Going Backwards to Move Forward - Under 23 Regatta

Mario Gyr of Switzerland with coach encouragement
© FISA

By Melissa Bray

The head wind continued for day two semi-finals and repechages at the World Rowing Under 23 Regatta in Poznan, Poland. Rowers found the first 500 metres of the race a little more challenging and slow times continued to be recorded as boats pushed into the breeze.

Lightweight Women's Single Scull – Semi-final

The first of two semi-finals had Carola Tamboloni of Italy and Russia's Ksenia Potapova going head-to-head at the front of the field. Moving through the middle of the race the two scullers were matching each other at 34 strokes per minute and neither was giving an inch. Potapova competed as a junior the last two years but is yet to medal internationally. Today she put herself in a good position by handling the pressure put on her by Tamboloni. Potapova secured a middle lane in the final by finishing first with Tamboloni in second.

Behind them the battle was going on for the final qualifying spot between Mar Bosch of Spain and Eeke Thomee of the Netherlands. Bosch had pushed past Thomee going through the middle of the race but then had to sprint, raising her rate to 35, to retain the third spot. Bosch moves on to the final.

The second semi-final was led by Ibtissem Trimech of Tunisia who kept her rating at 34 strokes per minute through most of the first 1000 metres. But Trimech may have gone out a bit hard and started to slip back in the second half. This gave Daniela Nachazelova of the Czech Republic the opportunity she wanted. Nachazelova finished first, Trimech was second and Mollie Hill overtook Greece to finish third.

Lightweight Women's Double Scull – Repechage

Two repechages required a top two finish for advancement and in repechage one Lara Abrunedo and Eva Val of Spain had a fraction of an edge over Giulia Cappabianca and Laura Milani of Italy. Together Spain and Italy moved away from the rest of the field and in total domination of the qualifying spots. France and South Africa ? waging their own private battle for third ? never got close enough to challenge for qualification.

Great Britain took off at a furious pace in the second repechage and still had a handy lead over Japan going through the half way point. But Laura Ralston and Laura Greenhalgh of Great Britain were tiring and Ayako Horibata and Misaki Kumakura of Japan had closed the gap. In the final sprint Horibata and Kumakura moved ahead to take first and both boats earn a spot in the final.

Women's Single – Semi-final

Will these be the fastest women in the world in the future? Will Germany's Magdalena Schmude take over from Kathrin Rutschow-Stomporowski? Today in the first semi-final it was Iva Obradovic of Serbia & Montenegro that stepped up to the plate. Obradovic raced in the quad at last year's Under 23 regatta in Belgrade finishing seventh and this year in the single Obradovic is making an impact. Despite challenges from Schmude, Obradovic remained at the head of the field leaving Schmude to take second and Lidia Veroeci of Hungary to qualify from third.

Poland's Julia Michalska today demonstrated that the difference between light and open-weight rowing can be slight. Michalska won the first World Cup this year as a lightweight and today she took out the fastest qualifying time. But this did not come without a fight. Michalska came out of the start in third behind leader Sally Kehoe of Australia and Latvia. Going through the middle of the race Kehoe still had the lead and her long strokes kept her in that position. Then Michalska, who had worked her way past Latvia, poured on the sprint.

Michalska finishes first, Kehoe held on to second and a photo finish for the third qualifying spot saw Slovenia's Majda Jerman sprint up to Latvia and overtake her on the line.

Women's Double – Semi-final

Germany's Anne-Katrin Kochan and Ann Katrin Thiele did all their work in the second 1000 to move into the leading position of semi-final one. Kochan has competed for the last two years at the Under 23 regatta, winning gold in 2002, while Thiele follows a family tradition into rowing. By the half way point Kochan and Thiele had the lead with Ligita Kaviere and Liga Liepa of Latvia in second. This order stayed the same with the real race going on for the final qualifying spot. Hungary had a comfortable lead over Romania until the Romanians decided to sprint. This put the heat on Hungary as the two charged for the line. Hungary just held on to qualify.

Australia's Suzanne Brown and Tara Kelly targeted Inger Halrynjo and Tine Schoeyen of Norway and together the two boats raced head to head with the Czech Republic also sticking to the pace. These three boats held on to the qualifying spots with Norway sneaking ahead of Australia into first and Australia staying just ahead of an awesome sprint by Libuse Bruncvikova and Irena Neffeova of the Czech Republic. These three countries move on to the final.

Women's Pair – Repechage

Four boats would go to the final. Two boats would drop out of contention. Already by the first 500 metre mark this was decided. But the big question was what order would the qualifying boats finish in. Jo Cook and Annie Vernon of Great Britain had the early advantage over Italy with Australia very much on the pace. Cook has rowed internationally since being a junior in 2000 while Vernon is new to the international scene and togther they were keeping in control. Cook and Vernon remained in the lead with Australia pushing into second and Italy slipping to third. In the final sprint this order remained the same with Poland, back in fourth, also qualifying.

Women's Four – Repechage

A top two finish was required for advancement in the two repechages with Belarus taking up clear leader status in repechage. This left France and Germany to battle it out for the second spot. France's better paced race gave them the edge and more energy to sprint. France moves on to the final along with Belarus.

Great Britain, Ukraine and Russia got off the line together in the second repechage and there was still nothing in it as these three crews went through the half way point with less than two seconds separating the three boats. This is when Great Britain's controlled and balanced race plan began to pay off. Going through the 1200 metre mark Great Britain, using longer, lower rating strokes moved away from the field leaving Ukraine and Russia to battle it out for the final spot. Ukraine had the better sprint and move with Great Britain to the final.

Lightweight Men's Single Scull – Semi-final

Italy's Marcello Miani took off at a fast pace in semi-final one but by the half way point Ondrej Vetesnik of the Czech Republic had closed the gap with Russia's Vladimir Varfolomeev following suit. Miani, however, held on to a slight lead with the final sprint coming into view. And sprint they did. Varfolomeev, Vetesnik and Miani charged for the line and with 100 metres left to row all three scullers were within striking distance of first. In a photo finish Varfolomeev had the edge with Vetesnik in second and Miani in third. Less than half a second separated these boats.

The three leading boats in semi-final two had stamped their name on qualifying spots early on in the piece. Germany's Erick Knittel had the edge, Bine Pislar of Slovenia was right with him and Mete Yeltepe of Turkey was not giving an inch. This continued for the full 2000 metres as these boats tried to get a psychological advantage over each other. The order remained the same as none of the three scullers felt any need to sprint. All three move on to the final.

Lightweight Men's Double – Semi-final

The Slovenians and Poland moved out of the start in the lead and paced each other at the head of the field. This left one more qualifying spot and it was Hungary and Greece that took up the challenge. Hungary had a fraction of an advantage and going through the 1100 metre mark Hungary opened up a piece that took them a little ahead. But Greece was not giving up and in the process Hungary and Greece had moved closer to Slovenia and Poland.

Taking the race to a four boat photo finish, Greece was the unlucky one and Slovenia, Poland and Hungary advance to the final.

A much slower second semi-final sorted itself out by the 1000 metre mark with John Haver and Morgan Jarvis of Canada clear leaders followed by Portugal in second and Honk Kong hanging on to third. These three crews did just enough to hold off any challenge from Austria. The order remained the same as they crossed the line with Canada, Portugal and Hong Kong advancing.

Lightweight Men's Quad – Repechage

Four boats would advance to the final and all five boats were still well in qualifying position going through the middle of the race. It then came down to the second half of the race and a tiring Japan was the unlucky one. Italy, Germany, Denmark and Austria go on to the final.

Lightweight Men's Pair – Repechage

The two repechages required a top two finish for advancement and in repechage one Italy's Riccardo Ragona and Giuseppe D'Emilio shot out of the starting blocks like men possessed. Was this a fly and die strategy? Ragona and D'Emilio had a huge seven seconds lead over France and Ireland with only 500 metres rowed and they were not slowing down. This left Stuart King and Dermot O'Sullivan of Ireland and France to take on each other. France had a slight advantage but then suffered from a piece by Ireland at the 800 metre mark and then suffered again from bad steering. Still Ireland could not overtake France.

With 500 metres left to row Ragona and D'Emilio retained the lead but they were visibly tiring as King and O'Sullivan released their sprint, taking their stroke rate to 41 in the process. Ireland finished first and Italy held on to qualify from second.

The second repechage turned into a procession by the half way point. Germany's Sebastian Husemann and Stefan Mlecko had a handy lead, Vit Komarek and Miroslav Vrastil of the Czech Republic were in second and nothing changed to the line. Both crews qualify for the final.

Lightweight Men's Four – Semi-final

The first semi-final was dominated by Germany with Joel El Qalqili in stroke seat. El Qalqili comes from a rowing family with sister Paula competing for Palestine and sister-in-law Kirsten in Germany's Olympic quad. El Qalqili together with Ole Rueckbrodt, Felix Otto and Lutz Ackermann the Germans left the rest of the field to fight for second and third spots. Italy and France decided they wanted second the most and paced each other neck and neck down the 2000 metre Malta regatta course. Germany remained clearly in front with Italy finishing second and France qualifying for the final from third. A late sprint by Ireland was not enough to bring them into qualifying position.

At the head of the field in semi-final two Denmark and Canada were pacing each other with Austria following in third. Denmark still had a slight lead going through the half way point when Canada started to move. Pushing ahead of Denmark, the Canadians, stroked by Simon Gowdy, continued to sprint. Meanwhile Austria was under threat for third by the Netherlands. The Netherlands then took advantage of a faltering Austria the Netherlands grabbed the final qualifying spot.

Men's Single – Semi-final

Russia's Aleksandr Kornilov and Falko Nolte of Germany took off at a swift pace in semi-final one with Sjoerd Hamburger of the Netherlands trying to stick to their speed. Hamburger already had a taste for Poznan when he raced at the first World Cup here earlier this season. Today he used this knowledge to his advantage and began to challenge for second. But then going through the half way point everything began to change.

Last year's junior champion, Kornilov began to falter. Nolte was struggling to hold off Hamburger's challenge and Kristaps Bokums of Latvia, who finished tenth last year, was picking up speed. Bokums had been sitting back in fourth and now challenged Kornilov. Kornilov did not react. Going into the final sprint Hamburger and Bokums were displaying superiority. Bokums crosses the line first, Hamburger second and Nolte held on to third.

After a first half tussle for third between Denmark and Sigitas Klerauskas of Lithuania the second semi-final was nothing more than a procession. Great Britain's Colin Smith had the lead. Mitchell Punch of Australia was firmly in second and Klerauskas held off Denmark to take third. None of the top three crews needed to sprint, instead choosing to save their energy for tomorrow's final.

Men's Double – Semi-final

Germany's Marco Spielau and Rene Burmeister dominated semi-final one, ensuring a middle lane in the final by leading from start to finish. Burmeister finished second in this event last year while Spielau has a bronze medal from 2002 in the Under 23 quad. Their control of this race must put them as gold medal favourites for tomorrow's finals. Meanwhile Belarus and Lithuania were going neck and neck through the middle of the race with Estonia just back in fourth.

Coming into the final sprint, with Germany in the lead, three boats fought for two spots. A crab then put Lithuania out of contention and Belarus and Estonia sprinted to second and third respectively.

In the second semi-final Ukraine, Latvia and Russia all had a go at leading with Portugal sitting just on the edge of qualifying contention. This continued into the closing stages of the race with Portugal being just enough of a threat that a sprint was necessary. In a photo finish Russia pulled into first, Latvia scored second and Ukraine took third.

Men's Quad – Repechage

A top two finish needed in each of the two repechages had current champions Australia and Ukraine wanting it the most in repechage one. They tussled with each other at the head of the field and both qualify for the final.

Poland, Italy and France all went after two qualifying spots in the second repechage so that with half the race rowed barely one second separated these three boats. The order remained the same but it was still extremely close with 500 metres left to race. The final sprint was the decider. Poland and Italy had more speed and go on to the final.

Men's Pair – Semi-final

Florian Schercher and Urs Kaeufer of Germany followed the example of their doubles counterparts and led the whole race from the front in semi-final one. This left a three way battle raging behind them for the two remaining qualifying spots. Russia and Romania, however, soon had control and coming into the final 500 metres none of these boats felt the need to sprint. Germany, Russia and Romania move on to the final.

The second semi-final was very different. Four boats were all going for three spots and a full 2000 metres came down to a photo finish as Serbia & Montenegro's Goran Jagar and Nenad Uzunovic raced Poland, France and Latvia. The decision was made in the final sprint. Jagar and Uzunovic grabbed the lead with 100 metres left to row. Poland hung on to second and France overtook Latvia inside the last four buoys to finish third.

Shapovalov pushes off for Ukraine in the men's four repechage
© FISA

Men's Four – Repechage

The top two boats in two repechages would qualify and the first repechage had Croatia in the lead with Great Britain clearly in second. But a huge effort by Russia in the final sprint propelled their boat from a six second deficit to nearly equal. In a photo finish Great Britain held on to second over Russia – just.

Spain and Romania took on each other at the head of the field in repechage two and by the final 500 metres they did not seem to be concerned about any threats from Italy in third. Romania qualifies by finishing first and Spain moves on to the final as well from second place.

Men's Coxed Four – Repechage

The top four would qualify and with half the race rowed it looked to be Germany, Romania, Russia and Poland. Italy could not quite match the pace and became the crew to miss out on the final.

France ready for the repechage
© FISA

Men's Eight – Repechage

Six boats raced the one repechage all going for the top four spots to ensure a position in the final. France and Ukraine had the early lead with not much between the remainder of the field. Then Belarus moved into the picture overtaking Ukraine and spot number four became the question mark. The Czech Republic and Russia raced it to a photo finish, the Czech Republic qualifying in the last race for A-finals of the day.