Semi-finals at Seville – World Rowing Championships

Someone upstairs knew the importance of semi-finals and turned on a brilliant day of flat water with barely a hint of wind. Today each event consisted of two semi-finals with the top three crews advancing to the A-final and all other boats coming back for the B-final.

Rowers lined up next to a replica of Spanish explorer, Christopher Columbus’s boat. Already crowds were gathered on the bridges that the 2000 metre course crosses underneath. Broadcast live on Eurosport from 11.30am CET, the increase in interest was evident.

Lightweights Women’s Single

Viktoriya Dimitrova of Bulgaria surprised everyone by winning her semi final on Thursday
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Victoria Dimitrova of Bulgaria only raced once this season at the first World Cup in Hazewinkel. Finishing tenth, her coach decided to concentrate on training and so it’s a new look Dimitrova who surprised everyone today in Seville. She not only came first but in the process helped deny 2002 World Cup medallists, Monica Stan of Romania and Kirsten McClelland-Brooks of Great Britain from a berth in the A-final. 23-year-old Dimitrova is not new to international rowing having raced in the double at the Sydney Olympics.

Maree Mas de Xaxars Rivero of Spain came through from a slow start to take second proving that sheer power does not always make a winner. Daniela Nachazelova of the Czech Republic picked up a spot in the final by finishing third.

Canada’s Gen Meredith took an aggressive lead in the second semi-final and held it to the 1000. However, she could not maintain the pace and Lisa Schlenker of the United States grasped the opportunity and pushed past to take the lead. Mirna Rajle of Croatia came out of the starting blocks last but demonstrated pacing skills by working up to second in a very mature, paced race retaining energy for a final sprint. Kirsten Van der Kolk of the Netherlands held her third position throughout the race to be the final qualifier.

Races also were contested for the C and D semi-final. Advancing to the C-final were Sweden, Austria, Paraguay, Italy and with the fastest qualifying time, Ibtissem Trimech of Tunisia.

Lightweight Men’s Single

World Champion Sam Lynch of Ireland looks comfortable this season. He continues his 2002 winning streak by taking the top spot in the first semi-final. Lynch completed his World Championship preparation by living at altitude in Spain’s Sierra Nevada and training at sea level. He led throughout the race and qualified for the A-final with the fastest time.

Sam Lynch winning semi final of the 2002 FISA World Rowing Championships
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Following Lynch into the final is Steve Tucker from the United States. The predominantly self-coached Tucker overtook Stefano Basalini of Italy in the second half of the race who was content to finish third and also qualify. 2001 silver medallist, Basalini, missed most of this season after falling and breaking five bones in his hand in June.

Germany’s Ingo Euler is establishing himself in this event after winning the second semi-final. Euler pushed from fourth position to overtake race leader, Anthony Edwards of Australia, who was content to button off and save some energy in the last 500 metres. Edwards finished second. Meanwhile, final qualifier, Hitoshi Hase of Japan had a battle going on with young Ross Hawkins of South Africa. Hawkins pressed through to third with a fast middle 1000, but was unable to maintain the pace and in the final 500 he could not react to a push from Hase. Hawkins will come back to race the B-final.

Women’s Single

Years of experience that stretches back more than a decade was evident in the first semi-final when Roumiana Neykova of Bulgaria and Kathrin Rutschow-Stomporowski of Germany led the field from the start and watched the battle for third rage behind them. Maria Gonzalez Borroto of Cuba grabbed the spot, holding it through the half way point. But it was Elisabetta Brugo of Italy who showed her willpower. Coming from a slow start, Brugo moved first through New Zealand and then the Netherlands to take third and qualify for the A-final.

The confidence of experience exhibited itself again in the second semi-final. Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus took a comfortable lead at the start but was content to watch Xiuyun Zhang of China drive past to take the lead. Two time Olympic Champion, Karsten, will row in two finals. She will also represent her country in the quad. Chang touched up her World Championship preparation with altitude training in Spain’s Sierra Nevada.

Final qualifier is last year’s silver medallist, Yulya Levina of Russia. She is not new to the international rowing scene having raced Karsten, Neykova and Rutschow-Stomporowski for a number of years. All other boats will go on to the B-final.

Men’s Single

Rivalry in the men’s single is intense. Everyone likes to bring down a winner and having dominated the 2002 season, Marcel Hacker of Germany is the target. He has won every race this season from the front and his competitors want to know what his limits are. Today Slovenia’s Iztok Cop tested took up the challenge. Hacker had a comfortable lead when Cop decided to attack through the middle 1000 of the race. In a battle of wits, Cop seized the front spot and held it going in to the final 500 metres. Hacker responed. But Cop, comfortably in second buttoned off and the two boats crossed the bubble line well ahead of the rest of the field. Ralph Kreibich of Austria also qualified for the A-final by pushing through Argentina to come third. This is a huge leap up for Kreibich who came fourteenth in 2001.

Olaf Tufte of Norway showed his World Champion style by dominating the second semi-final and qualifying with the fastest time. In a race that had the top three positions established by the first 500 metres, Vaclav Chalupa of the Czech Republic took second and last year’s silver medallist in the quad, Dirk Lippets of the Netherlands was comfortably in third.

Women’s Pair

Not known for their fast starts, South Africa’s Rika Geyser and Colleen Orsmond were nearly two seconds down after the first 500 metres. Finding the rhythm, the duo pushed through to second ahead of a fading Bulgaria and Nina Proskura and Natalya Ryzhkova of Ukraine. This is Proskura and Ryzhkova’s first international race together and they look to be improving with every race. Proskura made the B-final in 2001 and today, by holding on to third position helped bring her boat through to the A-final.

But at the front of the field Romanian’s, Georgeta Andrunache and Viorica Susanu look very much on track for a second World Championship. Leading at the start they increased their lead with ease over the 2000 metre course.

Yuliya Bichyk and Natallia Helakh of Belarus have been closing the gap on Romania all season and today in the second semi-final they clocked a faster qualifying time. Bichyk won silver last year and with new partner, Helakh, they secured a centre lane for the final. Meanwhile, behind them Canada’s Jacqui Cook and Karen Clark recovered from a slow start to grab second and hold it to the line. Cook and Clark were the only Canadian crew to win a medal in 2001. They took bronze in this event.

However, it was the race for the final spot in the A-final that brought the crowd to their feet. Emily Martin and Monique Heinke of Australia had a solid start but could only retain a slight margin over Portia Johnson and Megan Dirkmaat of the United States. In the final sprint the superior technique of the Australians won over the US combination who looked to be running on sheer willpower. Dirkmaat and Johnson will contest the B-final.

Tomkins and Ginn of Australia advance to the A Final in the M2-
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Men’s Pair

Using the same race plan that had them leading in the final of the second World Cup in Lucerne, the Skelin brothers of Croatia captured an early advantage. Commentator Paul Castle described it as throwing out a “psychological gauntlet” to the World Champions, James Cracknell and Matthew Pinsent of Great Britain. Unrattled, the British duo pushed through to the front by the 1000 metre mark. The duo got themselves comfortable and sat on the rest of the field. An exhausted Adam Michalek and Petr Imre of the Czech Republic showed that racing for 2000 metres may look easy from the sidelines, but it is sheer pain on the water. Imre and Michalek came ninth in 2001 and their delight in making this year’s A-final was evident.

A foot stretcher breakage in the Egyptian boat caused the second semi-final to be delayed. The crews lined up again an hour later and there was no doubt who was favoured to win.

James Tomkins and Drew Ginn of Australia were unable to compete at the Sydney Olympics after a back injury took Ginn out of action. The pair then came back together earlier this year but nearly missed team selection after lake weed saw them lose their qualifying race. But they made it to Seville with already a win at the second World Cup under their belt. Today they demonstrated finesse and style from a combination of decades of experience. Leading from the start over last year’s bronze medallists, Ramon di Clemente and Donovan Cech of South Africa, the Australians lowered their stroke rate in the closing metres of the race, still finishing first.

Cech and di Clemente crossed the line in second ahead of last year’s silver winners, Djordje Visacki and Nikola Stojic of Yugoslavia. Visacki and Stojic seem to be feeling the heat of the competition this season. They finished third at Munich and will go into the A-final with the slowest qualifying time.

Men’s Double

Peter Hardcastle and Craig Jones of Australia arrived in Europe in time to race at Munich. They shook up the European crews by winning bronze and stirred up the field again today. Hardcastle is back at the international level after racing in the quad at the Sydney Olympics. Teaming up with Jones looks to be working. They led the whole race and let the battle for the final qualifying spots to go on behind them. It was World Champions, Akos Haller and Tibor Petoe who took control of second. But the closing sprint of the race was a surprise. British duo, Matthew Wells and Ian Lawson, who have not made an A-final all season, put in the gutsiest performance of the day. With little visibility of the rest of the field from their outside lane, the pair snatched second place from Hungary.

Capping off an inconsistent season, last year’s silver medallists, France, could not match the pace and will race the B-final.

The new Italian combination of Agostino Abbagnale and Franco Berra, racing in their first international event together, have added more depth to this very competitive field. After Ukraine took an early lead, Abbagnale moved his boat to the lead and remained there for the rest of the race. Meanwhile, Milan Dolecek Jr. and Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic, who finished eleventh in the quad in 2001, worked their way through the field. They had to pass the very experienced German double of Andre Willms and Andreas Hajek to take second at the line. The Germans pick up the final qualifying spot. A solid start for Brazil was not enough to get them to the A-final. Coming fourth puts them into the B-final for a second year.

Men’s Four

German men's four winning the semi final on thursday in the 2002 FISA World Rowing Championships
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The finishing order of the first semi-final was decided in the first 500 metres of the race. In the top three spots were Germany, the Netherlands and Slovenia. Sebastian Thormann, Paul Dienstbach, Philipp Stuer and Bernd Heidicker of Germany are the same line up that took silver last year and they come into the World Championships as 2002 yellow jersey holders. A new Dutch crew finished ahead of last year’s bronze winners from Slovenia who finished in third position.

Italy raced the first two World Cups and finished second at both. Only Raffael Leonardo returns this year to the boat that came sixth in 2001. Today, in the second semi-final, they took an early lead by overrating the World Champions, Great Britain. The Italians retained top spot through the first half of the race. But a solid third 500 put the British into the lead where they remained for the rest of the race.

GBR M4- Semi Final at the 2002 FISA World Rowing Championships
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Last year’s fifth place finishers, France rowed a very solid race to come third and take the remaining spot in Saturday’s A-final.