Juniors Return for Second Chance Repechages

By Melissa Bray

 

Yesterday's heats creamed off the top crews. Today the 2005 World Rowing Junior Championships saw crews return for a second opportunity for advancement to either the final or semi-final. The town of Brandenburg, Germany, just near to Berlin, is hosting the Junior Worlds for the second time on its Beetzsee regatta course.

Today tail-cross wind conditions under cloudy skies dropped to almost calm waters as the repechages continued throughout the morning. Team mates, Brandenburg town folk and competitors' family members crowded the finishing area to cheer the crews across the line. Around the regatta course over two hundred volunteers, a large organising committee and rowing officials from around the world kept the regatta running smoothly.

Junior Men's Coxed Four (JM4+)

If racing continues like this opening on the repechages, fingernails will be short and the photo finish camera will be running hot. Canada started off in the same style as in the heat, in the lead. Ukraine did their best to hold on with Great Britain taking their pace off Ukraine and in the process these two boats were bearing down on Canada.

But something was happening at the back of the field. Poland suddenly came alive and decided to do something about their five second deficit. As the last 500 metres came into view Canada's lead barely existed with Poland's coxswain Pawel Nowicki asking for more. In the final sprint there was nothing between Canada, Poland and Great Britain. Poland, with just 200 metres left, squeezed into the lead. Canada reacted with a 43 stroke rate. Great Britain held on. In a photo finish, Great Britain was the unlucky third. Poland and Canada move on to the final.

Repechage two finished in another three boat nail biter. Russia, the United States, Serbia & Montenegro and Romania were all in with a chance. Two crews would miss out. The United States had snuck through to the lead coming into the final 500 metres with Serbia & Montenegro hot on their heels. Romania then ran out of juice leaving Russia to hold on with a chance.

The second photo finish of the day ended with United States supporters high-fiving, Serbia & Montenegro breathing a sign of relief and a very disappointed Russia.

Junior Women's Pair (JW2-)

One repechage required a top three finish for advancement. One crew would miss out. China's Xiuting Lu and Min Zhang decided not to take any chances and took the lead followed closely by Katie Lambert and Nicole Craven of South Africa. This left the main challenge to go on between Lithuania and Singapore for the final qualifying spot. Lithuania started off well but then ran out of steam leaving Singapore to qualify along with South Africa and China.

Junior Men's Pair (JM2-)

The top three crews on in the two repechages had Lithuania take over at the start of repechage one. But Australia's Michael Smith and Harrison Law were holding the pace along with Jiri Vanek and Jan Vacek of the Czech Republic. The order had completely changed going through the third 500 with the Czechs pushing into the lead with Smith and Law drawing into second. No challenges went on for the three leaders. Vanek and Vacek, Smith and Law and Sarunas Skuodis and Saulius Ritter of Lithuania move on to the semi-final.

The heat was on in repechage two when Estonia's Rauno Talisoo and Alo Kuslap set a cracking pace with Argentina, Ireland and Belarus holding on. One crew would miss out. A piece at the 1,700 pushed Ireland into third and pushed Belarus out of qualification with Estonia remaining in the lead at a solid 34 stroke rate pace followed closely by Argentina. A fading Belarus misses out with Estonia, Argentina and Ireland advancing to the semi-final.

Junior Women's Four (JW4-)

Red and black supporters lined the finishing banks as Germany led the way in the first of two repechages. Two boats would go through to the final and Germany wanted to be one of them. Behind them New Zealand held on to the second qualifying spot after shaking off a rough looking Canadian crew. As the buoys changed from white to red New Zealand, rating 41, forced Germany into a final sprint and photo finish. Germany had held on to the lead and both boats will advance to the semi-final.

Ukraine are starting to show themselves as fly-and-die crews and so it was no surprise to see them in the lead of the second repechage. Then it wasn't much of a surprise to see Ukraine lose their lead first to Poland, using their own signature second half push. The United States who had been spending most of the race on the edge of qualification followed Poland's example. Stroked by Jordan Peek at her first international event, the United States overtook Ukraine with 220 metres to go and using 37 strokes per minute closed on Poland. Poland and the United States advance to the final.

Junior Women's Single (JW1X)

Kathrein Schultze from Germany

Two repechages and the top three boats advancing had much of the hard work done early in the race. Charlotte Walters of Australia led the way with Lithuania's Lina Saltyte and Veronika Macarol of Slovenia holding the pace. All three of these scullers are competing in their first international event and in the final sprint Saltyte used 24 strokes per minute to overtake Walters at 29 with Macarol remaining in third.

Germany's Kathrein Schulze took off in the lead of repechage two followed by Inna Bozhko of Ukraine and Liene Bertasjus of Latvia also on the pace. The United States sat in fourth with not quite the push to challenge for a qualifying spot. Coming through the third 500 Schulze couldn't hold onto her leaders advantage and Bertasjus got her nose into the front. At the line Bertasjus remained in first, Schulze qualifies from second and Bozhko kept up with a final sprint to finish third. All three crews qualify.

Junior Men's Single (JM1X)

Three repechages and a top two finish necessary for advancement opened up with an interesting tussle going on at the front of the field. Russia's Sergey Elisseev and Germany's Stefan Krueger are both at their first international rowing event and in the first half of the race there was nothing between them. Then Elisseev started to waiver and Krueger's steady pace took him into the lead. Then a late push by Great Britain forced Elisseev to take his rating to 39 and sprint for the line. Elisseev and Krueger move on to the semi-final. In these tail wind conditions Krueger's finishing time will be one to be reckoned with when he races the semi-final tomorrow.

Sophus Johannesen of Denmark dominated repechage two leaving Bulgaria and the United States to fight it out for the final qualifying spot. Sean Medcalf of the United States had a slight advantage and looked to be challenging Johannesen with less than 500 metres to row. But a better sprint by Ivan Ladzhov of Bulgaria pulled him ahead of Medcalf to qualify from second. Johannesen, competing at his second World Rowing Junior Championship qualifies from first.

On paper Klemen Kogler of Slovenia was the one to beat in repechage three. This is Kogler's third Junior Championships and last year he finished a credible eighth in the single. It therefore wasn't surprising to see Kogler take the lead and control the rest of the field by keeping a very conscious eye on Dutch man Boris Le Feber. Kogler and Le Feber advance to the semi-final.

Boris le Feber of the Netherlands

Junior Women's Double (JW2X)

A top two finish was necessary in the two repechages and remarkably similar races panned out in both repechages with two boats taking a clear advantage at the front of the field. In repechage one Katerina Tarasenko and Olena Buryak of Ukraine took an early lead and then moved to an open water lead which they maintained over Croatia for the remainder of the race. No one challenged Croatia in second and Ukraine and Croatia move on to the semi-final.

Repechage two looked almost identical but with different country colours. Peta-Leigh Dakyns and Kirsten McCann of South Africa took control of the lead leaving Sweden little option but to sit back in second. Dakyns and McCann used a steady pace to slowly increase their lead qualifying from first with Sweden under no threat for qualification in second.

Malin Segergren and Cecilia Lilja, Sweden

Junior Men's Double (JM2X)

Yesterday 31 entries started in this event. The top boat of each heat got a direct path to the semi-final and a holiday today. Everyone else returned for their second chance which required a top two finish. In the first of six repechages Michal Horvat and Ondrej Luzek of the Czech Republic was in a tight battle with Belgium and the United States. Going through the middle of the race, past the Beetzsee course island, the United States were just in second over Belgium. But Benoit Leclercq and Joachim De Pauw had a bit more left in the tank. The Czech Republic qualify from first with Belgium getting the edge over the United States to finish in second.

Ireland's Paul O'Brien and Rory O'Connor warmed up for the Junior Champs by racing at the Under 23 Champs where they finished sixteenth. Today they led repechage two but were shadowed the whole way by Matthew Bold and James McRae of Australia. The two crews had open water over the rest of the field but this didn't stop them racing each other. Ireland and Australia move on to the semi-final.

Repechage three was all about Russia's Alexey Nekrasov and Renat Garifullin. The duo had a clear water lead with only 500 metres rowed and settled nicely into their rhythm leaving Argentina to sit in second. Nothing changed apart from a last ditch sprint by Argentina which they started at the 1,600 metre mark by rating 39 and maintaining it until the line. Russia and Argentina move on to the semi-final.

Hrvoje Jurina and Tomislav Holi of Croatia recorded the fastest qualifying time when they went head to head with Mexico in repechage four. But coming into the second half of the race Mexico began to run out of steam and settled for second. Croatia and Mexico move on to the semi-final.

Three boats fought it out in the fifth repechage when Estonia, South Africa and Sweden paced each other for the full 2,000 metres with Georgia putting in a solid effort which still had them on the pace at the half way point. With Georgia dropping off, South Africa were holding on to Sweden with Estonia remaining just in the lead. South Africa gave it all they had but could not overtake Sweden. Estonia and Sweden advance to the semi-final.

After yesterday's results it is surprising to see the light blue Italian colours at the course having to row a repechage. But in repechage six Ivan Durante and Matteo Milioti of Italy found themselves in this situation and they made no mistakes in their intention to move on. Durante raced last year in the coxed four and changing to sculling he has joined newcomer Milioti. Behind them Bulgaria moved into second spot and did enough to hold off any challenge from Latvia. Italy and Bulgaria advance to the semi-final.

Junior Women's Quad (JW4X)

One repechage would add three more boats to the semi-final with one crew dropping off. After an opening lead by Russia, Poland took to the front with Denmark in third and Hungary dropping off the pace. Poland then opened up clear water gap leaving a tussle to go on between Russia and Denmark. Denmark won the tussle but the order is academic. All three crews move on to the semi-final.

Junior Men's Quad (JM4X)

Four repechages required a top two finish for the quads and Denmark got their second boat through to the semi-final when they won the first of four repechages. With the top two crews qualifying Hungary had the early advantage over Denmark. But as Denmark pushed into the lead, the Netherlands was able to move through the rattled Hungarians. Hungary tried to come back but their 38 stroke rate couldn't dent the Netherlands on 33. Denmark and the Dutch advance to the semi-final.

Belarus took charge of repechage two from the start leaving a full-on struggle to wage between Spain and France for the remaining qualifying position. Stroked by Cedric Bleux, in his second year at the Junior Champs, France seemed to have more fight and taking their rating to 38 they started their sprint sooner than the Spanish. Belarus and France move on to the semi-final.

It was not surprising to see defending champions Slovenia in the lead of repechage three. But the Slovenians did not have it all their own way. First they had to push past an impressive start by Ukraine and then keep the pressure on as Ukraine refused to give up. At the line Slovenia remained in first and qualify with the fastest time with Ukraine also advancing to the semi-final.

Russia had the leaders' edge in the final repechage and the confidence to keep their rating steady over Japan in second. Both Russia and Japan rowed even split races to retain in the two qualifying spots leaving the rest of the field to do their own thing.

Junior Women's Eight (JW8+)

Four boats would qualify, one would miss out and after the opening tussle it looked like Poland didn't quite have what it takes. Amongst the top four crews Great Britain was moving the steadiest and fastest at the front of the field with the United States slipping into second determined to chase the Brits but also keeping a cautious eye on Russia in third. The Czech Republic followed in fourth. The order did not change and Great Britain, the United States, Russia and the Czech Republic will all meet again in the final on Saturday, joined by Romania and Germany ? winners of the heats.

Junior Men's Eight (JM8+)

Italian men's eight second in the repechage, moves on to semi-final A/B

The top three boats would advance to the semi-final. One crew would miss out. Already by the half way point Ukraine looked to be the crew that couldn't maintain the pace. Meanwhile ahead of them Italy had a small lead over Spain with the Czech Republic just back in third. Coming into the final sprint the stroke rate determined the finishing order. Spain on 37 finished first. Italy on 36 finish second and the Czech Republic on 35 take third and the final qualifying spot.

Junior Men's Four (JM4-)

The day of repechages ended with two photo finishes as crews fought it out to be one of the top three crews in each of the two repechages. In repechage one an eastern European battle went on between the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia with Switzerland trying to get in on the action. Stroked by junior silver medalist David Harnisch, the Czech Republic had the edge over Hungary in the fist half of the race. But with 1,200 metres rowed the Czechs began to falter. This gave Hungary the opportunity they wanted with Slovenia following suit. The Czech Republic tried to come back in the closing sprint and taking their rating to 47, then 49 strokes per minute the Czech's were desperate.

At the line the photo finish gave Hungary the win, the Czech Republic second and Slovenia the third qualifying spot.

Repechage two was just as exciting with a four horse race being waged between Australia, Serbia & Montenegro, Ukraine and France. The new Australian crew got off the line the quickest just ahead of Serbia & Montenegro and the two worked together creating a gap on the rest of the field. But Ukraine and France were also pacing each other and in the process had closed the gap on the leaders. Coming into the final sprint the race had turned into a line across the course as four boats went for three positions. In a photo finish Australia held on to first, Serbia & Montenegro finished second and France managed to pip Ukraine for the final spot in the last stroke.

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