Senior semis at the World Rowing Champs

In a turn of events Italy’s World Champion lightweight men’s pair found themselves in second while the World Champion men’s coxed pair Poland had to contend with third. Here are the races.

Men’s Coxed Pair (M2+) – Semifinals

Canada came through as one of the top crews after winning their heat three days ago. Gabriel Bergen and James Dunaway competed again today in semifinal one and with coxswain Mark Laidlaw the duo led their race from start to finish. The United States put up a challenging fight and for the majority of the race remained in second. But in the final sprint Australia and Ukraine gave it their best. At the line the US had missed out. Canada qualify for the Final from first. Australia, who had come through from the back of the field, take second and Ukraine also qualify for the final from third.

Reigning world champions Poland took over at the head of the field in semifinal two with France, Italy and Slovenia following closely. Going into the second half of the race, Poland’s Dawid Paczes and Lukasz Kardas remained in the lead while Slovenia slipped off the pace. Italy and France hung in there. In the sprint to the line Poland struggled. Italy and France went for broke. At the line Poland had just managed to hold on to a qualifying spot by finishing third. Italy and France both qualify for the Final from first and second respectively.

Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (LW1x) – Semifinals

The competition in this event has been fierce so far and now narrowed down to 12 semifinal boats, it was only getting tougher. In semifinal one the very experienced Michaela Taupe-Traer of Austria got off to her usual fast start but had slipped to second behind Pamela Weisshaupt of Switzerland going into the half point of the race. Taupe-Traer held on to Weisshaupt’s pace with Spain now moving up. In the sprint to the line, Mirna Rajle Brodanac of Croatia, appeared again. Taupe-Traer tried to hang on. Teresa Mas De Xaxars of Spain went with Brodanac. At the line the Austrian had missed out. Weisshaupt had just hung on to first, Brodanac takes second and Mas De Xaxars earns third. These are the three boats that qualify for the Final.

Semifinal two featured a number of athletes that had narrowly missed out on representing their country at the Olympics in the lightweight double. All accomplished as single scullers, they showed their talents today. Ireland’s Sinead Jennings had the lead with Julie Nichols of the United States following in second and Lindsay Jennerich of Canada close behind in third. With Jennerich retaining third but slipping off the leaders pace, Nichols and Jennings charged for the finish line. Nichols crossed first. Nichols, Jennings and Jennerich will meet again in the Final on Sunday.

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x) – Semifinals

Iran’s Mohsen Shadi Naghadeh gives everyone he races a run for their money. He did exactly that in semifinal one today. At the start Greece’s Ilias Pappas had the lead with Olympic medallist Lorenzo Bertini of Italy and Naghadeh tracking closely. By the half way point Bertini had taken over in the lead. Pappas hung on and Naghadeh chased hard. As Pappas found the pressure a bit too much, Naghadeh moved into second and Japan went after Pappas. At the line Japan’s Takahiro Suda had just missed out on making the Final. Bertini, Naghadeh and Pappas advance to the final.

At the start of semifinal two the entire six boats remained within spitting distance of one another. By the half way point this was no longer the case. At the head of the field reigning world champion Duncan Grant of New Zealand was trying to get the better of 2008 Rowing World Cup winner Jaap Schouten of the Netherlands. The two rowers were so close that the lead kept on swapping and changing. Schouten was rating 31 to Grant’s 34. Coming into the final sprint Grant took his stroke rate to 37, Schouten lifted to just 32. Crossing the line in first Schouten gained the psychological advantage going into the final. Grant finishes second and a gutsy performance by Austria’s Sebastian Sageder earns him third and an spot in Sunday’s Final.

Lightweight Men’s Pair (LM2-) – Semifinals

Switzerland’s Simon Niepmann and Mario Gyr took off at a cracking pace in semifinal one. But in a very close start the spread between the six boats was small. By the half-way point Niepmann and Gyr still had the lead but the field was now spreading out with Great Britain, Ireland and Austria falling back. This was all about to change. Going through the third 500m a piece by Serbia’s Goran Nedeljkovic and Milos Tomic earned them the lead with a piece by the Netherlands giving the Dutch second. Serbia and the Netherlands held their pace into the final sprint with Austria giving it all they had. In a dramatic finish, Switzerland’s Gyr collapsed in his boat with just 100m left to row. Austria charged. At the line Serbia, the Netherlands and an exhausted Austria had qualified for the Final.

There is no denying the smooth, fluid rowing style of Greece’s Nikolaos and Apostolos Gkountoulas. Today in semifinal two the Greek duo rowed so well that they managed to rate the same as current world champions, Andrea Caianiello and Armando Dell’Aquila of Italy and still stay ahead of them. The Italians stuck to Greece like glue, but the Gkountoulas brothers held just an ever so slight advantage. Russia, meanwhile, followed in third working hard to stay ahead of a very aggressive New Zealand pair. At the line Greece, Italy and Russia get to move on to the Final on Sunday.