Semifinals as hot as Finals at the Lucerne Rowing World Cup

Racing was hot with the men’s four semifinal so close it looked like a final. China’s men showed how much they wanted the eight and Canada continued to impress.

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – Semifinals

Yesterday, in the heats, Xiuyun Zhang, China’s most accomplished rower, had a very good race. Today in semifinal one Zhang continued in this positive mode coming down the 2000m Rotsee rowing course at the head of the field. For the first half of the race New Zealand’s Emma Twigg stayed within the closest range of Zhang with the slow starting former World Champion Bulgarian, Rumyana Neykova right behind her.

Coming into the line the three leading boats were well ahead of the rest of the field and for Zhang, Neykova and Twigg ratings dropped into the high 20s. Zhang crossed the line first, then Neykova who had snuck ahead of Twigg who followed in third. These three boats earn a spot in the A final.

As semifinal two got underway the temperature dropped and the wind began to pick up and blow in a head wind direction. The rain then began. Out in front was Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic followed closely by Belarus’s best, Ekaterina Karsten. Karsten’s rowing began under the old Soviet system and she won her first international medal as a junior 17 years ago. Today Karsten let Knapkova have her fun at the front of the field before overtaking going into the final 500m. Knapkova finishes second and Australia’s new single sculler, Pippa Savage takes third. Savage making the A final puts her in good stead for her aim of qualifying for Beijing in June.

Men’s Single Scull (M1x) – Semifinals

The rain began to pelt down as the first semifinal hit the course. This must have appealed to New Zealand’s Mahe Drysdale who arrived out of winter and into the European summer just five days ago. Drysdale shook off long winter training rows to get out ahead of Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic. Synek finished with silver at the first Rowing World Cup and his form this season is looking very solid. But Drysdale kept his nose just ahead of Synek to keep the Czech in his place.

Pushing past Germany Two, Sweden’s Lassi Karonen successful held on to the pace of the two leaders as New Zealand, the Czech Republic and Sweden pulled far ahead of the rest of the field. Drysdale and Synek did a token sprint to the line, Drysdale on 33 and Synek getting to 35 strokes per minute. Drysdale crosses the line in first, Synek in second and Karonen takes the third and final qualifying spot.

For semifinal two the rain lessened and the wind dropped with Great Britain’s Alan Campbell grabbing the opportunity to take the lead. Campbell won gold at the first Rowing World Cup and his form this season is looking very promising for this Olympic year. Switzerland’s Andre Vonarburg followed closely behind Campbell with Olympic Champion Olaf Tufte of Norway making up the trio at the front of the pack.

Campbell remained steady and solid throughout with only Tufte making a dent into his lead. At the line Campbell earns first, Tufte takes second and Vonarburg, to the sound of cheering and ringing cow bells, takes the third and final qualifying spot.

Women’s Pair (W2-) – Semifinals

China’s You Wu and Yulan Gao made a statement at the first Rowing World Cup. They won easily. Today, in semifinal one, Wu and Gao already had a boat length lead within the first 500m. Australia’s second crew tried their best to hold on but soon slipped back as Portia McGee and Anna Cummins of the United States pushed through. The race then turned into a procession with Wu and Gao way out in front, McGee and Cummings firmly in second and slow starting New Zealand, Juliette Haigh and Nicky Coles, coming through into third. Last year’s World Champions, Yulia Bichyk and Natallia Helakh of Belarus pushed hard to overtake Haigh and Coles, but didn’t succeed. China, the United States and New Zealand are in the A final.

Australia’s Olympic selected boat of Kim Crow and Sarah Cook took off in the lead of semifinal two. Crow and Cook finished fourth last year at the World Rowing Championships and remain a solid combination. The Australians continued to lead through the middle of the race but were followed closely by Eleanor Logan and Caroline Lind of the United States. As the colour of the buoys changed from white to red France’s Inene Pascal-Pretre and Stephanie Dechand started to wind it up. Taking it up to 33 France went past Great Britain and challenged Australia. At the line the United States took first, Australia second and France took the third A final spot.

Men’s pair (M2-) – Semifinals

The Canadian squad showed their strength in yesterday’s heats. Scott Frandsen and Dave Calder, Canada’s chosen pair, continued the run. Leading over last year’s silver medallists, New Zealand, Calder and Frandsen used a long, loping style to hold the edge. Calder last raced George Bridgewater and Nathan Twaddle at the 2004 Olympics where he was disqualified after his boat went crooked and hindered another pair. The Canadians today went straight. New Zealand stuck with them but remained in second. The final qualifying spot went to Erwan Peron and Laurent Cadot of France who pulled out an awesome sprint which propelled them from the back of the field and into the third and final qualifying spot.

The on and off again rain began again in time for semifinal two with World Champions Drew Ginn and Duncan Free of Australia getting out in front at the start. The Czech Republic then pushed through into the lead with Lin Wu and Shunyin Zhang right on their tails. As the Czech Republic began to falter, Ginn and Free grabbed the lead back and coming into the final sprint the Australian duo looked at holding off the Chinese. There was only half a boat length in it at the line with Australia in first, China in second. A huge closing sprint by Shaun Keeling and Ramon Di Clemente of South Africa earned the new duo an A final position.

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) – Semifinals

It was all red and yellow at the head of the field in semifinal one. After shaking off Great Britain’s Elise Laverick and Anna Bebington China took over the top two positions. This was a similar situation as at the first Rowing World Cup earlier this month when China earned gold and silver in the final. A selectors dream, or perhaps a selectors headache. World Champions, Qin Li and Liang Tian held the lead with the new second Chinese crew of Weiwei Zhu and Yangyang Zhang following in second.

Li and Tian won at the first Rowing World Cup and also picked up a fourth in the quad along with Zhu and Zhang. This must be a continuation of China’s Olympic selection process and the two boats appear to be relatively well matched. China take two spots in the final. Laverick and Bebington meanwhile found a second wind and got ahead of Australia to take the third qualifying spot.

Annekatrin Thiele and Christiane Huth of Germany earned bronze behind the Chinese at the first Rowing World Cup. Today they lead the second semifinal ahead of new American combination of Megan Kalmoe and Ellen Tomek. The US is still in selection mode for their Olympic team and racing at this regatta will help in their selection bid. Kalmoe and Tomek had this on their mind. Going through the third 500 the Americans had taken the lead away from Thiele and Huth.

The tussle at the front continued with Caroline Delas and Marie Le Nepvou, France’s newest combination (this is their first international regatta together) sticking firmly in third. The United States, Germany and France advance to the semifinal.

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – Repechages

The strength of Chinese men’s rowing is a very recent phenomenon and Hui Su and Liang Zhang are part of it. Today they led repechage one from start to finish. This left 2006 World Champions, Jean-Baptiste Macquet and Adrien Hardy of France to take over second. With two available qualifying spots, the Netherlands put in a good first 1000 effort then gave it away. Macquet and Hardy looked content to be in second, cruising across the line as Su and Zhang sprinted over it in first. China and France are in tomorrow’s final.

Three boats went for two spots in one of the tightest races of the afternoon. The second repechage opened with Germany in the lead. Then current World Champions Luka Spik and Iztok Cop (SLO) took over with Australia’s David Crawshay and Scott Brennan pushing though. Spik and Cop missed the first Rowing World Cup following a back injury for Spik. Today they held the lead through the middle of the race before being dealt a massive challenge by Crawshay and Brennan in the final sprint. Australia, rating 39, got to the line first, Slovenia take second and, despite pushing it to the line, Belgium, in third will race the B final.

Men’s Four (M4-) – Semifinals

The first semifinal turned into the hardest and closest race of the day as what started off being a reasonably straightforward race turned into an all out fight for the line. At the start Great Britain (with a mixture crew due to injury) took the lead. They held this leader’s position for three quarters of the race with the United States and France the nearest threat. But all was to change in the final sprint. World Champions New Zealand suddenly found another gear and charged, their rating getting up to 45 strokes per minute. France also hit a 45 stroke rate. The new United States line up also gave it all they had.

In a race worthy of tomorrow’s final, the United States pulled off a first, France came second and New Zealand knocked Great Britain out of the final by finishing third.

The second semifinal turned out to be almost as hot as the first. Germany is still selecting their crew and today their number one boat grabbed an early lead with Australia moving with them. In the second half of the race Germany One began to falter. Australia took over at the head and were now followed closely by the Netherlands. Then Germany Two, knowing that Olympic selection was on the line, came charging through. Ratings rose. The finishing beeps were close. Australia finishes first, the Netherlands take second and Germany Two, in third, increase their selection chances.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – Semifinals

Canada has retained Tracy Cameron and added Melanie Kok to their lightweight double and it looks to be a powerful combination. Today they got out into the lead of semfinal one. This left World Champions, Amber Halliday and Marguerite Houston of Australia to play the chasing game. The Australians seem to take it in their stride, waiting for the Canadians to wear themselves out before they took over. Coming into the final sprint the long stroke of Houston and Halliday had brought them into the lead with Canada slipping to second. Meanwhile an all out sprint was going on between Germany and Denmark. In a photo finish Germany earn the final qualifying spot.

It looks like China have chosen their Olympic lightweight double line up. Dongxiang Xu and Hua Yu got out to an early lead in the second semifinal and remained there for the entire race. Behind them Kirsten van der Kolk and Marit van Eupen of the Netherlands tussled with Weronika Deresz and Ilona Mokronowska of Poland. At the line the smoother Dutch take second and Poland qualify from third.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) – Semifinals

What is happening with the reigning World Champions, Denmark? Are the duo training through this regatta? Today in semifinal one, Denmark wavered at the back of the field and ended up out of the A Final. Instead it was two French boats that dominated this race. In the lead were Munich Rowing World Cup silver medallists Maxime Goisset and Frederic Dufour of France, and behind them France’s second crew of Jeremie Azou and Remi Di Girolamo. This French domination left 2005 World Champions, Hungary, to fit into third. Denmark put up a strong fight at the end, but it will be France One and Two and Hungary going to the Final.

Winners of the first Rowing World Cup, Great Britain’s Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter continued on their winning ways in semifinal two but they found a new threat to their lead position in the form of Storm Uru and Peter Taylor of New Zealand. Uru and Taylor were unable to make the A Final when they raced at the first Rowing World Cup but they look to have found a new rhythm and new power. Uru and Taylor kept Purchase and Hunter on their toes chasing them to the finish. Purchase and Hunter held them off to finish first, New Zealand take second, and China get past Australia to take the third and final qualifying spot.

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-) – Semifinals

China took off in the lead in semifinal one hoping to continue the racing form that they established in yesterday’s heats. But sticking right to them was Germany. The German crew of Martin and Jochen Kuehner, Jost Schoemann-Finck and Bastian Seibt had nearly overtaken the Chinese by the middle of the race and with 500m left to row the Germans were in the lead. China held on. Germany fought back in the charge to the line. China take first, Germany second and Denmark become A finalists by finishing third.

Semifinal two looked more like top lightweight four rowing – boats overlapping, margins small, the lead changing. At the start France had the lead. Then World Champions Great Britain took over with Australia slipping into second. Ireland then did a big push and moved on Australia. Four boats charged to make the three A Final qualifying spots. France came up fast and in the last three strokes gained the lead. Just a bow ball back Great Britain take second. Ireland leap forward in their progress to take third and Australia just miss out in fourth.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x) – Repechages

This race featured four boats with a top two finish necessary for A Final qualification. France and Cuba took off like a rocket out of the starting blocks. As Cuba began to fade, Canada moved up with France now in the lead. Coming into the last 250m stretch of the race, the crowd sheltering from the rain at the end of the course showed their support for Canada. France, rating 34, remained in first and Canada, at a 35 stroke rate, take the second qualifying spot from second.

Repechage two opened with Germany in the lead followed closely by Ukraine. Again the top two boats would make the Final and Germany and Ukraine remained tight at the head of the field. As the rowers came into the final sprint the voices of the crowd gave a boost to Australia. But the Australians had too much to make up. Ukraine, now in first, and Germany, in second, will be in the A Final.

Women’s Eight (W8+) – Repechage

The Netherlands had a very average race yesterday in the heats. Today they decided to do something different. Coming out of the start, the Dutch, under the steering and guidance of coxswain Ester Workel, grabbed the lead. Germany took off after them and kept their boat, one lane over, in very close contact. The gap between the two boats remained the same through the body of the race – the Netherlands and Germany matching each move. There was just 500m left to row and the support for Canada from the crowd began to be heard. Canada responded. Taking their rating to 43 the Canadians charged. At the line Canada take first, Germany second, the Netherlands third and Great Britain also qualify for the final from fourth.

Men’s Eight (M8+) – Repechage

China’s men stepped up again in the repechage of the men’s eight. They grabbed the lead and got the psychological edge over the rest of the field. Germany followed in second with Great Britain going with the Germans. Coming into the line China looked very comfortable rating 36 strokes per minute. The real race meanwhile was between Germany and Great Britain. At the line China take first and Great Britain turned the tables by beating Germany into second. Germany thus qualify from third and Poland take the last remaining spot in the A Final.