A race is not over until the final beep - World Cup, Munich

China’s pair impresses in the repechage
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A fickle head wind went from barely a breath to noticeable flag fluttering for the afternoon of racing at the second BearingPoint World Cup in Munich, Germany. These changes in breeze made for inconsistent times between events but still good racing conditions.

Women’s Single Repechage

There were less than 50 metres to go but it was all over for Kristiana Rode-Gulova of Latvia. Rode-Gulova had led for most of the race but was completely spent. As she slowed to a virtual stop Germany’s Marita Scholz and Carolina Luethi of Switzerland took advantage of the situation and were able to enjoy a trip through to the final.   

 The bright orange of Femke Dekker from the Netherlands led the field in repechage two with Sweden and South Africa in hot pursuit. South Africa’s Reka Geyser has spent the last few years competing internationally in the pair but after failing to qualify for the Athens Olympics at last year’s World Championships, Geyser was forced to reconsider her rowing opportunities and it looks like the change to two oars is suiting her. Geyser snuck past Sweden and moves on to the final with Dekker.

Men’s Single Sculls Semi-final

USA W2-
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The narrowing down continued as scullers lined up to battle for the top two spots in three semi-finals and World Champion Olaf Tufte of Norway opened the proceedings. But sticking to him was a new name to the world of single sculling. Tim Maeyens of Belgium impressed yesterday when he qualified in first place recording the fastest time in the process. Maeyens hopes to qualify for the Olympics in June and putting the heat on the World Champ certainly sets him up nicely.

Tufte remained in the lead with Maeyens in second and both will advance to the final. But special note must be made of Olympian Aly Aly Ibrahim of Egypt who returns to the single after a spell in his country’s eight. Aly Ibrahim gained the biggest cheer as the chant of “Aly” filled the grandstand. Aly Ibrahim will return tomorrow to compete in the B-final.

Raphael Hartl of Austria is improving with every race and he certainly grabbed the bull by the horns when he took the lead in semi-final two. But by the 1000 metre mark Hartl’s lead was beginning to deteriorate under the pressure of Lassi Karonen of Sweden. In another perfectly judged race, Karonen crossed the line in first followed by Hartl.

Vaclav Chalupa of the Czech Republic, in his 16th year of international rowing, led semi-final three, but kept a cautious eye on Dirk Lippits of the Netherlands. For Lippits everything was going fine until the buoy colours changed from red to white and, from his spot in second, Lippits slowed to a crawl. Lippits has been having problems with circulation in his left arm and it looked like the problem occurred again. This gave Ralph Kreibich of Austria the opportunity to row past Lippits and continue on to the final. 

M2- Serbia & Montenegro
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Women’s Pair Repechage

China’s Huanling Cong and Cuiping Yang snuck away to an early lead in the first repechage that required a top two position finish. Behind them the United States second and third crews waged their own private battle. In the final 500 metre sprint Maite Urtasun and Liane Malcos of the United States got the upper hand over their fellow team mates and will qualify for the final along with China who remained in the lead for the full 2000 metres.

The second repechage featured the third United States crew and, unlike their team mates, they led from the start and never looked back. Behind them a stroke-for-stroke tussle was going on between New Zealand and Germany with the Germans holding a slight advantage. But meanwhile Sophie Balmary and Virginie Chauvel of France were doing their own thing in the outside lane. The strategy worked. France continues on to the final along with leading crew, Caryn Davies and Lianne Nelson of the United States. 
 

South Africa, favourites in the pair
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Men’s Pair Semi-final

They met in the heat yesterday and they met again today in the semi-final and the status quo remained. Just like yesterday, Canada’s Dave Calder and Kyle Hamilton took an early lead that was slowly whittled away by Italy’s Guiseppe De Vita and Dario Lari. Again Canada, at a lower stroke rate, looked content for this to happen with Italy, again, winning. Canada finished in second while Nikola Stojic and Mladen Stegic of Serbia & Montenegro rowed a very solid race to finish in the third qualifying position.

Ramon Di Clemente and Donovan Cech of South Africa are the only pair to win a medal every year at the World Championships since 2000 and today they established leadership in the second semi-final. Behind them Germany and Slovenia were pacing each other down the course. Tobias Kuehne and Jan Herzog of Germany finished third in Poznan and look to be coming into their own with every race. As the last few strokes of the race came into sight the order remained the same with South Africa in first, and feeling comfortable enough to take the pressure off just before the line, and Germany holding on to second with Slovenia in third and the final qualifying spot.

W2x New Zealand
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Women’s Double Semi-final

Crews lining up in the first semi must have been thinking the race was on for second when they looked over to World Champion twins, Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell of New Zealand in lane three. And that is exactly how the race panned out. The Evers-Swindell’s left nothing to chance and grabbed the position that they have come to love – the lead.

This left France, Germany and the United States to go for the final two qualifying spots. It took the fading French, the ever-improving Germans and the consistent United States to decide the final order with Germany’s Kerstin El Qalqili and Christiane Huth speeding up to earn second and Hilary Gehman and Kelly Salchow of the United States qualifying from third. 

The second semi had Danika Harris and Michelle Guerette of the United States using a strong middle 1000 of the race to propel them into the leading position. As the race moved into the last 250 metres a line of Hungary, China and Great Britain were fighting for the final two spots and it was the superior sprint of China’s Guixin Feng and Xiaoju Gu that propelled them ahead of Hungary to qualify in third with Great Britain holding onto second by a canvas.

Men’s Double Semi-final

Treat this one like a final. The pedigree of semi-final one was impeccable. Current World Record holders and Olympic Champions Iztok Cop and Luka Spik of Slovenia filled lane four. Current World Champions Sebastien Vieilledent and Adrien Hardy of France took up lane three. 2001 and 2002 World Champions Akos Haller and Tibor Petoe of Hungary had lane two. Lightweight Olympic Champions, Tomasz Kucharski and Robert Sycz of Poland were in lane five. Lightweight single World Champion Sam Lynch teamed up with Gearoid Towey who together won bronze last year in the lightweight double and today they had lane six for Ireland. And, finally, in lane one 2000 Olympians Aquil Abdullah and Henry Nuzum of the United States were in flawless rowing company.

M2x France
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With three boats to qualify for the final Cop and Spik established early dominance followed by Vieilledent and Hardy with Haller and Petoe in hot pursuit. Although the distance between crews fluctuated as the race unfolded the order remained much the same. But as boats moved into the final 250 metres the ambition, aggression and will to win took over. All crews had retained enough to sprint for the line and France moved to within spitting distance of Slovenia with Hungary holding onto third over a flying United States who just miss out on qualifying and will return for tomorrows B final. 

The second semi turned out to be the fastest as Olympic Champions in the quad Alessio Sartori and Rossano Galtarossa of Italy set out at a cracking stride, their upright rowing style allowing for a high stroke rate. Behind them the Czech Republic and Estonia were pacing each other stroke for stroke while 24 bikes followed the proceedings along the side of the course.

Italy remained in front until the line with the Czech Republic finishing in second and Estonia holding onto third. 

Men’s Four Semi-final

The Germans were definitely motivated in semi-final one. After being beaten by Canada last weekend at Duisburg by a big six seconds, coach Dieter Grahn was forced to reassess his squad and came back from closed door discussions with talk of remodeling both the eight and four line up. This has left the German crew wondering and ready to pull out all stops.

Using a flying start, Germany grabbed an early lead and held their boat just ahead of the Canadians in second. Behind them Croatia and Poland fought it out for the final qualifying spot. Canada, in second, did not appear phased. Sticking to Germany, the Canadians continued to push the pace and with 80 metres to go Barney Williams stroking for Canada got his nose in front and finished half a second ahead of Germany. Poland took the final qualifying spot.

The second semi-final had Great Britain open a solid first 500 metres that gave them a boat length lead over Slovenia. This lead remained through the middle 1000 of the race with the Czech Republic starting to move on the field. As the leading three boats moved into the remaining quarter of the race Great Britain’s lead was being dramatically reduced by the sprinting Czech’s. But Great Britain held on and crossed the line in first with the Czech Republic in second and Slovenia in third. The intensity of racing was evident as an exhausted Slovenia slumped over their oars at the finish and Great Britain’s stroke, Matthew Pinsent, checked that his gluteus muscles were still intact.

This is shaping up to be an exciting final as only three seconds separate these top six boats.

Lightweight Women’s Double Semi-final

They won the open double last weekend in Dusiburg and today Canada’s Fiona Milne and Mara Jones finished first in semi-final one, recording the fastest qualifying time in the process. But this did not come without a fight. Qian Li of China moves from last year’s World Champion quad and into the double with Dongxiang Xu and together they are making waves in the lightweight rowing scene. Overtaking Great Britain, the Chinese took on the Canadians. Milne and Jones, however, were too strong, remaining in first position. China and Great Britain also qualify.

In the same race the United States finished in fourth and under their country’s Olympic qualifying system they were required to be in the top four spots of the A final. Having missed out on that chance they must now return to their country for another set of trials. There is no easy road to the Olympics.

Daniela Reimer of Germany had a lot at stake in semi-final two. Reimer still has to prove her position in the boat as fellow countrywoman Marie-Louise Draeger remains in the mix. Today Reimer proved herself as, with partner Claudia Blasberg, they led the whole race over the Netherlands – the same order that panned out at the first World Cup in Poznan.

But it was the third and final qualifying spot that raised eyebrows. Finland’s Sanna Sten and Minna Nieminen raced a very solid 2000 metres shutting out Ireland from the final and moving themselves on to the final. 

Lightweight Men’s Double Semi-final

Something did not seem right. Three-time World Champions Elia Luini and Leonardo Pettinari of Italy were not in the lead. Moreover, they weren’t even in second. It was first World Cup winners, Mads Rasmussen and Rasums Quist of Denmark who had the top position in the field with Germany following close behind.

A push through the 1200 metre mark propelled Ingo Euler and Manuel Brehmer of Germany into the lead with Denmark doing all they could to stay with them. In the final sprint Quist took the stroke rate to 38 strokes per minute, but the Germans managed to hold on to a small margin and crossed the line in first.

Italy, in third, will also move on to the final. After the race they commented that they were unconcerned with the result citing a bad start that would be rectified in tomorrow’s final. This, however, was their first loss since the Sydney Olympics.

The top two spots sorted themselves out very early on in the second semi-final. France’s Pascal Touron and Frederic Dufour finished second in Poznan earlier this month and today led the field over Greece. Behind them the main tussle was going on for the third and final qualifying position. Belgium, Portugal and Japan all wanted it. With half the race down Japan was just holding on to third by the skin of their teeth. But Belgium was looking dangerous.

In the final sprint Justin Geraert and Wouter van der Fraenen of Belgium pulled out a biggie, grabbing the qualifying spot and relegating Japan into the B final.

LM4- Ireland
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Lightweight Men’s Four Semi-final

They’re green and they’re on fire. Paul Griffin, Niall O’Toole, Eugene Coakley and Archibald Richard (filling in for Tim Harnedy) of Ireland beat the World Champion Danes in the heat and repeated the process again today in semi-final number one. Leaving the starting area at a flying 47 strokes per minute the Irish gained a slight lead over Denmark who had altered their boat line-up after yesterday’s results.

But the Danes had more to worry about than Ireland. Last year’s bronze medal winner, the Italians were looking aggressive and ready for a good fight. As the final 50 metres came into view the Italians pushed past Denmark finishing a mere bow ball in front. Ireland remained in first and all three boats will meet again in the final.

Semi-final two turned into a German-Dutch battle as the two boats paced each other down the 2000 metre course, the Netherlands using a slightly higher stroke rate to maintain their pace. Following the charge was Latin America’s sole representative, Chile. The Chileans hope to qualify for the Athens Olympics in this event and are using the World Cup to help in their preparation. Everything looks to plan as they move on to the final by finishing in third.

These results lead into another hot final as only three seconds separate the top six crews.

Women’s Quadruple Repechage

Four out of the six boats would continue to the final and it was last year’s silver medallists, Belarus that commanded an early lead. Not to be outdone, Great Britain held their own in second spot and with double sculler Sarah Winckless filling in and showing her versatility the Brits pushed through to take the lead. As the last 500 metres came into view Belarus appeared satisfied just to qualify, slipping back to fourth with Denmark and the Netherlands taking the number two and three spots respectively.

Men’s Quadruple Repechage

Poland has had an uneven season so far. On their home turf at the first World Cup they finished out of the medals in fifth. But today the Poles decided they owned the first repechage. With Adam Korol in stroke seat the crew led the field ahead of Belgium in second.

But the big surprise was the World Champions, Germany. After finishing back in the field yesterday they put up more of a fight today. It wasn’t, however, enough. Germany will find themselves in the unusual position of a B final race.

Repechage two opened with a flying start by the French with Frederic Perrier in stroke seat. But they could not maintain that pace and first Estonia overtook, then Belarus. France then found another gear and challenged back with a piece at the 1250 metre mark. It wasn’t enough. Belarus countered the challenge and at the line Estonia and Belarus move forward to the final.

Women’s Eight Race for Lanes

This is the first time 2002 World Champions the United States has met their international competition since August last year. This is the first time in a while that current World Champions, Germany have been soundly beaten. Were they biding their time and waiting for the true final tomorrow? Is this part of the plan?

After an initial opening lead by China, the United States got their nose in front and kept it there ahead of China with Germany following in third. A number of the US crew raced earlier today in the pair and it must have served them well as they held their lead recording a respectable time in these slight head wind conditions.

M8+ Great Britain
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Men’s Eight Repechage

With three boats lining up and two to advance in repechage one nine people were not going to be happy at the end of this race. Today it was France that failed to find enough boat speed. Today it was Egypt who will celebrate as their second place takes them through to tomorrow’s final. Today the Italian men’s eight recorded a win and also advance to the final.

Repechage two came down to a battle between Great Britain and the Netherlands. With Ed Coode back in the boat the British opened up the pace inching away from the Netherlands and forming a handy two second lead. But the second half of the race was all about the Dutch. Doing a push through the 1250 metre mark the Netherlands countered Great Britain’s 38 strokes per minute and moved into the lead.

At the line the Dutch had a handy two-second advantage. Both boats move on to the final.

 

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