Rowers Return for a Second Shot ? BearingPoint Rowing World Cup, Munich

A close finish in the lightweight men’s doubles race between Spain and Japan
©

Repechages were the order of the afternoon as crews got a second chance to advance. A full afternoon of races was dominated by lightweight rowing with crews dealing with cross-tailwind conditions and flatter water.

Lightweight Women’s Single

This was the second race for these athletes who not only had hard racing in tricky and often wet conditions this morning, but were also required to keep below 59 kilos at their morning weigh-in.

The top three crews in the single moved on to the semi-final and it was Tunisia’s number two boat that lead the way. This is Hajer Hammami’s first international outing and a win in the single will be a definite boost to her confidence. New scullers to the international scene, Spain and Hong Kong, will join Hammami in the semi-final.

Lightweight Men’s Single

Japanese sculler, Kazuya Yamamoto rowed a controlled race to qualify for the semi-final. Yamamoto took the lead at the start and held it throughout the race finishing with a comfortable four-second lead at the finish. Portugal and Sweden also move to the semis.

Men’s Single

The top three boats in the single qualified for the semi-final and all three of them did it by using an aggressive start. Sweden’s Mikael Nilsson took an early lead but Mario Vekic of Croatia in second place was not going to settle for the number two spot.  Vekic continued to challenge and took a small lead going through the 1000 metre mark. But Nilsson nosed back into the front position and crossed the finish line a mere beep ahead of Vekic. Finland’s Jaakko Hasu completed the semi-final line-up. Hasu remained comfortably ahead of his nearest rival throughout the race.

Men’s Double

The order of the repechage was decided in the first 500 metres of the race. Austria led the way with scullers Raphael Hartl and Christof Uhl setting the pace. They will move onto the semi-final along with Norway and Sweden’s number two crew.

Lightweight Women’s Double

The charge of the lightweight women continued and with four repechages only the top two in each would move on to the semi-final. The fastest qualifying time was China’s number one crew of Meiyun Tan and Quan Li who used the tail wind conditions to their advantage. Their fast start to put the nose of their boat ahead where it remained.

The United States number one crew led the way in the second repechage moving onto the semi with the next fastest time. They will be joined by their fellow countrywomen in the number two crew who finished second in the third repechage behind Hungary.

Also qualifying by taking out the fourth and final repechage was Spain. Single sculler Teresa Mas De Xaxars has teamed up with Eva Mirones Sola to aim for Olympic qualification. Norway, Greece and the Czech Republic finish off the semi-final qualifying line-up in a show of diversity of rowing nations.

Lightweight Men’s Double Scull

Three repechages meant the top three crews would qualify for the semi-final and close times signals exciting racing tomorrow as crews continue to aim for advancement. Spain and the Czech Republic won their respective races in almost identical times and with very similar race tactics. They will move on to the semi in the comfort of a repechage win.

Although Hungary won silver in Milan they had to race the repechage today after coming second in a challenging heat behind the United States. The duo will now advance after their repechage win ahead of Switzerland and Argentina who also continue to the semi-final.

The four final qualifying boats are Hungary’s number two crew, Brazil, Japan and Hong Kong.

Lightweight Men’s Coxless Four

An exhausted Japanese crew crosses the line in 3rd place in the LM4- repechage
©

The day closed with three repechages of the lightweight fours indicating the large number of entries. In each of the repechages first, second and third got to advance to the semi. Fastest qualifying time by a large margin goes to Germany who led from the front. The Netherlands followed the same formula in the second race to qualify. Denmark added their number two and three crews to the semi-final line-up while Germany’s number two crew will also advanced.

The United States finished second in Milan and today they moved to the semi via a repechage. Finishing off the qualifying line-up is Switzerland and Japan.