Reps, semis and Friday finals at Day 2 of the BearingPoint Rowing World Cup (World Cup Events)

Another morning of racing took place, with repechages, semi-finals and Friday Finals . The weather forecast is dry and sunny with an early mist/low cloud soon clearing. Highs up to 26°C and gentle winds. Scheduled for this afternoon are Finals C, D and E.

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x)

Semifinal A/B 1
In the first of the Olympic boat classes it was the Czech sculler Mirka Knapkova and French sculler Sophie Balmary who dueled for the win. Knapkova led narrowly but Balmary put in a strong middle 1000m to put the pressure on and step through to the lead with 500m to go. However the Czech sculler remained defiant and sculled through to win by three seconds.  Five seconds back was the representative from Great Britain, 2004 Athens Olympic Silver Medalist Debbie Flood. All three go through to the A final.

Semifinal A/B 2
An imposing performance from Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus who lead throughout and looks like a favorite for honors in the A Final. Yulya Levina of Russian sculled well to take second and it was a relatively simple matter for German sculler Kathrin Boron, champion in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games in the quad in third and all three well positioned for strong showings in the A Final.

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x)

Semifinal A/B/C 1
The much vaunted Athens 2004 Olympic Champion Olaf Tufte of Norway will be dismayed to find himself in Final B, but in a race where only the top two crews qualify for Final A he was left in third and without the golden ticket to the medals final by the aggressive sculling of Iztok Cop of Slovenia and Ivo Yanakiev of Bulgaria. Yanakiev won bronze in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games in the single and Cop won the silver in the double at the Athens Games so their pedigree is self-evident, regardless, Tufte will be disappointed by this failure.

Semifinal A/B/C 2
A steady start but a powerful second half of the race from German Marcel Hacker who was looking to rise from the ashes after last year’s Olympics failure. He won by three seconds from Nikola Stojic from Serbia and Montenegro who took second. Stojic led Hacker to half-way and a rematch in the final will be intriguing. Swiss sculler Andre Vonarburg took third but must look to the B Final now.

Semifinal A/B/C 3
The hopes of the home crowd were dashed as Matt Well of Great Britain just failed to row down the Cuban sculler Yoennis Hernandez in the fight for the second A Final spot with Wells missing out by 0.3 of a second.  Two seconds in front of them was the Czech sculler Ondrej Synek who led throughout. Fourth place was Ralph Kreibich of Austria a full 11 seconds back from Wells.

Kate Hornsey and Sonia Mills of Australia race in the women’s pair

Women’s Pairs (W2-)

Semifinal A/B 1
A resounding triumph for the third Australian pair as they dispatched two Olympic champions in the Romanian pair to win the first Semifinal by six seconds. The German pair took third clearly ahead of the fist Australian pair in fourth. It was a better performance from the Romanians in second, a busy weekend awaits them and the Australians as they are doubling up in the women’s eights as well.

Semifinal A/B 2
The Australian team look in great shape at this debut event of the 2005 International Racing calendar. Having won the previous heat resoundingly it was the turn of the second and fourth Australia pairs to dominate. It was the fourth Australian pair of Emily Martin and Sarah Heard who won followed by their country’s second entry Pauline Frasca and Robyn Selby Smith. The third spot in the A Final was taken by Belarus clear water ahead of the Dutch in fourth. 

Men’s Pairs (M2-)

Semifinal A/B 1
The favorites for this event, the Skelin brothers, took this first Semifinal easily three seconds clear of the Canadian second pair who displayed awesome base speed in the middle of the race. In third was the Egyptian combination whose dramatic finishing speed dispatched the battling Serbia and Montenegro pair in the last 500m and snatched them that important Final A position. As they raised their arms skyward in celebration the crowd paid them a justified tribute.

Semifinal A/B 2
It was a fine race between the Canadian and British pair. The Canadian pair featured 2004 Athens Olympic silver medallist Barney Williams led from the start by two seconds at half-way but an excellent third 500m by the British combination of the unrelated giants of Kieran and Josh West gave the crowd something to shout about as they narrowed the margin going into the final 500m. However the Canadians looked untroubled and moved from the mild interest with which they had been surveying the field behind them to unleash a passionate press for the line as the new British pair faltered in the last 250m. In third was another striking performance by the Chinese pair who closed on the leaders with what is becoming a customary attack in the last 500m by this rapidly improving rowing nation.

Mariles Smulders and Hurnet Dekkers of the Netherlands race in the women’s double

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x)

Repechage 1
Another impressive performance from the Australian team as their double including rising star Sally Kehoe took this first Repechage by storm winning by seven seconds over the double from Great Britain continuing 2004 Athens Olympic bronze medallist Elise Laverick. Both crews qualify for Final A while the remaining boats will race in Final B.

Repechage 2
Comfortable qualification for the Belarussian and Romanian doubles in the second Repechage of the women’s double sculls ahead of the German entry in third. The Romanians were briefly in third after 500m but by half-way had moved clearly in second and the positions remained stable from then on. 

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x)

Repechage 1
This Repechage contained the Polish lightweight Olympic champions from both Athens and Sydney racing as heavyweights but unable to contain the full measure of power from the Norwegian and Chinese doubles who took the qualification places for the A Final.  The Norwegians looked imposing as they held the field at bay with China racing with valour and vigour to take second. In the end the Polish faded to fourth and the Greeks rowed through to take thirds but neither was going to challenge the two crews at the head of the field. 

Repechage 2
The lead changed hand in the closing stages between the Swiss and Polish doubles as the Polish fell back from the lead they held with 500m to go but was still a relatively straightforward qualification for the A Final for both as the Estonians finished a further length back in third.

Men’s Four (M4-)

Repechage 1
In the first of the men’s four Repechages it was a relaxed but commanding performance for the Dutch four who won by a margin of five seconds from an Irish crew who looked a little scrappy as they raced through the line, however they were well clear of the Chinese men’s four in the last 500m and qualified for the A final. This leaves the Chinese and Swiss to race for pride in the B final.

Repechage 2
The French started fast but faltered in the final 100m fading from second to third to miss out on the A Final. It was the Danish and Polish fours who capitalized on the French’s misstep. The Danes rowed through after 600m but the Poles had to battle through the final 500m before they were able to snare that vital last slot in the A Final. 

The Chinese lightweight double with Aina Chen and Dongxiang Xu during their Semifinal

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x)

Semifinal A/B 1
An emphatic victory for the rapidly improving rowing nation of China, they started well and strode clear to win by five seconds from a Polish double who were always in second.  The slow-starting Romanian double, who were in fifth at half-way dug deep and took the third qualifying spot away from the Dutch and Swedish doubles who fell back in the second half of the race.

Semifinal A/B 2
The real story of this race was the photo finish between Great Britain and Finland for the final qualification spot in the A Final.  Disappointment awaited the British entry upon the jury decision as they missed out by 0.17 of a second.  In the first two positions the Germans enjoyed monopoly upon the race with Germany 1 containing 2004 Athens Olympic Games silver medallist Daniela Reimer beating Germany 2 by four seconds. 

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x)

Semifinal A/B 1
A tough race between the front two. Never more than a second separated the Hungarian and Canadian doubles throughout the race. Well clear of the remainder of the field so assured of qualification they battled throughout with the Hungarians prevailing by a mere 0.5 of a second. Great Britain’s first double qualified in third in front of a partisan crowd enjoying the warm sunshine.

Semifinal A/B 2
A real nail biter for the Romanians who came from fifth with 500m to go to snatch third by only 0.11 of a second over the Spanish who suffered the agony of missing out on A Final qualification. Up at the sharp end of the race were the French who won by one second over a talented Japanese double in second. 

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-)

Repechage 1
In this first Repechage of the lightweight men’s four it was simple for the second Dutch crew to qualify just ahead of the Polish crew. The Poles had to attack hard at half-way to gain the second spot but held on comfortably to beat Greece by three seconds.

Repechage 2
A race where the lightweight crew from Great Britain dominated the middle 100m but still lost to a Danish four who possessed good speed in the first and last 500m.  Both these crews were well ahead of both Russia and the Netherlands and qualified for tomorrow’s A Final.

China’s men’s quad: Guorui Deng, Yili Zhu, Jian Cao and Yinan Zhou

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x)

Friday Final 1
A race for lanes for tomorrow’s final where the British quad sculled through a low-rating Russian crew to take fist place ahead of Russia 1 with the Ukrainian entry in third and the second Russian quad back in fourth. Both of the first two crews looked long and comfortable as they romped home with the final two crews well behind, Great Britain over Russia 1 by four seconds.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x)

Repechage 1
A brutal result for the Australian quad who just missed out on Final A qualification by 0.27 of a second despite moving from fourth to third with the fastest last 500m of the filed. Up front, the Belarusian quad won relatively simply by two seconds but with only two through to the A Final it was them and the Ukrainians who deprived the Australians of a place in Saturday’s big dance.

Repechage 2
A procession of a race with the final two crews well strung out. The Estonian and Great British crews established themselves in the qualifying positions and both proceeded to extend away from the second Polish and second Russian quads. The Estonians won by three seconds ahead of the British who were six seconds ahead of the Poles in 4th.  Both of the top two quads looked good as they advanced to the A Final.

The Polish men’s eight racing the Friday Final

Women’s Eight (W8+)

Friday Final 1
A race for lanes in tomorrow’s final had the Chinese stretching out to an easy victory over the Romanians, who along with a number of other entrants (most notably the Australians) in this event have a number of athletes doubling up. In third was the new inexperienced women’s entry from Great Britain who rowed well and in fourth was a dangerous-looking Australian entry consisting of a number of pairs that have raced well in that event here in Eton who rowed quite low across the line.

Men’s Eight (M8+)
 
Friday Final 1
Another race for lanes in tomorrow’s final, this one much more spirited and closer at the finish. The Germans  appeared extremely efficient and happy to cruise to victory with Italy in second position, one second behind. A new British crew raced well and fought hard to row the Dutch eight down to take third, two seconds behind the Italians. There is much more to come from them through this season. In fourth was the Dutch crew while the Romanians found themselves in fifth.

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