Racing for pride outside the A finals; World Rowing Champs

Day five racing at the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany included C/D semifinals in the lightweight men’s double, four and men’s quad. It also saw the D Finals of Group A events race the 2000m course.

Under the idea of promoting as much racing as possible for the athletes, C/D semifinals give rowers another chance to race in the lesser finals.

The semifinals C/D for Olympic class events included the lightweight men’s double, lightweight men’s four, and men’s quadruple sculls, and D Finals included the lightweight men’s and women’s single, men’s and women’s single, and men’s pair, double and four.

With three to advance to the C Final in the lightweight men’s events, the racing was uncontested for the first three spots with the exception of a narrow miss for third by Japan’s lightweight men's four. Serbia overtook the Japanese after the first 1000 meters and picked up the pace to edge out Japan by just 0.12 seconds.

Cuba and Belgium came first in each of their C/D semis of this highly contested lightweight men’s double with a total of 30 crews entered here in Munich and just 11 spots for Olympic qualification. The chance to win the C final means these crews can still claim status as the top half of their field at the World Championships.

Poland’s 2000 and 2004 Olympic gold medal lightweight double, and multiple World Championship medallist crew of Thomasz Kucharski and Robert Sycz, was still unable to start after a medical issue in the quarterfinal for Sycz had him taken out of the boat with just 200m raced. This ended their hopes of qualifying here for the Olympics and they did not start in today's race. Will they be back to try again to qualify next July?

In the lightweight men’s four, Spain and Greece were decisive early leaders and handily secured victory in semi one and two, respectively. Like the lightweight men’s double, the large field of 27 in the four means that the chance to be at the top of the C Final and amongst the top half of the field is still indication of potential to grab the last two Olympic qualification spots at next year’s final regatta in Lucerne in June, 2008. Also qualifying for the C Final was Russia, the Czech Republic, Austria and Serbia. Usual A Finallists, Germany did not start due to health problems.

The men’s quadruple scull semifinal C/D only qualified two boats to the C Finals in the first semi since there were only three crews in this race. The racing was tight for all three boats through the first 1000 meters, but Canada was determined not to lose it in the final 500 like yesterday. Canada’s quad separated themselves by one second from Argentina, who ended up in second position. Third place Egypt missed out on the C Final by less than a second.

One might think those in the D Finals of the women’s and men’s single could be considered solidly out of contention for Olympic qualifying. However, women’s winner Maira Gonzalez Borroto of Cuba and fourth place Camila Vargas Palomo of El Salvador still have opportunity with the five spots for the women’s single at the Latin American Regatta in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in November. Unlike Borroto, who will turn 40 next year, the youthful Inga Dudchenko, 19, of Kazakhstan, who finished sixth behind the rest of the field will have plenty more Olympic bid opportunities. Dudchenko will have the chance for one of the five spots in the women’s single at the Asian Regatta in Shanghai, China, in April 2008.

In the men’s single race, second place Eun Chui Shin of Korea, and fourth place Bajrang Lal Takhar of India, will get another crack at Olympic qualification under the continental qualification system. Six men’s single spots are up for grabs at the Asian Regatta.

D Final winner of the men's single Mathias Raymond is Monaco’s only entry in the World Championships, and also has youth on his side at age 21. Raymond came from behind to steadily overtake second place Shin and early leader Dzianis Suravets of Belarus, the eventual third place finisher.

The D Final results for the men’s pair and double were sorted early in each race with definitive wins. China took victory by ten seconds in the pair, and Ukraine by three seconds in the double. The competition in the men’s four was a bit closer with Portugal overcoming a dismal sixth position through the first 500, to win by almost three seconds.