Karsten Leads Reps Results

Olympic single sculls champion Ekaterina Karsten secured her second qualification spot as she and partner Volha Berazniova took their repechage at the FISA World Rowing Championships in Lucerne, Switzerland.

It was do or die for the rowers in Group A as they took the last chance they had to continue on their route to the finals.

Karsten and Berazniov took the lead early on and held off a challenge in the third 500 from Olympic bronze medallists Birute Sakickiene and Kristina Poplavskaya of Lithuania who finished second.

Karsten's fellow Sydney finalist Yulia Alexandrova and partner Larisa Merk of Russia won the second repechage, with Swiss duo Bernadette Wicki and Caroline Luthi keeping the crowd happy by qualifying second.

In the lightweight men's single sculls, world champion Michel Vabrousek is back in the running for the world crown after taking his repechage. He saw off his opposition early, looking in strong form. Steve Tucker of USA and Frederic Dufour of France took the other two repechages.

Solid 2001 performer Mirjam Ter Beek of the Netherlands took the first lightweight women's single sculls repechage, with Croatia's Mirna Rajle using a fast sprint to take the second rep.

A tight women's coxless four's race took its toll on German stroke Nicole Zimmerman.

She needed medical attention after her crew was a part of a three-way sprint for the two qualifying spots.

The German crew missed out to winners Belarus and China by just over half a second and an exhausted Zimmerman was taken from the boat by the first-aid team. She recovered well and was able to walk away from the medical team unassisted.

The other women's coxless four race confirmed a good day for the Ter Beek family. Mirjam's sister Carin was part of the winning Dutch crew.

In the men's coxless four, USA rowed a canny race to take the first repechage. They edged in front early on, leaving Egypt and France to battle for the second spot. That was France's by just half a length.

It was a similar story in the second repechage as Slovenia took the lead to watch Italy and New Zealand battle for second. The New Zealanders did not have enough and dropped off the qualifying pace in the final 500 metres.

One of the most exciting boat classes in action today was the lightweight men's eight, with close racing in qualification rounds signalling a nailbiting final on Saturday.

Canada, Australia and Great Britain lined up in the final sprint but Canada left its fast final-500 too late and missed qualification. World silver medallists Great Britain were first, with Australia 0.44 seconds behind.

In the second repechage, it was Italy and Denmark's turn to keep the race going right to the line, with Italy winning by 0.69 seconds.

There were more close finishes in the men's double sculls with just two seconds separating four boats in repechage two.

As they lined up in the final few metres, world champion Luka Spik and partner Davor Mizerit of Slovenia edged ahead to win by 0.42 seconds over Peter Gardner and Ian Lawson of Great Britain. Brazil's Anderson Nocetti and Marcellus Silva were a further 0.94 seconds back in third, with Belgium missing out on the semis by 0.68.

Germany's Stephan Volkert and Stefan Roehnert took the first repechage by half a length over Spain, while Cuba's Yosbel Martinez and Yoennis Hernandez had a length to spare when they took the final race.

Results were a little more clear cut in the men's coxless pairs with each winner taking the race by at least around a length. Adam Michalek and Petr Imre of the Czech Republic took the first, Giedrius Zadeika and Einius Petkus of Lithania the second, Rossario Gioia and Dario Lari of Italy the third and Germany's Jan Herzog and Ike Landvoight the fourth.

In the men's coxed pair, USA rowed through Greece just after the 500 metre mark to take the race by two lengths. Romania led all the way to take repechage two over Ukraine. All four boats qualified for the final.

There was only one repechage in the women's coxless pair. That was taken by Suzanne Walther and Michelle Whitcomb Borkhuis of USA, with Virginie Chauvel and Celia Foulon on France second by half a second.

And the women's single scullers only had one chance to make the semifinal as well. Their sole repechage was taken by Erika Spinello of Italy, with Maria Brandin qualifying second and Nuria Dominguez of Spain also making the cut.

More details on the races, including all qualifiers are in the Race by Race Report, with an overview of results in the Daily Summaries.

Racing continues tomorrow with Group B repechages.