Under 23s Race the B-Finals

By Melissa Bray

Improving weather meant that finals day at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Amsterdam was near to perfect. An overcast day kept temperatures around 20° Celsius, while head wind conditions made for slower than usual times.

B-finals opened the day and racing was intense as rowers put 250-plus powerful strokes into the water to complete their race.

The moving grandstand follows the women's four

In the women's four B-final Germany and the Netherlands outclassed the rest of the field right from the start with a tidier looking German crew staying just out of reach of the less efficient Dutch rowers.

Sine Christiansen of Denmark went one better than last year when she raced to first in the B-final of the lightweight women's single. Christiansen kept her rating at a fast 34 strokes per minute to hold off a piece by Gwen McLennan of Canada at the 1,100 metre mark. Christiansen remained in the lead and improves her last year position by one. The toll of racing must have hurt Lara De Stefano of Italy who could only manage fourth, but still 10th in the world.

In the semi-final of the lightweight men's single Jonathan Koch of Germany just missed out on making the A-final in a photo finish. Today he overtook a fast start by Mexico to take the lead and hold off Valeriy Chykyrinda of Ukraine who remained just out of reach of Koch. Peru finished solidly in third. Koch completes his first international regatta as B-final winner.

Once Brad Smith and Andrew Craig of South Africa found the lead in the lightweight men's pair B-final they relaxed, settled into their rhythm and kept ahead of Denmark who appeared to be working a lot harder in second. Ukraine slotted into third and the order remained the same at the line. Racing at the back of the field Vietnam put in a solid performance as part of the first ever team from their country to race internationally in rowing.

In the three boat B-final of the lightweight men's quad Poland and the Netherlands were not submitting even an inch to each other. Overlapping for the entire race, Poland held on to a slight edge only to be overtaken at the very end by the Dutch. Less than half a second separated these two crews at the line.

Regina Naunheim of Switzerland and Volha Ustsinenka of Belarus took off aggressively at the start of the women's single B-final. Naunheim raced last year in the double and the switch seems to be working well as she moved past Ustsinenka to take the lead and push away to win securing a seventh place finish overall.

As in the semi-final, Evgenij Igatov of Moldova took off in the lead of the men's single B-final ahead of Espen Wingsternaes of Norway. Igatov has been racing internationally as a junior and is the fastest rower in his country. Meanwhile all the noise was for Wingsternaes with Norweigans filling the moving grandstand that followed the race. Coming into the final sprint Andreas Tilelis of Greece, who was constantly looking across at his competition, started to take off. In an awesome sprint Tilelis pushed into first. Ignatov held onto a very close second with Wingsternaes just back in third.

The women's pair was dominated by Sassi McCarthy and Alice King of Australia. McCarthy and King arrived in Europe in time to race in the Lucerne Rowing World Cup and they finish off their international season for 2005 by winning the B-final. Poland, in second, could not get close to the Australians and looking hunched over and tired the Poles remained in second throughout the race.

Argentina raced today in the B-final of the men's pair and as in their semi-final, they started off well back in the field. By the half-way point they were still in fourth and completely off the pace with Canada's Oldham twins leading the way with a huge open water lead. Canada had been unfortunate in the semi-final when an asthma attack during the race meant bow, Alan Oldham could not race to his potential.

Argentina then started to move on the Oldham's looking solid and relaxed through the drive in contrast to the Canadian short catch and long finish style. In the final sprint Argentina's style paid off as they took the lead leaving Canada in second only just in front of a 46 stroke rate sprinting Serbia & Montenegro.

The B-final of the women's double was all over the place as every crew attacked and counter attacked at different points of the race. But it was Olympic medalist Yuliya Bichyk and partner Hanna Nakhayeva of Belarus that held a slight lead over New Zealand at the start. Then Russia, followed by Latvia took up the challenge. In the final sprint it was Latvia that had timed their race the best. In a photo finish with Belarus, Ligita Kaviere and Liga Liepa of Latvia finish first and seventh in the world.

Lithuania led the men's double B-final. But not for long. Romania's Florin Apetroae and Daniel Frateanu took the lead and for the rest of the race worked at holding off Belarus, who after a bad third 500, decided to come back to an all out sprint. In the last 10 metres Belarus got their rating to 38 strokes, but ran out of course. Romania finish first.

There was very little between Russia, France and the Netherlands in the men's four B-final. The Netherlands had the lead but only just over France in second and Russia following in third. In front of the grandstand the Dutch not only retained their lead but increased the size of it. France had to settle for second.

Times were slow in the B-final of the lightweight women's double with Russia setting the pace at the head of the field. But Portugal had paced themselves better with Elisabeta Tomas and Ines Baptista finding the lead as they moved through the third 500. The Portuguese continued to lengthen their lead and at a 34 stroke rate to Russia's 30, Portugal finished handily in front.

Coming back from third position Gennaro Gallo and Ferinando Novella of Italy had soon found the front in the lightweight men's double B-final. This is where the Italians remained leaving all of the hard work to Belgium attempting to reel in Gallo and Novella. In the final sprint the grab and pull style of the Italians kept them in the lead with Belgium using 39 strokes per minute to close the gap. Italy did just enough to hold on to first.

Two seat for Canada, Brendan Hodge in the B-final of the lightweight men's four goes to university in the United States and must have used his inside knowledge today when Canada raced head-to-head against the United States. Although the US had the first half advantage, Canada came back with a piece through the 1,200 metre mark and took the lead, with the United States slipping to second. These two North American crews were well ahead at the finish with Australia in third well back.

The Netherlands tried to keep up with Russia in the women's quad B-final, but no one was going to touch the Russians, stroked by Yulya Mishina, as they moved further and further away from the rest of the field. This left the Netherlands and Australia to fight it out for second with the Netherlands having a small advantage in second at the finish.

Everyone had a go at the lead in the men's quad B-final. Lithuania started at the front before dropping off the pace. Then Australia took over before Latvia came through to the lead. But all was not over. A second half challenge by France brought them into second and within striking distance of Latvia. Latvia held on and finishes first.

Estonia's eight waiting for their race

A big upset in the B-final of the men's eight when the small country of Estonia managed to put together nine men and surprise the strong rowing nations of Australia, Great Britain and France. But it took them until the final sprint to do it. Australia had the lead for most of the race but a charging Estonia got in front with 20 metres to go.

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