Canada's day at the Lucerne Rowing World Cup

This morning was the first round, the heats, and Canada, arriving at their first international regatta for the year, showed that training was going to plan by dominating the races they had entered. New Zealand also had a good morning with Rob Waddell returning to the head of the field after an eight-year break. The weather turned on a fine rowing day. Calm water, cloudy skies and mild temperatures.

Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (LW1x)

Warming up the race course the first of two heats represented the chosen lightweight single from six countries and in fitting style leading the way was Pamela Weisshaupt of Switzerland. The Lucerne course is known for the sound of cow bells that can be heard at the start and near the finish line. Weisshaupt’s slim lead soon got sucked up by Haixia Chen who comes out of the stable of accomplished Chinese lightweights. Weisshaupt held on to Chen’s pace but Chen did just enough to finish first and earn the sole qualifying spot for the final.

Canada’s international season opened with a positive note as Lindsay Jennerich started like her team want to continue, in the lead and crossing the line first. This win for Jennerich in heat two puts her directly into the Final that will be raced tomorrow evening. Challenging Jennerich was Belgium’s newest rower, Jo Hammond. Hammond is better known as rower for the British team. She has now made the switch to Belgium. Hammond managed to snatch the lead off Jennerich coming into the third 500m, but Jennerich fought back, a spot in the Finals hers.

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x)

The first of two heats was led by current World Champion Duncan Grant of New Zealand. Grant didn’t fare so well at the first stage of the Rowing World Cup earlier this month in Munich, where he slipped back into the bronze medal spot, but a couple more weeks in Europe look to be serving him well. Grant stayed comfortably ahead of Frederik Heijbrock of the Netherlands but still kept the rating up to make sure he had that spot in the finals for tomorrow evening.

The Netherlands’ Jaap Schouten finished third last year and stepped up to first at the Munich World Cup earlier this month. He led heat two from start to finish staying easily ahead of Pierre-Etienne Pollez of France who had his hands full due to a gutsy row by Jose Guipe of Venezuela. Schouten goes on to the Final while Pollez will return for the repechage tomorrow morning.

Lightweight Men’s Pair (LM2-)

Denmark’s young duo of Kasper Winther and Morten Joergensen may not be in their country’s top boat, the lightweight four, but they made the best of the pair by leading from start to finish as the Rotsee rowing course continued to deal out ideal water conditions. The duo were the winners at the first Rowing World Cup and it looks like they aim to hold on to this position. With just the first spot able to go directly to the Final, Winther and Joergensen made sure the spot was theirs. The Netherlands, in second (and in third), will return for the repechage.

Heat two saw a close battle go on between Great Britain and Austria. Chris Bartley and Rob Williams of Great Britain held the edge and with it left Austria to do the chasing. With just 500m left to row Bartley and Williams got out to a boat length lead. Austria fought back. Austria’s sprint was impressive, but Great Britain held them off. Bartley and Williams go directly to the Final. Surprisingly, France, who finished third at the first Rowing World Cup, finished at the back of the field and will have to take a second chance through the repechages.

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x)

Four heats demanded a first-place finish for these rowers to avoid racing in the repechage. With this in mind, Munich medallist and under-23 champion Emma Twigg of New Zealand got out into the lead ahead of Frida Svennsson of Sweden. Leading a race, even by a small margin, is a huge psychological advantage as you are able to look back at the other boats and keep and eye on what they are doing. Perhaps this was on Twigg’s mind. Coming into the final sprint, Svennson started to sprint. Twigg watched Svennson and did just enough to keep ahead of the Swede whose stroke rate got up to 35, while Twigg remained at about 30 strokes per minute. There was nothing in it at the line with Twigg having a tiny advantage and earning a spot in the semifinal.

Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus made easy work of heat two. The current World Champion got out to an early lead over Poland’s Julia Michalska. Michalska, a former world under-23 champion, tried to hold on to the best in the world, pushing Karsten through the middle of the race. As Michalska began to slip back, Sanne Beukers of the Netherlands took over as the threat to Karsten. Karsten toyed with this new challenge before Beukers started to run out of steam. Heading into the line, Karsten looked comfortable at a 30 stroke rate pace, looking as though she was practicing her quick finishes. Karsten moves directly to the semifinal.

Heat three turned into a procession with China’s top single sculler, Xiuyun Zhang taking the lead over Rumyana Neykova of Bulgaria with Belgium a distance back in third. Neykova had to pull out of the first Rowing World Cup with illness and she’s back to test her boat speed here in Lucerne. Today though, it was Zhang setting the pace. Zhang, rating a comfortable 29 strokes per minute, goes to the semifinal, while Neykova, who got her rating to 31, will have to return for the repechage.

Seeded as one of the faster boats, Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic led from the centre lane. Australia’s new single sculler Philipa Savage put up a good fight, but the much more seasoned Knapkova did just enough to hold the new Australian at bay. Knapkova crossed the finish line rowing a comfortable 27 strokes per minute and will be moving directly to the semifinal.

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x)

Always one of the biggest events at the World Cups, the men’s single had four heats with a total of 23 countries lining up. As this regatta is seeded, the best rowers took up the centre lane in each heat, making sure they wouldn’t be racing each other until the semifinals. The two top seeds in heat one, Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic and Marcel Hacker of Germany left the start in the lead. Synek then got his nose in front of Hacker and never looked back. Hacker will have to return for the repechage this afternoon.

Three-time World Champion Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand is back on the scene. He made his 2008 international debut in heat two and, although not dominating the race, Drysdale ended up winning by a comfortable margin. Initially, however, Switzerland’s Andre Vonarburg had the edge. Drysdale then picked it up and took over the lead. Vonarburg held on through the middle of the race before deciding he did not have a fighting chance of overtaking Drysdale. The New Zealander crosses the line rowing at 27 strokes per minute and moves directly to the semifinal. Vonarburg will have to return for the repechage.

Great Britain’s Alan Campbell is riding a wave. Campbell took gold at the first Rowing World Cup earlier this month and today he led the third heat from start to finish. Looking stronger than last year, Campbell had former under-23 champion Karsten Brodowski of Germany on his tail at the beginning before shaking Brodowski off. Coming into the line Brodowski and Olympian Santiago Fernandez of Argentina both challenged Campbell hard. Neither of them could overtake the Brit. Campbell goes on to the semifinal.

Norway’s Olaf Tufte and Lassi Karonen of Sweden sometimes train together and often meet to race against each other at Scandinavian regattas. Today they were both seeded in the middle lanes of heat four. Olympic Champion Tufte jumped out to an early lead and left Karonen to play catch up for the entire race. Karonen maintained a steady pace, but it was not enough to overtake Olympic Champion Tufte who will go on directly to the semifinal.

Women’s Pair (W2-)

Australia came out fighting in the first of three heats getting off to a flying start ahead of current World Champions Belarus. By the half-way point, however, the Americans had found their rowing legs and taken over in the lead. Portia McGee and Anna Cummins of the United States are part of the women’s sweep squad under the guidance of Coach Tom Terhaar. Their top boat is the eight, but with final selection for the line-up of the Olympic boat still to be decided, McGee and Cummins wanted to show their worth in the pair. The USA remained in the lead through to the finish leaving Australia to take second and Belarus to also qualify for the semifinal in third.

Heat two recorded the fastest time when You Wu and Yulan Gao of China raced as though their life depended on it. With two Chinese entries in this event, Wu and Gao need to prove that they are the better combination. The duo took off in the lead and by 500m already had open water over the rest of the field. By the end of the race this had turned into a yawning gap as they raced across the final metres doing a high 40 stroke rate pace. Canada then came through in second and Australia’s second crew qualify for the semifinal in third.

There was absolutely nothing in it in heat three as four boats went through the first 500m mark. There was barely anything in it as four boats went through the 1000m mark. It took the second 1000 for the race to really be sorted. First early leaders, Great Britain dropped behind. The remaining three boats all charged. Eleanor Logan and Caroline Lind of the United States charged. World Champions from 2005 New Zealand remained steady and held on. China’s second crew sprinted. All three boats will move on to the semifinal, the United States from first, New Zealand from second and China from third. After the finish all three crews looked like they had had a jolly hard race.

Men’s Pair (M2-)

This is Canada’s first international regatta for 2008 and they look very pleased to be out of winter training, away from the cold, and ready to race. In the first of four heats Canada’s Dave Calder and Scott Frandsen took off in the lead and never looked back. Coming first in this race was all important as only first would go directly to the semifinal. On top of this for the Canadians, they needed to prove that they were better than Canada Two who would race in a later heat. Coming into the line Calder and Frandsen were able to rate a neat 29 stroke rate and watch a massive battle going on between France, Poland and Serbia. Just a second separated these three crews at the line. All will have to return for the repechage. Canada go directly to the semifinal.

It is an unusual sight to see reigning World Champions Drew Ginn and Duncan Free of Australia not in the lead at the start. Instead Germany’s number one crew had grabbed the bull by the horns and taken off in first. By the half-way point this had all changed. China was now in the lead with Ginn and Free gaining on them with every stroke. China held on but with 500m to go Ginn and Free had got their nose ahead. In the sprint to the line Australia was able to rate lower (31 strokes per minute) and still keep ahead of China rating 36. The contrast between Ginn and Free’s long, loping strokes and China’s short, fast style was obvious. Australia move on to the semifinal.

Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater of New Zealand haven’t just been working on their tan since they arrived into the European summer just days ago. They have been working on fast starts and consistent race splits. By the half-way point, 2004 Olympians Twaddle and Bridgewater had an easy boat length lead with only France Two in striking distance. South Africa, who have formed a new combination this season (Shaun Keeling joins regular Ramon Di Clemente), then moved on the New Zealanders. Bridgewater and Twaddle held them off. New Zealand moves on directly to the semifinal.

Rowing longevity legend Vaclav Chalupa of the Czech Republic showed that his change from sculling to sweep was the right decision. Last year Chalupa was unable to qualify for the Olympics when his double did not hit the mark. Chalupa is now in the pair and hoping to qualify for Beijing at the last chance in June. Today, with partner Jakub Makovicka, the Czechs overtook Australia Two to finish in first and move on to the semifinal. Australia will return for the repechage.

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x)

Current World Champions Qin Li and Liang Tian of China showed that their form is continuing. They led heat one of three heats in true doubles style, even splitting the race and rowing in long flowing synchronisation. Full credit, however, must go to the Americans. Megan Kalmoe and Ellen Tomek are a new combination this season and, although behind the Chinese, Kalmoe and Tomek held their own. At the line Li and Tian remained in first with Kalmoe and Tomek a boat-length back in second. Three boats from this race move on to the semifinal and the third spot goes to Regina Naunheim and Nora Fiechter of Switzerland.

Olympic Champions New Zealand had to pull out of heat two with Georgina Evers-Swindell ill. This left the field open to four countries racing for three qualifying positions. France and Germany decided to race for first while Australia settled into third. A strong middle 1000 by Annekatrin Thiele and Christiane Huth of Germany gave them the lead. Despite a final strong sprint to the line by Australia, Germany held on to the lead. At the line, Germany, Australia and France move on to the semifinal.

Great Britain returned to their 2007 line-up. Leading at the start in heat three, Anna Bebington is back in the boat with Elise Laverick. But they didn’t have much over China Two of Weiwei Zhu and Yangyang Zhang. By the half-way point Zhu and Zhang had moved into the lead with usual lightweights Renee Hykel and Jennifer Goldsack of the United States pushing into second. Despite three available semifinal qualifying spots up for grabs, three boats conducted an all-out sprint to the line. Less than half a second separated them at the finish. Zhu and Zhang take first, USA Three sprint to second and Great Britain hold on to third.

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x)

This event usually attracts a stack of entries, but as countries sort out their Olympic boats, the entries have stabilized. The 12 countries therefore fitted into two heats, and in heat one 2006 World Champions Adrien Hardy and Jean-Baptiste Macquet of France had the fastest start. By the half-way mark Hardy and Macquet were still in the lead with winners of the first Rowing World Cup, Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham of Great Britain gaining with every stroke. France could not hold off the powerful British. At the line Rowbotham and Wells, rating 36, had earned the sole qualifying spot and thus will move directly to the final. France, in second, will return for tomorrow’s repechage.

After an eight-year hiatus from rowing, New Zealand’s Rob Waddell has returned to the fold. He arrives on the international circuit only eight months after picking up oars again and in his first race finds himself up against reigning World Champions, Luka Spik and Iztok Cop of Slovenia. Spik and Cop took off in the lead. Then the Netherlands took over, and finally, in the third 500m, Waddell and partner Nathan Cohen took over in the lead. Cop and Spik fought back. Waddell and Cohen held them off. Looking in control, Cohen dropped the rating to 31 to cruise across the line in the first and qualifying position.

Men’s Four (M4-)

Back on the international scene for 2008, New Zealand showed why they are the reigning World Champions. Despite being challenged and re-challenged by Germany Two and Canada, New Zealand showed that they had left 24 hours of flying behind them and settled nicely into Europe for another season. Hamish Bond, Eric Murray, James Dallinger and Carl Meyer of New Zealand looked comfortable crossing the line in first. Canada rating 42 could not hold off a lower-rating Germany who finish in second. New Zealand, Germany Two and Canada advance directly to the semifinal.

Heat two turned out to be the faster of the two heats with a three-way battle going for the first half of the race between France, the Netherlands and Great Britain. France initially had the lead, only just, over the Netherlands. A strong push through the third 500 brought the Dutch into first place. France fought back. The sprint was on to the line. France took their rating to 41 to cross the line in first. France take a qualifying spot from second and Great Britain, pushing through at 35, remain in third and also qualify for the semi.

The third heat featured four boats and four very well matched crews. With 500m down, the crews remained overlapping, only the Czech Republic a fraction back. With half the race gone, the new United States crew, including former lightweight Olympian Paul Teti, had the lead with Germany One slipping back. With only 500m left to row Australia were now in the lead while the Czechs had dropped right off the pace. At the line Australia, rating 40, take first. The United States qualify from second and Germany One, now well off the pace, also qualify for the semifinal.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x)

Three heats required a top two finish for these lightweight women to go directly to the semifinal and in heat one Canada made certain one of those positions would be theirs. Melanie Kok has joined last year’s double member Tracy Cameron and together it looks to be a worthy line-up leading from the start. Behind them Germany and the Netherlands carried out a tight battle for second from the two centre lanes. As the finish came into sight Kok and Cameron remained comfortably in front keeping the rating at a clippy 36 strokes per minute. The Netherlands (Kirsten van der Kolk and Marit van Eupen) using long low rating strokes, held off the high, 36 stroke rate of Germany. Canada and the Netherlands move on to the semifinal.

Right from the start Dongxiang Xu and Hua Yu of China had control of the race in heat two. This left the remainder of the field to fight it out for second. Cuba put themselves into a qualifying spot before Denmark’s Katrin Olsen and Juliane Rasmussen overtook them to move into second. As Cuba faded, Olsen and Rasmussen secured a semifinal position along with China who were able to avoid a sprint and crossed the line rating just 27 strokes per minute.

Reigning World Champions Amber Halliday and Marguerite Houston of Australia debut their 2008 season here in Lucerne in heat three. They found themselves up against South Africa, Poland and France. Taking off in the lead, Halliday and Houston used long, layback strokes to hold on to the first position. By the half-way point they only had Poland to worry about. Halliday and Houston have been in the enviable position of being pre-selected as their country’s Olympic boat at the end of last year. This gave them the freedom to miss a season of trials and just concentrate on making their boat go fast. Poland’s Weronika Deresz and Ilona Mokronowska put up a good fight, keeping the Australians on their toes but the Australians remained looking relaxed, crossing the line at 29 strokes per minute. Poland qualify for the semifinal from second.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x)

Canada did it again in the first of four heats. Douglas Vandor and Cameron Sylvester of Canada knew that they needed to finish either first or second to go directly to the semifinal and they decided that first was the position they wanted. Germany’s Jonathan Koch and Manuel Brehmer, however, also wanted to cross the line in the lead. And so opened up one of the closest battles of the morning. Vandor and Sylvester got away first, but Koch and Brehmer were right with them. Through the middle 1000 Koch and Brehmer held a slight edge. The Canadians then sprinted back. In a fight to the line Vandor and Sylvester took the rating to 40. Koch and Brehmer held on at 36. Canada take first, Germany second. Both boats advance to the semifinal. Surprisingly Demark, who completely dominated in 2007, finished off the pace in fourth.

The second heat had a similar two-way battle, this time between France’s Maxime Goisset and Frederic Dufour and Jie Sun and Guolin Zhang of China. Zhang and Sun held the advantage at the start with Dufour and Goisset right on their tails. This order remained for the first half of the race. Then Sun and Zhang began to find the pace a little too hot and could not respond to a piece by France coming into the third 500m of the race. At the line France had shaken off the Chinese to take first. China still qualify directly to the semifinal by earning second.

New Zealand did not manage to qualify for the Olympics at last year’s World Champs in this event. They are back again this year with a change to the line-up. World under-23 singles champion Storm Uru has joined Peter Taylor. After a slow start at the first Rowing World Cup earlier this month, it looks like Uru and Taylor have come together nicely. They shook off a fast start by 2005 World Champions Hungary (Zsolt Hirling and Tamas Varga) to take the lead. Coming into the final sprint New Zealand remained easily in first. Under no real threat, Hungary remain in second to take the other qualifying spot.

Winning the first Rowing World Cup has given Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter of Great Britain confidence. They had not, however, prepared for the fighting spirit of Jeremie Azou and Remi Di Girolamo of France Two. These French newcomers took over at the head of the field and made Purchase and Hunter chase them down. It took over 1000m for Great Britain to finally out-row the French. Both boats advance directly to the semifinal. At the back of the field Olympic Champions Tomasz Kucharski and Robert Sycz will return for the repechage.

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-)

In 2005 France was the best in the world. Since then they have remained regular A finalists but have not always picked up a medal. Today they led heat one of three heats followed closely by Germany and Denmark. With three semifinal spots up for grabs these three boats worked at positioning themselves ahead of the rest of the field. Coming into the second half of the race Germany had pushed through France to take the lead. France fought back. Denmark sprinted. At the line Germany had a slight edge over France with Denmark in third. All three boats move on to the semifinal.

In 2006 China was the best in the world. Today in heat two they worked to regain their previous form by dominating the lead. Poland started off as the most likely threat to China, but they only had half a race in them. This left it to Ireland to do some damage. A strong second 1000 brought Ireland up to China. China fought back rating 41 to Ireland’s 36. China finish first, Ireland second and the United States qualify from third.

In 2007 Great Britain was the best in the world. Today, in heat three they took the lead and never looked back. The Netherlands pulled out a huge effort coming up to the 1000m mark but the British were able to react back and retain the lead. This effort cost the Dutch who then had to deal with an approaching Canada. At the line Great Britain take first, the Netherlands hold on to second and Canada earn a solid third.

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x)

Racing for lanes saw an interesting turn of events. Three-time World Champions Great Britain had a difficult battle on their hands. At the start Great Britain took the lead. It didn’t last long as China pushed through. Great Britain tried to react back but the Chinese were slowly slipping away. Great Britain then found themselves under pressure from Germany. At the line China remained easily in the lead with Great Britain, rating 35, finishing just a pinch ahead of Germany.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x)

Heat one of two heats required a first-place finish and there seems to be a new force on the block. Regular finalists, France took off in the lead. But coming up behind them was the United States. Scott Gault in stroke seat for the United States was working his way up on the French and targeting the lead. In the third 500 they found it. This took the wind out of France’s sails and by the finish the United States had an open water lead to take the only qualifying position. The USA go directly to the final with the fastest qualifying time.

Poland win again. Heat two opened with three-time World Champions Poland in the lead and closed with them in the lead. Behind them Australia, Canada, Cuba and Ukraine formed nearly a straight line in a very, very close battle for second. At the line, stroking 36, Poland take the sole qualifying spot. Not much more than a second separated the remainder of the field. Ukraine finish second but will have to return for the repechage.

Women’s Eight (W8+)

In the first of two heats the crews were all aiming to finish in the top spot. Winners of the first Rowing World Cup, Australia, got out with the best start in the hands of coxswain Elizabeth Patrick. China followed closely behind, but the Australians soon showed their superiority as China slipped back. Great Britain then challenged Australia, who now had a full boat length lead, but with little impact. At the line Australia remained easily in first crossing the line rating 34. Great Britain will return for the repechage.

The United States are regular medallists in the eight and after overtaking a fast starting Germany, the United States took over in the lead. In a much tighter race than heat one, heat two had the boats overlapping and a very true fight for first. Once the USA had pushed past Germany they then had to deal with Canada coming through in the final sprint. The Americans held their wits about them retaining a solid 36 stroke rate. Canada went to 40 strokes per minute under the voice of coxswain Lesley Thompson-Willie. But the USA remained in the lead and take the qualifying spot.

Men’s Eight (M8+)

Australia won at the first Rowing World Cup. They showed this wasn’t a fluke today by leading heat one from start to finish. Germany and Great Britain gave it their all to get up to the Australians, but never quite managed to get there. Australia move on to the final on Sunday from first. Germany, in second, will return for the repechage.

Reigning World Champions Canada recorded the fastest qualifying time in heat two. They did this by leading from start to finish. Only China dared to threaten Canada’s lead, but the Chinese did not have the push to do it. Canada will meet Australia in the final.