Record Times as Heats Continue at the World Under 23s

By Melissa Bray

Despite the challenging waters, strong tail winds helped two under 23 best times being broken along with one Bosbaan course best time. The men's four best time now belongs to Germany and the lightweight men's pair best time goes to Great Britain. The Italian women's lightweight double also set a best time, recording the fastest time for an under 23 boat on the Bosbaan.

Men's Double Sculls (BM2X)

A top two position was needed in each of the four heats and heat one opened with the fastest qualifying time when Great Britain's Colin Smith and Alex Gregory went head to head with Matteo Stefanini and Federico Gattinoni of Italy. Last year Smith finished second in the single at the under 23s and this year, teamed up with Gregory, they have been racing at the BearingPoint Rowing World Cups. But so has Gattinoni who won bronze at Lucerne. After leading at the start Gattinoni seemed content to qualify from second letting Great Britain move into the lead. Both Italy and the Brits will go to the semi-final.

BM2x Heat 2 – photo finish between Greece and Romania

Greece was in the lead of heat two but as the race progressed Romania moved closer and closer and closer so that by the finish line a photo finish was necessary. Greece had remained in front with Romania's Florin Apetroae and Daniel Frateanu qualifying just behind from second.

Falko Nolte and Eric Knittel will be names to watch out for in German rowing. Knittel already has two under 23 medals and earlier this year he came first as a lightweight in the indoor rowing competition. In the third heat Nolte and Knittel took off from the rest of the field with France having to be satisfied with second. These two crews will go directly to the semi-final.

The fourth heat was all about Martinas Dziaugys and Tomas Makarevicius of Lithuania trying to inch away from the rest of the field and hold off the Czech Republic from storming back after a slow start. At the finish these two countries qualify, unchallenged by the rest of the field.

Men's Four (BM4-)

Two heats with the top boat advancing directly to the final meant in heat one all crews got off the line quickly and tried to dominate. First New Zealand gave it a go, then Spain found first before Germany took over. With Falk Mueller sitting in stroke and his twin brother, Jan, in bow, the Germans had the best paced race and easily qualified. With that they set a new under 23 World Best time clocking 5.53.

After Russia settled down from a fast start in heat two, Serbia & Montenegro pushed into the lead and never looked back. A slow starting United States did try to dabble a bit at the lead but couldn't hold on to the SCG pace. Serbia & Montenegro move directly to the final.

Lightweight Women's Double Sculls (BLW2X)

Great Britain made it look easy as they crossed the line first in the first of two heats. As only one boat would qualify directly for the final, the rest of the field could do nothing more than get some good practice in for tomorrow's repechage. At the finish Helen Ralston and Laura Greenhalgh of Great Britain rated a comfortable looking 33 strokes per minute to move on to the final.

Italian women have slowly been coming into their own recently and in heat two Laura Milani and Erika Mai of Italy led the race from start to finish using long, controlled strokes and finishing at a 31 stroke rate. At the line Mai and Milani had set a new Bosbaan course best time for under 23s with their qualifying time of 7.03. They move on to the final.

Lightweight Men's Double Sculls (BLM2X)

Three heats required a top three finish for crews that wanted to go directly to the semi-final and in the first heat Kai Anspach and Christoph Schregel of Germany led the way. But there wasn't much in it as Portugal and Italy chose to drive the Germans for the whole 2,000 metres. Portugal pushed it to a photo finish practicing a 38 stroke rate pace as they crossed the line just a fraction of a second behind Germany. Italy also qualify from third.

Russia had the fastest opening pace in heat two but they couldn't maintain it when first Belgium and then the Netherlands put the pressure on. Francois Libois and Kristof Dekeyser of Belgium used a solid middle 1,000 to find the lead with the Netherlands trying to follow their example. Russia attempted to hold on with Slovenia threatening them from behind. Russia remain in third with Belgium and the Netherlands qualifying from first and second respectively.

Jan and Ondrej Vetesnik of the Czech Republic showed the advantage of being brothers when they led the final heat from start to finish. By the middle of the race the Vetesnik's had a clear water lead and Hong Kong China in second looked content just to stay ahead of Austria, the final qualifying boat.

Lightweight Men's Four (BLM4-)

The Czech Republic must specialise in brothers rowing together. Sitting in the middle of their boat in heat one, Stepan and Ondrej Straka helped bring their four up from fourth into the third qualifying position. Content in this spot, the Czechs let Italy and Australia fight it out at the head of the field. Italy and Australia remained overlapping for the entire race with Italy holding onto the edge and advancing to the semi-final from first. Australia qualify from second.

Heat two was all about Germany as stroke Lutz Ackermann took his crew to the lead and tried to keep them there. Greece, in second, seemed unable to chip away at the German lead but the Greeks were well in front of the United States in third. No one challenged these spots and no crew tried to change the order. Germany, Greece and the United States move on to the semi-final.

The Netherlands took off at a cracking pace in the third heat but ran out of steam and out of a qualifying spot as first Canada overtook them, then Spain and finally France. Canada, in the lead, didn't feel the need for an all out sprint using a 33 stroke rate to finish the race, while France and Spain took their rating up to 36 and 38 respectively to finish 0.05 of a second apart.

Women's Quadruple Sculls (BW4X)

Two heats saw an increase of entries from last year's straight final and an increase in talent with just the first boat proceeding directly to the final. Romania made no bones about their intentions by taking the lead in heat one. Romania has featured very rarely in this event in recent years but today they looked dominating leading by clear water for the whole race. Italy gave a good stab at getting to the front, but they had started off too slow to make the necessary gains. Just Romania go directly to the final.

In heat two the Czech Republic worked their way past last year's winners New Zealand to settle closely behind Belarus. Going into the final sprint the Belarussian's tried to hold their pace but they had nothing on the Czechs whose awesome sprint not only got them into the lead, but gave them a clear water win over Belarus. Just the Czech Republic qualify directly for the final.

Men's Quadruple Sculls (BM4X)

Three heats with the top three boats advancing had heat one turn into a procession when Poland took the lead and tried to inch away from the Czech Republic in second. Coming into the final sprint it was Latvia that decided qualifying from third position wasn't good enough. Latvia moved ahead of the Czechs but had left their sprint too late to challenge Poland. The Czech Republic also had to fight off a late charge by Denmark, who, despite rating 39, ran out of race and will have to return for the repechage.

Ukraine looked to be the ones to beat in heat two as they led over Romania with Belarus in hot pursuit. A third 500 piece by Romania put them into the lead but final positions were going to come down to the ending sprint. With Romania holding a slim lead, Belarus increased their rating and in the last 20 metres took the lead. Romania finished second and Ukraine slipped back to third but still qualify for the semi-final.

For half the race Lithuania, Australia and Russia overlapped. Then Russia must have decided third was good enough while Australia decided first was the only way to go. The Australians then overtook Lithuania as the two boats charged for the line. Lithuania took their rating to 36 while Australia increased to 41, then 42, then 43. In a photo finish Lithuania got first. Australia and Russia also qualify.

Men's Eight (BM8+)

Auatralian BM8+

In a big leap from the number of entries last year, 15 boats lined up in this event with a top three finish needed in each of the three heats if crews wanted to go directly to the semi-final. In heat one the Czech Republic wanted to stake some dominance and led from the start over Australia and Poland. These three crews remained in the top three spots with Australia swapping places with the Poles to finish in third. The Czech's, the Poles and the Aussies qualify for the semi.

After getting ahead of a fast starting France, Germany looked very impressive heading for the line in first position. France held on to second with the real battle going on between Great Britain and Ukraine, both fighting it out for the last qualifying spot. In a photo finish a tidier-looking Great Britain held on to third.

Romania and Belarus paced each other through the first half of heat three before Romania's better endurance enabled them to push away. Belarus slipped back into third as Italy sprinted through to second in the last 500 metres. Romania, Italy and Belarus move on to the semi-final.

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