2002 Zurich Rowing World Cup - Hazewinkel, Belgium. Racing day 3 - Finals

The build up to today’s A-finals began with B-final races. Hazewinkel turned on calm, cool conditions with flat water and barely a breath of wind building to a slight cross wind.

The lightweight women’s single scull opened the A-final racing. All rowers must weigh 59 kg or less, which levels the playing field, and it often makes the races closer than in the open class. This was not the case today. Marit Van Eupen of the Netherlands grabbed the lead from the start and kept inching ahead with long, controlled strokes. By the 500 metre mark the top three positions had been established with Brooks McClelland of Great Britain and Daniela Nachazelova of the Czech Republic taking the second and third spots respectively. These positions were not challenged and Van Eupen finished comfortably in first place.

The lightweight men followed for the second non-Olympic final of the day. China’s Zhi Fu Zhu jumped to the lead and held on to it for 1500 metres. Meanwhile the race was on for silver and bronze. Michal Vabrousek of the Czech Republic was fighting back from his fifth spot after the first 500 metres. By the 1500 metre mark Varbrousek had a taste for gold and with the finish line in sight he didn’t look back pulling into the top spot. Zhu held on to the silver while Germany’s Ingo Euler rowed a consistent race to take bronze.

Lightweight rowing continued with the men’s pair. The Dutch number two combination jumped to the lead, but by the 750-metre mark a close tussle had developed with Ned Kittoe and Nicholas English of Great Britain sneaking just a fraction ahead of Romania and the Netherland’s number one crew of Jeroen Hilckmann and Wesley Van Breda. At a controlled 32.5 strokes per minute Kittoe and English retained the lead and managed to hold off a very fast finish by Van Breda and Hilckmann. Fellow countrymen, Netherlands 2, Eelke Westra and Michiel Van Eupen finishing in the bronze position.

The morning’s races finished with the lightweight men’s quadruple sculls final. There were no surprises in this three-crew line up. The results directly reflected Saturday’s race for lanes. The Spanish crew that finished fourth in 2001, held the gold medal spot from the start and crossed the finish line with a comfortable five second lead. Greece retained the silver medal position. 

Afternoon Finals

A rowers dream – flat water and comfortable temperatures. Hazewinkel turned it on for the afternoon’s finals of the Zurich Rowing World Cup. Conditions at the start were good with a slight cross tail wind down most of the 2000 metre course.

The women’s single sculls set the standard for an exciting afternoon of racing. Hungarian Viktoria Szekely got off to a great start. Holland’s Hurnet Dekkers, Russia’s Yulya Levina and Miroslava Knapkova of the Czech Republic crossed the 500-metre mark together, no one willing to concede. Star of the single and two time Olympic gold medallist, Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus showed her confidence and vast experience. She was willing to sit back, and dropped her stroke rate to 28 by the 700-metre mark.

The tussle continued with Karsten making her move after the 1000, easing, stroke-by-stroke into the top spot by the 1250-metre mark. Knapkova from third place position started her attack on Levina then on Karsten. Long, powerful strokes kept Karsten in gold medal position with Knapkova in second, followed by Levina.

Karsten was also presented with the Holland Beker Cup from the Dutch Rowing Association along with 2500 Euros. This cup is usually raced for in Amsterdam on the Bosbaan, but with remodeling underway, the association decided to award it here.

The men’s single followed. Marcel Hacker of Germany, twelfth at the 2001 World Champs, took control from the start. This left Sebastian Vieilledent of France, Vaclav Chalupa of the Czech Republic and Olaf Tufte of Norway, with a fight to take the second placed spot. World Champion, Tufte countered his bad start by pushing into second through the 1000-metre mark.

But racing was far from over. Chalupa attacked, picking up speed into the final 500 of the race and crossed the line in a photo finish with Tufte. Only eight-hundredth of a second separated them, the advantage to Tufte. The final result was Hacker first, Tuft second and Chalupa third. Hacker also received the Holland Beker Cup for his win.

Often considered one of the hardest boats to row, the pair requires both rowers to have perfect synchronicity. The women’s pair lined up next. Romania went into this race as favourites. This crew included recently married and 2001 World Champion, Georgeta Andrunache (Damian) and her partner, Olympic eight champion, Viorica Susanu.

France got off to a great start, but Romania soon showed their dominance. They battled with Ukraine’s combination of Yevgenya Andreieva and Natalya Ryzhkova through the 900-metre. Belarus and South Africa were also neck and neck for third position.

Going through the 1500 metre Rika Geyser and Colleen Orsmond of South Africa put in a challenge, pushing ahead of Belarus. Geyser and Orsmond’s push came a bit late and they were unable to get into second position by the finish. Silver remained with Ukraine and Romania took the gold in a comfortable win.

The British crew rowing to victory in the W2x
© Sybrand Treffers

The women’s double introduced a number of new combinations to the World Cup scene. Germany went into the event as favourites with the experience of Kerstin El Qalqili (Kowalski) of Germany joining Manuela Lutze. However, the British combination of the tall Frances Houghton and Deborah Flood had different ideas. They took command of the race before the half-way point and by the 1000-metre, the Brits had a handy lead.  Germany had to be content to sit in silver medal spot and hold off Krisztina Kulifai and Gitta Barz of Hungary who won the bronze. The final positions were Great Britain first, followed by Germany and Hungary.

A false start brought the finalists in the men’s double sculls back into the starting holders for a second go. 2001 World Champions Akos Haller and Tibor Petoe of Hungary took advantage of the situation to inch ahead. But there were no certainties in one of the most exciting races of the day.

Going through the 500-metre mark, all crews were within a boat length of each other and this remained through the 1000. Germany, Spain and Slovakia matching stroke for stroke, with the Czech Republic and Italy on the pace – unrelenting.

It took 1500 metres for Haller and Petoe to squeeze a slight lead rating 35 strokes per minute with a flying Milan Dolecek and Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic taking the challenge and earning the silver medal for their effort. Germany’s Thorsten Schmidt and Stefan Rohnert finished in the bronze spot by less than half a second.

The men’s four always attracts interest from the British supporters and a close race was expected between Germany and Great Britain. Moving out of the starting blocks at 44 strokes per minute Italy led the way. However, by the 500-metre mark Germany had inched into the lead followed closely by World Champions, Great Britain.

Going through the half way point Italy held onto their second place spot by a mere fraction from Great Britain. With 750 metres to go Germany was still in the lead with a 36 stroke rate. Germany, Great Britain and Italy entered the final 250 metres neck and neck. But it was the Brits that unleashed their sprint and managed to steal the gold from Italy in the last few strokes of the race. Germany followed to take third.

Broadcast live to British television audiences, the men’s pair raced next. In the same style as their men’s four, Italy grabbed the lead at the start. They left the starting holders ahead of Great Britain’s, James Cracknell and Matthew Pinsent, at a rate of 49 strokes per minute. Unfazed, Pinsent and Cracknell grabbed the lead by the 350-metre mark with a 36 stroke rate.

Developing into another nail biting race, five crews pushed through the 500-metre mark within a boat length of each other. By 900 metres down Croatia, pushed through to second place followed by South Africa. Germany and the Czech Republic followed, neck and neck.

Pushing through the 1500-metre mark, Great Britain still had a slight lead, with crews challenging from all sides. South Africa was now second, followed by Croatia. The sprint of the day then came from the German pair of Detlef Kirchoff and Ike Landvoigt. This propelled them through to second place.

The final result saw the British in first place followed by Germany and the bronze medal going to Ramon Di Clemente and Donovan Cech of South Africa.

Italy led from the start in the lightweight men’s double sculls. Elia Luini and Leonardo Pettinari rowed a controlled and consistent race, always keeping the second placed crew in their sights.

Meanwhile, a tussle was developing between Denmark’s combination of Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist, and Germany’s Peter Ording and Manuel Brehmer. Denmark kept ahead at the start, fighting off Germany who made a move through the 500-metre mark. They retained that position for the remainder of the race. The final result was gold to Italy, followed by Germany and Denmark.

A slight delay in the lightweight men’s four was caused by a crash. Germany had to withdraw after they crashed with an umpire boat. This left a five-crew start and it was Denmark that set the pace. Number two from last year’s World Championships, the Danes edged ahead of Italy in second and World Champions, Austria in third.

Denmark still retained a slight lead going through the 750 with Great Britain putting in a challenge, to be neck and neck with Italy. The British could not counter Austria’s push that moved them into third place by the half-way point, less than a second behind Italy.

A mere metre separated the Danes and Italy with 250 metres to go and the sprint to the line put Denmark in the gold medal position, followed by Italy and then Austria.

Another close race developed in the women’s quad. With no clear favourites going into this race, expectations were open. At the 300-metre mark all six boats were within spitting distance of each other, the Netherlands taking a slight lead. Ukraine soon edged into the lead, and took command. Going through the half-way marker Germany and Great Britain were carrying out a full on battle behind Ukraine.

Great Britain retained second spot but could not match Germany’s sprint that put them in silver medal position with the British crew having to settle for the bronze.

Another race full of new combinations – the men’s quad lined up next. Estonia took the lead at the start and going through the 250 were stroke for stroke with Poland. A challenge from Ukraine edged the Ukrainians into the gold medal spot, only to have a challenge through the 750-metre mark by Poland. This edged the Poles back into the lead.

No crew submitted and with 1100 metres rowed only a boat length separated the top five crews. With 500 metres to go Ukraine moved back into a slight lead, but the game was not over. Poland pushed back, but remained in the silver medal spot, less than half a second behind Ukraine and ahead of Italy in third.

The women’s eight, like the quad, had a number of new faces. Second in 2001, Romania joined Germany and Belarus in a three boat race. Belarus had a surprise addition to the crew after their coxswain, Valiantsina Khkhlova fell ill following Saturday’s race, she was temporarily replaced by Great Britain’s coxswain from the men’s eight, Christian Cormack. Dressed in the colours of Belarus, the only thing lacking was the language.

Germany took a slight lead at the start followed by Belarus and Romania in second and third respectively. By the 750-metre mark Romania had moved into silver medal position stroking at a rate of 36. Germany retained their lead sitting on 35 strokes per minute. This order remained at the finish.

Always the final race of the Zurich Rowing World Cup, the men’s eight lined up without Olympic Champions Great Britain and with up and coming crew, Egypt. Fired up from their results in the heats and finals, Egypt had nothing to lose.

But it was the Italian crew that leapt out at the start with 48 strokes per minute. Croatia followed in the next lane, however, by the first 500-metre mark Poland had a fraction of a lead with barely a canvas separating all six boats. A push from Romania edged them into the lead by 750 down. The crew retained this slim margin through to the 1500-metre mark.

Fast times were predicted with 250 metres to go and no crew would concede, but it was Germany that pulled it off in the final strokes of the race. They finished in a very fast 5.33.04 to take the gold medal from Romania who would have to be happy with silver. All of Africa could be proud as Egypt crossed the line in third place. Despite their coxswain still getting used to a buoyed course, Magby Farraq Ahmed Farraq controlled his crew in a very consistent race.