Beginning the bid: Rowing World Cup, Austria

Lightweight Women's Single Sculls (LW1x) – Final

Tall and lean Ismaray Marrero Aria of Cuba at 24 has already been to the Olympics and lately she has been chipping away in the single hoping to get to the top spot. Today Marrero did it. Leading from the first stroke Marrero got her boat ahead of Michaela Taupe of Austria and, despite a lower rating, she did just enough to hold off Taupe. Taupe has been on the international scene ever since she raced as a junior back in 1991. Maybe she was sticking around for the opportunity to show her home crowd what she could do. Today, from the less favoured outside lane, Taupe held on to Marrero and held off the talented Laura Tasch of Germany. In the final sprint Tasch attacked but Taupe took her stroke rate up to 35 and remained in second. Marrero takes first, Taupe second and Tasch, who comes directly from winning silver last year as an under-23 rower, takes third.

Taupe, "It was an unbelievable experience, but nothing surprised me about the race itself. I had hoped for the third or fourth place due to my time in the semifinal. The audience was a big help and the atmosphere was fantastic. My first time on the podium – and it’s at home!"

Tasch, "I nearly messed up the start and just got away too late. Normally in Austria you have a small home advantage as a German but if you are racing against an Austrian then you can forget it! (laughs) Further plans are still unclear and depend on the LW2x today."

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x) – Final

Jaap Schouten and Alwin Snijders of Netherlands had both made it though to the final, but in outside lanes. This meant everyone was looking to Japan’s Takahiro Suda and Ilias Pappas of Greece to form all of the action. Leading from the start Pappas grabbed a small lead over Schouten and Suda and then tried to extend it. Pappas is part of a new generation of Greek rowers and at 25 he has a lot more rowing ahead of him. With Suda holding on Pappas maintained his pace.

Meanwhile Schouten and Snijders were egging each other on from lane one and two. Coming into the final sprint Pappas held a steady 33 strokes per minute as Suda began to slip. Schouten and Snijders fought on. At the line Pappas had won his first international medal. Schouten, out of last year’s lightweight eight, takes silver and Snijders, in third, wins his first international medal since taking third in 1995 as a junior.

This win pushes Pappas in a positive direction towards making the Olympic boat for his country, the lightweight double.

Pappas, "It was a good race and I really had a good start. I was already in front at the 1000m mark. “The Dutch would make a good double!” (laughs)

Snijders, "I expected Suda (Japan) to challenge more. The Repechage was my best race. It is good to be back because this has been my first race in 2 years."

Lightweight Men’s Pair (LM2-) – Final

Three Italian boats started in this event, one had dropped off, two remained, Italy1 (Armando Dell’Aquila and Andrea Caianiello) was in the lead. But this race would not be all about Italy. The Netherlands had given a taste of their lightweight talent in the last race by winning silver and bronze and now team mates Paul Drewes and Roeland Lievens were pressuring Italy in this event. Also well in the mix, Great Britain’s Matt Beechey and Daniel Harte kept their boat overlapping.

Dell’Aquila and Caianiello come from Italy’s under-23 team where they both won silver last year. Caianiello in the coxed four and Dell’Aquila in the lightweight four. Both are 19 years old. Together they kept the heat on the Netherlands as the Dutch tried to now hold off Great Britain. The sprint to the line gave Italy gold, Lievens and Drewes silver and Beechey and Harte bronze.

Beechey, "This was a different ball game from the men's four because it’s much more technical."

Caianiello and Dell’Aquila, "It was a very difficult race. At the 1000m mark all boats were even but then we pushed and opened up a lead."

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – Final

Could Knapkova upset Karsten’s dominance? Would Zhang show that she is ready for Beijing next year? What would Balmary do? The women’s single began, as has been the case for the last two years, with Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus in the lead. Karsten has had a busy couple of weeks. Last week she celebrated the opening of a 2000m rowing course in Belarus with the country’s president then yesterday she celebrated her 35th birthday. Today, from the lead Karsten watched Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic, Michelle Guerette of the United States and France’s Sophie Balmary fight it out for second.

Knapkova is used to slotting herself safely into second but Guerette was not going to allow this to happen today. Coming into the final sprint, with Karsten still in the lead, Guerette had second. What would Knapkova (two-time world silver medallist) do? Taking her rating to 37, Knapkova fought back with Guerette rating lower. At the line Karsten continued her two-year unbroken international winning streak, Knapkova continued her two-year silver medal streak and Guerette takes bronze.

Karsten, "I led from the start but was surprised that the others kept up so close. This year is all about preparing for Beijing. This win was a nice birthday present." On Rowing in Ottensheim, “The boating took too long and you felt the Danube opening in the last 250m.”

Guerette, "I already used a lot of gas early. Average stroke rate 32/33. I started pushing at 1500 and I needed to sprint today."

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) – Final

As soon at the six finalists left the starting blocks all signs indicated that this race would be hot. Great Britain’s Alan Campbell took off at, what the commentator described as, a storming start. Germany’s Marcel Hacker wasn’t mucking about either with his rating at 41 strokes per minute. The storming start by Campbell gave him the lead with Hacker slotting into second. Both scullers settled into a 35- 36 pace with Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic not far back, while Norway and Slovenia paced each other in fifth and fourth respectively.

A third 500m push from Synek then propelled him into the Campbell-Hacker race with a good enough effort to get the Czech ahead of Hacker. Campbell held on. Coming into the final sprint Campbell and Synek, in lanes beside each other, challenged each other stroke for stroke. Campbell on 39, Synek on 41. Campbell attacked back getting to 42 strokes per minute, Synek pulled out a 44. Synek had done it. Synek wins his first gold medal internationally since the Lucerne Rowing World Cup in 2005. Campbell takes silver and Hacker scores bronze.

Hacker, "The plans for this year are Amsterdam, Henley and Lucerne. I was very satisfied and everything was as expected."

Campbell, "It was a great race to be in and it was a better weekend than I expected. My approach this year has been more rounded than 2006. I left the sprint too late and there is plenty more work to do."

Women’s Pair (W2-) – Final

Kim Crow came to rowing two years ago by default. An injury took her out of track and field and into the sit-down sport of rowing. Australian rowing embraced her and last year, 12 months after starting the sport, she won a World Championship bronze medal (women’s eight). Today Crow showed that her talent was no accident. Paired up with Sarah Cook they have been racing twice as they are also in their country’s eight.

However it was Jane Rumball and Darcy Marquardt of Canada that had the lead at the start of this race. Rumball and Marquardt are the current World Champions but had already been beaten at this regatta and their confidence must have been shaken. Canada held the lead with Australia slipping into second, Great Britain in third and the United States1 and United States2 crews battling it out for fourth and fifth respectively.

Crow and Cook must have very good endurance. Going through the third 500m the Australians took the lead. Cook, at 189cm tall holds her own against Crow. She hit the international scene in 2004 at the under-23 level and has recently been a regular partner of Crow.

Coming into the final sprint the Australians still had the lead. Both US crews fought back, Canada tried to hang on. Crow and Cook take gold, Megan Cooke and Anna Mickelson of USA1 take silver and Susan Francia and Caroline Lind of USA2 win bronze. The Canadians miss out.

Cook, "We have achieved our personal goals. It was very tight to come through the 1000m mark but then we squeezed out and controlled the race. I am really pumped about the 8+ this afternoon and it is really complementary being in 2 disciplines."

Francia, "I just jumped into the boat last week because of an injury to Caroline’s partner."

Men’s Pair (M2-) – Final

Brothers Niksa and Sinisa Skelin are back together this year after Niksa took time out last year due to a back injury. The Skelins are the most experienced coming into this event having won silver at the 2004 Olympics, but lately they have been dabbling on other boats. Today the Skelins shot out of the starting blocks at a tremendous pace and didn’t settle. By the 500m mark they had built up a whole boat length lead over the rest of the field which sat in a virtual line. At 36 strokes per minute the Skelins tried to hold their lead and managed it through the middle of the race. The other boats weren’t conceding.

Coming from the very back of the field, Great Britain’s Colin Smith and Matt Langridge had pushed through to second. But the field was still tight. Everyone would have to sprint to the end. Smith and Langridge had the goods. Has Great Britain found themselves a new fab pair? Langridge at 97kg and 195cm is 10cm taller than Smith and nearly 20kg heavier. But it works. Smith and Langridge earn gold. The Skelins hold on for silver and Andreas Penkner and Jochen Urban of Germany earn bronze.

Penkner, "To be honest we are not really having a good weekend, so we are obviously really happy with a result like this."

Smith, "Due to the fact that it is only the third race together, everything went very much to plan but there is still a lot to learn."

Langridge, "It is a great feeling to win after only four weeks of rowing together!"