B-finals Open the Day ? BearingPoint World Cup

 

The lightweight men’s four B final was taken by Germany’s second crew, putting them in 7th position in their boat class

B-finals give athletes a chance to place in position seven to twelve against nations top rowers and the competitors and coaches take it very seriously. This is how the day started for the second World Cup of 2003 in Munich.

Calm waters, sunny skies and barely a breath of wind greeted the first racers of the day and the Olympia Regattaverein was a sight worthy of the 1972 Olympics for which it was built.

Lightweight Women’s Single ? B Final 

The six scullers that lined up for the first race at 8am would have been up since about 5am as their day began with the standard weigh-in two hours before the race. By the time these athletes reached the starting blocks they had to have their bodies and mind in racing state ? ready to push themselves for about eight minutes. And that’s exactly what they did with Pamela Weisshaupt of Switzerland leading the way followed by Michaela Taupe of Austria and Aida Turcios Marinero of El Salvador in third.

Lightweight Men’s Single ? B Final 

With B-final races starting every five minutes, the men were on the course before the women had finished. But with 2000 metres of racing to be had any wake from umpire launches was already gone. A battle of up-and-coming rowing nations saw Portugal’s Paulo Pereira taking a slight lead at the first 500-metre mark. But Honk Kong’s Hiu Fung Law was sticking with him and through the middle portion of the race the two leaders kept a close eye on each other. Behind them Kazuya Yamamoto of Japan had lodged himself firmly into third position.

Yamamoto takes on the position of Japan’s single sculler after Hitoshi Hase moved into the Olympic event, the lightweight men’s four. Hase finished sixth in 2002 and Yamamoto will want to match his compatriot by impressing in the single.

The order remained the same at the line with Pereira staying in the top spot followed by Hong Kong and then Japan.

Women’s Single ? B-final

Three boats competed and the order after the first 500 mark remained the same until the finish. Frida Svensson of Sweden, with the help of loud support from her family on the shore, led the way over Denmark’s Astrid Jespersen.

Elsie Lim of Singapore couldn’t match the pace and finished in third.

Men’s Single ? B-final

The flying start from Mikael Nilsson of Sweden was soon eaten away by Ukraine’s Volodimir Pavlovskij. Through the 750 metre mark Pavlovskij worked his way to the head of the field and from that position kept an eye on any contenders for his spot. Mario Vekic of Croatia put in a strong challenge through the 1250 which propelled him into second but did not have the energy to maintain his position and succumbed to the experience of Jaakko Hasu of Finland.

Nilsson suffered from his fast start and finished at the back of the field with Pavlovskij holding onto first, Hasu in second and Vekic in third.

Women’s Pair ? B-final

Bulgaria and the United States number two boat went head to head in the B-final and it was Milka Tancheva and Anna Chuk for Bulgaria who lead the way. They gain a World Cup point for their country by finishing first. The United States kept the pace on with aggressive stroking but could not match the pace of Chuk and Tancheva.

Men’s Pair ? B-final

Egypt just missed out on making the A-final and were not going to make any mistakes today. El Bakry Yehia El Bakry and Akrm Mohamed Abdel Shafy took an early lead and by the half way point they were able to have a panorama view of the field from their middle lane. But a regatta that has been plagued by bad luck for the Egyptians struck again. El Bakry got his oar stuck in the water and had to stop rowing with 600 metres to go. They were able to pick up the race again but by that time Slovenia, Argentina and Brazil had taken advantage of the situation.

Slovenia’s Matija Pavsic and Andrej Hrabar grabbed the lead with Brazil in hot pursuit. In a sprint for the line Alexandre Soares and Gibran Da Cunha Vieira of Brazil changed gear and gave all they had in the final strokes. At the line Slovenia stayed in front by a mere one-hundredth of a second. Brazil took second and Argentina third.

Men’s Double ? B-final

Germany’s number two crew of Rene Bertram and Max Schramm dominated this race from lane four. Bertram and Schramm took an early lead over Poland and despite a concerted challenge from the Poles through the middle of the race, Germany stayed in front. Meanwhile, Norway was challenging Poland in the closing sprint of the race. At the line Germany remained in front with Poland in second and Norway third.

Men’s Four ? B-final

Two boats in the B-final were made up of their country’s eight’s squad. Croatia, stroked by Petar Lovric, led the way keeping just ahead of Great Britain’s number two four. Great Britain included Olympic gold medallist, Kieran West in stroke and kept in contact with the Croatians but could not match their final pace with Croatia remaining in front at the line.

Lightweight Women’s Double ? B-final

When all rowers weigh the same amount, winning comes down to technique, mental attitude and careful energy output. Often crews that lead at the start cannot maintain the pace and this was evident today. Norway got an early lead that they held until the half way point. But then had to watch as one crew after another passed them by.

The first challenge came from the United State’s second crew. Mary Obidinski and Stacey Borgman are in their second season together after finishing seventh in 2002 and today they rowed an intelligent race with a solid piece through the 800 metre mark and steady consistency that propelled them into the lead by 1500 metres.

But Borgman, an Alaskan native, wasn’t having it all her own way. Moving on the Americans were the new Greek crew and also Johanne Thomsen and Juliane Rasmussen of Denmark who finished sixth in 2002. In an exciting final 400 metres of the race Rasmussen started to sprint passing Greece who were having to contend with Daniela Nachazelova and Pavlina Krtenova of the Czech Republic. At the line the United States held on to first with Denmark in second and the Czech Republic in third.

Lightweight Men’s Double ? B-final

A classy pairing from the Czech Republic included Michal Vabrousek, who won a World Champion bronze medal in 2001 and his partner Vaclav Malecek. They have teamed up to compete in this Olympic event. The pair opened with a powerful start that propelled them into the lead ahead of Ulf Lienhard and Sebastian Massa of Argentina.

Coming up behind them was Switzerland who were picking up speed as the race continued. Back in his country’s top boat, Markus Gier kept the heat on the Argentineans. But the order remained the same with the Czechs crossing in first, Argentina in second and the Swiss in third.

Lightweight Men’s Four ? B-final

German rowers were having a fine day in front of their home crowd as Germany number two took out a win in the B-final. Behind them Denmark number three demonstrated the depth of Danish lightweight rowing by finishing in second and in the process ahead of their number two crew.

Spain, competing at their first international regatta this year, finished in third. Mention must be made of Japan who led for half the race but did not have the legs for the final push home and ended in fourth place.

Men’s Quad ? B-final

Ukraine dominated the World Cup last year, but with two new scullers in the boat they found themselves in the B-final today. The Ukraineans went head to head with Great Britain. The British line-up had raced at Essen but missed the first World Cup. Although Great Britain grabbed an early lead, the versatile Simon Fieldhouse in stroke seat could not match the pace of Ukraine who had taken a small lead with 500 metres to go. But the Brits fought back and at the line less than a second separated the two crews with Ukraine remaining in first.

Men’s Eight ? B-final

The one hundredth race of the regatta came down to a battle between Denmark and Austria. Both crews included lightweight rowers but it was Denmark that made easy work of it forming an ever-increasing gap between them and Austria. Clear water of over ten seconds separated them at the line.