Day Two Continues with Second Chance Repechages

Delis in one of the closest battles
© Getty Images/Bryn Lennon

By Melissa Bray

Junior Men's Quad – Repechage

A top two finish was required in this second chance for advancement to the semi-final and in repechage one an opening lead by Belgium was soon eroded when Great Britain and Estonia took on each other, in the process moving to the head of the field. Locked together these two crews were separated by less than a second with 500 metres to go. Estonia and Great Britain now advance to the semi-final from first and second respectively.

A similar scenario followed in repechage two when Italy and Lithuania at the head of the field moved away from all of the other crews. Italy held the edge and go to the semi-final with Lithuania from second.

In repechage three France, Hungary and the Netherlands set up a three way challenge that was separated by less than two seconds as they rowed into the second half of the race. With only two qualifying spots no crew could afford to back off. However as crews moved into the last 700 metres Hungary was finding the pace too hard and the Netherlands and France move on to the semi-final.

Russia and Belarus divided the field by pacing each other through the first half of the race. Was it pride or panic? Even though the two boats were far from being challenged by the rest of the field they continued to hammer each other. Belarus finished first and Russia second. Both boats qualify for the semi-final.

Junior Men's Eight – Repechage

One crew would drop off, three would advance to the semi-final and with three crews taking off at a cracking pace, Canada found themselves floundering back with the umpire launch. Meanwhile Great Britain had a slight lead but the Netherlands and Greece were overlapping and sticking like glue to each other. Greece then inched into the lead and qualify along with the Netherlands in second and Great Britain from third.

SENIOR EVENTS

Lightweight Women's Single – Repechage

The top three boats in three repechages would move to the semi-final and in repechage one by the half way point this had been decided. But the finishing order had not. Romania was leading followed by Great Britain and 2001 World Champion Sinead Jennings of Ireland in third. Going through the 1200 metre mark Jennings made a move that accelerated her past Great Britain and Romania. A fading Niga Liliana of Romania held on and at the line all three boats move to the semi.

Minna Nieminen of Finland, Banyoles 2004
© Getty Images/Bryn Lennon

Repechage two saw Finland's Minna Nieminen continue to show her speed when she overtook Bulgaria to take the lead. But margins of the top four boats were close and in the final sprint Nieminen had to hang on to her slender lead followed by Bulgaria with Sweden just holding off a fast finishing United States to take the last qualifying spot.

The final repechage saw Daniela Nachazelova of the Czech Republic take the lead and keep in front if only by a nose. This left Haixia Chen of China to work her way up from the back of the field using a long layback style to get an advantage. It worked. Chen pulled into second over France who had remained staunchly in third for the entire race. These three boats move on to the semi-final.

Lightweight Men's Single – Repechage

Four repechages required rowers to finish in the top two spots and it was Pawel Randa of Poland that set the standard clocking a seven minute flat time to qualify with the fastest time. Randa did it by leading over Austria's Uwe Daxboeck who kept the heat up and the pressure on. Randa held on to first and Daxboeck also qualifies by finishing second.

Oleksandr Serdyuk of Ukraine followed Randa's example and led repechage two from the start with Ireland's Tim Harnedy following in second. The order stayed the same as Spain in third, after an initial starting burst, slipped back and out of contention. Serdyuk and Harnedy move on to the semi-final.

World Champion Stefano Basalini of Italy used his signature high rating style to ensure he had the lead of the third repechage. Behind him the real battle went on for second between the Netherlands and Guatemala. Throughout the race second place had been swaying back and forth between Cornelis Delis of the Netherlands and Edgar Nanne Nanne of Guatemala. In one of the closest finishes of the day Delis and Nanne Nanne brought it to a photo finish with Delis the victor. Delis now qualifies for the semi-final

Repechage four was sorted out early on in the piece with Portugal's Luis Teixeira Ahrens taking the lead and holding it and Richard Montgomery of the United States maintaining second. Both crews move to the semi-final.

Men's Coxed Four – Repechage

Coxed Four, Banyoles 2004
© Getty Images/Bryn Lennon

One crew to drop off, three to go on to the semi-final and all four crews vying for a qualifying spot was the formula in the one repechage. At the line Romania, Ukraine and Russia boxed out the Netherlands to qualify.

Lightweight Men's Pair – Repechage

The top three crews would move forward to the semi-final and it was Canada that decided to do it from the front. Behind them Great Britain, Ukraine and the Netherlands tussled for the final two spots. With 1000 metres raced Ukraine looked unlucky. But the Netherlands was fading. As Great Britain moved into second, Ukraine made the most of the Netherlands misfortune and, along with Canada and Great Britain, Ukraine advance to the semi.

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