B Finals show early season potential

There was also a bunch of Chinese rowing in preparation for their National Games later this year. On the weather front, a light head wind made times a little slower, while the sun started to break through and warm the earlier cooler temperatures.

Women’s Pair (W2-)

China is preparing this year for their very important National Games and the crews here at Munich are made up of provincial rowers that will be racing against each other later this year. For the Chinese the National Games are very important. It means status and financial rewards for good performance. Thus, the three women’s pairs from China in this event would be taking their racing very seriously. First time racing at the international level Xiaojie Liu and Huan Zhang of China4 had a very powerful start to take them out ahead of China2 with the Netherlands following. This order remained the same into the home straight but in the final 500m all was to change. Romania’s Adelina Cojocariu and Nicoleta Albu executed a huge push that took them ahead of the Dutch and China2. At the line Liu and Zhang were first followed closely by Romania. After the race, however, Romania were disqualified because their boat was underweight. This relegated them to sixth position, with China2 and China3 in second and third positions.

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x)

Last year New Zealand’s Paula Twining and Anna Reymer were part of their country’s crew trying to qualify the eight for the Beijing Olympics. They did not succeed and the eight has since been broken down into new boats. Twining and Reymer are the new double. Using a long lay-back style Twining and Reymer took their boat into the lead of the B Final. The New Zealanders remained in the lead with Finland’s Sanna Sten and Minna Nieminen pushing into second. Sten and Nieminen medalled at last year’s Olympic Games in the lightweight double but have decided to row open-weight this season and potentially future seasons as well. Twining and Reymer looked to be racing against the clock at the head of the field as they powered to an open-water lead and still continued to keep the pressure on. New Zealand finished first by a big nine seconds ahead of Finland.

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x)

Fan Li and Fei Li are China’s number one crew in this event. Fei is 17 and Fan is 19 years old. Together they settled into a long, flowing rhythm behind Belgium2 (Bart Poelvoorde and Christophe Raes). Belgium originally had two boats in this race, but their number one crew withdrew for medical reasons. The Belgians are working under new head coach Harald Jahrling who coached up to the Beijing Olympics for Ireland. Moving into the second half of the race Poelvoorde and Raes started to slip back, giving Li and Li the lead with China2 (Jie Sun and Tiexin Wang) taking second. At the line the young Li duo had finished first with Sun and Wang in second, followed by Belgium in third.

Men’s Four (M4-)

Croatia’s number one boat had the lead in the B Final ahead of Great Britain’s second boat. Stroked by Marin Bogdan, 21, this four was part of their country’s eight that finished fifth at last year’s European Championships. Going through the middle of the race Croatia remained at the head with the entire field all still well within striking distance of the leaders. Croatia continued to hold the pace and remain in the lead. Coming into the final sprint, finally some space began to open up, but still three boats charged neck and neck for the line. Croatia held off all challenges and take first, Great Britain follows closely in second and China is third.

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x)

Leading the field was 34-year-old Annick De Decker of Belgium. De Decker is a latecomer to the international scene, arriving just two years ago and last year trying to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. Although De Decker missed out, she went on to win silver at the European Championships last year. Today De Decker remained in the lead for the entire 2000m of the 1972 Olympic Regatta Course. Behind De Decker, Sophie Dunsing, 21, of Germany pushed through from a slow middle 500m to move up on De Decker and take second. Is this the start of big things for Dunsing in the single?

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x)

Stanislau Shcharbachenia of Belarus has spent most of his international career in team boats, especially the double where he holds the World Best Time at the under-23 level. Now in the single, Shcharbachenia was leading the B Final in a very tight race that had only a two-second spread between the entire field at the half-way point. This closeness then saw Martin Gulyas of Germany take over in the lead. Shcharbachenia pushed back to regain the front as Gulyas fell back. A final powerful sprint by Shcharbachenia earned him first by a comfortable three seconds. Norway’s Nils Jakob Hoff takes second and the USA’s new single sculler, Warren Anderson, is third.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x)

Usually known for her single sculling racing, Michaela Taupe-Traer is racing now in the double with Stefanie Borzacchini for Austria. Returning to the water this afternoon, the Austrians took over at the head of the field and by the half-way point Taupe-Traer and Borzacchini were over a boat length ahead of their nearest threat, Denmark. Borzacchini, 18, comes directly from racing at the junior level to join Taupe-Traer and today they made a strong case to stay together as a double. Austria cross the line in first with Denmark taking second and Sweden finishing third.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x)

China’s Chenggang Yu and Fangbing Zhang got their nose in front of this B Final. But, as is often the case in lightweight rowing, the margin was miniscule. With 500m rowed there was less than two seconds between the entire field. But then Poland did a push and moved just ahead of the Chinese. Poland’s Mariusz Stanczuk and Bartlomiej Lesniak are in their first season together and racing as Poland’s second crew means that final team selection is still to happen before this year’s World Rowing Championships that will take place in Poland.

China continued to push the Poles with Hungary and Denmark3 not far back. A final push by the Poles gave them the first place, or seventh overall, at the line. Stanczuk collapsed momentarily from the effort. China finished second and Hungary, featuring 2005 world champion Tamas Varga, third.

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-)

Last year Poland earned a surprise silver at the Beijing Olympics. The crew so far this season has not been doing too well. They finished ninth at the first Rowing World Cup last month and today they were again in the B Final. Some of the 2008 spark seemed to return, however, as the Poles came through from the back of the field to overtake Belgium, then New Zealand and finally China. Once in the lead, Poland continued to sprint. Taking their rating to 41, Poland crossed easily ahead of China with New Zealand in third.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x)

The Czech Republic sat in the favoured lane four next to China1. Would these be the top two crews about six minutes from now? At the start Slovenia took the lead. They held it for the first 500m but going through the half-way point, three boats crossed virtually together – Slovenia, China1 and China2. The early pace must have been too much for Slovenia who dropped right back, giving the two Chinese crews a chance to take over in the lead with the Czech Republic now moving up. The top three crews belted towards the line together. There was nothing in it. The finishing umpires announced the Czech Republic as first with China2 and China1 in second and third respectively.