Coming back for afternoon repechages at the third Rowing World Cup

It also meant the men’s single all having an extra race with quarterfinals being raced because of a large field of 26 entries. The weather remained great the water perfect for the rowers as spectators enjoyed the sunny conditions.

Lightweight Women's Single Sculls (LW1x) – Repechage

Two repechages with the top two from each advancing forward to the semifinal opened with the experienced Mirna Rajle of Croatia going head to head with new-to-senior-rowing Evi Geentjens of Belgium. Geentjens, 23, gave it a good shot and held Rajle’s pace for 1500m but then slipped back in the final sprint. Rajle spent the first half of this season working with a partner in the Olympic boat class, the lightweight double. But Rajle must have decided the project wasn’t working and has returned to the single. Rajle qualifies for the semifinal along with Geentjens in second.

Phuttharaksa Nikree of Thailand has already been to two Olympic Games in the single and is Thailand’s most accomplished females sculler. Today she led repechage two but conceded her lead position in the final sprint. Andrea Dennis of Great Britain, who stuck with Nikree for the entire race takes the top spot. Both scullers advance to the semifinal.

Lightweight Men’s Single Scull (LM1x) – Repechage

Four repechages showed the depth of racing in this event. Each sculler had to aim for a top two spot to qualify for the semifinal and in repechage one Germany’s Jonathan Koch had a close battle with Timothy Colson, 21, of Canada. Koch started at the senior level last year while this is Colson’s first race at the senior level. Colson led the first half of the race before Koch took an edge going through the third 500. Both Koch and Colson move on to the semifinal.

Japan’s Kazushige Ura went to the 2004 Olympics in the lightweight double, but has lost his position in that priority boat. Today he moves on in the single to the semifinal by leading repechage two from start to finish. But Ura did not have everything his own way in this race. Italy’s third crew, Lorenzo Bertini stuck closely to Ura and the two boats remained overlapping for the entire race. Both will qualify for the final well ahead of the rest of the field. Surprisingly Italy’s number one boat, and former World Champion in the lightweight single, Stefano Basalini, sat at the back of the field well off the pace.

Italy added two more boats to the semifinal by finishing one-two in repechage three. Italy4 Gennaro Gallo opened with the lead in this race but soon slipped behind his more experienced teammate Franco Sancassani. Sancassani is a World Champion in both the lightweight quad and eight and comes to Lucerne as Italy2. Gallo started off this season in the double but has returned to the single for Lucerne. A better sprint by Gallo gave him the edge at the line and both Italians move on to the semifinal.

Remi Di Girolamo of France has come out of team boat rowing and into the single for repechage four. The 25 year old Frenchman won bronze last year at the World Rowing Championships in the lightweight quad and has spent most of this season in the double. Today he raced for a second time by leading over Ireland and former under 23 World Champion Bine Pislar of Slovenia. A fading Ireland gave the second place to Pislar who will now get a chance to contest the semifinal.

Lightweight Men’s Pair (LM2-) – Repechage

An equipment problem in the German entry delayed the first of two repechages until the end of the day. Instead repechage two took to the water first with the aim of finishing first or second. These two positions would give a birth in the A Final. Germany’s number one crew of Felix Otto and Stefan Mlecko showed the way and didn’t give the rest of the field much of a look-in. Greece tried to challenge, so did Denmark, but neither could reach the Germans. An almighty sprint by Kasper Winther and Asbjoern Joensen of Denmark in the final 500 metres gave the Danes the second qualifying spot, relegating Greece to the B Final.

Lightweight Men’s Quadruple Sculls (LM4x) – Repechage

One repechage and a second time rowing today for these athletes saw Germany1 take an early lead. But Germany2 must know their number one crew’s ways and as Germany1 slipped back, Germany2 took the lead with Denmark and Austria also right on the pace. Going through the 1000m mark all of these four crews remained overlapping with Germany2 remaining in the lead. Coming into the final sprint Denmark, stroked by World Champion on the indoor rowing machine, Henrik Stephansen, took the rating up and charged for the line. Germany2 held on to first, Denmark take second and Austria and Germany1 also qualify from third and fourth respectively.

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – Repechage

Leading the first of two repechages was Denmark’s Ulla Hvid. The 37 year old raced internationally back in 1991 and then took an extensive break from the international scene before returning last year. Today she looked strong staying ahead of former under 23 World Champion, Iva Obradovic of Serbia. Hvid and Obradovic sat very comfortably in the two qualifying spots and neither had to do an all out sprint for the line.

A lot of cheering followed the second repechage down the course and Switzerland’s Nora Fiechter reacted by leading for the first half of the race. But the Swiss could not hold it and began to run out of steam. Instead Slovenia’s Majda Jerman took over with Spain’s only woman Olympic finalist (Athens 2004) Nuria Dominguez Asensio taking chase. In a final sprint Jerman just held on to first and Dominguez qualifying from second.

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) – Quarterfinal

Four quarterfinals and a top three position needed to move on to the semifinal was the formula for the men returning to the lake to race for a second time today. In quarterfinal one current yellow jersey holder, Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic overtook a fast starting Sjoerd Hamburger of the Netherlands. Synek wasted no energy in his morning heat, doing just enough to qualify. This seems to have suited him well as he had no problem taking the lead and doing enough to stay ahead of Hamburger. Meanwhile, sitting solidly in third, Ralph Kreibich of Austria was under no threat and moves on to the semifinal along with Synek and Hamburger.

Italy’s Pier Giogio Negrini tried to hold on to the talented Tim Maeyens of Belgium from the start and in the first half of the race gave it a good shot. But then Negrini seemed to run out of steam as Germany’s Marco Giesler moved up along with Martin Yanakiev of Bulgaria. Maeyens remained in the lead with the best sprint going to Giesler who takes second and Yanakiev also qualifies from third.

The World Champion lined up against the Olympic Champion in quarterfinal three. New Zealand’s Mahe Drysdale against Olaf Tufte of Norway. Tufte took an early advantage but Drysdale was not going to let him get away and going through the third 500 Drysdale had found the lead. But Tufte must have been working on his finishing sprint and as the finish line came into sight the Norwegian and the Kiwi went head to head. At the line Tufte had first, Drysdale takes second and a long way back in third Ivo Yanakiev of Bulgaria joins his brother in the semifinal. This quarterfinal has the distinction of recording the fastest qualifying times.

Lassi Karonen of Sweden must have been wondering if he could hold fast-starter Alan Campbell at the start of quarterfinal four. The Swede gave it a good go and even at the half way point Karonen was still very much in touch with Campbell who had the lead. The Karonen pulled out a piece in the third 500 which gave him a slight lead. But Campbell decided he preferred being first and fought back. Campbell qualifies from first, Karonen takes second and Leonid Gulov of Estonia is the final qualifier.

Men's Pair (M2-) – Repechages

In the first of two repechages, Great Britain's Matthew Langridge and Colin Smith, gold medallists at both Rowing World Cups earlier this season (once in the eight), led from the start and to the line. Dutchmen Bart Sjenitzer and Willem De Graaf repeating their 2006 racing experience together in Lucerne, moved up the field from sixth position at the 1000m mark to finish half a second behind the Czech Republic in third position. All three boats move on to the semifinal.

The three qualifying boats in the second semifinal were evident from the start and remained the same until the line. Canadians Scott Frandsen and Barney Williams led from the start, with Serbia's Goran Jagar and Nikola Stojic following behind in second and Andreas Penkner and Jochen Urban of Germany in third.

Women's Double Sculls – Repechage

Only one repechage in this boat class would give Romania's Olympic champions Doina Ignat and Aurica Barascu a second chance to qualify for the A Final, in their first international race since winning gold in the women's eight at the Athens Olympic Games. Moving up the field from third position at the 500m mark, the Romanians led for the remainder of the race. Hungary and Norway take the second and third qualifying spots.

Men's Double Sculls (M2x) – Repechages

Six boats were given a chance to move on to the next round of racing, the semifinals, in the hope to qualify for the A Final.

Italy's Under 23 World Champion and silver medalist in the quad in Linz, Federico Gattinoni, stroking with Jean Smerghetto in bow, stayed on the heels of leaders USA until the 1500m mark, then faltered in the last 500m. Germany's silver medallists in the pair at the first Rowing World Cup, Rene Bertram and Robert Sens lagged in fifth position, behind Germany2, until the 1000m mark. With 500m left to go, still out of the qualifying spot but now ahead of Germany2, Germany1 sprinted to the line, relegating Italy to fourth position. The USA, Belgium and Germany1 go to the semifinal.

Norway's Helge Toennessen and Nils Hoff, leading for three-quarters of the race, tried hard to qualify, but lost stamina in the last 500m. Great Britain2 and Croatia toyed with second and third places throughout the race, and took first and second respectively when Norway fell behind in the last few hundred metres. Greece's Ioannis Tsamis and Ioannis Christou, overtaking Norway, take the last qualifying spot.

Men's Four (M4-) – Repechages

After qualifying directly from the heats to the semifinal in Amsterdam, Ireland, aiming for a repeat A Final performance in Lucerne, had to go through an additional round of racing. With Greece leading the semifinal for three-quarters of the race, Ireland sprinted to the line, overtaking Greece and finishing less than one second ahead in first. Poland, moving from fifth to third in the second 500m, take the third qualifying spot.

In the second repechage, the top three boats stayed in the top three places throughout, with France and Australia toying with second and third until the 1500m mark. France medalled in Linz with bronze, and made a similar attempt in Amsterdam, but missed the podium by three hundredths of a second. This time around, Despres, Rondeau, Chardin and Mortelette qualified for the semifinal in style, from first position. Leading the race for 1500m, Canada finish in second, less than a second behind France, and Australia take the last qualifying spot.

Lightweight Women's Double Sculls (LW2x) – Repechages

After competing in the open weight women's double since the beginning of the 2007 season, Finland's Sanna Sten and Minna Nieminen, bronze medallists at the 2005 World Rowing Championships, are now back in lightweight form. Securing their qualifying spot from the beginning of the race, they moved from third to second by the half-way point, behind leaders Erika Bello and Laura Milani of Italy. After dashing out of the starting blocks, Spain's Teresa Mas de Xaxars and Sonia Boubeta Curras fell behind from first at 500m to third, and managed to qualify for the semifinal nearly nine seconds behind Finland and thirteen seconds ahead of Japan.

Bronze medallists at the 2006 World Rowing Championships, Greece's Chrysi Biskitzi and Alexandra Tsiavou, had decided to start in the lead and stay in the lead. Their strategy worked. Racing internationally for the first time since the World Rowing Championships in Eton last year where they won silver, Australia's Marguerite Houston and Amber Halliday moved up to second place by the half-way point and stayed there to the line, ahead of third qualifiers Norwegians Anniken Ellingsen and Hilde Gudem.

Lightweight Men's Double Sculls (LM2x) – Repechages

With only two qualifying spots up for grabs, the fight was on. New Zealand and Canada proved their superiority by leading with a clear water margin in front of the rest of the field. Kiwis Graham Oberlin-Brown and Peter Taylor, 2006 Under 23 World Champions, had taken over Canadians Matt Jensen and Douglas Vandor by the 1000m mark and stayed in the lead until the line.

Czech brothers Jan and Ondrej Vetesnik, Under 23 World Champions in 2005, took the lead and stayed in the lead from the start, followed by 2006 world silver medallists Marcello Miani and Elia Luini.

Lightweight Men's Four (LM4-) – Repechages

Four repechages give eight boats another chance to qualify for the A Final.

Denmark's all-time top rower Eskild Ebbesen made a comeback this year after a post-Athens break. Improving on a B Final finish in Linz and after finishing fifth in the A Final in Amsterdam, Ebbesen and his crew of Bo Hellegerg, Mads Andersen and Morten Joergensen are again aiming to improve their performance. The Danes started in the lead and stayed there until the line ahead of Serbia, whose crew members are all racing internationally together for the first time since the 2004 Olympic Games.

Greece and Germany qualify in Repechage 2, with Greece taking first place from 1000m and Germany moving steadily up the ranks from fourth at 500m, to third at the half-way point and finally second at the 1500m mark and securing their spot at the line.

In the third repechage, it was clear Italy would qualify. Leading from the start, Italy fell back in second in the last 500m when Canada, toying between second and third place with Poland, finally made up its mind to overtake the field and leave Poland back in third.

Ireland surprised with a last place finish in the final repechage, which means they will compete in the D Final tomorrow. After a bronze medal at last year's World Cup in Lucerne, Egypt 1 seems determined to show its worth again this year. Taking the lead from the start, they soon fell behind into second at the 1500m mark and then took the lead again to finish ahead of the field and qualify along with Spain for the semifinal.

Men's Quadruple Sculls (M4x) – Repechages

In the absence of double World Champions and World Best Time holders Poland, the best spot was up for grabs and six additional boats would have the chance to make it to the A Final by qualifying for the semifinal.

With bow Rob Weitemeyer from Canada's gold medal eight from Linz, the Canadian crew started out in the lead and stayed there, qualifying ahead of Romania and Great Britain.

Falko Nolte joined Germany's number two quad after rowing in the men's single in Linz and Amsterdam and qualifies with his crew from first. This cew is stroked by the son of famous single sculler, Thomas Lange. Son, Arne debuts his international season here at Lucerne. The Netherlands were evidently hoping to qualify, and do so at the top. But it was not to be. After leading the race for the first 500m, the Netherlands were still in good position in second until the last 500m, but were overtaken in the last few hundred metres by the USA and Belarus who qualify from second and third respectively.

Men's Eight (M8+) – Repechage

The three top qualifiers led the rest of the field by a clear water margin, with over seven seconds separating top qualifier and Linz silver medalist Belarus and Canada's number two boat at the line. By the 1500m mark Belarus were in first, Croatia in second and New Zealand in third. The positions remained unchanged at the line.