Race by Race Report - Group B Reps

Tight eights battles provided the exciting finale to racing in Group B repechages at the FISA World Rowing Championships in Lucerne, Switzerland, today (Wednesday).

The Rostee turned on another superb day with clear skies, sunshine and still water.

Full, detailed results are available in theRace Tracker.

Lightweight men's coxless pair: (first two to final) The Netherland's Simon Kolkman and Robert Van der Vooren led all the way to take repechage one. They were challenged in the middle of the race by eventual runners-up Velsko Urosevic and Nenad Babvic of Yugolslavia but finished with more than a length to spare. In repechage two, early leaders Massimo Gugliemi and Giuseppe del Gaudio of Italy had to concede defeat to Cristian Yantani and Miguel Cerda of Chile in the final two hundred metres. Both still qualified but Germany missed out by three-quarters of a length.

Lightweight women's quadruple sculls: (first two to final) USA rowed through early leaders Germany in the second 500 metres and retained their lead to take repechage one. Greece had challenged them for the lead but had to settle for second, just over a length behind. Italy led all the way through repechage two but were chased closely throughout by the Netherlands. The Dutch finished comfortably in second.

Lightweight men's quadruple sculls: (first three to semifinal) The top three crews in the sole repechage swapped the lead several times. Slow starters USA were the eventual winners after rowing their way through Lithuania and Chile, who had been battling for the lead in the first 1500 metres. Lithuania was second and Chile third.

Men's coxed four: (first two to final) Romania sat in second for the first 1000 metres before making a move in the third 500 to move through Croatia and win. Croatia qualified second. Italy started fast and was able to stay in front to win despite a furious race between Britain and Germany edging the two crews closer all the time. The British finished half a length behind Italy in second, Germany missing out by 0.18 seconds.

Lightweight women's double sculls: (first three to final) Home support helped Switzerland's Lea Fluri and Jane Bogorad secure their win in a very tight repechage. The women were locked in a three-way battle with Juliane Elander Rasmussen and Kirstin Kirk Jepsen of Denmark and Laura Claijo and Berta Duran of Spain. The Swiss crossed the line just over one second before Denmark, with Spain a further 0.63 seconds back in third.

Lightweight men's double sculls: (first two to semifinal) Spain's Juan Zunzunegui and Ruben Alvarez led all the way to take repechage one. They were challenged early on by second qualifiers Switzerland but finished a length ahead. A fast final sprint gave Dan Stewart and Karl Parker of Australia the lead over Wouter Vander Fraenen and Justin Gevaert of Belgium in repechage two. Both crews qualified. In the third repechage, world lightweight quad champion Daisaku Takeda and Kaszushiga Ura of Japan were comfortable first qualifiers. Tim Male and Tom Middleton of Great Britain followed in second, a length and a half ahead of their nearest rivals. Denmark's Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist and Russia's Denis Moisseev and Vladimir Sokolov separated themselves from the rest of the field early in repechage four. Demark qualified first, three-quarters of a length over Russia.

Lightweight men's coxless four: (first three to semifinala) Canada got ahead early in repechage one and managed to work itself into a comfortable position at the head of the field. Behind them, Germany won a battle with Switzerland for second, the Swiss still qualifying. In repechage four, Spain and Australia were safely in the qualifying positions but the competitive crews were not prepared to leave it there. They were neck and neck in the final 100 metres, Spain edging ahead to win by half a canvas. Italy had clear water in their repechage three win but USA held off a very strong Polish challenge to take second. All three crews qualify.

Women's quadruple sculls: (first two to final) USA shot out into the lead early on and qualified first with open water. Australia was second, also with open water over third placed Belarus. In repechage two, Great Britain rowed through Denmark and Ukraine to win. Early leaders Ukraine were second, with Denmark missing out on the A final spot.

Men's quadruple sculls (first three to semifinal): Four boats lined up for three places in a blanket finish to repechage one. Olympic finalists Ukraine crossed the line first, with Australia second 1.4 seconds behind and Russia a further 0.13 seconds back in third. Denmark finished in the unlucky fourth position. In repechage two, USA held off a course-long challenge by early leaders Estonia to win. Estonia was second, with Sweden just edging out neighbours Norway to win. Former world champions and Olympic bronze medallists Germany were clearly the strongest crew in repechage three, winning with clear water. The Czech Republic was second and Belarus third.

Women's eight: (first four to final) Romania are back in the position they know best – first. There had been a five boat line up until the 1500 metre-mark but Romania had their nose in front by the halfway mark. They stayed where they were as Germany, USA and Belarus lined up in the race to the finish. Germany took second, half a boat length behind, with USA third and Belarus fourth.

Men's eight: (first two to final) Olympic champions Great Britain took repechage one over a first class field. An early battle developed between Britain, Russia and Canada, with the Netherlands and Egypt not far off the pace. Canada was able to put in a strong push in the third 500 to shut down Russia and finish half a length behind Great Britain. Croatia took repechage two after holding off a challenge from USA. Olympic silver medallists Australia (with a completely different crew to 2000) missed out on A final qualification, leaving a final sprint too late.

Racing continues tomorrow with Group A semifinals.