct path to Sunday’s final. In heat one China took off out of the start like they were on fire. By the halfway point they had been overhauled by the new New Zealand line up. New Zealand has brought back two of their Beijing Olympic four and 2007 World Champions – Meyer and Dallinger. Together with Chris Harris and Ben Hammond the crew then showed that they had a strong second half by moving away from China in the third quarter and holding off the Czech Republic. New Zealand qualified directly for the final on Sunday.

A powerful looking German line up led the way in heat two. This German crew is different than the boat that raced last month at the World Rowing Cup as coach, Hartmut Buschbacher continues to fine-tune his crews. By the halfway point Eric Johannesen, Andreas Kuffner, Richard Schmidt and Kristof Wilke had an open water lead over Poland. Then Belarus, rating 38, made a huge push into the finish line. It was enough to get Belarus ahead of Poland, but not enough for them to catch the Germans. Germany qualified for the final in a time just a bit slower than New Zealand.

 

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – Heats

The 16 crews in this event was divided into three heats and for these rowers it was all about being in the top two positions if they wanted to get a direct path to tomorrow’s semifinals. Heat one saw the fastest qualifying time being recorded when Denmark grabbed the bull by the horns and took the lead at the start. Anne Thomsen and Juliane Rasmussen of Denmark are in their first season racing together. Thomsen made the Danish team for the first time last year while Rasmussen, 32, has been on the international scene since 2001. Together they led the heat despite strong challenges coming from two Austrian entries.

Denmark remained in the lead with Austria’s second boat (Stefanie Borzacchini and Christina Sperrer) prevailing over Austria’ first boat. Denmark and Austria’s second boat move directly to the semifinal.

Heat two featured World Rowing Cup I bronze medallists, Kristin Hedstrom and Julie Nichols of the United States. Following last month’s regatta Hedstrom and Nichols come to this regatta as definite favourites. But at the start it was Cecilia Lilja and Kristina Knejp Christensson of Sweden who had the edge. But Hedstrom and Nichols had more juice in them. Coming into the third 500, Hedstrom and Nichols had taken the lead and were not giving it back, despite a late-race encounter with some Canada Geese. The Swede’s held on to second, although they could not get back up with the Americans. The United States and Sweden go directly to the semifinals.

The much anticipated return to the double of Germany’s Marie-Louise Draeger took place in heat three. Draeger took two World Champion titles last year when she won the lightweight single and lightweight quad and she is now back in the double as she aims for the London 2012 Olympics. Teamed up with Anja Noske, the Germans made easy work of their race and felt no need to sprint the finish. Behind Draeger and Noske, China’s first boat (Chanjuan Tang and Feihong Pan) pushed through Germany’s second boat to get into second and then did an almighty sprint, rating 35, which got them very close to Draeger and Noske. Germany and China advance to the semifinals.

 

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) – Heats

This event is always well attended and here at Hamburg, 20 crews started. They were divided into four heats with the top two boats in each heat going through to the semifinals. The racing opened with Poland’s second boat featuring in heat one. Sitting in the stroke seat of Poland’s second boat was the amazing Robert Sycz. Sycz has two Olympic gold medals from this event (2000 and 2004), but after not qualifying for the 2008 Olympics he decided to take time out. Now back on the international scene, Sycz is gunning for the London Olympics. Together with Mariusz Stanczuk, Poland pushed past a fast starting Mexico to take the lead through the middle of the race.

Coming into the finish Sycz and Stanczuk looked long and smooth through the water and easily held off Jonathan Winter and Brian De Regt of the United States who had followed in second for most of the race. The Poles and the United States had qualified for the semifinals.

Heat two featured the fastest qualifying time when China’s Fangbing Zhang and Tiexin Wang shot out quickly at the start and showed that they had the stamina to keep the speed on until the end. Behind them Germany’s Christian Hochbruck and Matthias Arnold tried to keep up with China through the body of the race. However, towards the end Hochbruck and Arnold looked happy to just qualify from second and dropped their rate right down in the close of the race. China and Germany advance to the semifinals.

Usually Portugal’s Pedro Fraga and Nuno Mendes come through in the final sprint of the race, but today, in heat three, they used a very different approach. They got out early, got into the lead through the middle of the race and they didn’t have to hardly sprint the finish. Rating 30 coming into the final metres, Fraga and Mendes looked relaxed and confident. Austria’s first boat, who had led early in the race, came through in second to qualify for the semifinal along with the Portuguese.

The 2009 World Champions, Storm Uru and Peter Taylor of New Zealand featured in heat four. Uru and Taylor arrived in Europe just under a week ago and this is their first international race for the season. They finished third in 2010 and this year they are hoping to get back on top again. After an initial challenge from Diminik Sigl and Oliver Komaromy of Austria’s second boat, New Zealand broke away from the field and were able to rate a comfortable 29 strokes per minute coming into the finish. New Zealand and Austria’s second boat move on to the semifinal. Divided into two heats, this event required these double scullers to finish first or second if they wanted a direct path to Sunday’s final. In heat one Estonia and Poland did battle at the head of the field. Estonia’s Allar Raja and Kaspar Taimsoo have been together for three years and were fourth last month at the first Samsung World Rowing Cup and come to this regatta as definite medal hopefuls, but Michal Sloma and Wiktor Chabel of Poland are in their fourth year of rowing together and were challenging the Estonians with every stroke.

As the boatpark came into sight and Poland passed the grandstand at the finish line, the crew were pushing just a bit harder. Both Poland and Estonia qualified directly for the final with Poland gaining the psychological advantage of first place.

 

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-) – Heats

This event was divided into two heats with the first boat only from each heat getting to go directly to the final. Heat one featured winners from the first World Rowing Cup, Denmark and what looked to be one of the biggest upsets of the day. After an aggressive opening burst by German's second boat, Denmark, stroked by the great Eskild Ebbesen took over in the lead with Germany slipping back. Coming through the middle of the race Denmark remained in the lead, but they were far from dominating. Right in the Danes pace was South Africa and the Czech Republic. A big push by the South Africans in the third 500 got them within metres of overtaking the Danes. Andrew Polasek, Matthew Brittain, John Smith and Tony Paladin of South Africa were having the race of their lives.

The skilled Danes, however, fought back and a final burst by Denmark gave them the first place at the line. Denmark had earned a direct path to the final.

Despite the fight that went on in heat one, heat two ended in the fastest qualifying time with the return of the 2009 World Champion crew, Germany won in a time of 5:55. Matthias and Jost Schoemann-Finck and Jochen and Martin Kuehner of Germany did not row as a four in 2010, but they are now back together and, despite being handily in the lead, the Germans recorded a very threatening time. As Germany crossed the finish line rating 36, Denmark watched them warily. Germany and Denmark will meet in the final on Sunday. 

 

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – Heats

The 14 crews entered in this event were divided into three heats and the goal was to be in the top three to qualify directly for the semifinals tomorrow. Heat one featured reigning World Champion, Frida Svensson of Sweden. Svennson raced last weekend at the St Petersburg Sprints where she finished first over the 250m distance. Today, it looked like 2000m was just a bit too far. Instead it was Donata Vistartaite of Lithuania and Emma Twigg of New Zealand at the head of the field. Vistartaite led through the body of the race before Twigg did a push that brought her into first as the last stretch of the race came into view.

Twigg rated a solid 36 to not only win heat one, but record the fastest qualifying time of the three heats. Vistartaite and Svensson also made it through to the semifinals with Vistartaite finishing nicely ahead of Svensson.

China’s Xiuyun Zhang picked up bronze last month at the World Rowing Cup in Munich and she’s back for the second race of the season and her second international race after taking a break in 2010. Today she raced against Munich’s silver medallist, Annekatrin Thiele of Germany. Thiele held the lead for the first half of the race before Zhang pushed through and took over. Thiele seemed content to let it happen and in the closing metres of the race both Zhang and Thiele rated in the mid-20s. Coming in third, and also qualifying for the semifinals, was Nataliya Mustafayeva of Azerbaijan who did a very respectable time of 7:39.

The great Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus featured in heat three and it looked as if she was out for a training row as she worked her way down the course at a very comfortable stroke rate and a very comfortable-looking stroke. Julia Levina of Russia followed in second but never did anything to threaten Karsten’s lead. Third place went to Hayley-Jo Arthur, 27, of South Africa. This is Arthur’s second year on the national team and her first year as a single sculler. She will race again in the semifinals tomorrow.

 

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) – Heats

The men’s single attracted 15 entries to Hamburg with the boats divided into three heats. For a direct path to the semifinals, these scullers had to finish in a top three position. Leading the way in heat one was former World Champion, Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand. Drysdale arrived in the Northern Hemisphere just over a week ago and went directly to St Petersburg to compete in the St Petersburg sprints. Over 250m Drysdale did not make it through the first round. Today, however, Drysdale looked to be relishing the 2000m distance. After an initial opening burst by Karsten Brodowski of Germany, Drysdale took the lead and was never under threat of losing that position. Drysdale was able to rate a comfortable 29 strokes per minute in the close of the race and still record the fastest qualifying time.

Meanwhile, Brodowski remained comfortably in second with Piotr Licznerski of Poland qualifying for the semifinals from third.

In heat two Falko Nolte of Germany1 and Lassi Karonen of Sweden held a one-on-one battle at the head of the field from start to finish. Nolte, filling in for Germany’s top sculler, Marcel Hacker, held the edge throughout the race and looked to be under-rating Karonen. Coming to the line Nolte was at 29 with Karonen holding on at 36. Patrick Salas Loliger of Mexico qualified from finishing third.

Heat three featured Kenneth Jurkowski of the United States. Self-coached Jurkowski was the US single sculler at the Beijing Olympics and is back with the intention of adding London 2012 to his resumé. Jurkowski got into the lead at the start and remained there for the entire race. Croatia’s Mario Vekic sat in second but never got close to Jurkowski. Back in third Aleksandar Aleksandrov of Azerbaijan qualified for the semifinal from third.