World Cup Events ? Round One at the BearingPoint Rowing World Cup in Munich

By Melissa Bray

The men’s eights

New Zealand pulls off a clean sweep, Hungary’s Akos Haller clocks 46 strokes per minute, the Bulgarians dominate the double and Slovenia’s Iztok Cop continues to show his versatility. All this and more in round one, the Olympic event heats at the BearingPoint Rowing World Cup in Munich. Slight tail winds continued and cloudy, cool conditions guaranteed dehydration not to be a problem. Read on for race by race accounts.

Caroline Evers-Swindell of New Zealand races in the women’s single

Women’s Single Scull – Heats

There could be a changing of the guard in this event if these heats are anything to go by. The Athens double scull champions, Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell of New Zealand rowing their singles shook up the usual leaders of this event. The formula went in the form of three heats with the top two finishers in each heat advancing to the semifinal. Six boats had a shot of skipping the repechage.

“Can I win without my twin?” was commentator Paul Castle’s poetic quip as he watched Caroline lead heat one.

Caroline Evers-Swindell opened the proceedings by overtaking Russia’s Yulia Levina to take the lead. However, sitting comfortably in second Levina was in for a shock when Sweden’s Athens representative Frida Svensson pulled out an almighty sprint. Levina, held on to the qualifying spot by a mere half a second but Svensson must take confidence in knowing that she made up nearly a five second deficit in the close of the race.

Is Germany’s Peggy Waleska stepping into the big shoes of Olympic Champion Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski? With Rutschow-Stomporowski taking a long break from rowing, Waleska finds herself out of the quad and in the single and in heat number two she faced 1996 and 2000 Olympic Champion Ekaterina, place-and-prise Karsten of Belarus. Waleska hung with Karsten for the first half of the race but then was content to let the Belarusian easily finish in first while she dealt with a solid challenge from Great Britain’s Debbie Flood. Both Karsten and Waleska qualify for the semi.

But it was the final heat that saw the fastest qualifying time being recorded. New Zealand’s Georgina Evers-Swindell, who is normally the slower of her twin Caroline in the single, led the whole race. She was forced to keep the pressure on when Czech Mirka Knapkova threw out a last 500 metre sprint. Knapkova also qualifies for the semi.

Vaclav Chalupa

Men’s Single Scull – Heats

Four heats, twenty-one entries and only the first boat in each heat to advance directly to the semifinal opened up the day’s actions to some fast finishes and judging by the times there’s going to be some tight racing in the next round tomorrow.

At Eton last month Olympic Champion Olaf Tufte of Norway underperformed and missed out on the final. But today in heat two Tufte looked like his old self recording the fastest qualifying time. After a slow start Tufte took the lead over Sweden’s Lassi Karonen and never looked back. Meanwhile a sprint for pride went on between Karonen and Dirk Lippits of the Netherlands. Both rating 37 strokes per minute, Karonen and Lippits sprinted for the line. Both will return for the repechage.

There’s a new challenger on the block. Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand raced in the four at last year’s Olympics but switched to the single last winter. He has not had a smooth ride to this Rowing World Cup though suffering a debilitating accident when he was hit by a water skier while rowing earlier this year. But Drysdale must be back at full strength and he gave the spectators at Munich a taste of his speed when he won heat number one over Austria’s Christof Uhl.

Germany’s Marcel Hacker had a comfortable time in heat three. After taking the lead at the start Hacker had no reason to sprint at the other end of the race. He will be fresh for tomorrow’s semifinal.

The crowd knew that it was going to be close as the volume went up from the grandstand spectators. Coming into the final 400 metres there was a battle royal going down between sculling stalwart Vaclav Chalupa of the Czech Republic, Dr. Akos Haller of Hungary and Switzerland’s Andre Vonarburg.

Chalupa had the upper edge but his low rating of 29 was seeing his lead disappearing. Haller was reacting. Taking his rating to 41 strokes per minute Haller overtook Chalupa and went after Vonarburg. The Swiss responded. In the closing 100 metres, with Chalupa letting his younger counterparts fight over first, Haller raised his rating to 46 with Vonarburg giving it all he had at 43 strokes per minute. Vonarburg prevailed and moves on to the semi.

Women’s Pair – Heats

Again it was only first place that would go directly to the semifinal and a clean sweep from Australasia indicated there must be something uplifting about coming from the southern hemisphere winter to Munich’s summer.

In heat one Emily Martin found herself with new partner, single sculler Fleur Chew, after Martin’s regular partner, Sarah Heard withdrew due to illness. The new pairing worked with the duo staying ahead of their number one crew. The second heat, however, recorded the fastest time. New Zealand’s Athens Olympics pair of Nicky Coles and Juliette Haigh have stuck together for another season and rowed a very consistent race to take the lead by the second 1,000 and increase their lead over Australia’s number two crew.

All remaining boats will return for the repechage.
 

Brothers Niksa and Sinisa Skelin win gold in the men’s pair

Men’s Pair – Heats

The name of the game was a top two finish for direct advancement to the semifinal in each of the three heats. In heat one New Zealand did it once again. Athens fourth place finishers Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater led from start to finish developing a clear water lead by the 750 metre mark. This left the rest of the field to race for second and it was Poland’s Marcin Wika and Piotr Basta that used their stamina to push through from fifth position and take the second spot from France.

Italy’s Luca Agamennoni and Dario Lari spent most of heat two going head to head with Tobias Kuehne and Jan Herzog of Germany. Kuehne and Herzog had a disappointing Olympics and want to get back on track but today were forced to settle for second over the faster Italians. Both boats qualify for the semifinal.

Eton winners Sinisa and Niksa Skelin of Croatia were left behind at the start. But their confidence of four years rowing together shone through and by the 1,000 metre mark the duo had made up the three-second deficit to move into second behind Gergor Hauffe and Toni Seifert of Germany. Together these two crews kept the heat on each other with the ever looming threat of Great Britain not far behind. Croatia then managed to grab the lead while the higher-rating Germans held on to second to qualify. Croatia goes through to the semifinal with the fastest time.

Women’s Double Sculls – Heats

The results are shaping up to be an Eton Rowing World Cup repeat. Two heats had Eton winners Rumyana Neykova and Miglena Markova of Bulgaria dominating the entire race. With World Champion and Olympic medallist from the single, Neykova, in bow, 22-year-old Markova is in a good position to have a very successful season.

Silver medallists from Eton, Christiane Huth and Britta Oppelt of Germany had a tight battle with bronze medallists from Eton, Amber Bradley and Sally Kehoe of Australia in heat two. The locals prevailed. Huth and Oppelt move on to the semifinal while Bradley and Kehoe should make easy work of their repechage tomorrow.

The German men’s double with Lehnigk and Brehmer

Men’s Double Sculls – Heats

Brothers Ivo and Martin Yanakiev of Bulgaria not only won heat one of the men’s double, but they did it in the fastest qualifying time.

But not everything went Yanakiev’s way during the race and it was not until the final 300 metres that Bulgaria found the lead finishing just ahead of Luca Ghezzi and Federico Gattinoni of Italy. As the top two crews advance, both boats go directly to the semi.

Lithuania’s strategy of holding back until the second half of the race paid off for them when they won heat two. Einaras Siaudvytis and Sigitas Klerauskas had a slow start but worked their way into second spot behind Athens finalists Nils-Torolv Simonsen and Morten Adamsen of Norway. Lithuania then took the lead going through the 1,250 metre mark and both Norway and the lower rating Lithuania move directly to the semifinal.

Switzerland’s fast start cost them dearly in the third heat when Germany’s Christian Schreiber and Rene Burmeister and then Gabor Bencsik and Tibor Petoe of Hungary overtook them. Germany held a stable 33 strokes per minute while Hungary sat on 34 to finish first and second respectively.

The new Italian double with Basalini and Pettinari

Men’s Four – Heats

Three heats and the top three boats going directly through to the semifinal was the formula for the fours and Eton heroes Great Britain opened the proceedings by leading heat one from start to finish. The Brits stroke Andy Hodge felt confident enough to bring the rating down to an easy-looking 29 strokes per minute in the closing 300 metres of the race as right from the first 500 metres the crew had an open-water lead over the rest of the field.

Way behind them Germany and Slovenia felt the need to pressure each other, Germany at a 39 and Slovenia rating 37 strokes per minute as the line came into view. Along with Great Britain, these three crews earned a direct path to the semifinal. Meanwhile favourites Italy finished at the back of the field after equipment problems.

Athens Olympic finalists New Zealand decided that just making the top three was not enough. Under the guidance of coach Chris Nilsson the Kiwi’s led from start to finish over the two German crews. Coming into the final sprint New Zealand held their rating at a 38 as Germany One paced them at the same stroke rate. Behind them Germany’s number two crew, one year out of being juniors, pushed past Switzerland to qualify from third.

The final heat turned on the most excitement. Four boats all wanted to be in the top three positions. Four boats all raced for the full 2,000 metres and even in the final sprint there was nothing much between the crews. Ireland had the psychological advantage of a slight lead leaving Italy, Poland and France to swap, reshuffle and rearrange. Italy’s stroke rate of 39 gave them a well-raced second at the line with Poland pushing in front of France to grab the final qualifying spot.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls – Heats

The post-Olympic retirement phenomenon saw a mixture of new blood throwing down the gauntlet to more established crews in the two heats. Only one boat in each heat had the chance of advancing directly to the semifinal and in heat one Poland’s Olympic finalists Magdalena Kemnitz and Ilona Mokronowska started off slowly but found their stride as the race progressed.

Overtaking Germany’s number two crew of Berit Carow and Laura Tasch, the Poles had got their nose in front coming into the closing 500 metres. Rating 34 strokes per minute Poland qualified ahead of a very upset and angry Tasch who will have to race again tomorrow in the repechage. Surprisingly at the back of the field, the experienced Great Britain duo never got into the race.

Finland was one place off qualifying for Athens last year and are back again after a solid winter of training. Sanna Sten and Minna Nieminen kept near the head of the field and had found the lead as they came through the 1,500 metre mark. Keeping their rating at 36 strokes per minute Sten and Nieminen crossed the line with an open water lead. Another surprise in this race saw favourites Daniela Reimer and Marie-Louise Draeger of Germany finish well out of qualifying position in third.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls – Heats

Three heats and a top three finish necessary for a direct route to the semifinal had a mixture of tactics going on. Some crews chose to race the whole 2,000 metres, while others seemed to back off and save their collective energies.

In heat one Germany’s new combination of Joerg Lehnigk and Manuel Brehmer chose the race-the-whole-way approach and coming into the final straight, stroke Brehmer still had the rating up at 37 strokes per minute. Behind the Germans, Italy’s number two crew of Leonardo Pettinari and Stefano Basalini overtook brothers Jan and Ondrej Vetesnik of the Czech Republic in the second half of the race. These three crews move on to the semifinal.

Again in heat two the top boat and Eton bronze medallists Frederic Dufour and Arnaud Pornin of France raced it to the end. Dufour and Pornin maintained a final sprint and left a huge yawning gap back to Slovakia in second who chose not to sprint the final quarter of the race as they were well clear of third placed crew, the Czech Republic.

Italy’s number one crew, Elia Luini and Bruno Mascarenhas went head to head with Great Britain’s new combination of Mark Hunter and James Lindsay-Fynn so that through the middle of the race there was barely any air between the two crews. The longer-stroking Italians finally got the upper hand of the combat and, despite underrating the Brits, the Italians pulled ahead of the panicked Brits. Both boats qualify with the final qualifying spot going to Hong Kong China’s Ting Wai Lo and Sau Wah So.

Pouge, Solforosi, Bette and Tilliet of France race in the lightweight men’s four

Lightweight Men’s Four – Heats

In heat one of two heats France got out to a solid start, cleared a good three seconds of water and watched the excitement going on behind them. Most of the excitement was between Germany’s number one and two crews, battling each other and in the process moving closer to France. But as only the top position would advance directly to the semifinal France was not going to let go.

At the finish France had held the lead with a tired-looking Germany One overtaking the high stroking Germany Two. Both crews will return for the repechage.

The second heat had Ireland take an early lead by barely a canvas over Poland. As Ireland kept the pressure on the Poles had to succumb and Ireland finished ahead by open water.

Slovenians Prelog, Mizerit, Spik and Cop in the men’s quad

Men’s Quadruple Sculls – Heats

Knowing the colour of Slovenia’s Iztok Cop’s hair is always a must at any World Cup. Today red-headed Cop left his single and cross-country skis behind to stroke the quad with Olympic doubles partner Luka Spik. Behind them Davor Mizerit and Matej Prelog proved that the win at the Essen Regatta last month wasn’t a fluke. Together they led the entire race looking contented as they crossed the finish line rating what looked to be a comfortable 35 strokes per minute.

Only one crew qualified for the final so Athens finalists Poland will have to return for the repechage.

In heat two Athens silver medallists, the Czech Republic, overtook Belarus to find the lead by the half-way point. Starting to creep away the Czechs thought they were comfortably in first until France, stroked by Athens gold medallist Adrien Hardy, took up the chase. The Czech’s held them off and go directly to the semi for their effort.

Men’s Eight – Heats

Italy wants to have a top eight. Today, in heat one of two heats, they took the lead at the start and with Carlo Mornati setting the pace from stroke seat they continued to move further and further ahead. Coming into the final sprint Italy held a comfortable 33 strokes per minute. Meanwhile the high rating Egyptians, using 38 strokes per minute, crossed the line second but will have to return for the repechage.

The Germans continued their 2005 winning streak by finishing first in the second heat. But their job was made tricky by Russia who came through from third and within striking distance of the pink-boated Germany. Russia will return to race the repechage.

Related Links
Munich Photo Gallery
Result Summaries

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