New Zealand open strongly at Munich

But today the rain set in clearing just enough for racing but not enough to encourage many spectators. A light tail wind and flat water with reasonably sticky humidity and temperatures around 18 degrees Celsius greeted the rowers to the 1972 Olympic regatta course. Perhaps the cooler temperatures played in New Zealand’s favour. Arriving just a few days ago from the New Zealand winter, the team showed that they are recovering well from any jet lag.

Women’s Pair (W2-)

The goal was to finish first in each of the two heats. Great Britain got out in front in Heat One which was perhaps no surprise after their decisive win at the first Rowing World Cup three weeks ago. Louisa Reeve and Olivia Whitlam of Great Britain did not have it all their own way though as Germany’s number two crew (Reinert and Wengert) stuck tenaciously to the leading Brits. But coming into the final sprint Reeve and Whitlam had shaken loose of Germany with Great Britain’s number two crew now turning into the biggest threat for the one qualifying spot. Taking their rating to 36 Reeve and Whitlam pushed away and crossed the line in the qualifying spot.

Heat Two opened with Germany’s number one crew taking the lead. But by the first 500m mark Emma Feathery and Rebecca Scown of New Zealand had pushed through into the lead as they blew off some of their long flight cobwebs. Feathery and Scown have rowed most recently together in New Zealand’s eight that tried, unsuccessfully, to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. Feathery and Scown remained in the lead. Meanwhile the Germans must have gone out too hard as they started to drop off the pace. This lent itself to a favourable opportunity for sisters Tong and Meng Li of China. The Li sisters moved into second, but Feathery and Scown had built up enough of a lead to comfortably cross the line in second ahead of the Netherlands who suffered from some steering problems. New Zealand go directly to the Final.

Men’s Pair (M2-)

Like the women’s pair, these men had to finish first if they wanted to go directly to the Final and in lane two of Heat One sat Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge of Great Britain. Reed and Hodge had a dominating win at the first Rowing World Cup and as Great Britain’s flagship boat they have been touted as the new Redgrave and Pinsent. So it was not surprising when the British pair took off in the lead, opening with a 48 stroke rate. New Zealand, in a similar manner to Great Britain, has made a pair out of their 2008 four and put Eric Murray and Hamish Bond in the boat. Much to Reed and Hodge’s surprise, Murray and Bond had pushed into the lead coming into the middle of the race. The two boats then went head to head, not giving an inch. The rest of the field left New Zealand and Great Britain to it. Coming into the final 500m, Reed and Hodge were back in the lead. Bond and Murray fought back and with just 200m left to row had their nose in front. Reed and Hodge took their rating to 42, but they looked a bit slumped over and less powerful than the New Zealanders. They had been caught off guard. Murray and Bond go to the Final.

Heat Two may have been a bit slower than the previous heat, but was just as intense at the end with Serbia and the Netherlands taking the race to a photo finish. David Kuiper and Mitchel Steenman of the Netherlands got into the lead with Serbia’s Nikola Stojic and Goran Jagar moving with them. Kuiper and Steenman come out of their country’s Olympic eight and this looks like a lucrative move as they kept their nose in the lead. Serbia’s Olympic pair, Stojic and Jagar continued to stick like glue to the Dutch with the remainder of the field out of the picture. At the line Kuiper and Steenman had finished first by a nose.

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x)

The two heats in this event required a first place finish for a direct path to the Final. As this regatta is squashed into just three days of racing, not having to race the repechage is always a bonus and this must have been what Annekatrin Thiele and Christiane Huth of Germany were thinking. Thiele and Huth, Olympic silver medallists in this event, got into the lead at the start and had nearly open water by the half-way point. Poland’s Magdalena Fularczyk and former single sculler, Julia Michalska, followed in second. The leading order remained unchanged while Romania and Denmark had their own sub-battle for third. Huth and Thiele looked under no threat as they cruised through the final 500m at an easy 33 stroke rate to take first. Poland finished second and Denmark got the better of Romania to take third.

New Zealand’s Anna Reymer and Paula Twining got off to a flying start in Heat One, leading Rowing World Cup I winners Annie Vernon and Anna Bebington of Great Britain. By the half-way point New Zealand remained in front with a solid boat length lead. But then Vernon and Bebington made their move catching Reymer and Twining and getting their nose in front with 500m left to row. The New Zealanders had no response left with Bulgaria now pushing through to go after Vernon and Bebington. At the line Vernon and Bebington held on to the first place ahead of Bulgaria featuring Olympic Champion in the single, Rumyana Neykova.

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x)

The men’s double featured three heats with the top three boats in each heat earning a spot in tomorrow’s semifinal. In Heat One, top seeded crew Great Britain’s Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham showed that their seeding is well-deserved. Taking off at a 48 stroke rate pace, Wells and Rowbotham got their nose ahead of Poland’s Michal Sloma and Wiktor Chabel with Poland’s number two crew of Piotr Licznerski and Arnold Sobczak following in third. This order remained unchanged and spelt out the three qualifiers for the semifinals.

The rain had now moved away and short sleeves started to appear with Heat Two featuring two Chinese crews, Estonia and New Zealand. Getting out just a nose ahead of Estonia at the start was Matthew Trott and Nathan Cohen of New Zealand. Cohen raced to fourth in this event at the Beijing Olympics while Trott became the spare when fellow New Zealander Rob Waddell made a 2008 rowing comeback. Trott and Cohen said that it took them about one row to feel comfortable back together in the boat earlier this season. By the half-way point, Trott and Cohen had squeezed away from Estonia’s Kaspar Taimsoo and Allar Raja, but the two boats were still close. New Zealand then did a push in the third 500m and earned the edge. At the line, New Zealand, Estonia and China’s number two crew take spots in the semifinal.

Heat Three looked like a selection race. With two German crews and two Belgian crews, it looked as though each country was focused on their own team mates. At the start, Germany One of Stephan Krueger and Eric Knittel took the lead with Belgium One in second. This all changed in the second half of the race with Germany Two (Bartels and Rocher) overtaking Belgium One and going after their German counterparts. Belgium Two then attacked Belgium One which featured top single sculler Tim Maeyens. At the line Germany Two had pushed into second. Germany One remain in first and Belgium Two gets the better of Belgium One to take the final semifinal spot.

Men’s Four (M4-)

Germany is hoping to turn around their sub-satisfactory results of recent years and if the men’s four is anything to go by, it looks like they are heading in the right direction. In the first of three heats (which required a top three finish to earn a spot in the semifinal) Germany One took the lead at the start. Their strokes, described by the commentator as ‘controlled and aggressive’ held them in good stead as they remained in the lead through to the finish. A last-minute push by Slovenia, however, nearly spelt the end of their first-place finish. But nearly is not enough. Germany One, Slovenia and Poland go to the semifinal.

Germany Two made easy work of Heat Two. The four of Kristof Wilke, Richard Schmidt, Urs Kaeufer and Philip Adamski rowing for Germany already had a full boat length lead with just 500m rowed. This left the only real battle to go on between Belarus and the Czech Republic who tussled for second. In the end, though, it was purely academic as the top three crews would all go to the semifinal. With a clear-water lead, Germany was able to wind it down coming into the finish. Belarus got their nose ahead of the Czech Republic to take second and the Czechs qualify from third, well ahead of China in fourth.

At the first Rowing World Cup three weeks ago, Great Britain won gold. Today this crew featured in Heat Three getting out to an early lead. After shaking off Russia, Croatia and the Netherlands battled it out for second. The new Dutch crew finally got the edge with Great Britain still easily in front. In the final 500m, the pressure seemed to come off all of the crews as they accepted Great Britain in first, the Netherlands in second and Croatia qualifying from third.

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x)

The women’s single consisted of three heats with the top three boats in each heat earning a spot in the semifinal. With seeding being used, the top boats were spread between the three heats. Conspicuous in her absence was world champion Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus who withdrew from the regatta just yesterday. So did China and Sweden’s Frida Svenssen.

Heat One’s top seeded athlete was Great Britain’s Katherine Grainger who won at the first Rowing World Cup last month with Russia’s rowing stalwart Julia Levina, 36, also seeded in the middle of the field. Levina, who has been racing internationally since 1995, took the lead and held it through the middle of the race over Grainger and Czech sculler, Jitka Antosova. Antosova comes out of her country’s Olympic double and was showing today her single sculling aptitude. With just 500m left to race Levina remained in first with Antosova now ahead of Grainger. A big sprint by Antosova gave her the lead with Levina and Grainger, rating 29, looking content to take second and third respectively.

Olympic finalist Emma Twigg of New Zealand got out to an early lead over Agata Gramatyka of Poland and never looked back in Heat Two. As the race turned into a procession, Twigg did just enough to remain comfortably ahead of single sculling newcomer, Gramatyka. Gramatyka, 26, started racing the single last year and at the first Rowing World Cup she raced to a bronze medal in the double. As Twigg crossed the line with a huge leading margin, Gramatyka looked comfortable in second with Norway’s Tine Schoeyen taking the third qualifying spot.

The third heat opened with Olympic finalist Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic in the lead. Knapkova has been a regular medallist over the last four years but is yet to strike gold at the World Cup. By the half-way point it was obvious that Knapkova was going to make easy work of this race. Annick De Decker of Belgium, in second, could not dent Knapkova’s lead. Knapkova was able to row across the finish line cruising 26 strokes per minute. De Decker qualifies for the semifinal from second and Sophie Dunsing of Great Britain takes third to qualify.

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x)

Along with the lightweight men’s double, this is the best represented event at Munich with 21 entries. These entries were spread out over four heats and scullers had to finish first if they wanted to go directly to the semifinal. The top athletes were seeded and therefore separated in these four heats and heat one featured Olympic silver medallist Ondrej Synek (CZE) as the top seed. Living up to that reputation, Synek took off in the lead. Behind Synek was Switzerland’s top rower (and only 2008 Olympic qualifier) Andre Vonarburg. Vonarburg was originally entered in the double and the single, but pulled out of the double at the last minute to focus on this event. Synek and Vonarburg were able to easily move away from the rest of the field, with Synek also remaining easily ahead of the Swiss. With supporters ringing cow bells to help Vonarburg along, Synek crossed the line to easily take the one qualifying spot.

Heat Two featured winner of the first Rowing World Cup, Alan Campbell of Great Britain as the top seeded boat. Alongside Campbell sat Belarus (Stanislau Shcharbachenia) and at the start these were the top two crews. By the half-way point, however, Belarus was being challenged aggressively by both Norway and Germany. As Shcharbachenia slipped down the rankings, Norway’s number two crew of Nils Jakob Hoff took over in second. Campbell now had enough of a lead that he could rate a relaxed 34 strokes per minute in the closing metres of the race. Campbell earned a spot in the semifinal.

Heat Three featured world champion, Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand in the top seeded lane. Drysdale arrived with his team less than a week ago and comes to Europe after a solid winter of training. Outshining the other four boats in this race, Drysdale had an open water lead by the half-way point. Lithuania’s under 23 medallist, Mindaugas Griskonis followed in second but did not have the skill to dent Drysdale’s lead. At the line Drysdale had recorded the fastest qualifying time.

In Heat Four newcomer Roel Braas of the Netherlands hounded Olympic Champion, Olaf Tufte of Norway for the first half of the race. This was the first international race for Braas, 20, and he was using all of his beginner’s enthusiasm to take on the best. Moving into the second half of the race, Braas could not hold the pace of Tufte and slipped back. Tufte took first and the only qualifying spot and Braas remained in second.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x)

This event had three heats and it was up to crews to finish in the top two positions if they wanted to miss the repechage and go directly to the semifinal. Great Britain1 made the best of it in heat one. Hester Goodsell of Great Britain missed out on racing at the first Rowing World Cup due to injury. Now, back with partner Sophie Hosking, they led the way. Poland’s Ilona Mokronowska and Weronika Deresz followed in second. This order remained the same with Sweden1 in third, unable to push up into a qualifying spot despite their high stroke rate. Great Britain1 and Poland1 wentto the semifinal.

Former British rower Jo Hammond featured in Heat Two, but now she rows for Belgium. Teamed up with Evi Geentjens, the Belgians started off behind Austria, but had earned the lead by the half-way point albeit by just a bow ball. Austria, featuring top lightweight single sculler Michaela Taupe-Traer, then found themselves under threat from Great Britain’s second boat. A huge final sprint by Andrea Dennis and Laura Greenhalgh of Great Britain got them ahead of Austria and into the second qualifying spot. Belgium earned the first qualifying spot.

At the first Rowing World Cup last month Germany’s Marie-Louise Draeger and Anja Noske won. Today they came back to continue their winning ways by leading Heat Three. Denmark put up a strong challenge at the start before succumbing to Magdalena Kemnitz and Agnieszka Renc of Poland. By the final sprint the crews looked resigned to the finishing order and Germany crossed the line easily in first. Poland2 qualiied from second.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x)

This event had a huge 21 boats entered and this was divided into four heats with the top boat in each heat only getting to go directly to the semifinal. Opening the racing, Austria took off strongly in heat one. The Austrian crew raced as a pair last year and their switch to sculling looks to be doing them no harm. Going through the middle of the race, Austria remained in the lead followed by a tight fight between Bulgaria, China1 and Denmark3. Coming into the final sprint, Austria remained in first with China1 closing fast. Austria upped their rating to 37, but it looked to be ineffectual over China’s 34. Austria began to slip. China1 had the lead with 250m remaining. China’s Hui Li and Tianfeng Dong went directly to the semifinal.

The lead by New Zealand in Heat Two was big enough with just 500m raced that it looked like only a disaster would prevent them from winning. Storm Uru and Peter Taylor of New Zealand were late qualifiers for the Beijing Olympics and have remained together since. With Uru and Taylor way out in front, China2 and Poland1 (featuring two-time Olympic Champion Robert Sycz) carried out a full-on battle for second. New Zealand crossed the line with a nine second advantage. Poland1 and China2 crossed the line together. China had just inched out Poland for second. Only New Zealand got to go directly to the semifinal.

Heat Three opened with Poland2 in the lead followed very closely by Rob Williams and Paul Mattick of Great Britain. By the half-way point Williams and Mattick had moved into the lead. The British duo finished fourth at last month’s Rowing World Cup and here in Munich they are facing a whole new bunch of competition. Once Williams and Mattick found the lead, they seemed to relax, flowing and comfortably pushing on together. The British went directly to the semifinal.

At the first Rowing World Cup, Italy’s Elia Luini and Marcello Miani won. At Munich they are the only Italian boat entered as the rest of the team is preparing for the Mediterranean Games. Their reason: Luini and Miani want to win the World Cup series. Today, in heat four, Luini and Miani led from start to finish in a reasonably easy fashion. Behind them Hungary tried to keep up, but a slow third 500 put the Hungarian’s out of first place contention. With the large Italian support team following Luini and Miani on bikes, Italy crossed the line first and moved directly to the semifinal.

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-)

This event consisted of two heats and the top two boats in each heat would be the boats to qualify directly for the Final. Heat one had the winners of the first Rowing World Cup, Denmark lining up in the favoured lane four. Denmark got away first but found themselves being hounded by the Czech Republic. The Czech boat contained last year’s lightweight men’s quad who have all switched to sweep rowing to join this Olympic event. By the half-way point, the Czechs had overtaken Denmark and were doing all that they could to remain in the lead. Coming into the final sprint, the Czech Republic still had the lead. Denmark fought back… successfully. Denmark and the Czech Republic both went directly to the Final. Noteworthy too was Japan. The Japanese crew, with their new former German coach Diethelm Maxrath, finished in third but were less than half a second behind the Czechs.

There was no happier crew today than China’s lightweight men’s four. In heat two China1 crossed the line in second, threw their hands in the air, shouting and cheering. They had just qualified, unexpectedly for the Final. China sat in third position behind Germany and Great Britain for the entire race, but a strong final sprint propelled the Chinese ahead of Great Britain in the closing metres of the race. Germany took the other qualifying spot after leading for the entire race in this very tight three way battle.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x)

The quad featured two heats with a first place finish needed in each heat to allow the crew to go directly to the Final. Heat One featured the surprise success from the first Rowing World Cup, Great Britain. Last month at Rowing World Cup I, the new British crew had finished just behind Olympic and World Champions, Poland. Today, the British indicated that this was not a fluke. After overtaking Slovenia2, Great Britain tucked into second behind the much touted German crew which featured top single sculler, Marcel Hacker in stroke. Germany remained in front, although it was only just, of Great Britain. In the final sprint Great Britain took their rating to 36 with Germany on 34. With 1700m gone Great Britain had the lead. Both Great Britain and Germany went directly to the Final.

The question of whether the Polish Olympic and World Champion quad were unstoppable was answered in Heat Two. At the start Slovenia1 had the lead, featuring the nation’s top sculler of all time, Iztok Cop in stroke. By the half-way point Poland, looking strong and relaxed, was in the lead. With just 500m left to row Croatia had pushed ahead of Slovenia1 and started to close on the Poles. It looked like Poland had no response. Croatia’s young crew of David Sain, Damir Martin and Martin and Valent Sinkovic had won. Croatia already knew they had something special. Now everyone knows. Croatia went directly to the Final.