Heats continue at Linz/Ottensheim World Rowing event

Women's Double Sculls (W2x) – Heats

With three heats, 16 entries and tough competition, a top two finish was necessary for direct advancement to the semifinal and in the first heat winners of the United States doubles trials, Jennifer Kaido and Ala Piotrowski got out to a solid start and moved away from the rest of the field. But Germany’s Manuela Lutze and Peggy Waleska took chase. Waleska returns to team boat rowing after a couple of seasons on the single, while Lutze returns to rowing after a post-2004 Athens Olympics break. Lutze has the skill of three Olympics and two Olympic gold medals behind her. But today was Kaido and Piotrowski’s day. Despite a fast sprint by Walseka and Lutze, Kaido and Piotrowski held on to first. Both boats advance to the semifinal.

China recorded the fastest qualifying time when they battled with Germany2 in heat two. Qin Li and Liang Tian took the lead at the start before being overtaken by Christiane Huth and Stephanie Schiller of Germany. But Li and Tian fought back and keeping the pressure on until the finish, China takes first. Huth and Schiller qualify for the semifinal from second.

Germany’s number one crew, Britta Oppelt and Susanne Schmidt added a third German boat to the semifinal by winning heat three. But Roxana Cogianu and Eniko Barabas of Romania gave Germany a good run for their money, keeping the pressure on Oppelt and Schmidt for the entire race. Both boats will go directly to the semifinal.

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – Heats

Four heats lined up. The goal was to be first for a direct path to the semifinal and racing opened with reigning World Champions Jean-Baptiste Macquet and Adrien Hardy of France establishing their continued dominance. Just squeaking through with the fastest qualifying time Hardy and Macquet held off the new Czech duo of Milan Dolecek and the very seasoned Vaclav Chalupa.

Chalupa commented after the race, “This is our first race together, we’ve only rowed together for 15 days.”

Hardy, “We felt in control.” Macquet, “If we needed we could have gone faster.” French coach Peltier, “In the French selection Hardy and Macquet were only fourth and fifth in the single so this was a test.”

Chalupa and Estonia’s Jueri Jaanson have been racing against each other, mainly in the single, for nearly two decades and at this regatta they are now both in the double. Heat two featured Jaanson with partner Tonu Endrekson. Despite a solid challenge from Poland, Jaanson and Endrekson held on to first and move on to the semifinal.

Jaanson said after the finish, “It’s very good because it’s our first race together since Vienna a long time ago. We are still testing so at the moment there are three Estonian doubles. We will make a quad for the World Championships.”

Great Britain’s Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham took the lead at the start and remained there ahead of Estonia Two, much to the happiness of a strong contingent of British supporters. Wells and Rowbotham make the semifinal.

Rene Bertram and Robert Sens, Germany’s number one crew, led from the start over their usual lightweight combination, Germany2 (Manuel Brehmer and Joerg Lehnigk). Brehmer and Lehnigk gave Bertram and Sens a good run for their money but, from second, will have to return for the repechage.

Men’s Four (M4-) – Heats

Four heats with only first place advancing directly to the semifinal opened with the best of Great Britain. Leading from the beginning Steve Williams, Peter Reed, Alex Partridge and Andy Hodge finished comfortably ahead of Denmark to qualify. This gives the Brits their 25th straight win internationally. Since they came together in 2005 they have never lost a race. As Williams said prior to the regatta, we feel like we are the target of all other crews.

Recording the fastest qualifying time, the Netherlands in heat two stayed ahead of Germany2 to qualify for the final. This is the same Dutch line-up that finished third at last year’s World Rowing Championships but it took a 38 stroke sprint rating to ensure this position.

Germany1 found themselves in a new position of battling with Greece in heat three. The Greek crew come to senior racing having finished second last year at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships and it looks like they are far from being outclassed at this level. Germany, however, take the spot in the semifinal with Greece having to return for the repechage.

Slovenia and France both wanted that semifinal spot and the two crews had to race a full 2000m to find out who would get it in heat four. Slovenia had the upper hand at the start and retained it through the centre of the race only to be overtaken at the finish by France who managed to pop their rating up to 38 to move ahead. France make it to the semifinal.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – Heats

Heat one of six heats opened with Great Britain and Denmark at the head of the field. A superior second half, however, gave Denmark’s Katrin Olsen and Juliane Rasmussen the lead. Olsen and Rasmussen competed last year in the lightweight quad winning a silver medal in that event. Today they move on to the quarterfinals along with Great Britain, China4 and Mexico.

They own the World Best Time and are the reigning World Champions and they’re back together this season. Dongxiang Xu and Shimin Yan of China led heat two from start to finish. Despite the top four boats qualifying, China and the rest of the fleet raced until the end with Italy, Hungary and Croatia pulling through to move on to the quarterfinals.

Magdalena Kemnitz and Ilona Mokronowska of Poland have been a regular combination for the last couple of years and regularly make the final although not always medalling. Today, in heat three they led from the start under a tight challenge from Spain. The challenge pushed Poland onwards and at the finish the Poles, still in first, had recorded the fastest qualifying time. Poland, Spain, Greece and Poland2 all make the quarterfinal.

Heat four featured another Chinese qualifying boat. Haixia Chen and Hua Yu of China came out second at the start but had crept into the lead, if only just, by the half-way point. Ireland took up chase while Great Britain2 did all that they could to hold on. At the finish, with Sweden off the pace, China3, Ireland and Great Britain2 get to go directly to the quarterfinal.

Germany’s Berit Carow and Marie-Louise Draeger turned heat five into a procession by getting out easily at the start and never looking back. China2 gave it a good shot and so did France. But nothing changed in the order. Carow and Draeger head for the quarterfinal.

Canada followed Germany’s example in the next heat with Lindsay Jennerich and Tracy Cameron taking the lead at the start. Denmark2 of Sine Christiansen and Kirsten Jepsen gave it a good shot to keep the pressure on, but Canada remained in the lead. Canada, Denmark and Switzerland move to the quarterfinal.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) – Heats

Fabrice Moreau and Frederic Dufour of France are currently ranked third in the world and they opened the first of six heats by leading the entire race. Behind them Hungary’s second crew challenged along with Switzerland. But France held the lead despite a late-in-the-race sprint by Cuba. The sprint was enough to get Eyder Batista and Yunior Perez of Cuba into second. Switzerland and Hungary2 also qualify.

Just because you are the fastest at the start, does not mean you’re going to qualify at the other end of the 2000m course. This was the story for Italy2 in heat two. Despite four boats qualifying, Italy slipped further and further back. Meanwhile, taking up the lead, were current World Champions Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist of Denmark. The Vetesnik twins of the Czech Republic put up a good challenger but remained in second. France2 also qualify and a formidable sprint by Portugal give them the final qualifying spot.

Elia Luini of Italy holds the World Best Time with former partner, Leonardo Pettinari. Today, in heat three, Luini, partnered up with Marcello Miani for the second year, had a tight battle with Chile. Miguel Cerda, stroking for Chile, is better known for his success in the lightweight men’s pair which includes a World Championship title. Cerda, with partner Felipe Leal have joined the growing ranks of the double to aim for the Olympics. Last year Leal and Cerda barely made a final, but their results in heat three, challenging Luini and Miani (currently ranked second in the world), shows that time spent in the boat is working. Luini and Miani got the upper hand to win at the end, but Cerda and Leal finish with a credible second. China Two and Algeria also qualify for the quarterfinal.

After the race Luini said, “The goal for me now is qualification for the Olympics in Beijing and I plan to keep rowing until London (Olympics 2012).”

Heat four featured current World Champion from the lightweight single, Zac Purchase. Bowing the Great Britain entry with Mark Hunter in stroke, the duo took the lead at the start and held it. Austria One pulled out a solid challenge, but Great Britain remained in front. Austria qualify from second along with Turkey and Uruguay in third and fourth respectively.

Another convert from the lightweight single, Greece’s Vasileios Polymeros won the single in 2005 before changing to the double to be in an Olympic event. Today Polymeros, along with partner Dimitrios Mougios, featured in heat five. In the lead, however, was Hungary’s Zsolt Hirling and Tamas Varga. Hirling and Varga became World Champions in 2005 but bombed in 2006 barely registering in the B-final. The duo look to be back on form with a win in heat five. Behind them Polymeros and Mougios moved through to second with Belgium and South Africa also qualifying.

Japan’s most accomplished rower and father of four, Daisaku Takeda had a big smile on his face at the end of heat six. Along with partner Kazushige Ura the duo not only finished first but took away a commanding fastest time of all of the heats. This was partly thanks to Matt Jensen and Douglas Vandor of Canada who kept Japan honest, pushing them through to the finish line. With Hong Kong China off the pace, China1 and Belgium2 also qualify.

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-) – Heats

One boat to qualify for the semifinal from each of the four heats put the pressure on these crews but also brought out classic lightweight rowing complete with high rating. All of the winners' times sit within one second of each other. Setting a time of 6:13:45, Germany1, rating a pretty constant 37 strokes per minute, had to move through from fourth position, to second, to first to earn the lead and the qualifying spot. Great for Germany, but disappointment for the Netherlands who will have to return for the repechage.

Heat two was all about Great Britain who finished with a time of 6:12.07. With two remaining members from the crew that finished fifth last year, the Brits held off the 2007 return of Denmark’s Eskild Ebbesen. James Clarke, Paul Mattick, James Lindsay-Fynn and Richard Chambers of Great Britain formed one very happy crew at the finish line.

Chambers (bow of the Great Britain four), “It’s a good start for our first race but we have two more races to come.”

Ireland and China faced off in heat three having finished up last year as third and first in the world respectively. After shaking off a fast starting Austria, Ireland and China paced each other with China rating 39 strokes per minute towards the end, enough to give them the lead. Ireland will have to return for the repechage.

Huang (bow of the Chinese four), “We were feeling good but with the wind the last part of the race was harder.”

It must have only been surprise for France in heat four. Leading them down the 2000m Ottensheim course was the United States. France comes to this regatta with the same line-up that is ranked second in the world and lifting their rating to 38 strokes per minute at the 1500m mark gave them a slight edge. But the United States held on. Both boats rated 39, France won by a nose. The US will return for the repechage. France’s finishing time: 6:13.86.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x) – Heats

Apart from World Champions Poland, this was pretty much an open field with many new line-up combinations. It consisted of three heats with the one and two from each heat qualifying. In heat one Germany1 had put together a young boat that included last year’s Junior and Under 23 World Champion. The crew had found the lead by half-way and held off Romania to take first. Romania also qualifies from second.

It was no surprise to see Poland in the lead of heat two and at the end their qualifying time was the fastest of the three heats. Poland sit in the position of being two-time World Champions as well as FISA Team of the Year for 2006. But at the end of the race stroke, Adam Korol was not so enthusiastic about the win. Korol, “It was not so good. We have to increase the power in the water. We are aiming to be World Champions again.”

Germany2 also qualify.

Italy have a new head coach and with that a new men’s quad line-up. The line-up includes two members of the 2000 Olympic gold medal crew, Simone Raineri and Rossano Galtarossa. However, instead in the lead was France. The two boats remained within calling distance of each other. At the finish Italy had the lead. Both boats qualify for the semifinal.