07 Dec 2011
Karsten falters, Drysdale breaks free at Armada Cup
By Melissa Bray
World Champion single sculler, Ekaterina Karsten’s two-year winning streak tumbled last weekend at the BKW-Armadacup in Bern, Switzerland. But it took a tangle of weed to hold back the Belarusian who finished second to Russia’s Julia Levina.
Karsten picked up sea grass on her carbon fin which proved difficult to remove upsetting her ability to maintain a straight course. This put the defending champion and course record holder of the 9 km Armada Cup behind Levina who rowed an impressive race to finish first in the senior women’s category.
At the head of the field New Zealand’s Mahe Drysdale had to maintain pressure throughout the race to shake off Switzerland’s top single sculler André Vonarburg. In head wind conditions Drysdale left the start with Vonarburg and Italy’s top lightweight single sculler, Elia Luini in hot pursuit.
“The start was like a two-kilometre start,” said Drysdale after the race. “I came out at around 40 (stroke rate) and stayed at 34 – 36 for the first kilometre.”
Vonarburg and Luini had the lead over Drysdale going around the first bend (1 km). Then a head-to-head struggle went on between Vonarburg and Drysdale which kept Drysdale at a 26 – 28 stroke rate for the body of the race.
“André would take the inside corner and catch me up,” said Drysdale who was more cautious about getting close to sand banks near the corners. “But about four kilometres to go I got the lead.”
This is Drysdale’s first time at the Armada Cup and he prepared himself by rowing the entire course, checking out the sand banks and landmarks. The win earned him 1500 Swiss Francs and a very sore body.
“The next day I was pretty sore. I think it felt worse than a two kilometre race,” said Drysdale. “It’s just my second week back training.”
The depth of racing talent included this year’s Under 23 Champion, Karsten Brodowski of Germany who sat in third for much of the race before Luini pushed past. Estonia had a strong showing with Olympic bronze medallist Jueri Jaanson finishing fifth and wife Tatjana finishing 10th in the open women's category. Nineteen-year-old Kaspar Taimsoo, also of Estonia, overtook many of his senior rivals to finish 15th.
Former Olympic Champion, Thomas Lange of Germany, finished second in the masters category behind fellow German Olaf Klein.
The race started with 169 singles lined up in rows of 25 for the mass start. Organiser Simon Stuerm described the conditions as reasonably flat water with a strong head wind.
Selected Results:
Senior Men
1 Drysdale Mahe, New Zealand, 34:42.54
2 Vonarburg André, Switzerland, 34:52.82
3 Luini Elia, Italy, 34:57.96
4 Jaanson Jueri, Estonia, 35:33.48
5 Sancassani Franco, Italy, 36:21.99
6 Penkner Andreas, Germany, 36:44.67
7 Basalini Stefano, Italy, 37:11.70
8 Keblys Kaestutis, Lithuania, 37:15.25
9 Pislar Bine, Slovenia, 37:28.89
10 Lampart Mathias, Switzerland, 39:14.97
Senior Women
1 Levina Julia, Russia, 38:21.41
2 Karsten Ekaterina, Belarus, 38:51.61
3 Waleska Peggy, Germany, 39:43.47
4 van Eupen Marit, Netherlands, 40:18.68
5 Pauls Mathilde, Great Britain, 40:35.34
6 Hofmann Sara, Switzerland, 41:03.52
7 Kniest Annika, Germany, 41:28.17
8 Waser Eliane, Switzerland, 43:13.70
9 Verbeek Linde, Netherlands, 43:33.89
10 Jaanson Tatjana, Estonia, 43:39.18
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