World Rowing Championships Racing for places 7 to 12

By Melissa Bray

Best audience goes to the Japanese supporters who politely clapped every race and had already filled up the grandstands an hour before racing began and stayed until the very end. Best chanting in the grandstands during the B Finals at the 2005 World Rowing Championships in Gifu, Japan goes to the Australian supporters, their volume guaranteed regardless of how their athletes were doing.

Lightweight Women’s Single (LW1x)

This event started off with 19 athletes and today these rowers had narrowed down to racing for places 7 ? 12. From the starting green light Chrysi Biskitzi of Greece got away first. Biskitzi raced last year at Athens in the lightweight double and then began her 2005 international season at the Indoor Rowing Championships in the United States, finishing third in her age group. Behind Biskitzi, Lea Fluri of Switzerland capped off a solid season in which she got to the single final at all three World Cups.

Fluri battled with rowing veteran Croatia’s Mirna Rajle to finish second, with Rajle coming through in third.

Lightweight Men’s Single (LM1x)

It was disappointing for Japan’s Kazushige Ura to race in the B Final after doing so well earlier in the week, but Ura made the most of it on his home course overtaking Rolandas Kazlauskas of Lithuania to move into first and remain there. Kazlauskas knows Asian rowing well as he has been living in Hong Kong and training with Hong Kong China’s international representative Hui Fung Law.

Kazlauskas had to shake off Paulo Pereira Dos Santos of Portugal to get back into second. Ura remained in first at the line, Kazlauskas in second and Pereira Dos Santos finished in third.

Women’s Single Scull (W1x)

Germany’s Peggy Waleska flew off the line at an impressive pace. Waleska already has an Olympic medal from the double but says she prefers the single and today she was making good work of the B-final. But Australia’s Kerry Hore hadn’t come all of this way for nothing. Coming into the final 500 metres Hore had found the lead over Waleska.

Meanwhile Great Britain’s Annie Vernon and Under-23 Champion, Iva Obradovic of Serbia & Montenegro were waging their own battle for third. At the line Hore had got the better of Waleska and Vernon got the better of Obradovic. 

Men’s Single Scull (M1x)

Sjoerd Hamburger of the Netherlands won the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in July by easily leading the whole race. Now promoted to the senior level, the 203cm Dutchman is just at the start of his career. After pushing past Serbia & Montenegro, Hamburger in the lead, held off Lassi Karonen of Sweden.

Hamburger had enough of a lead to drop the rating to 29 with Karonen sprinting in at 35 and Australia’s Olympian David Crawshay finishing in third.

Women’s Pair (W2-)

Leading for the full race, Christina Gerking and Johanna Roenfeldt of Germany threw out a message that in the future they will be a crew to be reckoned with. By the half way point Germany had over a two second lead with Bulgaria holding onto second.

Coming into the final sprint the German lead remained with the real race going on for second and it was France’s Celia Foulon and Marie Le Nepvou who chose to grab the bull by the horns and taking their rating to 36, then 37, France charged for the line. Bulgaria had run out of juice and ended up settling for fourth when Denmark’s Majbrit Nielsen and Fie Graugaard also got the better of Bulgaria. The final order; Germany, France, Denmark.

Men’s Pair (M2-)

Like their female counterparts, Germany’s Tobias Kuehne and Jan Herzog led the way from the start. The challenge for second was impressive. First Australia’s Christian Ryan and Karsten Forsterling moved into this spot. Then Slovenia’s Gregor Novak and Bostjan Bozic took over with Germany still in the lead.

At the line Germany remained in first, Slovenia in second and the lower rating Australians finishing in third.

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x)

Norway’s Marianne Nordahl and Heidi Veeser made no bones about their intentions right from the word go. This left a full on battle to go on between Lia Pernell and Megan Cook of the United States and Volha Berazniova and partner, Athens Olympic medallist Yuliya Bichyk of Belarus. The long, layback low rating stroke of the Americans gave them the edge over the higher rating Byelorussians and at the line Norway can now claim to be seventh in the world with USA and Belarus following them home.

Men’s Double (M2x)

France’s Jonathan Coeffic and Jean-Baptiste Macquet started off the Rowing World Championships with a bang when they won their heat on Monday, but they failed to qualify through the semi and today they battled Ante Kusurin and Mario Vekic of Croatia in the B Final with Marcin Brezeinski and Michal Sloma of Poland also right on the pace.

Barely a whisker separated these top three crews and all would have to sprint until the end. Poland got their rating to 40, France to 39. At the end the happiest crew was Croatia. The order; France first, Croatia second, Poland third.

Men’s Four (M4-)

By the half way point, Italy had built up a formidable lead with only the Czech Republic and Poland being even close to challenging the Italians. Stroked by Giuseppe De Vita, Italy continued to increase their lead as Australia began to come into their own. In the final sprint the gap closed on the Italians, but they still won by open water with the Czech Republic coming through to second and Australia doing an awesome sprint to finish third. 

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