Second Chance Day at the Under 23 Champs

By Melissa Bray

A rather damp start for second chance day at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The crews lining up today raced in the repechages which gave them another opportunity to move on to the next round ? either of semi-finals or finals.

The skies remained cloudy with a North West wind causing cross-tail conditions for the rowers. The water remained flat and temperatures in the low teens Celsius.

Crews aiming to advance to the final needed to finish first or second in these two repechages and in the first repechage three crews were very much in contention. Germany, Belarus and Canada all charged home with Canada holding a slight lead. But a 38 stroke rate sprint by Belarus and a crab by Canada put the Belarusian's into the lead. Canada qualify from second with Germany just missing out.

Australia got in a spot of international racing earlier this month at the Lucerne BearingPoint Rowing World Cup and today they did themselves proud by controlling the race from start to finish. This left the real race to go on between Great Britain and the Netherlands for the final qualifying position. Coming down to the final sprint Great Britain, with more precise catches, managed to squeeze ahead of the Dutch to qualify.

Lightweight Women's Single Scull (BLW1X)

Italy's Lara De Stefano led the first of two repechages with Sine Christiansen of Denmark in hot pursuit. With two boats to qualify for the semi-final both De Stefano and Christiansen had it all wrapped up. But they still chose to race each other with Christiansen pulling out a last 50 metre burst to take the lead. Turkey in third was too far away to challenge and will return for the lesser semi-final.

Laetitia Cugnot of France came back from a slow start to take the lead and do just enough to keep clear of the rest of the field. Also starting slow, Tina Jaklic of Slovenia had to work her way through the entire field before she found second and the last qualifying spot. France and Slovenia move on to the semi-final.

Lightweight Men's Single Sculls (BLM1X)

Three repechages lined up with the top two crews only advancing to the final and for the first two races the qualifiers did all of their work in the early stages of the race. In repechage one, Peru's Victor Aspillaga tussled with last year's bronze medal winner, Bine Pisler of Slovenia. No real challenge came from the rest of the field. Pislar decided not to sprint and Aspillaga crossed the line in first rating a comfortable 28 strokes per minute.

Storm Uru of New Zealand and Svein Ringstad of Norway did all of their work early in the race in the second repechage with Uru leading for the entire 2,000 metres and feeling confident enough to drop his rating to the low 20s as he came to the line. Uru and Ringstad move on to the semi.

The closest race came in repechage three when Greece's Nikolaos Moshonas and Christian Rabel of Austria paced each other behind race leader, Santiago Esparza of Mexico. As Rabal and Moshonas sprinted for the final qualifying spot Moshonas got his rating to 44 strokes per minute with Rabel looking out of the boat. Moshonas made it. Esparza and Moshonas move on to the semi.

Lightweight Men's Pair (BLM2-)

Ukraine had been sitting in third and out of qualification for the majority of the first of two repechages. But then the blue and yellow Ukrainians turned it on in the final sprint. With France's Louis Despres and Francois Marty in the lead Ukraine went after Jan Winkert and Elia Krell of Germany. A photo finish at the line had Germany just making it. France and Germany will return for the final.

Turkey and Austria thought they had the top two spots wrapped up. Denmark had other ideas. Although off the pace in the middle of the race Denmark, getting up to 44 strokes per minute, went for it in the last 400 metres, pulling closer and closer to Austria in second. At the line Austria had just held on. Turkey and Austria move on to the final.

Lightweight Men's Quadruple Sculls (BLM4X)

The top two boats would earn a spot in the final in each repechage and Denmark took control of the first repechage followed very closely by Poland with Switzerland back a bit in third. This order stayed the same through the body of the race and coming into the final sprint the Swiss remained just outside of the qualifying position. But as the finish came into view, Switzerland poured it on. Taking their rating to 43 strokes per minute the Swiss attacked. Poland tried to hold on, but in the last four strokes Switzerland found the lead and qualify along with Denmark.

Three boats raced in the second repechage and all three remained in striking distance of a qualifying spot. Great Britain had the leader's edge, Australia was just inches behind and the Netherlands tried to hold on. The Netherlands didn't give up but missed out of qualification by just one second. Great Britain and Australia move on to the final.

Women's Single Scull (BW1X)

One repechage required a top three finish for advancement to the semi-final and Kristine Gosa of Latvia stamped her name all over the top position. Gosa, 19, raced last year as a junior finishing in the A-final and she looks to be making a solid transition to under 23 racing. Behind her Finland's Ulla Varvio and Gabriele Albertaviciute of Lithuania tussled for second. The higher rating Finn held on to second and qualify for the semi-final along with Gosa and Albertaviciute.

Men's Single Scull (BM1X)

In the biggest event of the regatta, four repechages lined up with a top two finish necessary for advancement to the semi-final. In repechage one Matej Rodela of Slovenia and Norway's Espen Wingsternaes raced each other well ahead of the rest of the field. Wingsternaes had the edge for the majority of the race, but Rodela decided to pull out a sprint. Rodela raced earlier this season as a senior finishing at Munich in the C-final and today he used a 33 rating to overtake Wingsternaes and win the race. Both boats advance to the semi.

After winning as a junior two years ago Aleksandr Kornilov of Russia disappointed by not making the A-final at last year's under 23 regatta. Today he raced the second repechage leading from start to finish and doing just enough to keep the lead. Behind Kornilov, Evgenij Ignatov of Moldova, who has raced internationally since 2001, overtook Turkey to claim second and qualify, along with Kornilov, for the semi-final.

Lithuania's Mindaugas Griskonis and Oleg Vinogradov of Estonia were comfortably in the top two qualifying spots in repechage three. Both of these countries used to be united under the former Soviet sporting system, but this new generation showed that different influences have crept in. Griskonis chose a long, layback style of rowing while Vinogradov rowed very upright, looking a lot like fellow countryman, Jueri Jaanson. Both were well ahead of any challenges and move on to the semi-final.

The final repechage produced the fastest qualifying time when Davide Pignone of Italy decided to control the race. Pignone is in his fourth year as an under 23 representative and looked comfortable at the head of the field. This left Greece's Andreas Tilelis and Valentinos Sofokleous of Cyprus to fight it out for second. Sofokleous got the edge through the middle of the race and still had it in the last 100 metres. But Tilelis had more energy. Taking his rating to 37 the Greek treated this like a final. Sofokleous ran out of steam and all but stopped handing the qualifying spot to Tilelis.

Women's Pair (BW2-)

Three boats really wanted one of two qualifying positions in the first of two repechages. Russia held the early advantage, but only just over Germany's Ariane Sennewald and Franziska Kegebein with Australia holding on to the pace. Coming into the final sprint all three crews had their rating up into the high 30s with Germany still holding on to a thin lead. In a photo finish for second, Russia just got the spot over the Aussies.

The top three crews looked exhausted as they came into the final metres. France, Canada and Poland had been racing each other for the two qualifying positions for the entire seven minutes plus of the race. France and Canada must have had just enough energy with France's Joannie Laffez and Elodie Rubaud finding the lead in the last 40 metres of the race and Canada taking second.

Men's Pair (BM2-)

Women's Double Sculls (BW2X)

In one of the closest and most exciting races of the day, five boats fought it out for three semi-final spots. Throughout the race less than three seconds separated these crews with the lead found and then lost, four times. Russia's stroke seat Yulya Kalinovskaya raced in the double at Athens and began her international career five years ago. She looked to be the most experienced in the race but she couldn't shake off the rest of the field.

Coming into the final sprint the five boats formed a line across the Bosbaan course. Hats must go off to Liga Liepa and Ligita Kaviere of Latvia. Sitting in fifth position they sprinted into first in the space of 400 metres, Hungary qualify from second and an exhausted Russia held on to third.

Men's Double Sculls (BM2X)

In the first of two repechages a top two finish would get the crew to the semi-final and after an opening lead by Ukraine, Poland's Dawid Kubiak and Artur Sledzik took control with Latvia following closely behind. The two 19 year olds, Kubiak and Sledzik raced to silver as juniors last year and today they held the lead with Latvia fighting through Ukraine to take second.

The second repechage saw Estonia's Oleg Dmitrijev and Vladimir Latin take the lead at the start and work on holding off the rest of the field of Russia, Slovenia and Belarus fighting it out for second. First Russia got into the qualifying spot, before getting swallowed up by Belarus, then Slovenia. At the line Belarus held onto the final qualifying spot.

Men's Four (BM4-)

Spain decided repechage one was theirs and at the start they took a slight lead over Great Britain. The Brits remained within striking distance, keeping Spain honest and holding off the Dutch in third. As the line came into view Great Britain sprinted, their rating getting up to 40. This kept them in second while Spain qualify from first.

Croatia finished with silver at last year's Junior Worlds and the same crew has remained together for this year. They led the second repechage for half of the race before the United States found their legs and not only pushed ahead but also moved out to a clear water lead by the finish. Croatia held on to the second and final qualifying position under no real threat from Russia in third.

Lightweight Women's Double Sculls (BLW2X)

Alice McNamara and Jessica Huston of Australia made very easy work of the first of two repechages. They already had an open water lead with only 500 metres rowed and continued to move away, outclassing the field. With two qualifying spots for the final available Spain settled into second without any challenge. Australia and Spain move on to the final.

Mathilde Pauls and Maxi Gruetzmacher of Germany followed Australia's example and got out to a clear water lead by the 400 metre mark. This left Hungary to do a bit of hard rowing to find second and the two boats remained unchallenged. In the last 300 metres of the race Germany did little more than 23 strokes per minute, still staying ahead of Hungary.

Lightweight Men's Double Sculls (BLM2X)

One repechage saw the top three boats advancing to the semi-final and right from the start John Haver and Morgan Jarvis of Canada made their intentions clear. The duo won bronze last year in Poznan and today they were in control but not commanding. Turkey was only just a bit behind in second with Slovenia and Great Britain swapping between third and fourth position. In the end Slovenia won the final qualifying position with Canada and Turkey remaining in first and second respectively.

Lightweight Men's Four (BLM4-)

An umpire's warning to Switzerland for uniform violation didn't dissuade the crew who took off at a cracking pace at the start of the race. The Swiss still held the lead with half the race gone but then began to run out of steam allowing the Netherlands to do a piece and push in front. These two boats were well ahead of the rest of the field leaving Austria and Portugal to fight it out for the third qualifying spot.

Portugal had the advantage, but with less than 10 strokes to row Austria pushed past to be the last boat to make it into the semi-final.

Women's Quadruple Sculls (BW4X)

Two repechages with the top two crews advancing to the final had last year's winners, New Zealand leading the first repechage. New Zealand has retained half of the crew from last year and today they led from start to finish, the only real threat coming from Italy in second. Italy closed the gap, but still remained in second with both crews advancing to the final.

The second repechage turned into a procession as Germany got out in front, Belarus slipped into second and Australia was well back in third. Nothing changed throughout the race despite Belarus sprinting the finish at a 37 stroke rate. Germany and Belarus move on to the final.

Men's Quadruple Sculls (BM4X)

France established themselves in the lead of the quad repechage which required a top three finish. This left Denmark, Germany and the United States to fight it out for two remaining positions. The US soon broke away into second narrowing the fight down to Denmark and Germany. The Germans' superior sprint got the better of Denmark and France. United States and Germany will return for the semi-final.

Men's Eight (BM8+)

Six boats lined up. The top three would continue to the semi-final. Estonia looked like the crew to beat. But with half of the course completed, this closely fought race had less than two seconds separating the top five boats. Canada soon managed to squeeze past Estonia before the sprint came into view. This is where Ukraine let it rip. Following Canada's 36 strokes per minute pace Ukraine overtook Estonia and in the last 20 metres found the lead over Canada.

Ukraine, Canada and Estonia move on to the semi-final.

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