Tough bladework in rough water at Poznan’s Rowing World Cup

Rowers who had not qualified for the next round of racing returned to the water for a second time today to race in the repechage at the Rowing World Cup in Poznan, Poland. These rowers found themselves facing rough water that built up to white caps for some of the races, and tail wind conditions. But rowers fought hard to make it through to the next round of racing.

Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (LW1x) – Repechages

Two full repechage fields meant that the six athletes in each repechage had to go for a top three finish to make it through to the next round of racing, the semifinals. Repechage one featured Sweden Two, Sara Karlsson who leaves the lightweight double with her twin sister behind to go solo. Although Karlsson finished first she was found to be racing in an underweight boat which relegates her to last. This relegation served well for Ireland Two, Niamh Ni Cheilleacher. Ni Cheilleacher started behind Karlsson but held the lead through the body of the race and still had to lead with 100m left to row. One bad stroke was enough to push Ni Cheilleacher back to fourth. But Sweden’s relegation puts Ireland forward into third and a qualifying spot. Also making it through to the semifinal is Sine Christiansen of Denmark who sprinted through at a 35 stroke rate to qualify for the semi. Ibtissem Trimech, Tunisia’s representative at the Olympics in the open women’s single, came through behind Denmark to also qualify for the semifinal.

Repechage two ended in a dead heat between Greece and Denmark Two. In the now consistently rough water, Christina Giazitzidou of Greece got off the mark first and out into a clear lead. Only Denmark’s second boat, Marie Gottlieb, was within striking distance of Giazitzidou. But in these tricky, rough water conditions anything can happen. Coming into the second half of the race Gottlieb closed the gap on Giazitzidou with Ilona Hiltunen of Finland making a big impression in the leaders as she worked her way up the field. The sprint was on to the line and three boats were charging for that first place spot. Giazitzidou had a slight edge, but with 150m remaining the Greek caught a crab. Retaining her composure, Giazitzidou fought back crossing the line equal with Gottlieb. Hiltunen, in third, also qualifies for the semifinal.

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x) – Repechages

The two repechages in this event meant that the rowers were aiming to be in the top two positions to enable them to advance through to the semifinal. Coming third would mean racing in the C Final.

Italian lightweight stalwart Franco Sancassani got out into the lead of repechage one. Multiple World Champion Sancassani then moved further away from the rest of the field. Gergely Kitka of Hungary held on to second and the race ended in a widely spread procession. Sancassani and Kitka advance to the semifinal.

Venezuela’s Jose Guipe jumped out into the lead of repechage two but by the half-way point the Venezuelan had been hauled back in by Matti Jaeaeskelaeinen of Finland. The Finn continued to increase his lead and rating 37 coming into the line Jaeaeskelaeinen looked to be relishing his leader’s position and relishing the tail wind conditions. Guipe held on to second and both Venezuela and Finland will advance to the semifinal.

Lightweight Men’s Pair (LM2-) – Repechage

This race was cancelled due to illness in the French boat (Vincent Faucheux) which means all other boats qualify directly to the final – Japan One, Japan Two, Austria and Italy.

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) – Repechages

The two repechages that lined up required a top three finish for advancement to the semifinal. Repechage one featured Germany’s Karsten Brodowski. As Germany’s top sculler, Marcel Hacker has chosen not to race here. Brodowski has become the single sculling hope at Poznan for his nation. Brodowski wore this responsibility well by leading from start to finish. This left three boats to fight it out for the remaining two positions. Austria’s Ralph Kreibich had it, then Chile had it, then Estonia came through. At the line Brodowski takes first, Kreibich pushes through to second and Valeri Prosvirnin earns the third and final qualifying spot in the semifinal.

Repechage two was led by Kaspar Taimsoo of Estonia. Earlier in the week Estonia qualified for the Olympics in the men’s single but Taimsoo and Prosvirnin (from the previous race) are the next tier down on the single sculling front. Taimsoo made the best of it in his repechage leading for the entire race. France’s Jean-David Bernard started off strong before being overtaken by Markus Kuffner of Germany’s number one boat.

At the line Taimsoo, Kuffner and Bernard earn spots in the semifinal.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) – Repechages

The rough water and strong tail wind continued for the two repechages of the lightweight double. The top three boats from each repechage would advance to the semifinal and in repechage one Australia’s Samuel Beltz and Thomas Gibson took off in the lead. Germany followed hard, but Beltz and Gibson had just enough of a lead to keep a wary eye on the Germans. Meanwhile a full-on battle between Hong Kong One and Hong Kong Two drew these boats closer and closer to the two leaders. With Only three boats advancing, one Hong Kong boat would miss out. Duelling right to the end, Hong Kong Two of Chun Shek Leung and Kwan Hoi Lok got the upper hand. Australia, Germany and Hong Kong Two are on the way to the semifinal.

France’s Maxime Goisset and Frederic Dufour have finally been chosen to be the Olympic boat in this event for their country. They were disappointed not to win the heat and thus had to return for the repechage and their second race of the day. France took off in the lead but they had underestimated the fight inside Dominik Sigl and Sebastian Sageder of Austria. Sigl and Sageder stuck to Goisset and Dufour like glue and going through the third 500 overtook the French. Austria looked to be handling the rough water just a bit better and at a 35 stroke rate they had what it took to finish first. Austria, France and Japan qualify for the semifinal.