Five for Germany in Portugal

A chance of cross winds later in the day brought the A-finals forward in the programme to an earlier time and as temperatures rose into the low 30s (Celsius) the flat water that had been enjoyed earlier in the day turned to a bobbly cross-wind chop.

Germany came away as medal leaders earning five gold medals today sending the message out to all crews heading to this year’s World Rowing Championships to watch out. In an exciting afternoon of racing Karsten was challenged in the women’s single, Poland’s men’s quad put themselves back on top and Romania’s Albu and Lupascu took away two gold medals.

Women’s Pair (W2-) – A-final

It was all about Romania in the first A-final of the 2010 European Rowing Championships. Camelia Lupascu and Nicoleta Albu are the reigning European Champions and the duo has an incredible track record. In her international racing career Albu has not been in the medals only a couple of times. The older Lupascu has a similar awesome record. Right from the start Romania had the lead. This is not always the case as Romanian crews often show their strength in the second half of the race.

Behind Romania, Kerstin Hartmann and Marlene Sinnig of Germany slotted into second having to work on strong challenges from Croatia throughout the race. Lupascu and Albu continued to power away at the front of the field finishing first despite a big sprint by Germany at the end of the race. The finishing order, Romania, Germany and Croatia are the medallists. These crews will meet again at the end of October at the World Rowing Championships in New Zealand.

Results: ROU, GER, CRO, ITA, UKR, BUL

Camelia Lupascu (ROU) – Gold
“The race was ok, this boat class is very important in Romania. We will race again in the eight which is also very important for us!”

Maja Anic (CRO) – Bronze
“I want to dedicate this medal to my mother and my trainer!”

Sonja Keserac (CRO) – Bronze
“This was a fantastic race, our best ever. We have been training together for one year and we are getting closer to the Germans! Next step will be the World Rowing Championships!”

Men’s Pair (M2-) – A-final

In front of a full grandstand the brand newly revamped Montemor-o-Velho rowing course saw the rowers of the men’s pair race over the 2000m course. Greece are the reigning European Champions in this event but they have two new rowers this year in the form of Georgios Tziallas and Ioannis Christou. Tziallas and Christou spent the early part of the season battling with their country’s 2009 leading pair. Tziallas and Christou came out on top and today they got away quickly in this A-final.

Tziallas and Christou stamped their dominance right from the beginning challenging the rest of the field to catch them, holding a 36 stroke rate for the body of the race. Behind the Greeks, Italy turned into the nearest challengers. Lorenzo Carboncini and Niccolo Mornati of Italy have both been in the rowing game for a long time and both have Olympic medals. This is their first season in the pair together and so far it looks to be going well.

Meanwhile, Serbia’s Marko Marjanovic and Nikola Stojic were desperately working their way back from a very slow start. In the sprint to the line the gap between Greece and Italy proved to be too great. Greece retain the title. On the medals podium Italy looked like they had mixed feeling about the results.

Results: GRE, ITA; SRB, FRA, BLR, POL

Ioannis Christou (GRE) – Gold
“We decided before the race with our coach to have a fast start because we knew that our adversaries were physically stronger than us and it was important in those conditions to get into first place quickly. We don’t know yet if we’ll continue in this boat for Lake Karapiro, but probably. The coach shall take the decision, but it was a good test today. We began to row together just two weeks before Lucerne and today is our best performance ever."

Niccolo Mornati (ITA) – Silver
“It was difficult for us today. I’ve never been the stroke and we began to row together just ten days ago. In these conditions, we’re proud to be second in Europe, even though we know that the British team is better. Congratulation to the Greek crew, they were very strong today. We hope now to continue to the World Rowing Championships and also to the Olympic Games.”

Nikola Stojic (SRB) – Bronze
“It was a difficult race, because we missed our start. We tried later to come back, but we couldn’t. The Greeks today were very strong.”

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) – A-final

Germany’s Annekatrin Thiele and Stephanie Schiller showed they meant business right from the start. But had they gone out too quickly? Thiele and Schiller had some stiff competition in the guise of last year’s World Champions, Magdalena Fularczyk and Julia Michalska of Poland and last year’s European Champions, Italy’s Laura Schiavone with her new partner Elisabetta Sancassani.

Through the middle of the race Thiele and Schiller remained in the lead and in control with perhaps the main challenge coming from the Czech Republic’s Antosova sisters. As the Antosova’s started to tire, Italy moved up. Then the sprint began. Thiele and Schiller showed that they still had energy in the tank. They took their stroke rate up to 38 with the main challenge coming from a flying Poland. The Poles missed most of this season due to injury, but, they have even improved since the heats two days ago. Poland, though, had left it too late. A delighted Germany earn gold. A very happy Poland earn silver and a not so happy Italy take bronze.

Results: GER, POL, ITA, BLR, CZE, UKR

Annekatrin Thiele and Stephanie Schiller (GER) – Gold
“We had a good race, the tactic that we prepared with the coach went perfectly. We knew about the hard finish of the Polish team so we were prepared for it.”

Elisabetta Sancassani (ITA) – Bronze
“The regatta was quite hard, because we knew the opponents are extremely good, with world and Olympic champions. We are very happy with this medal.”

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – A-final

France came to this regatta having won at the final Rowing World Cup back in July. Cedric Berrest and Julien Bahain of France have supreme confidence in their abilities as they work their way towards the big race in two years time, the 2012 London Olympics. With that Berrest and Bahain took off in the front of the field with only Germany close by. Berrest and Bahain looked smooth and almost relaxed as they moved away from current World Champions, Germany and the rest of the field.

Meanwhile, the Czech Republic and Estonia held a battle for third through the middle of the race. Allar Raja and Kaspar Taimsoo of Estonia are the reigning European Champions and often come through from behind. Petr Vitasek and David Jirka of the Czech Republic finished sixth at the final Rowing World Cup and they look to have stepped up their game this season.

In the sprint for the finish France had done enough work early on that they had little pressure on them, Estonia flew, rating 39 and the Czech Republic gave it their all. Germany had run out of steam. These crews will meet again in New Zealand at the World Rowing Championships with Germany likely to be more of a challenge as they get back into the swing from their rocky season.

Results: FRA, EST, CZE, GER, POL, SUI

Julien Bahain (FRA) – Gold
“The most important thing today was to win. It was our better race ever in the first 500 meters. At the middle of the race, we were on track for a world best time. I said it to Cédric, but we were not pushed enough in the second part to beat it. After 1500 meters, I was sure of our victory. We controlled the race in the last quarter, it was a magic feeling. I think that nobody could have beaten us today, not even the British.”

Petr Vitasek (CZE) – Bronze
“It was a very hard and very fast race. Before the race, we just hoped for a 4th or 5th place, so we’re very happy with this medal, particularly because we had a lack of endurance.”

Men’s Four (M4-) – A-final

Germany and France came through to this final as the winners of the two semi-finals yesterday. Who would do it today? At the start these are the two crews that jumped out early and through the middle of the race they held the leaders pace with France just a fraction ahead of Germany. These two boats remained neck-and-neck coming into the final sprint and that battle helped them move away from the rest of the field. But everything was to change in the last 500m.

Coming through from the back of the field Greece charged. Taking their stroke rate right up, Greece’s Papachristos, Tsilis, and the Gkountoulas brothers charged, and what a charge it was. The Czech Republic followed suit. France lost it, their rhythm starting to falter in the flurry to the line. Germany crossed the line in first. Greece and the Czech Republic waited for the results of a photo finish. Greece takes second with a phenomenal split of 1.24 for the final 500m.

Results: GER, GRE, CZE, ITA, FRA, SRB

Rene Bertram (GER) – Gold
“It was a nice race, it is always nice to win! The time was good but not very important, the most important is to compare with the other crews.”

Nikolaos Gkontoulas (GRE) – Silver
“It was a very hard and painful race! Six crews of the same level – very high! We started 5th or 6th but we know that our best is the second thousand meters and we fought until the last stroke!”

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – A-final

Can anyone beat Ekaterina Karsten-Khodotovitch of Belarus? There must have been a lot of tactical thought going into this race. Could Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic find a weakness in Karsten? Could Fie Graugaard-Udby of Denmark surprise everyone? At the start Karsten got away quickly. She had her own tactics in mind. Graugaard-Udby also got away well with Knapkova a little bit back. Graugaard-Udby has been competing internationally for 10 years now but this is her first time at the senior level in the single.

Graugaard-Udby kept the pressure on Karsten which forced the Belarusian to keep her stroke rate above 30 strokes per minute. Graugaard-Udby was also above 30. Then coming through the third 500 Knapkova made her move. Karsten answered taking her stroke rate to 34 then 36. This was turning into one of the closest raced in the women’s single in quite some time. And now Frida Svensson of Sweden attacked. Karsten ended up showing her class. She defends her European Champion title from 2009.

Results: BLR, CZE, SWE, DEN, RUS, EST

 Ekaterina Karsten (BLR) – Gold
“It was a difficult race with strong opponents and I am happy with this second European title. Now, I’ll train in the next weeks in Germany (Köln) to prepare the World Championships in Lake Karapiro, New Zealand.”

Frida Svensson (SWE) – Bronze
“I am very happy with my bronze medal. I tried to have a fast start and, then, it was a very difficult and close race. I don’t think it’s impossible to beat Karsten, and I’ll try to make it in next races.”

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) – A-final

Tonu Endrekson of Estonia had a great race earlier in this regatta and it must have given the other single scullers something to think about. And with that Endrekson took off at the start in the lead closely followed by Slovenia, Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic and Germany’s Karl Schulze. Going through the middle of the race Endrekson was still in the lead but this year’s World Cup winner, Synek was closing the gap.

And that was it for Endrekson.

As the race moved through the third 500m Endrekson fell right back. Synek took over in the lead and in a matter of a few strokes moved completely away from the rest of the field. The very strong Lassi Karonen of Sweden now sat in second as these scullers began to sprint for the line. Surprisingly the biggest sprint came from Lithuania’s Mindaugas Griskonis and the under 23 champion, Schulze. Synek had enough of a lead that he didn’t really need to sprint as he crossed the line in first. Full credit goes to the young Schulze as he earns a bronze at these European Championships. These scullers will meet again at the World Rowing Championships with Synek going there having won every major event this season.

Results: CZE, SWE, GER, LTU, EST, SLO

Ondrej Synek (CZE) – Gold
“The race was excellent for me, it’s the first time I’m the European champion in the single scull. It was also nice that I’ve kept my form since the last stage of the Rowing World Cup in Lucerne.”

Olaf Tufte (NOR) – pulled out of Saturday’s M1x semi-final for medical reasons
“I expected Ondrej to win, he has been very good all year, almost too good! I thought Lassi and Tonu would be fighting for the second place but Lassi was too strong for Tonu from the beginning. It's also nice to see the new kid Karl coming up, he will have a bright future. I was surprised that Mindaugas wasn’t better, I suppose he has been preparing specifically for the World Rowing Championships.”

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – A-final

Greece’s Christina Giazitzudou and Alexandra Tsiavou are t

he reigning European Champions but they haven’t been racing much this season together. Now in their lead up to the World Rowing Championships at the end of October, Giazitzudou and Tsiavou have come together to test their team skills.

Right from the start Giazitzudou and Tsiavou showed that they had good speed taking off at the head of the field. By the half way point the Greeks had moved out to a huge five second lead over their nearest rivals, Poland’s Magdalena Kemnitz and Agnieszka Renc. This kind of margin is unusual in lightweight rowing where all of the athletes are roughly the same size and the same weight.

But it was about to become even more unusual.

Giazitzudou and Tsiavou then moved entirely away from the rest of the field. Totally dominating this race, the Greek duo crossed the line nearly eight seconds ahead of Poland in second. Germany (Daniela Reimer and Anja Noske), who came into this race as favourites, could only manage a bronze at a full 10 seconds behind the leaders. Tsiavou becomes a European Champion for the fourth time.

Results: GRE, POL, GER, IRL, ITA, ESP

Alexandra Tsiavou (GRE) – Gold
“ Sometimes, a victory seems to be easy. But, even if you have a big advantage, you need to be strong and there are always difficulties. Particularly for lightweights because we have to manage our weight. We began to work together last year in the double. After this result, people will probably say we’re favourite for World Championships, but I prefer to be an outsider because that means less pressure.”

Anja Noske (GER) – Bronze
“We’re not completely satisfied with this bronze medal, because we had a very bad start and after this, it was impossible to come back on our main competitors. The second part of the race was good but it was too late. But the Greek crew was impressive today!”

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) – A-final

This was the race the entire crowd had been waiting for. This was the race that featured Pedro Fraga and Nuno Mendes of Portugal, the true medal hopes for the host nation. At the start Austria took the lead with Fraga and Mendes right back. But the crowd didn’t mind. They all knew about the big sprint hidden inside Fraga and Mendes.

Germany’s Linus Lichtschlag and Lars Hartig then moved through to take the lead through the middle of the race. Lichtschlag and Hartig were second at the final Rowing World Cup making them the highest ranking crew coming into this regatta. The Germans, rating 36 through the body of the race started to move away from the pack. Coming into the final sprint France and now Portugal were within striking distance of the Germans.

The crowd rose to their feet. Had Fraga and Mendes left their sprint too late? Raising their stroke rate to 41, then 42, then 43 Fraga and Mendes gave it their all. The crowd looked ecstatic. Portugal takes silver, their first medal for the duo at the senior level.

Results: GER, POR, FRA, AUT, SLO, ITA

Lars Hartig (GER) – Gold
“It was a really good race with a great start and a great middle, really a pleasure to row here. We were also impressed by the public which was very numerous.”

Jérémie Azou (FRA) – Bronze
“We are quite satisfied as we were able to follow the coach’s instructions. We are really improving now and will continue working on the physical side while maintaining our strong technical points.”

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-) – A-final

The opening pace was solid with all six crews crossing the first 500m mark within a two second range of each other. Denmark looked good, but they have had mixed results at this regatta and also throughout this season. It would take until the middle of the race for these crews to really sort themselves out and it happened in quite dramatic style.

Germany, with their new crew member, B

astian Siebt sitting in bow, moved clean away from the rest of the field holding the same pace that they had in the first 500m. This left the five other boats to race each other and what a tight race it was. At the half way point only a second separated those five boats. Poland then tried to break away as surprisingly Denmark slipped right back to the rear of the field.

Coming into the final sprint Poland moved their stroke rate up to 40 closing on Germany. But all crews were sprinting and there was absolutely nothing between Italy and Switzerland. With Germany crossing the line first, Poland held second and Switzerland and Italy waited. Switzerland had done it. Despite Denmark’s great final sprint, the Danes had not done enough earlier in the race. This must feel good for Germany who failed to make the A-final at the Lucerne Rowing World Cup in July.

Most of these crews will meet again to do battle at the World Rowing Championships later this year. Only Poland has declared that they won't be going as they focus on the bigger goal of the 2012 Olympics.

Results: GER, POL, SUI, ITA, DEN, FRA

Bastian Seibt (GER) – Gold
“Before the race, our coach said us to concentrate on our technique, and we would make it. We had a high level race, with a good pace all along the 2000 m. We saw the polish team coming back, but we were sure of our victory. We’re happy with this success, but for us it was just a « training race » because our main goal is the world championships.”

Lucas Tramer (SUI) – Bronze
 “We knew that it was possible, but we hadn’t foreseen before the race to be so close to the front. During the heat and semi-final, we had a bad start, but today we stayed with the best crews after the 500 m. Because we’re strong in the middle of the race, we knew at this moment that a good result was possible and we still had strength left for the finish. The Germans were better today than last July in Lucerne. But the big surprise of the day was the results of the French and Danish crews.”   

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x) – A-final

On paper Ukraine looked the best coming into this race. They are the reigning European Champions and in the absence of Great Britain, they are the highest placed boat from the final Rowing World Cup. Ukraine (Tarasenko, Buryak, Kozhenkova, Dementieva) finished second at the Rowing World Cup but they have one crew change with the addition of Olena Buryak. Today Ukraine took off at the head of the fleet with Germany following in second.

At the final World Cup Germany finished second and have retained the same crew for these European Rowing Championships. The race then turned into all but a procession with Ukraine in the lead stroking a comfortable 32 rate. Germany, although close to Ukraine, seemed unable to close the gap with Switzerland, in third, now losing steam. Italy, who finished second last year at the European Champs, were back off the pace. A very happy Ukraine retain their European title.

Results: UKR, GER, SUI, POL, ITA, RUS

Kateryna Tarasenko (UKR) – Gold
“Very hot race, really very warm for this first time in Portugal. If the course is improved a little bit, it would be nice to have some world events here.”

Nora Fiechter (SUI) – Silver
“We had a great start, especially in the first 500m. It was my job to check the other boats and I saw that we were in front of Poland and Italy. We were happy and surprised to be so close to the German boat too!”

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x) – A-final

Rumours had been flying. Would the World and Olympic Champions, Poland go to this year’s World Rowing Championships, or would this race be their last for the season? Poland, with the crew of Wasielewski, Kolbowicz, Jelinski and Korol, have a tremendous winning record ever since they first became World Champions in 2005. But this year they have faltered not even making the final at the final Rowing World Cup. Instead this season has been all about Croatia.

Coming into this race Croatia had won one semi-final and Poland won the other. They lined up today in the two centre lanes. At the start Italy got away quickly with all crews staying well in touch. Ukraine and Croatia then dropped back a bit with Germany moving through.

Poland confirmed that this would be their last race of the season. They will not go to the World Rowing Championships as they prefer to focus on their training plan that leads to the 2012 Olympics.

Results: POL, CRO, UKR, GER, RUS, ITA

Michal Jelinski (POL) – Gold
“We’ve beaten the Germans in the heats and the Italians in semi-final, but a final is always more difficult. Croatia was strong the whole season and we knew that it would be a difficult race. And it was. I think we build our success during the third 500 m. But it was not easy, particularly after a very bad season for us. We’re also happy because it’s our first victory in European Championships after four World and one Olympic title. Now, we’re not going to Lake Karapiro in order to have more rest for the next season.”

Damir Martin (CRO) – Silver
“It was a great and difficult race for the six teams. We were together during the major part of the race, and at the end, even though we had a good finish it was hard to come back for the first place.”

Volodymyr Pavlovskyi (UKR) – Bronze
“We hoped for a medal today. We saw the Germans in a good position at the beginning of the last 500 meters, but we knew that we had the capacity to come back on them. We’re a new crew, starting rowing together just three months ago, and we have great expectations for the World Rowing Championships.”

Women’s Eight (W8+) – A-final

Romania has been rebuilding their crew since the 2008 Olympics when a number of its members retired. Every race they look to be getting smoother and more together. Today they took the lead at the start and never looked back. Cogianu, Zaharia, Bursuc, Craciun, Cojocariu, Albu, Lupascu, Mironcic and coxswain Stoica of Romania are the names that may be able to take on the World Champions, the United States at this year’s World Rowing Championships.

By the half way point, Romania had earned nearly a boat length lead over the Netherlands in second. This second spot was looking good for the Netherlands who are known to start off slow and work their way up through the field later in the race. This left Germany back in third.

Despite their lead Romania still closed the race with a sprint, moving their stroke rate to 38 at the command of Teodora Stoica. The Netherlands had a fast close but it wasn’t enough to get them up to Romania. Romania successfully defend their 2009 European title. Nicoleta Albu and Camelia Lupascu earn their second gold medal of the day.

Results: ROU, NED, GER, UKR, RUS, BLR

Claudia Belderbos (NED) – Silver
“It was a good race even though we didn’t expect such a strong wind. After 1000m we saw we were a length in front of Germany which gave us a boost!”

Anika Kniest (GER) – Bronze
“We wanted to start really fast but the other teams were stronger. We did a good second half of the race, but at that time the other teams were already too far. It’s a pity because we wanted to fight for the silver medal.”

Men’s Eight (M8+) – A-final

The Germans are the current World Champions while Poland hold the European Champion title. Today these two crews set off in the centre two lanes. It turned out to be Germany all the way. A very polished looking Germany of Hauffe, Reinelt, Wilke, Mennigen, Schmidt, Mueller, Seifert, Schmidt and coxswain Sauer had moved to nearly a boat length lead with only about 40 strokes rowed.

Germany then spent the rest of the race pulling away from their closest rival, Poland. The Poles tried to hang on and in the process moved clean away from Ukraine who were now in third. The final sprint did not change the order at all. Germany is the European Champion for 2010 as they get themselves ready for the upcoming World Rowing Championships.

Results: GER, POL, UKR, NED, RUS, ITA

Florian Mennigen (GER) – Gold
“The race was very hard because of the head wind and the sun and also the other crews. The Poles and the Ukranians had a good race and came back strongly at the finish. We had to keep pulling strong untill the end of the race. Our tactic was to have a fast start but with the wind it was very hard to keep the first position. We are more confident for the World Championships that we won last year.”

Piotr Juszczak (POL) – Silver
“Germany started really fast and won but we will try to beat them the next time. We are also glad that we beat the Dutch team because they had beaten us by a very small margin last year in Poznan.”

Dmytro Prokopenko (UKR) – Bronze
“We had a good and strong team, we all train together in Ukraine for the national team. We will continue to train and will show the other teams how strong we are in New Zealand.”