Beginning the Quest to be the World Champion – World Rowing Championships

Abbagnale and Berra win heat three in the men's double
© FISA

A warm, calm day greeted the elite rowers from 53 nations for the opening day of the World Rowing Championships in Seville, Spain. This commences the race to be 2002 World Champions. The last time these crews met was more than a month ago at the start of August and the last six weeks have been a time for crews to hone their sprinting skills, take advantage of altitude training and acclimatise to the European summer.

Today 31 heats in eleven events were raced. The number of entries determined how the boats would advance to the next round of racing. Regardless of finishing position, though, all boats would be given a second chance in the repechage.

Women’s Four

The women’s four opened proceedings. Two heats had the first boat only going directly to the final. Australia and Canada comfortably put themselves into this position by leading from the start. Both crews also make up half of their country’s women’s eight, indicating the confidence of their coaches in their stamina and ability. Australia has expectations firmly on their shoulders being the current World Champions in both the four and eight.

Men’s Coxed Four

The big man’s boat, the men’s coxed pair, followed a similar format with the race on to be in first place. Germany continued where they left off in Munich taking number one in their heat. However, they were pushed by the United States who are debuting in this event after racing earlier in the season in the double. Australia also debuted in style winning the second heat. Romania, Italy, Argentina, Spain and the United States will meet in the repechage.

Lightweight Women’s Single

The lightweight women’s single started with four heats, the top boat earning a direct path to the semi-final. Bulgaria’s, Victoria Dimitrova, clocked the fastest time with a dominating start and is looking good to improve on her 2001 fifth position. She will go directly to the semi-final with Kirsten Van der Kolk of the Netherlands, Romania’s, Monica Stan and Mirna Rajle of Croatia. Dimitrova will have the psychological advantage going into the semi-final being the only boat to go under eight minutes in her race and nine seconds ahead of her nearest rival.

Lightweight Men’s Single

The top three boats in the lightweight men’s single would go directly to the semi-final and it was Steve Tucker of the United States who set the pace. But semi-final racing looks to be close as Tucker’s time was only a fraction faster than Germany’s Ingo Euler. Euler raced in the lightweight double in 2001 taking forth and will be gunning to get metal around his neck this year. World Champion, Sam Lynch of Ireland comfortably won his heat and will move on to the semi-final. Also going directly to the semi-final are Australia, Italy, Japan, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Spain. All other boats will get their second chance in Tuesday’s repechage.

Women’s single

Three heats and the top three of each heat advancing to the semi-final set the stage for the women’s single. Prior seeding, which looks at results from throughout the season, meant that the top boats were spread amongst the three heats. It was Roumiana Neykova of Bulgaria who clocked the fastest time in the first heat. Neykova finished three seconds ahead of World Champion, and second heat winner, Kathrin Rutschow-Stomporowski of Germany. The German’s long powerful strokes indicate that she’s back on form after a mixed season. Yulya Levina of Russia showed that she’s back in business taking out the third heat. They will be joined in the semi-final by Great Britain, Italy, Cuba, Belarus, China and New Zealand.

Men’s Single

Seventeen boats started in the men’s single under cloudy skies and a slight drop in temperature. Divided into three heats the race was on for the top spot, as only this position would go directly to the semi-final. This season’s dominator, Marcel Hacker of Germany, made easy work of his heat and gave himself the luxury of cruising the last 500 metres of the race. World Champion, Olaf Tufte of Norway, comfortably took his heat, while Slovenia’s Iztok Cop finished with the fastest time in the third heat. This event looks to be a continuation of dominance of the experienced.

Women’s Pair

The women’s pair has been dominated all season by Romania’s current flagship, Georgeta Andrunache and Viorica Susanu. After taking the lead they were able to cruise the last quarter of the race and take the top spot in the first heat. This effort puts them directly into the semi-final. But Romania needs to watch out. With the pair being used by many countries as a trial boat, the standard continues to move up a peg. This was evident in the third heat, which staged one of the tightest races of the morning. South Africa’s Rika Geyser and Colleen Orsmond and Canada’s Jacqui Cook and Karen Clark battled it out for the whole 2000 metres. Canada took a slight early lead, but a push through the 1000 metre mark put the South African’s nose ahead and they kept it there, crossing the line a mere bow ball ahead of Canada. South Africa will be joined in the semi-final by second heat winners, Belarus. All other crews will go through Tuesday’s repechage.

Men’s Pair

The race again was on to make the top spot in the men’s pair. Today saw the opening scenes of what is building up to be the road to a veritable finals showdown. Australia’s Drew Ginn and James Tomkins, Great Britain’s James Cracknell and Matthew Pinsent and Croatia’s Sinisa and Niksa Skelin have taken a race each this season and a strong rivalry has built between these crews.

The seeding equation put Australia, Great Britain and Croatia in each of the three heats and they all finished in the top spot. Barely a second separates these three crews as they move directly on to the semi-final. The second and third boats in each heat also clocked very close times and every indication points towards tight racing through the repechages.

Women’s Double

Ripples caused by a breezy tailwind got the heats of the women’s double in motion. Two heats lined up on the Guadalquivir river with the winner of each going directly to the final. New Zealand’s top boat of Caroline Evers-Swindell and Indoor Rowing World Record holder, Georgina Evers-Swindell showed their winning intention by comfortably taking the first heat over World Cup winners, Great Britain. The second heat was won by Russia’s Larisa Merk and the name of single sculling, Irina Fedotova, who came together in the double for the third World Cup in Munich. They just piped Italy at the line by a mere fraction of a second after racing side by side for the full 2000 metres. All other crews will be back on Tuesday to race the repechage.

Men’s Double

With the sun clearing away the clouds and the temperature rising, the men’s double took to the water. World Champions, Hungary, won the first two World Cup events this year but were narrowly beaten in the third by the Czech Republic. This event started with three heats and the goal was to be the top boat. These three crews would earn a direct route to the semi-finals.

The men’s double spotlighted the international nature of the World Championships and the heats proved that a winner could come from a number of directions.

Hungary just held onto first position in heat one with a mere twentieth of a second over Great Britain. Australia showed their last two months of training was put to good use by winning the second heat over last year’s silver medallists, France. Italy’s rowing hero, Agostino Abbagnale, is out of the quad and back in the double and proved that it was a wise decision by winning the third heat with partner, Franco Berra who has come out of a season of single sculling.

Men’s Four

The day of racing capped off with three heats in the men’s four. The top crew would go directly to the semi-final and it was the third heat that was the tightest. Slovenia and Italy were matching each other stroke for stroke in the last 500 metres, but in the final few strokes Italy took the pace down allowing Slovenia to cross the line first. Great Britain look to be back on form after a sporadic season and were not only comfortably ahead, but also took out the fastest qualifying time. Great Britain’s biggest challengers, Germany, qualified by winning the second heat. All other crews go Tuesday’s repechage.