The third day of the Rowing World Cup in Munich, Germany, saw boats racing for spots in tomorrow’s finals. This afternoon rowers had to contend with inconsistent wind patterns on the water. It was mainly head wind conditions with choppy water turning into white caps as the day continued. Still the sun continued to shine with clear skies. Weather conditions meant a reordering of lanes with the top rowers going into lane six, the lane closest to the 1972 Olympic grandstand where exuberant supporters mainly from Great Britain, the Netherlands and, of course, Germany, were supporting their favourite athletes.

Iva Obradovic of Serbia looks relaxed before the semifinal of the Women's Single Sculls during day 3 of the FISA Rowing World Cup at the Ruderregattastrecke on May 10, 2008 in Oberschleissheim, Germany  (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – Semifinals

Illness continued to take its toll on athletes and the first race of the afternoon felt it with Rumyana Neykova of Bulgaria withdrawing earlier in the day from semifinal one. This left the showdown between Neykova and reigning World Champion Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus until another day, or rather, the next Rowing World Cup. Karsten likes to start strong and she took off with the nose of her boat out in the lead. Frida Svensson of Sweden also got a good start and stuck with Karsten before Iva Obradovic of Serbia moved through and into second position. Obradovic’s strong middle thousand kept her in second but still not close enough to really attack Karsten. Meanwhile Svensson seemed content to hold on to third. Coming into the final metres of the race Karsten let her rating drop to a comfortable 27 to finish first, Obradovic takes second and Svensson finishes in the final qualification spot, in third. Surprisingly this forces Sophie Balmary of France out of the final and into the B Final with her fourth place finish.

Another surprise presented itself in semifinal two. Last year’s bronze medallist, Michelle Guerette of the United States was unable to finish in the top three and will be out of the final. Instead the race for top spots went on between Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic and New Zealand’s Emma Twigg. Knapkova has been the Czech Republic’s top woman single sculler for the last seven years while young Twigg was the world junior champion a couple of years ago, then joined her country’s eight before coming back into the single last year to become world under-23 champion. The two remained level with Knapkova having a slight edge. Italy’s Gabriella Bascelli sat firmly in third. Coming into the close of the race, Twigg looked happy to let Knapkova take first, Twigg was second and Bascelli earns the final qualifying spot from third. Guerette crossed the line 20 seconds back in fourth.

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) – Semifinals

The huge number of entries in this event (37) meant it was the only boat class that required three semifinals. A top two position would be necessary to move on into the A Final. In semifinal one the top two spots seemed to get sorted out very early in the piece. Great Britain’s Alan Campbell and Lassi Karonen of Sweden were not giving each other an inch at the head of the field. This battle meant that they moved far ahead of the rest of the competition. And, surprisingly, in the rest of the field was Iztok Cop of Slovenia. Cop has been focusing on the double this year as he and Luka Spik aim for gold at the Beijing Olympics, but an injured Spik gave Cop a chance to try out the single. When Cop realised he couldn’t get up with Campbell and Karonen, he decided to let the leaders go. Meanwhile a final 34 stroke rate sprint by Campbell gave the Brit the lead and a psychological advantage over Karonen. Campbell and Karonen will meet again in tomorrow’s final with the knowledge that they had the fastest semifinal time.

It certainly looks like reigning Olympic Champion Olaf Tufte of Norway has stepped up in this Olympic year. Since winning in 2004 Tufte has recorded mixed results but he had a solid win in the heats two days ago and today he easily won semifinal two being able to cruise the last 500m of the race. Switzerland’s sole Olympic qualifier Andre Vonarburg followed in second to the sound of bells from the Swiss supporters watching from the grandstand. In third last year’s junior champion Aleksandar Aleksandrov of Bulgaria really pushed it at the end but did not manage to get into a qualifying spot.

Germany’s Marcel Hacker got out in the lead ahead of last year’s silver medallist Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic in semifinal three. Synek stuck with the German and by half-way had gotten in front. Hacker then seemed happy to have given a good 1000m and let Synek move out into a handy lead. Third-placed Sjoerd Hamburger of the Netherlands was far enough back and Hacker was comfortable not to have to sprint the last 500m. Much to the disappointment of the many Dutch fans in the crowd, Hamburger will have to race the B Final. Synek and Hacker meet again tomorrow in the A Final.

The Dutch Women's Pairs with Sarah Siegeiaar (b) and Annemiek De Haan (s) during the semifinal of the 2008 Rowing World Cup in Munich, Germany.Women’s Pair (W2-) – Semifinals

The two semifinals required a top three finish for advancement to the A Final. As the water got rougher the six boats in semifinal one struggled to line up at the start. Once securely in the starting blocks it was China (You Wu and Yulan Gao) and Germany (Lenka Wech and Maren Derlien) that got the best start with very little between the two crews. Both of these countries have qualified the pair for Beijing with Germany still undergoing final decisions as to the make-up of the crew. China then moved away from Germany with last year’s World Champions Yulia Bichyk and Natallia Helakh of Belarus a good margin back in third. The order did not alter for the remainder of the race with no other crew threatening to get into the top three. China, Germany and Belarus move on to the Final.

The second semifinal made it look like the crews were really affected by the water conditions. White caps were starting to form on parts of the race course and finishing times were slow. Sarah Siegelaar and Annemiek de Haan of the Netherlands had a great heat two days ago and today they opened in the lead. But that lead was soon gobbled up by Caroline Lind and Eleanor Logan of the United States. Then back a bit a real hum dinger of a battle was going on for the third qualifying spot between the United States’ second boat and Australia. As USA One dealt with the Dutch, USA Two had their hands full with the Australians. Rowing looked a bit scrappy all round. At the finish Lind and Logan had won, Siegelaar and de Haan take second and Zsuzsanna Francia and Anna Goodale of the United States managed to sprint better than Australia to take the third and final qualifying spot.

Sinisa Skelin (b) and Niksa Skelin (s) of Croatia competes in the Men's Pairs semifinal during day 3 of the FISA Rowing World Cup at the Ruderregattastrecke on May 10, 2008 in Oberschleissheim, Germany  (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)Men’s Pair (M2-) – Semifinals

Are the Croatians back on form? After posting a solid win in the heats, Niksa and Sinisa Skelin posted another win by leading semifinal one from start to finish. Behind them the fight for the remaining two qualifying spots was fierce. China’s number one crew started solidly but by the half-way point they had been reeled in by Raffaello Leonardo and Giuseppe De Vita of Italy. Then the Danes began to advance. Morten Nielsen and Thomas Larsen have qualified this boat for the Olympic Games and they are keen to show their country’s selectors their worth. With 500m left to row the Skelins remained comfortably in the lead, Italy had found their niche in second and the Danes were continuing to charge in third. Meanwhile Great Britain had found a second wind and were bearing down on third. Parker and Burton of Great Britain had left their run too late. Croatia, Italy and Denmark will be in the A Final.

The faster of the two semis was the second one. Led by Switzerland’s great hope for Olympic qualification, Florian Stofer and Stefan Sax, the second semi saw some of the fiercest racing to the line of any race today. Sax and Stofer got out to a great start followed closely by France’s Erwan Peron and Laurent Cadot. Behind them Germany challenged for a qualifying spot and then the United States before Vaclav Chalupa and Jakub Makovicka of the Czech Republic opened up their second half charge. Coming into the closing 500m of the race Stofer and Sax remained comfortably in the lead watching first a charge by France rating 37, then the United States at 38 with the Czech Republic moving with them. Switzerland, France and the Czech Republic will be in the final tomorrow.

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) – Semifinals

On paper, despite their youth, Jitka Antosova and Gabriela Varekova of the Czech Republic looked to be the best matched in semifinal one. They are going into their third season together and will only be improving with time. But the Czechs were up against Jutta Lau’s stable of scullers. In the double for Germany, Annekatrin Thiele and Christiane Huth had taken off in the lead and showed no desire to give it up. Behind these two leading boats the United States and Great Britain were ducking it out for the final qualifying spot. The United States had the best start and an early advantage, but 2004 Olympic medallists, Elise Laverick and Sarah Winckless of Great Britain were gaining ground. At the line Thiele and Huth had retained first place, Antosova and Varekova held on to second and Laverick and Winckless were able to shake off the United States to take the third qualifying spot.

It took nearly eight minutes for the current World Champions, Qin Li and Liang Tian of China to make it to the finish line. Li and Tian retained a steady pace at the head of semifinal two with the biggest threat to their leading position coming from China’s second boat, Bin Tang and Ziwei Jin. It is likely that becoming the Olympic duo for China is still under review and Tang and Jin have a lot to prove. The Chinese battle at the head of the field left everyone else practically standing still. Switzerland and Italy were right off the pace. Belarus tried to make an impact but soon fell back. Ukraine got themselves into third but were far away from the Chinese. At the line China had the top two spots, Li and Tian were three seconds ahead of Tang and Jin with Ukraine taking out the final qualifying position.

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – Semifinals

A problem in France’s boat meant that the second semifinal was raced first and it was Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham of Great Britain that got the best start and did their best to keep the lead. Australia’s Olympic duo, Scott Brennan and David Crawshay slipped into second with Tim Maeyens and Christophe Raes of Belgium challenging from third. With 500m left to row Wells and Rowbotham were clear leaders and there was absolutely nothing in it between Australia and Belgium. Australia’s top sculler, Crawshay in stroke pushed the rating up. Belgium’s top sculler Maeyens in stroke of his boat pushed back. At the line barely a bow ball separated the two crews. Great Britain had won, Belgium was second and Australia third. These three boats will meet again tomorrow in the Final.

Italy jumped out in the lead of semifinal one and at the half-way point they still had a slight edge with a high 36 stroke rate keeping them there. But the Italians were starting to fade with Germany taking advantage of this situation. Germany’s Clemens Wenzel and Falko Nolte could be the new top double combination for their country. Neither of these athletes were in the boat that qualified for the Olympics last year, but they must have done something over the winter months to convince coaches to give them a try. Now in the lead Wenzel and Nolte moved away from Italy and held on to first. But then Mario Vekic and Ante Kusurin of Croatia started to charge. The Croatians had overtaken Italy and were moving on the Germans. At the line Wenzel and Nolte had only just held on to first, Vekic and Kusurin take second and the final qualifying spot goes to Venier and Agamennoni of Italy. Unlucky France, in fourth, will return to race the B Final.

Finish of the Men's Four semifinal at the Olympia Regattastrecke during the 2008 Rowing World Cup in Munich, Germany.Men’s four (M4-) – Semifinals

The heats two days ago indicated that racing would be hot in the men’s four. Today they raced the semifinals with former World Champions Great Britain opening the proceedings. British stroke Andy Triggs Hodge loves to get his boat in front and keep it there and this is exactly what they did today. Last year’s bronze medallists, the Netherlands slipped into second with Italy in hot pursuit. Half the race had now been completed and Great Britain had gained a reasonably comfortable lead while the Netherlands and Italy remained neck and neck. A faster finish by the Dutch gave them a clear second. Great Britain qualifies for the Final with the fastest time from first and Italy, in third, also move on to the Final.

The German selectors have a big challenge on their hands. Today in semifinal two Germany One finished behind Germany Two. But there was very little in it. Here’s how the race went. The Czech Republic got into the lead and tried to inch away from the two German entries. By the half-way point the Czechs were still in the lead with Germany One following and Germany Two in third. This order remained unchanged until the final sprint came into view. Germany Two pulled out a big finish. At the line the Czechs had just held on to first, Germany Two had gained second and Germany One was a fraction back in third. All three crews will rest up tonight and race again in the Final tomorrow.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x)

Semifinal A/B 1
This first semifinal of the lightweight double saw an early lead of the two Greek boats. Greece One, world bronze medalists in 2006, qualified directly from their heat; Greece Two with 17-year-olds Triantafyllia Kalampoka and Christina Giazitzidou were world bronze medallists in last year’s lightweight women’s quad. But Athens Olympic bronze medallists Kirsten van der Kolk and Marit van Eupen of the Netherlands, in fifth at 500m, had closed in on the Greeks by the half-way mark, taking over Greece Two. Italy’s European bronze medallists Erika Bello and Laura Milani coursed down in a steady third. With 250m to go, Greece One with Chrysi Biskitzi and Alexandra Tsiavou were leading by a length and a half, widening the gap with each stroke. Were the Netherlands simply aiming to qualify for the A Final, keeping their energy for tomorrow? Only tomorrow will tell.

At the line, Greece One, the Netherlands and Italy go to the A Final tomorrow, while the others will have a chance to race for positions 7 to 12 in the B Final.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x)

Semifinal A/B 2
Germany’s Berit Carow and Marie-Louise Draeger and China’s Dongxiang Xu and Haixia Chen came in as direct qualifiers from their heat, and were seeded in lanes five and six. Dongxiang Xu was part of the 2006 World Champion crew and holds the World Best Time in this event. But it was 2007 European silver medallists Poland who were leading at 500m, with Germany and China nearly level in second and third respectively. Despite their Olympic experience, the Poles were gradually losing stamina, and Germany and China began moving up the ranks. By the half-way mark, all three crews were battling it out with less than a second between them. 2007 world bronze medallists Germany moved to first, China to second, and Poland fell back in third. With 250m left, Germany was leading with half a length over China and China was leading Poland by two lengths. At the line, these two crews move on to tomorrow’s A Final. Great Britain Two, Switzerland and France go to Final B.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x)

Semifinal A/B 1
Greece, Portugal, Hungary One, Germany Two, Italy Two and France Two sat on the start line of this first semi of the lightweight men’s double.

Among the crews, the most “decorated” athlete in this field, Daniele Gilardoni, eight-time world championship gold medallist, set out ahead of the field in front of France Two. The French crew had the fastest time overall in the heat on Thursday, finished first in the quarterfinal yesterday and would soon make sure they got ahead again in this race. Their rivals Italy were faster in the quarterfinal. The chase was on, and the race was mainly about those two crews.

Behind the Italy and France duel, Zsolt Hirling and Tamas Varga from Hungary, last year’s European Champions in this event, finished third, taking the last A Final spot. Greece and Germany Two follow in fourth and fifth respectively and Portugal, whose stroke Nuno Mendes is celebrating his 20th birthday today, finish sixth.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x)

Semifinal A/B 2
In the second semifinal, it was Great Britain seeded in lane six. Sitting in bow seat was World Champion and World Under-23 Champion in the lightweight single Zac Purchase. Last year, he and Mark Hunter doubled up to win bronze at the worlds in Munich. Winning both their heat and their quarterfinal, they burst out of the starting blocks with confidence and remained in the lead, with Czech twins Ondrej and Jan Vetesnik in second. But by the half-way mark France Two’s new combination of Jeremie Azou and Remi Di Girolamo had caught up with the Czechs and China began to attack. With 250m left to row, Great Britain had a comfortable lead, China increased their rate to 37, France was holding on in third, attempting to narrow the gap with China, and the Czech Republic was several boat lengths behind in fourth. Great Britain, China and France move on to tomorrow’s A Final, while the Czech Republic, Brazil and Croatia will row in Final B.

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-)

Semifinal A/B 1
Great Britain, France and China One started out in front. Reigning World Champions Great Britain finished first in their heat on Thursday, and France were right behind in second. Both crews qualified directly to this semi, and therefore earned a short rest yesterday, while some of their competitors had to battle through a repechage.

The Chinese crew also qualified direct from their heat, and were also to be reckoned with in this race. In fact, by the second half of the race, the Chinese in lane five had moved into second place, overtaking France. They remained in that spot to the line with only just over a seconds lead over the experienced French crew. At the line, Great Britain, China One and France go to the A Final. Greece, Spain and the Netherlands will race in Final B.

Lightweight men’s four (LM4-)

Semifinal A/B 2
Germany and Ireland qualified for the semifinal directly from their heat, without having to go through the repechage, so they entered this race with an extra dose of energy which was evident from the start. At 500m Germany had a slight lead, and Ireland stayed close. Behind in third was Denmark, with double Olympic champions Eskild Ebbesen in stroke and Thomas Ebert in bow. Making a comeback after Athens the Danes are hoping to repeat their Olympic performance in Beijing later this year. But Germany has found a winning combination with twin brothers Jochen and Martin Kuehner, world silver medallists in the lightweight men’s pair, and former lightweight eight members Bastian Seibt and Jost Schoemann-Finck. Staying in the lead throughout, they increased the gap with Ireland until the line. Ireland has a history of success in this boat class, but has missed out on Olympic qualification as of yet, hoping to secure their spot for Beijing at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in June. With the comeback of Gearoid Towey, the Irish seem to have found their form again. The last 250m would be decisive however, as Serbia in lane four had kept their energy for the last sprint. Shooting up the field, the Serbs overtook Denmark at the line in a photo finish. World Best Time holders Denmark will go to Final B, along with Italy and China Two. Germany, Ireland and Serbia will meet each other again in Final A.

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x)

Repechage
The women’s quad featured two Chinese crews. Both crews missed out on direct qualification to the A Final by finishing second in their respective heats on Friday. They led within the first few hundred meters and would keep the advantage to the end, just varying and increasing the gap between them and their followers.

In third position in lane four was Australia, whose efforts could not bring them anywhere close to China in this race. Australia had finished third behind China One yesterday, and had already experienced a four-second gap behind the world bronze medallists in that race. Behind Australia, Ukraine remained in fourth position pretty consistently to the end of the course.

China One, whose demonstration of fine sculling style certainly impressed race commentator Paul Castle, finish with clear water ahead of China Two including Weiwei Zhu, last year’s junior women’s single scull champion, and then another two lengths back to Australia and finally the Ukraine, who take the last A-Final spot.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x)

Semifinal A/B 1
Triple World Champions and World Best Time holders Poland come out of winter training in fine form. At the top of the class for the past three years, in Munich they have shown the rest of the field they are still the best and rating 33 at the half-way mark, their competitors trailed two lengths behind. Playing around in second and third were France and Italy. Italy includes Top 10 rower and Olympic champion Rossano Galtarossa and France earned silver at last year’s World Rowing Championships. Poland were not going to budge, keeping their cruising speed of 33, they stayed two lengths ahead of France with the finish line looming. Poland, France and Italy in third go through to Final A.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x)

Semifinal A/B 2
Slovenia in lane five and Germany in lane six made the first show out of the starting blocks with Belarus in third just ahead of Australia. The entire race was between Slovenia and Germany whose four-second plus lead ahead of the rest of the field gave them a comfortable enough advantage throughout the entire course.
Although Belarus had come into this race quite strong, qualifying straight from the heat, this did not give them the advantage they could have wished for, and Australia, who came here by winning a second chance repechage, managed to keep the advantage and secure the third A-Final place.

Femke Dekker (b), Nienke Dekker, Nienke Kingma, Marlies Smulders, Annemarieke Van Rump, Roline Pepelaer van Driel, Sarah Siegelaer, Annemiek de Haar (s) and Ester Workle (c) of the Netherland get ready for the start of the Women's Eights repechageduring day 3 of the FISA Rowing World Cup at the Ruderregattastrecke on May 10, 2008 in Oberschleissheim, Germany  (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)Women’s Eight (W8+)

Repechage 1
Only three boats in this first repechage meant finishing in the top two places would be necessary to make it to Final A. The Netherlands had a close race with Australia in their heat yesterday and have not forgotten the Athens bronze medal. With Olympic dreams on their mind, they put a winning act on from the first couple of strokes. Up until the 1500m mark it seemed the A Final qualifiers had already been decided, with New Zealand in second and Germany One in third. But Germany One was determined to show Olympic selectors what they were capable of. Upping their stroke to 35, they stormed up the ranks, finishing six seconds ahead of New Zealand. The Netherlands and New Zealand will line up in the A Final tomorrow Sunday.

Women’s Eight (W8+)

Repechage 2
Belarus, Germany Two, Great Britain and Romania were fighting for the first two places in this race which would take them through to the A Final. These two places seemed to have been decided from the start, as Great Britain and Romania shot out the start fingers ahead, the Brits with the slight advantage.

Romania, reigning Olympic champion of the discipline, had been beaten to everyone’s surprise by a very strong Chinese crew yesterday, and were determined to make sure this would not happen again in this race. By the middle of the race they had re-gained the advantage, and, despite a good fight from the Brits, and some very loud shouting by their cox Caroline O’Connor, the Romanians stayed ahead to take the first A-Final spot. Great Britain rowed in just behind, with less than a two-second margin to take the second A-Final spot. Behind, Belarus and Germany Two came in third and fourth.

Men’s Eight (M8+)

Repechage 1
Had it not been for the disqualification of Russia’s men’s eight following an anti-doping violation, Australia would still be in quest of Olympic qualification. But Australia has entered the season certain of being Beijing-bound. Triple Olympic champion and Top 10 rower James Tomkins Australia came back from post-Athens retirement last year aiming for another Olympic experience. But it was the Netherlands, trying to match the accomplishment of their female counterparts in the women’s eight, who were leading at 500m. Australia had reserves to go digging into and show off and by the half-way mark had made it into the lead, with France close behind the Netherlands in third. But France was getting ready to attack. In the last 500m, they upped their stroke to 39, and charged for the Netherlands. Australia was still going strong, increasing the clear water gap with the rest of the field. At the line, France finished one third of a length ahead of the Netherlands back in third. Australia finished in style, two lengths ahead of France. Switzerland in fourth will join the Netherlands in Final B.

Men’s Eight (M8+)

Repechage 2
Repechage Two of the men’s eight is a race between four crews. Two of them can qualify for the A Final, the others will go to Final B.
On paper, the clear favourites are Germany’s “Deutschlandachter” the star German eight boat. They finished second last year on home turf at the World Rowing Championships behind Canada who are not racing in this regatta.
The Germans, coxed by one of the most experienced coxes in the world, 40-year old Peter Thiede (16th successive season in international rowing) dominated throughout, followed all the way by Croatia. Poland and Italy followed behind in even procession, with an Italian boat that never really seemed to really get into this race.

Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (LW1x)

The first Final B of the Rowing World Cup opened with the lightweight single sculls. The five boats entered in this lesser final had raced earlier today in the semifinal and after a few hours’ had reloaded to compete for places 7 to 11 in this non-Olympic boat category. Poland reported ill and did not line up. This left five boats in the starting blocks. Tunisia’s Ibtissem Trimech started out hard, perhaps too hard, as Italy’s Carola Tamboloni suddenly upped her stroke to 32, cruising past Tunisia by the half-way mark. But Denmark’s Helen Olsen had a strategy to carry through, and she surprised her unsuspecting competitors by moving up the ranks from fourth at the half-way mark, and at a rate of 31 closing in on Norway, who had overtaken Tunisia, and Italy, to finish in first.

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x)
Austria came to this regatta with a large contingent of lightweight rowers. Three were meant to race in this B Final, but a last-minute withdrawal for illness of Juliusz Madecki meant that the field only counted two Austrians among the five scullers.

talian Franco Sancassani, brother of Elisabetta Sancassani, dominated this race from the start from lane four. Sancassani was a World Champion in the lightweight men’s eight in Eton in 2006, and was seen last year in the lightweight pair and single during the Rowing World Cup season.
Behind the Italian, Takahiro Suda, fifth at last year’s worlds, took the second place, placing him eighth overall in this regatta. Austria Five (Florian Berg) and Austria Four (Christian Rabel) follow, with Barbaros Gozutok of Turkey finishing last with a five-second delay behind the rest of the field.

Lightweight Men’s Pair (LM2-)
Spain put all of its energy into this race, pushing very hard from the start and staying strong until the end. They surprised Germany and the Netherlands who initially seemed to struggle keeping up. But that was only an impression. By the half-way mark Germany and The Netherlands had come right back into the race and began closing the gap with Spain. The last 500m were going to be tight, very tight, nearly level. But Spain held on, and held on strong. At the line, Spain finishes seventh overall, one second up on Germany, eighth overall, and the Netherlands ninth.