No slowing down in round two at the World Rowing Champs

This included repechages and quarterfinals as athletes returned to mild conditions with hardly any wind.

Women’s Four (W4-) – Repechage

This was the last chance for crews to advance to the final and a top-four finish was needed to make the final. With that in mind Denmark took off in the lead followed very closely by Ukraine. As Denmark retained their pace, Ukraine began to slip back. This gave Germany the opportunity they wanted and the Germans moved into second. Going through the middle of the race the spread between all six crews was small. It would take the second 1000m to really decide who had it. Last year’s silver medallists Germany could not maintain the pace. Instead, coming through from a very slow start, was Italy with Russia following suit. At the line Denmark remained in first, Italy came through into second, Russia took third and Canada became the final qualifying crew in fourth. Germany will race in the B Final.

Men’s Coxed Pair (M2+) – Repechage

The Czech Republic opened with a speed that they could not maintain and by the half-way point they had slipped from first and into third. Three spots in the final were available so the Czechs knew that they were still hanging in there. But the Czechs were slowing. Slovenia’s Matej Rodela and Bostjan Bozic with coxswain Ptah Butinar had taken over in the lead with Hungary following closely. Hungary featured former World Champion in the double Akos Haller and they were maintaining their speed. The Czechs were not. Coming into the line Slovenia remained in first, Hungary held on to second and Ireland sprinted past the fading Czechs to take third. Slovenia, Hungary and Ireland go to the semifinal.

Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (LW1x) – Repechages

This event had two repechages with a top two finish needed if crews wanted to advance to the semifinal. Mirna Rajle of Croatia made no mistakes in repechage one. Rajle tried to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in the double. When she missed out, Rajle moved back into the boat that she has already had success in, the single. Rajle held the lead and let the remaining five boats sort themselves out. Russia had the second spot and held on tightly to it. But in the final sprint Russia could not hold off an awesome sprint by Zsuzsanna Hajdu of Hungary. Rajle and Hajdu will advance to the semifinal.

Repechage two opened with Teresa Mas De Xaxars of Spain in the lead. But Denmark’s Sine Christiansen was not giving Mas De Xaxars an inch. Sticking to Mas De Xaxars like glue, it looked like Christiansen was just waiting to attack. This battle at the head of the field gave little chance for any other boat to move in. At the line Christiansen had overtaken Spain. Denmark and Spain advance to the semifinal.

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x) – Quarterfinals

The lightweight men’s single had four quarterfinals and the goal was to be in the top three spots in each of these quarterfinals so as to advance to the next round, the semifinal. The first quarterfinal was very close at the start between Greece, Slovakia and Spain. Ilias Pappas of Greece had the edge. Pappas has swapped between the four and the double, but it has been the single that he has had the greatest success in. Today Pappas remained in the lead of the first quarterfinal while Spain and Slovakia battled it out for second. At the line Pappas qualifies for the semifinal from first. Slovakia’s Lukas Babac takes second and Spain’s Jesus Gonzalez Alvarez qualifies from third.

Quarterfinal two had Iran’s rowing phenomenon Mohsen Shadi Naghadeh overtaking Serbia and Austria to take the lead. Naghadeh likes to rate high and win. Even though Naghadeh has only been rowing for 10 months, he is building the experience of a seasoned rower. Naghadeh remained in the lead with Austria and Serbia slotting into second and third respectively. This order remained until the line. Iran, Austria and Serbia will all be in the semifinal.

The defending World Champion Duncan Grant of New Zealand came to Europe back in May to race. This has been a long season of international racing for him and he will be hoping to wrap it this weekend with another gold medal. Grant raced in quarterfinal three and led from start to finish. Italy’s Lorenzo Bertini followed in second with Takahiro Suda of Japan back in third. These three scullers all have the disappointment of not making an Olympic boat. Grant missed out on the double due to injury during his country’s trials. Bertini missed out on his country’s lightweight four and Suda did not make the cut to be in Japan’s double. The order of these three crews did not change and all three of them will advance to the semifinal.

Quarterfinal four featured Jaap Schouten of the Netherlands who could well be the biggest threat to Grant’s quest for gold. Schouten has beaten Grant in this season’s World Cup races and he has stated his intentions that this is his year to get a World Championship title. With that in mind Schouten took off in the lead leaving Germany’s Joerg Lehnigk and Wouter van der Fraenen of Belgium to battle it out for second. With Schouten in lane four, he was able to watch both Lehnigk, racing in lane three, and van der Fraenen, who was in lane five. Van der Fraenen started off in second, but could not hold off Lehnigk who pushed ahead through the middle of the race. Van der Fraenen seemed content to remain in third. At the line Schouten qualifies for the semifinal from first, Lehnigk takes second and van der Fraenen qualifies from third.

Lightweight Men’s Eight (LM8+) – Repechages

The two repechages in this event required a top two finish for advancement to the final. Repechage one featured Italy. The Italians finished third last year and were World Champions the previous two years. This is an event they feature strongly in. Today in the repechage the Italians found themselves going head to head with Germany. Germany had the edge at the start. Italy fought back and going through the middle of the race, Italy, rating 38, had gained the lead. Germany, now rating 37, held on, pushing Italy all of the way. Italy remained in first. Italy and Germany get to advance to the final.

At the start of repechage two, three crews were very much in the hunt for the two qualifying spots. Poland had a slight edge with Australia and Canada very much on the pace. Only Hungary had dropped back a bit. Australia then did a piece and pushed ahead of Poland. Poland wasn’t having any of that and attacked back. Coming into the final sprint Poland had gained back the lead. The sprint was on. Canada in third knew that this was the moment to strike. Poland saw them coming and upped the stroke rate. At the line and absolutely exhausted Poland had held on to first. Canada had pushed out Australia to take second. These two boats qualify for the final.

Lightweight Men’s Pair (LM2-) – Repechages

The two repechages in the lightweight men’s pair required crews to be in the top three positions if they wanted to advance to the semifinal. Repechage one started with the Czech Republic in the lead. This was soon swallowed up by brothers Richard and Eugene Coakley of Ireland. The Coakleys tried to qualify for the Beijing Olympics last month in the lightweight double. They missed out so moved to this event. They seem to be handling it well as through the middle of the race they had the lead. Meanwhile, Russia’s Mikhail Belikov and Sergey Bukreev had worked their way up into second and were eyeing up first. Coming into the line Belikov and Bukreev overtook the Coakleys to take first. The Coakleys hold on to second and New Zealand shake off the Czechs to also qualify through third.

The Netherlands jumped out into the lead in repechage two with Austria sitting in second. Coming through the middle of the race the Dutch remained in the lead but it was very close between them and Austria. Then Denmark decided to make a move. Charging to the line Denmark closed on the Netherlands. Arnoud Greidanus and Roeland Lievens of the Netherlands held Denmark off. At the line the Netherlands, Denmark and Austria are the three crews that get to advance to the semifinal.

Lightweight Women’s Quadruple Sculls (LW4x) – Repechage

A top four finish was needed if crews wanted to advance to the final. This meant that two boats would miss out and have to race in the B Final. At the start Great Britain had the leading edge. Through the middle of the race the United States challenged Great Britain hard. The two boats matched each other. Neither was giving an inch. With less than 500m left to row the United States and Great Britain were still neck and neck. Great Britain proved to have the better sprint. At the line Great Britain finish first, the United States take second and Denmark and Germany qualify for the final from third and fourth respectively.

Lightweight Men’s Quadruple Sculls (LM4x) – Repechage

The five crews in this one repechage needed to finish in the top four if they wanted to advance to the final. One crew would miss out. The race opened with the United States being the crew that may miss out. Ahead of them Great Britain, last year’s bronze medallists, had the lead with Germany, the Czech Republic and Turkey going right with them. The United States was also very much within striking. The question was who would have the best second 1000m.

Coming into the final sprint the Czech Republic now had the edge with practically nothing between Germany and the United States and practically nothing between Turkey and Great Britain. Ratings rose, crews charged. Who would miss out? The Czech Republic held on to first. The USA and Germany go to a photo-finish for second and third. Turkey out-sprints Great Britain to take the final qualifying spot. Great Britain miss out.