Junior Semi-finals ? One Step Closer

Crews prepare to race

By Melissa Bray

Sunny skies, flat water and slight head wind conditions opened the semi-finals day of racing at the 2005 World Rowing Junior Championships in Brandenburg, Germany.

With lesser semi-finals as well as semi-finals to decide the six finalists in each of the 13 events every athlete returned to the water today. This included the youngest rower, Wilson Owuor Midenga of Kenya who turned 14 last month, through to numerous 18 year olds in their last chance to race as juniors.

D/E/F Semi-finals

The day opened with racing for boats that would advance to the D, E and F finals and featuring prominently were a large number of countries who have recently started rowing programmes. Many of these countries are supported through the FISA development programme as well as the masters fund for junior rowing which helps fund rowers to race at the Junior Championships.

The two races in the men's single had winner of the first, Sean Medcalf of the United States take the fastest time over Great Britain's Nicholas Baker who won the second race. Development athlete, Zeid Chiha of Tunisia finished a credible third behind Medcalf and Lithuania in race one.

Nicolas Baker, Great Britain

The women's double then lined up for two D/E semi-finals and in the first race Min Zhang and Lu Xiuting of China led the way to recording the fastest time of the two races. This is the first international regatta for Zhang and Lu. Slovenia's Monika Sajincic and Rebeka Babic led the second race and are also competing at their first ever international regatta.

The large number of entries in the men's double meant that a top two finish was necessary for advancement to the D-final and in the first race the United States duo of Justin Ochal and John Cerrone led the field. Ochal and Cerrone both row together in their home town of Philadelphia. Behind them Georgia brothers Lasha and Giorgi Khizahishvili put in a great effort to finish second.

South Africa's Dominic Kester and Matthew Brittain won the second race but not without a struggle with Pavel Kondrashov and Vladimir Polomarchouk of Israel and a strong finishing Guatemalan duo of Leif Catalan and Jairo Melgar. South Africa and Israel move on to the D-final.

Latvia's Janis Aliksnis and Ugis Kavieris led the third race after shaking off an initial challenge from Paraguay. Latvia and Paraguay will meet again in the D-final.

Racing for the C and D final in the men's quad Greece, Belgium and Hungary paced each other for the full 2,000 metres with Greece finishing at the head of the field. These three crews will be joined in the C-final by the top three from the second race; the Czech Republic, Spain and Portugal.

A/B/C Semi-finals

Junior Women's Pair (JW2-)

In the first of two semi-finals, crews raced for a top three spot for advancement to the final and two crews absolutely outclassed the rest of the field. Lavina Tinelli and Cristina Romiti of Italy are both from Rome and come into this event after finishing last year with silver. Romania's Angelica Rosus and Nicoleta Albu won gold in the eight last year at Banyoles and at the start of the race they had a slight margin over Tinelli and Romiti. But there was very little in it with both boats still neck and neck coming into the last 500 metres.

In the final sprint Italy managed to get their nose in front, but with 40 metres to go Romania attacked back taking their rating to 39. Rosus and Albu, however, ran out of water and finish second. Way, way back in third position Bulgaria also qualify for the final.

The second semi was postponed until later in the day when South Africa broke an oar on the way to the start.

Returning to race Kerstin Hartmann and Katrin Stenbakken of Germany got an early lead over Oksana Golub and Ganna Gutsalenko of Ukraine with Kari Stenbakken (sixth in the pair in 2004) and Desiree Burns (fourth in the four in 2004) of the United States holding on to third. A push through the middle of the race propelled Stenbakken and Burns into second but Germany looked to be too far out of reach.

Despite a last minute 37 stroke rate sprint by South Africa, nothing changed in the qualifying crews. Germany remained in first, the United States hung on to second and Ukraine take third.

Junior Men's Pair (JM2-)

Roko Svast and Alen Banovac of Croatia will race in tomorrow's B final

Andrei Timpau of Romania already has a gold from last year's eight and he will be racing the eight again at these championships. But right now his focus was on the pair with partner Ionut Moisa (seventh last year in the coxed four). With that focus the duo was in the lead. But Italy's Luca De Maria and Armando Dell'Aquila as well as Richard Anderson and Will Crothers of Canada were not letting the Romanian's out of their sight.

Going through the half way point nothing separated these three crews. A piece at the 1,200 by Anderson and Crothers propelled them into the lead with Italy following closely and Romania slipping back to third. Canada kept the pressure on right to the line while both Italy and Romania looked content just to qualify, choosing not to do a full on sprint.

After winning gold at the Under-23 Championships two weeks ago in the four, Jovan Popovic and Goran Todorovic of Serbia & Montenegro have been feeling confident. But today it was Germany's Florian Koeppen and Kay Benecke that got off the line in the lead at a blistering pace in the second semi-final. Koeppen and Benecke train just down the road from Brandenburg in Potsdam and this is Benecke's second year on the national junior team. Together they remained at the head of the field with a clear water lead over Popovic and Todorovic with Juri Vanek and Jan Vacek of the Czech Republic working their way from the back of the field into third.

Were Popovic and Todorovic just playing? How did Koeppen and Benecke get off to such a flying start? Added with semi-final one, this is going to be one of the hottest finals when they race again tomorrow.

Junior Men's Four (JM4-)

The bronze winning 2004 line-up of Kolb, Saric, Mueller and Schmidt of Germany have returned this year in fine form and they led the first of two semi-finals. Behind them Ioan Mihaila (2004 gold in the eight), Marius Luchian (2004 seventh in the coxed quad), Ionel Strungaru and Leon Ani (both 2004 gold medalists in the pair and eight) of Romania slipped comfortably into second. The Romanians are also racing in the eight later today. Were they saving themselves? Behind them Italy looked like they needed to do a bit of work on their starts and so were spending the race trying to close the gap on the two leading crews.

Coming into the final sprint Germany maintained a healthy 35 strokes per minute to keep the lead while Romania pulled out a 39 sprint to hold off the 40 stroke rate pressure from Italy. These three crews advance to the final in the faster of the two semis.

Great Britain's brand new crew led the second semi-final from the word go leaving Croatia and Serbia & Montenegro to fight it out for the second and third spots. As these Croatia and Serbia & Montenegro swapped places and then swapped again Great Britain continued to lead. A better sprint by Croatia got them into second, with Serbia & Montenegro finishing third.

Junior Women's Single (JW1X)

Clementine Jullien of France (2004 fifth place in the eight) led the first of two semi-finals but a slower starting Gisella Bascelli of Italy in her third year at the Junior Championships, was only a bow ball down going through the half way point. Coming into the final sprint the more experienced Bascelli had found the lead with Jullien holding on to second over Lina Saltyte of Lithuania.

Jullien, however, was not happy with second and sprinting for the line she retook the lead leaving Bascelli behind. Saltyte meanwhile was dealing with an all out sprint by Estonia. Pushing the result to a photo finish Saltyte held onto third, but only just. Jullien, Bascelli and Saltyte move on to the final.

She came through the heats with the fastest time and after having a rest day yesterday Emma Twigg of New Zealand repeated the performance by leading the second semi-final. Twigg only needed to rate a comfortable 29 strokes per minute to finish ahead of Chantal Weibel of Switzerland in second and Biene Bertasjus of Latvia in third.

Junior Men's Single (JM1X)

The large number of entries in this field meant that three semi-finals were required with the top two boats advancing to the final, the next two going to the B-final and the remaining two making the C-final.

Janis Timofejevs of Latvia (13th place finisher in 2004) sorted himself out at the head of semi-final one with Kaspar Taimsoo of Estonia (14th place finisher in the double in 2004) holding tightly on to Timofejevs's coat tails. Going through the half way point there was still very little in it between Timofejevs and Taimsoo with Croatia and open water distance back in third. Timofejevs and Taimsoo move on to the final.

It must be noted that behind Timofejevs and Taimsoo a virtual straight line formed the remainder of the field. There was very little between Croatia, Denmark, Kakla Kandelaki of Georgia ? the first time Georgia has made it to a semi-final ? and the Netherlands. Croatia had the best sprint to finish third, but full credit to all crews who will return for the lesser finals.

Milan Uzunovic of Serbia & Montenegro (bronze in 2004) made his intentions clear in the heats when he blitzed the field and today he continued on his winning ways by clearly leading the second semi-final. Uzunovic set a Serbian & Montenegrin indoor rowing record earlier this season when he clocked 6.03 over 2,000 metres and at 186cm tall he is at the shorter end of his competition. Behind him Slovenia's Klemen Kogler had worked his way past Russia and Switzerland and into second.

This is Kogler's third year as a junior competitor and after finishing eighth last year, Kogler has already improved his position this year as he moves on to the final.

Angel Rodriguez of Cuba in the semi final of the Junior M1x

Germany's Stefan Krueger is doing great in his first year as a junior competitor. He led the final semi from start to finish leaving Portugal's Paulo Cerquido and Cuba's Angel Rodriguez to fight it out for the second qualifying spot. Cerquido held second at the start but an inconsistent middle 1,000 saw him drop back with Rodriguez, coached by Germany's Olympic Champion Kirsten El Qalqili, pulling through to take the second qualifying spot. Rodriguez remained in second despite a boat-stopping crab at 150 metres to go.

Junior Women's Double (JW2X)

Twins Lisa and Melanie Baues of Germany had a true battle on their hands in the first of two semi-finals when Katerina Tarasenko and Olena Buryak of Ukraine challenged them for the full 2,000 metres. Tarasenko and Buryak made it to the semi-finals through the repechage and look to be improving as this regatta continues. Behind Ukraine, Australia and Italy battled for the final qualifying spot.

A superior second 1,000 by Sara Hawe and Rachel Thomas of Australia not only gave them the qualifying position but they also nearly caught Ukraine. Germany, Ukraine and Australia advance to the final.

Defending champions, Jitka Antosova and Gabriela Varekova of the Czech Republic raced completely unchallenged in semi-final two. In second Romania's Mihaela Coteata and Adelina Cojocariu come to the double after winning gold last year in the eight. Back in the final qualifying spot, South Africa had to fight off Hungary to finish third. Peta-leigh Dakyns and Kirsten McCann of South Africa looked the happiest as they now move on to the final.

Junior Men's Double (JM2X)

Because of the large number of entries this event required three semi-finals with the top two crews only moving on to the final. Third and fourth would contend the B-final and fifth and sixth would make it to the C-final. In the first race Croatia's Hrvoje Jurina and Tomislav Holi, competing in their first Junior Championships, led the way. Behind them France's Quentin Colard and Maximilien Bonnier, who qualified through the heats with the fastest time, were struggling with Russia to get into second.

As Jurina and Holi moved further into the lead, Colard and Bonnier had to hold off a fast sprinting Serbia & Montenegro to keep their qualifying position. France went to 37 strokes per minute and Serbia & Montenegro took their rating to 39 in the final sprint. In an oh-so-nail-bitingly-close photo finish, France had pulled it off. Croatia and France advance to the final.

The second semi-final opened with Jan Spik and Gasper Fistravec of Slovenia (gold in the quad in 2004) in the lead. Stretching it out to an open water lead going through the middle of the race it looked like this race was all about Slovenia. But Ivan Durante (fifth in the coxed four in 2004) and Matteo Milioti of Italy were starting to come into their own.

After overtaking Australia, Durante and Milioti went after the Slovenians. Spik and Fistravec almost got caught napping, but an aggressive last four strokes held the first place for Slovenia with Italy qualifying in second.

In the third semi-final, Tim Bartels and Hans Gruhne of Germany are racing after winning their heat two day ago. Today they faced New Zealand's Daniel Karena and Joseph Sullivan who had also won their heat. Karena and Sullivan got the better start but with half the race gone they were only inches ahead of Bartels and Gruhne. A solid third 500 by the Germans propelled them into the lead.

In the final sprint a tidier looking New Zealand crew qualify from second with the bigger, more aggressive Germans finishing first.

Junior Women's Quad (JW4X)

Leading the way in the first of two semi-finals was Anna Kluchert (gold in 2004), Christin Hoffmann, Nora Franzen and Mandy Reppner (gold in 2004) rowing for Germany. In their experimental blue boat the Germans were overpowering the rest of the field. This left Great Britain and France to fight it out for second and third. France's better start had them in second place, but as the race continued Great Britain was finding a better rhythm.

As the finish line came into view Germany remained comfortably in the lead with Great Britain pushing through to second and France holding off a sprinting Dutch crew. A very happy and relieved France move on to the final along with Great Britain and Germany.

The second semi-final recorded a slower qualifying time with Belarus setting the pace at the head of the field. Sitting in three seat, Zakharava Alena already has a silver from last year's four and she has also competed at the senior World Cup level. Behind her Natallia Pryvalava is in her second year as a junior competitor. Belarus remained in the lead while three boats; Poland, Italy and Romania battled each other for the final two spots.

Italy looked better on paper with Veronica Pizzamus and Erika Pagliarella returning to this event after finishing fourth last year. But through the middle of the race it was Romania and Poland that held the qualifying spots. A better sprint by Italy got them ahead of Poland at the line. Belarus, Romania and Italy qualify for the final.

Junior Men's Quad (JM4X)

Slovenia and Italy left the line together in the first of two semi-finals with Poland back a bit in third. Slovenia's new crew has a 2004 gold medal to defend, but it was the Italians who soon had the lead.

A more consistent Italy remained ahead of Slovenia who now had to deal with Russia. Going through the third 500 the Russians had pulled out a fast piece that brought them into third ahead of Poland. The Poles meanwhile looked like they had run out of steam. Italy, Slovenia and Russia qualify for the final.

Germany followed their female counterparts' example by taking the lead in the second semi-final. But unlike the German women's quad race, the men had a harder time of it with Ukraine attacking and counter-attacking down the 2,000 metre course. But despite Ukraine's best effort, Germany remained in the lead with the Ukrainians then having to contend with Great Britain who had pulled themselves ahead of Denmark and into third.

The order didn't change at the line with Germany, Ukraine and Great Britain moving on to the final.

Junior Men's Eight (JM8+)

New Zealand finished eighth last year so it was quite a surprise in the heat when they beat last year's bronze medalists, Germany. Now in semi-final one they were racing a tight race at the front of the field with Russia (fourth in 2004). Both crews remained unrelenting with France and Greece also very much in contention.

It's an impressive sight seeing four eights charging for the line. New Zealand retained a rather low 34 stroke rate while Russia moved from 35 to 36 with the most aggressive racing coming from France at 39 strokes per minute. In a photo finish a very upset Greece had missed out. New Zealand, Russia and France move on to the final.

The New Zealand men's eight wins the semi final and progresses through to tomorrow's A final

Germany had an easier time in this race than in the heats when they took to the lead in semi-final two and pushed ahead to a comfortable margin over the United States in second. Behind the leaders Italy and last year's champions, Romania battled each other for third ? the final qualifying spot.

In the closing 200 metres the United States took their rating to 37, then 39 to move up on Germany with Romania also rating 39 in their attempt to shake off Italy. Germany, the United States and Romania advance to the final.

Lesser Finals

Racing for the second time today the C-finals opened with Aliaksei Semiantsov and Dzmitry Dubinchyk of Belarus dominating the men's pair. Ukraine had a harder time of it in the men's four when Switzerland would not give up. These two crews now finish 13th and 14th in the world respectively.

Caroline Berson of the United States took control of the women's single C-final to finish 13th in the world. Slovenia's Monika Sajincic and Rebeka Babic then raced the women's double and finished as clear leaders over Portugal and the United States.

The men's quad C-final was a closer tussle with leaders, the Czech Republic being challenged by Greece who had to come back from a slow start.

Racing continues tomorrow, Saturday 6 August with the A-finals.

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