World Cup Events see mixed results

By Melissa Bray

It is still two and a half months until the World Rowing Championships and today in Munich a mixed bag of results indicated different crews at different cycles in their training. Some crews had fast starts but looked like second half of the race was still out of reach while other crews shot out of the starting shoes only to run out of steam after the half way point.

Women’s single sculler Peggy Waleska from Germany

Women’s Single Scull – Semifinal

The World Cup Events opened with New Zealand’s twin sisters, Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell sitting next to each other in the two middle lanes of the first semi. Georgina had recorded the faster time in the heat but Caroline was used to beating her sister in the single. Which way would it go today?

Both New Zealanders got out to a fast start with Germany’s Peggy Waleska trying to hold on. By the half way point Caroline still had the lead over Georgina but it was France’s Sophie Balmary that was making waves. Balmary went to Sydney in the single and Athens in the pair. Now back in the single she was coming back from a slow start to challenge the New Zealanders. Going through the 1,500 metre mark Balmary had slipped in between the sisters. Meanwhile Waleska was pulling out an almighty sprint. Rating 34 the German moved on the leaders. Balmary held on. Looking exhausted Balmary must have been praying for the finish line to appear. It did, just in time.

Caroline remained in first, Balmary in second and Georgina qualified from third.

The gold and silver winners from Eton, Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus and Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic were obviously a head and shoulders above the rest of the field in the second semi. Turning this race into a procession Karsten spent the entire time at the head of the field with Knapkova pushing past a fast starting Debbie Flood of Great Britain to slip comfortably into second. By the halfway point the race was all but decided and coming into the home straight Karsten and Knapkova had no need to sprint both rating a comfortable 29 strokes per minute.

Meanwhile in third Flood was feeling the heat from Russia’s Yulya Levina. Taking her rating to a 37, albeit ineffective, Flood had just enough of a lead over Levina to cross the line in the final qualifying spot.

Men’s single sculler from New Zealand: Mahe DRYSDALE

Men’s Single Scull – Semifinal

He holds the World Best time in this event. He regularly trains on the Munich course. He won silver at Eton. Marcel Hacker of Germany had all the stars lined up to do well today and that is exactly what he did in the first of two semifinals. Behind Hacker New Zealand’s Mahe Drysdale was busy working his way through from the back of the field with Vaclav Chalupa of the Czech Republic following suit.

By the half way point Drysdale and Chalupa had pushed aside any threats to them qualifying and were pacing each other – Drysdale in his first season in the single, Chalupa in his seventeenth. Hacker remained in the lead and coming into the home straight all three boats looked solid, steady and out of harms way. Hacker, Drysdale and Chalupa will meet again in the final tomorrow.

The second semifinal saw the return of Eton winner, Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic to the head of the field. Synek had to make it to the semi via yesterday’s repechage and today he made no mistakes by getting out ahead of Olympic Champion Olaf Tufte of Norway and Switzerland’s Andre Vonarburg. While Synek looked comfortably in the lead, Tufte and Vonarburg paced each other through the middle of the race, Tufte even splitting his race.

Coming into the finish Tufte slipped ahead of Vonarburg and into second by keeping his pace the same. Synek, Tufte and Vonarburg move on to the final.  

Kate Hornsey and Sonia Mills of Australia race in the women’s pair

Women’s Pair – Repechage

Australia split their women’s eight into pairs and qualified one of the crews yesterday. Today they put two more boats into the final. Kate Hornsey and Sonia Mills finished second behind Germany’s Christina Gerking and Johanna Roenfeldt in repechage one and Australia Two, Pauline Frasca with Robyn Selby Smith won the second repechage.

In repechage one, two crews would qualify and Germany and Australia were soon at the head of the field. Despite being safely within qualifying range the Germans and Australians continued to battle each other. With 1,500 metres to go they had more than three seconds over France in third. France, however, was moving. All three crews sprinted for the line but despite rating 38 strokes per minute France couldn’t catch up. Germany and Australia move on to the final.

Australia One led the way in repechage two doing just enough to hold off Tamara Samakhvalava and Natallia Helakh of Belarus who worked their way up from last to find the second and final qualifying spot.

Men’s pair crew from New Zealand: Nathan TWADDLE and George BRIDGEWATER

Men’s Pair – Semifinal

In the first of two semifinals three boats had the chance of advancing to the final and it was Serbia & Montenegro’s new pairing that got off the line first. This advantage was soon lost to Eton winners Sinisa and Niksa Skelin of Croatia with New Zealand’s Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater following suit. The last time these two crews met was in the final at the Athens Olympics when Croatia finished with silver and New Zealand just missed out of the medals in fourth.

Today barely a canvas separated these two crews with Germany’s Tobias Kuehne and Jan Herzog trying to get in on the act. Kuehne and Herzog also raced the Olympic final finishing sixth at Athens. As the race progressed there was very little ground separating these three crews at the front of the field. But a surprise was yet to come. The French newcomers were sprinting for their lives. Taking their rating up to 39, then 44 the French put the heat on Germany. The Germans reacted. Herzog, in stroke, brought the stroke rate to 45 and held on for the line.

The French ran out of water and New Zealand, Croatia and Germany will meet again in the final.

Gergor Hauffe and Toni Seifert of Germany make up the number two crew. But there was nothing number two about them when they took on Great Britain’s Josh West and Kieran West in the second semifinal. The Brits gained a slight early lead and settled into a comfortable 33 strokes per minute followed closely by Germany. Coming into the final 500 metres of the race, barely a canvas separated these two crews with Hauffe and Seifert gaining an ever so slight edge.

West and West remained consistent and steady letting the higher rating Germans move into the lead with Italians Dario Lari and Luca Agamennoni slipping into qualifying range in third. All three crews move on to the final.

Women’s double scullers from Australia: Amber Bradley (bow) and Sally Kehoe

Women’s Double Sculls – Repechage

Australia’s Amber Bradley and Sally Kehoe were leaving nothing to chance as they desperately wanted to be in the final. Stroked by 19-year-old Kehoe both rowers have won gold in the junior single, but seven years apart. Matched up by the Australian Institute of Sport the duo looked in fine form as they moved down the course to take a bigger and bigger lead.

This left the rest of the field to race for second and it was Poland’s Agnieszka Tomczak and Aneta Belka who slipped into second but with only two boats to qualify Poland was being given a very hard time by Norway. The Poles prevailed and move on to the final with Australia.

An early lead by Belarus soon disappeared in the second repechage when France and Great Britain took over at the front of the field. But it was Laura Schiavone and Elisabetta Sancassani of Italy who looked to be the stronger crew. By the third 500 Schiavone and Sancassani had found the lead, if only just, over France and Great Britain. With only two boats to qualify no one was giving up. Try as they might though, the Brits ran out of steam. Italy and Caroline Delas and Inene Pascal-Pretre of France advance to the final.

Men’s Double Sculls – Semifinal

Martin Yanakiev of Bulgaria must have been feeling pretty good that his rowing partner, brother Ivo, is an Olympic medallist. Ivo must have been feeling pretty good that they’re moving onto the final after winning the first of two semifinals.

But both Hungary and Lithuania were not relenting barking at Bulgaria’s door for the entire race. Hungary’s Tibor Petoe has two World Championship titles with Akos Haller and now pairing up with Gabor Bencsik the duo have had mixed success. Today Petoe and Bencsik overcame Lithuania to finish second with Lithuania qualifying from third.

Ukraine’s Dmitro Prokopenko and Volodimir Pavlovskij had the edge at the start of the second semifinal. They soon lost it to German favourites Christian Schrieber and Rene Burmeister who once they had found the lead were not giving it up. Meanwhile Ukraine was finding themselves in all sorts of trouble as Italy’s Luca Ghezzi and Federico Gattinoni came back from a very slow start to overtake the Ukrainians.

Then Norway found their pace and pushed Ukraine out of qualifying position as the race came into its final 500 metres. The sprint was on for third. In the closing metres Norway got rattled. One bad stroke caused them to fall back. Germany, Italy and Ukraine move to the final.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls – Repechage

Two crews would advance from the two repechages raced in excellent conditions as the sun started to break through the clouds. The first race was one crew short after Germany’s number one crew had to pull out due to a back injury. This left it up to Germany Two to take up the slack. Berit Carow and Laura Tasch of Germany were not happy after their heat and today they tried to set the record straight by getting out in front at the start. But moving with the Germans were Elena Lyakisheva and Ksenia Potapova of Russia.

These two crews had the head of the field leaving everyone else well behind. Sprinting to the finish Russia, rating 33, got the edge over Germany. Both crews advance to the final.

An almost identical race unfolded in the second repechage, this time with the Netherlands and Italy pacing each other at the head of the field. However the gap back to third was not so big as the Irish gave it their best. But the two leading boats prevailed and move on to the final. 

Lightweight men’s double scullers Joerg Lehnigk and Manuel Brehmer from Germany

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls – Semifinal

Manuel Brehmer of Germany has spent his career firmly entrenched in the double. At Athens he raced in his first Olympics with then partner Ingo Euler. Now with Joerg Lehnigk they looked like the crew to beat when they led semifinal one from start to finish. Behind Germany, France was having a tougher job of it. A slowish start put Frederic Dufour and Arnaud Pornin of France in fourth and first they had to overtake Slovenia then the Czech Republic. Following the French example Great Britain was also working their way up into a qualifying position.

With 500 metres to go Germany and France looked good to qualify but nothing was certain for the final spot. Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Great Britain were all in the running. High rating prevailed. Coming into the close of the race Mark Hunter and James Lindsay-Fynn of Great Britain moved up to 41 then 43 strokes per minute stealing the third and final qualifying spot.

Italy and Italy met in the second semi. The unpleasant split of the three-time World Champion double of Elia Luini and Leonardo Pettinari means that Italy now has two phenomenal doubles. Luini has paired up with Bruno Mascarennhas while Pettinari has joined World Champion single sculler Stefano Basalini. The faster crew will go to this year’s World Rowing Championships. Both crews rowed with similar styles. Both crews rowed a similar race plan. They finished within a bow ball of each other in first and second place. The only difference seemed to be Luini was more willing to sprint to the finish than Pettinari who appeared content to row about three beats lower in the rating.

Both crews will meet again tomorrow in the final. The final qualifier was Slovakia who finished an open water gap back in third.

Lightweight Men’s Four – Repechage

The first repechage needed a top two finish for advancement and taking it through the middle of the race all five crews were in striking distance of achieving this. But the second 1,000 began to sort those with stamina out from those without. It looked like Italy needed to put in some more miles as they slipped back.

This left it up to leaders Germany and Great Britain to show the grandstand their sprinting powers. Great Britain gave high rating a good shot and for their effort just scraped ahead of the sprinting Italians to finish in second and qualify.

Repechage two was a three horse race with only two boats moving to the final. Who was going to give? Poland got off to an impressive start followed closely by Germany’s second crew and coming into the final 500 metres Poland, although a fraction behind Germany, were still on pace. But just out of the picture Poland’s number two crew was going for all they were worth. To the detriment of their number one crew Poland Two moves on to the final along with Germany Two.

Women’s Quadruple Sculls – Saturday Final

Racing for lanes in tomorrow’s final, five boats lined up at the start with two of the crews wearing German colours. This event has traditionally been completely dominated by Germany and coach Jutta Lau has a whole new fleet of scullers to mould into racing champions. Today indicated that they have a bit of work to do.

Instead of Germany, Great Britain led the way hoping to make a comeback from a bad result at the Versailles Regatta two weeks ago. Behind the Brits Ukraine worked their way up from last, overtook the two German crews and the United States to grab second at the line. All five boats return tomorrow to race for medals.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls – Repechage

Poland took the lead, Australia slipped into second. Nothing much changed for the rest of the race in the first of two repechages. As only two crews would qualify for the final the crowd expected at least a challenge to the Aussies, but the status quo remained. Belarus in third only slipped further behind. Poland and Australia move on to the final. This result will give the Australian crew a bit of a lift as in their first race of the season in Eton they did not manage to make the final.

In contrast to the first rep, repechage two was all action and place swapping as crews did pieces at very different points of the course. Stroked by Sydney Olympic Champion Simone Raineri, Italy got off to a roaring start. The roaring start left Ukraine in second and Germany in third. At the half way point Italy remained in first with Germany moving into second, Ukraine slipping back to fifth.

Coming into the final sprint Italy were hanging in there followed very closely by Germany with Ukraine back in the action in third. The scramble for the line saw Italy die, Ukraine sprint to first and Great Britain pull into second and the final qualifying spot. 

Women’s Eight – Saturday Final

Coming back to the water after racing earlier in the day in the pair’s repechage for half of Australia’s eight must have helped as the crew overtook a fast starting United States eight to move into the lead and open up a small gap. The United States finished with silver at Athens and in six and seven seat are the remainders of that crew. Coach Tom Terhaar must be in the rebuilding process but it looks like he already has a solid base. The Netherlands and Germany were back a bit in third and fourth place respectively.

All four crews will race again tomorrow with Germany and United States doing an extra 500 metre, “Sprint for the Cure” charity race just before the men’s eight.

Men’s eight from Poland

Men’s Eight – Repechage

Repechage one ended in a no contest when second place getters Egypt were disqualified after their boat was weighed and found to be under weight. As there were only three boats in the race Belarus in first moves on to the final and France in third advances into a qualifying position.

Egypt will still be able to race the B Final tomorrow but their joy of coming second in the repechage will definitely be gone.

The second repechage was more straightforward. Russia took the lead, Poland slipped into second, Croatia followed in third and the Czech Republic struggled in fourth. This order was sorted out in the opening 500 metres of the race and nothing had changed at the other end of the 2,000-metre course. Russia and Poland return to race the Final.

Watch this space for tomorrow’s final race of the day when these four crews join Germany and Italy to fight it out for the title of 2005 Munich Rowing World Cup winner.

Men’s Four – Semifinal

This race was delayed after Germany’s number one crew had the bow of their boat damaged when the starting “shoe” did not lower. The boat was fixed and Germany and all other crews lined up again to race for the top three spots in the first of two Semifinals.

Leading the way was Great Britain and if the crew of Andy Hodge, Alex Partridge, Peter Reed and Steve Williams doesn’t win the final tomorrow, I’ll eat my hat. Great Britain looked great. They under-stroked their competitors and still managed to stay at the head of the field with a clear water lead by the 750 metre mark. Behind them Ireland put on a gutsy show despite their blade work being less than perfect. But they still managed to stay ahead of Germany’s new hope in the four.

At the finish Great Britain had a comfortable win, Ireland out-stroked Germany to finish second. Germany also qualify after finishing in third.

Finishing up the day of racing, the second Semifinal saw heat winners New Zealand lead the boats out of the starting blocks. This wasn’t to last long and soon the new Italian crew had found the lead. As New Zealand slipped back Italy’s number two crew charged through and heading for the line it was all light blue as the elated Italians went one – two. The German Under-23 crew also scored a birth in the final after sneaking past the New Zealanders in the final sprint.

RELATED LINKS
World Cup Events ? Round One at the BearingPoint Rowing World Cup in Munich
World Cup Standings
Munich Photo Gallery
Detailed Results

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