The Best Under 23s Start Racing

The wind started to blow two days ago, so that by today crews had got a feel for the conditions on the Bosbaan rowing course for the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The first round of racing was all about brisk tail wind conditions with gusty patches and temperatures dropping as the day progressed.

The draw for today's heat was decided randomly so some heats were a lot quicker than others. But times in general were fast as crews took advantage of the tail wind.

Women's Four (BW4-)

A North American battle opened the 2005 under 23 racing with Canada and the United States going head to head at the front of the field. In this heat one of two heats only the top boat would progress directly to the final and soon Canada and the United States had moved away from the Netherlands in third.

Canada had the edge for the first half of the race but the US was systematically eating away at Canada's margin and with 400 metres to go the US found the front. Canada did not fight back and the United States qualify directly for the final.

After overtaking the fast starting Australians, France found the lead in heat two. Stroked by Coralie Dufour, the French continued to move away from Australia and the rest of the field. The other boats must have decided to save their energy for the repechage tomorrow leaving France to finish with a huge open water lead.

Lightweight Women's Single Scull (BLW1X)

Four heats with the top two scullers from each heat going directly to the semi-final meant that the rowers who wanted a rest day on Friday raced the hardest.

Great Britain's Hester Goodsell made her intentions very clear right from the start of the race in heat one. Using her experience from racing at the BearingPoint Rowing World Cup in Eton earlier this season, Goodsell already had an open water lead with only 500 metres rowed. Behind her Hong Kong China's Ka Man Lee was carrying on a very close battle with Lithuania's Edita Minkeviciute. Lee's tenacity paid off and at the line Goodsell still had first with Lee also qualifying from second.

With Germany's Stephanie Wagner situating herself comfortably at the front of the field, the four other competitors could only aim for second. After a strong first 1,000 metres Italy submitted the lead to Eeke Thomee of the Netherlands. Thomee has had plenty of international racing this season with time in the lightweight double and quad at the World Cup races. Today she moves on to the semi-final with Wagner.

Heat three recorded the fastest qualifying time when Greece's Alexandra Tsiavou took over the lead going through the middle of the race and didn't look back. Behind Tsiavou, Switzerland's Fabiane Albrecht is racing at her second under 23 regatta and today she moved on to the semi-final after shaking off Spain.

Gwen McLennan of Canada had the leading edge for the first half of the final heat. But Moldova's Tonia Iagovitina must have been working on the second half of her race and coming into the final 500 metres Iagovitina had found the front. Iagovitina raced in Lucerne earlier this month at the BearingPoint Rowing World Cup and the extra experience has paid off as she moves on to the semi-final with McLennan joining her from second.

Lightweight Men's Single Scull (BLM1X)

Twenty-five entries started in this event. The top two in each of the six heats would advance directly to the semi-final on Saturday and in heat one Hong Kong China's up-and-coming rowing star, Hiu Fung Law took on Mikhail Izotov of Russia. Law has been plugging away at the Rowing World Cups this year and today he plugged away at Izotov to find the lead in the closing sprint of the race. Russia also advances to the semi.

Zac Purchase, GBR wins the heat of the BLM1x 2005 U23 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam

It was no surprise to see Great Britain's Zac Purchase shaking off the competition in heat two. Purchase took the 2005 season by storm, already winning a BearingPoint Rowing World Cup medal. But Germany's Jonathan Koch and New Zealand were giving the Brit a run for his money. It took until the last 500 metres for Purchase to pull clear and he moves to the semi with the fastest qualifying time. Koch got the edge over New Zealand to finish second and qualify. Surprisingly at the back of the field Bine Pislar of Slovenia, last year's bronze medalist, was well off the pace.

Heat three featured a three boat close tussle between Denmark's Lasse Dittmann, Santiago Esparza of Mexico and Valeriy Chykyrinda of Ukraine. It began with Dittmann holding a slight edge before Chykyrinda took control with Esparza slipping back. At the line Ukraine and Denmark move on to the semi-final.

Marcello Miani of Italy is a name well known at the international level. He finished first at last year's under 23 regatta and is already a senior World Champion from 2004.
But Ireland's Richard Coakley held his own. Coakley comes to Amsterdam after finishing second in the men's lightweight eight at Lucerne. These two scullers led the field with Miani crossing the line first. Both qualify for the semi.

Heat five was little more than a procession with Turkey's Mete Yeltepe way out in front and Milos Nikolic of Serbia & Montenegro overtaking Paraguay to finish second, nearly 10 seconds behind Yeltepe.

Lukas Babac of Slovakia looked good at the start and got better as the race progressed so that he never had to feel threatened by the rest of the field. This left Nikola Tomic of Croatia to overtake Hungary and win the second qualifying spot.

Lightweight Men's Pair (BLM2-)

BLM2- Heat 2 at the U23 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, 2005

Paul Kelly and James Clark of Great Britain knew that a first place finish was necessary to advance directly to the final. With that knowledge they took an early lead and tried to hold on recording even splits down the Bosbaan tail wind course. The only real challenge to their position came from France who pushed through to second by rating 37 strokes per minute, but did not get close enough to the Brits (rating 34) at the finish. France will return tomorrow for the repechages.

In the second of two heats Giuseppe D'Emilio and Giorgio Tuccinardi of Italy fought off a fast starting Turkey to get themselves into the qualifying position and remain there for the rest of the race. Turkey ran out of steam and will return to race in the repechage.

Lightweight Men's Quadruple Sculls (BLM4X)

Italy did all of their hard work in the first half of the race in heat one so that by the 1,000 metre mark they had built up a gaping open water lead over Denmark in second. Coming into the home stretch Italy, stroked by Paolo Grugni, felt comfortable to drop their stroke rate to 27 strokes per minute. Although only first place would move on to the final Denmark and the Netherlands still sprinted rating 38 and 39 respectively in the closing metres of the race.

Germany and Great Britain took off at the head of the field and with half the race gone they had left the other boats well back in their wake. Great Britain then ran out of steam and despite throwing out a bit of a sprint at the finish, Germany crossed the line easily in first to advance to the final.

Women's Single Scull (BW1X)

Many an under 23 singles winner has moved successfully to win at the senior level and in the three heats some solid finishing times recognised the potential talent. In heat one German international newcomer Sybille Exner took off at a solid pace getting an early lead to keep at the front. With the top three finishers qualifying for the semi-final fighting for second and third was Volha Ustsinenka of Belarus and Lidia Veroci of Hungary. In the final sprint Veroci managed to come through and push into second with Ustsinenka qualifying from third.

Known best internationally as a lightweight, Julia Michalska of Poland today raced in heat two of the open women's class and not only won it but finished with the fastest qualifying time. Michalska raced in the lightweight double at last year's Olympics and this year she has competed in the BearingPoint Rowing World Cup races, also in the double. Behind Michalska, Claudia Springer of Austria slipped into second with Regina Naunheim of Switzerland placing herself in third. In the final sprint Naunheim was put under immense pressure by Latvia, but managed to hold on to take the final qualifying spot.

It was all about Iva Obradovic of Serbia & Montenegro and New Zealand's Emma Twigg in the third heat. The two matched each other down the course with Argentina's Gabriela Best well back in third. Twigg had the early advantage but going into the second half of the race a piece by Obradovic put her nose in front with Twigg, under no threat from third, choosing to button off in the final 500 metres, rating 27 strokes per minute.

Men's Single Scull (BM1X)

Another big field, 22 boats, lined up in four heats with the first boat only going directly to the semi-final. In heat one Greece's Andreas Tilelis took off at such a pace that by the second half of the race he'd run out of steam. Meanwhile Martin Lossner of Germany was getting faster as the race went on and by the 1,250 metre mark he had found the lead. Lossner then did just enough to finish first and qualify.

Heat two had Moldova take off at a cracking pace over Lithuania and, with half of the race rowed, the two scullers had a handy lead over the rest of the field. But after enduring the false start, Bulgaria's Bogdan Kirchev suddenly came alive. From fifth position Kirchev had pushed past Norway, then Cypress and was gaining on Lithuania. With 500 metres left to row, Kirchev continued to sprint, his rating going to 38 and remaining there. Lithuania couldn't counter this and Kirchev moves on to the semi-final.

Bogdan Kirchev of Bulgaria in the BM1x, Heat 2 – U23 Amsterdam 2005

Russian junior champion Aleksandr Kornilov had found a clear water lead with only 500 metres rowed and he continued to dominate, pulling out to almost a six second lead over Kristaps Bokums of Latvia. Bokums won this event last year, but with half the race gone the Latvian had a lot of ground to make up. And making it up was exactly what he did. A dying Kornilov had nothing left to give and the 2.05m Bokums pushed past to take the qualifying spot with enough room available to drop his rating down in the final 150 metres.

Dutch medal hopeful Sjoerd Hamburger became his country's top single sculler when he beat Olympian Dirk Lippets at the Lucerne Rowing World Cup final. Today he raced as an under 23 and after overtaking a fast starting Ugur Kilic from Turkey, Hamburger found the lead and proceeded to move easily away from the rest of the field to qualify, rating a low 25 strokes per minute as he crossed the line.

Women's Pair (BW2-)

The top crew only in these two heats would move on to the final and in heat one Great Britain's Jessica Eddie and Anna Bebington had to catch up and overtake Russia to reserve that spot. Their time of 7.21 was almost exactly the same as winners of heat two, Romania. Romania have a long history of dominating this event at the senior level and today Alina Poncisei and Ana Maria Apachitei held on to that tradition. Leading from the start Poncisei and Apachitei inched themselves away from Canada who remained in second and will have to return for the repechage.

Men's Pair (BM2-)

In heat one of three heats a top three finish was necessary for direct advancement to the semi-final and Spain was taking no chances. Noe Guzman and Pedro Rodriguez took the lead then continued to open up a gap over the Netherlands in second and Argentina in third. The order didn't change although Argentina, struggling with the rough water at the finish, had to hold off Lithuania who was challenging them for the third place spot. Spain, the Netherlands and Argentina move on to the semi-final.

Poland's Lukasz Kardas and Dawid Paczes led from start to finish in heat two but not without a constant challenge coming from Switzerland with Turkey back a bit in third. Coming into the final sprint Poland, rating 31 strokes per minute, remained in the lead with Switzerland and Turkey choosing not to put too much into the sprint.

In the tightest of the three heats, Canada, Germany, Serbia & Montenegro and Greece fought it out for the full 2,000 metres for the three available spots in heat three. First Canada had the lead before Greece did a piece at the 900 metre mark to move into the lead with Germany then overtaking Serbia & Montenegro and Canada to find second. All boats sprinted the final 500 metres to make a qualifying spot with Canada, Serbia & Montenegro and Germany all getting their rating up into the high 30s. Canada turned out to be the unlucky one and will have to return for the repechage.

Women's Double Scull (BW2X)

Coming from two fourth place finishes at the Munich and Lucerne BearingPoint Rowing World Cups has set Laura Schiavone and Elisabetta Sancassani of Italy in a strong position for this regatta. Today they led the first of three heats keeping a handy gap between them and Lithuania in second. Back just a fraction, the Netherlands held on to the third and final qualifying spot unchallenged by Russia who was way back in fourth.

Brett Sickler and Deborah Dryer of the United States recorded the fastest qualifying time in heat two. The two former junior team members had to overtake Australia to find the lead and then hold off a sprinting Jeannine Hennicke and Susanne Herbrand of Germany, to keep that position. The United States, Germany and Australia qualify for the semi-final.

Yuliya Bichyk of Belarus is only 22 years old, but is already a veteran of two Olympic Games and has a bronze medal from Athens. Today she teamed up with Hanna Nakhayeva in heat three. But it was Camelia Lupascu and Florina Atomulesei of Romania who showed no respect for the experience of Bichyk. The Romanians took an early lead over Belarus and continued to expand the lead with New Zealand in third. Nothing changed as the race turned into a procession, Romania, Belarus and New Zealand taking the last qualifying spots for the semi-final.