Delight or dampness: the World Rowing Champs

Mahe Drysdale, NZL, checking the pitch on his day off

As athletes returned to the Olympic Regatta Course in Oberschleissheim, rain abated and water remained flat with slight head winds occasionally rising through the morning of repechages and quarterfinals.

The upbeat, in between race, brass band music was apt for rowers who advanced to semifinals and finals, keeping their Olympic qualification hopes alive. But the sounds must have been the last thing some of those on the water wanted to hear.

Men’s coxed four (M4+) – Race for Lanes

This may only be a practice run for the real final on Sunday but Germany and the United States treated it differently. In the cooler conditions these two crews were giving it their all to warm up. The United States, with Chris Liwski sitting in stroke seat, got the faster start with Germany pushing past the Netherlands to challenge the US. For pride or practice, both Germany and the United States sprinted to the line, the US getting to 40 spm, held the lead. Serbia did not follow this method. They tapped along at the back of the field at a low, non-racing 22 strokes per minute, perhaps middle pair Goran Jagar and Nikola Stojic are saving themselves for the men’s pair.

Lightweight Women’s Quadruple Sculls (LW4x) – Repechages

When the reigning World Champions, China are racing in the repechage you know that standards have increased. But China made no mistakes today in leading from start to finish. With the top four boats qualifying for the final China put themselves in a positive position for Sunday’s final. Behind China the United States slipped into second and did their best to stay ahead of Germany who were challenging the US down the course. Sitting in fourth, the Netherlands is stroked by the return of Kirsten van der Kolk. Van der Kolk retired after winning bronze at the Athens Olympics in the lightweight double and perhaps she is eyeing up another Olympic bid at this late stage. China, the United States, Germany and the Netherlands qualify for the final.

Lightweight Men’s Quadruple Sculls (LM4x) – Repechages

The arrival of coach Robin Williams to Great Britain’s lightweight squad has given the group a real boost and today the quad led Germany in the one repechage. Great Britain, under stroke Dave Currie, kept their stroke rate at a solid 36 through the body of the race to hold off Germany. Germany challenged coming into the final sprint but their 39 stroke rate had little impact on Great Britain. At the line four crews go on to the A Final: Great Britain, Germany, the United States and Denmark.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – Repechages

The all important chance of getting one step closer to qualifying for the Olympics continued here with any crew not making the semifinal losing that possibility. The crews knew it. The crowds knew it. The pressure was on. Poland’s Magdalena Kemnitz and Ilona Mokronowska lept to an early lead using a long, powerful stroke. Canada’s Lindsay Jennerich and Tracy Cameron as well as Laura Milani and Erika Bello of Italy took up chase, unrelenting on the Poles. With three boats qualifying, the finishing order would be academic but all three boats wanted first. Cameron and Jennerich are in their first season together. Bello comes back to international racing after pulling out of international racing a decade ago. Kemnitz and Mokronowska raced together to a six place finish at the 2004 Olympic Games and have been together ever since.

All three boats sprinted. Canada got to 39 strokes per minute to take first, Italy also passed Poland and went into second. Poland still qualifies from third.

Japan’s Misaki Kumakura and Akiko Iwamoto have been seen very little on the international scene but came out of the woodwork during the heats on Monday showing their potential. Today, with three boats qualifying for the semifinal, Japan came out of the start in third. Ahead of them, also newcomers to the international scene, Jana Heere and Wendy Tripician of the United States, grabbed hold of the lead with Helen Casey and Hester Goodsell of Great Britain holding the pace. With half the race gone Great Britain, Japan and the United States remained in a line. The Brits then did a big push and got their nose ahead of the United States. The final sprint was on. Tripician and Heere were fading. Ireland was coming up to challenge. At the line Great Britain qualify from first, Japan from second and the United States hold off Ireland to take third.

JENNIRICH Lindsay (CAN): "We executed the plan, we went easily to the semifinals. It`s okay."

CAMERON Tracy (CAN): "We feel like at home. It is always raining at our training centre."

NOVAK Zsofia (HUN): "The rain didn`t bother at all. It wasn`t the kind that we call cold rain."

HAJDU Zsuzsanna (HUN): "This heat was better than two days ago. But we have to improve a lot, to reach those who are much better now, than we are."

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) – Quarterfinals

In this Olympic event the four quarterfinals required a top three finish for these 24 countries to keep their Olympic qualification hopes alive.

Quarterfinal one opened with Frederic Dufour and Fabrice Moreau of France taking the lead. Dufour has the experience of Olympic silver from Athens and is putting that experience to good work here at Munich. Right on France’s heels Joerg Lehnigk and Manuel Brehmer of Germany were holding on like glue. Lehnigk and Brehmer have approached these important World Championship races by rowing in the heavyweight category all season and it seems to be working for them.

Behind the two leaders Canada’s Matt Jensen and Douglas Vandor were pushing their way up from the back of the field to take third. Going through the third 500m there was virtually nothing separating France in first, Germany in second and Canada right on the pace in third. This order remained the same at the finish line. France, Germany and Canada advance to the semifinal.

Starting in quarterfinal one two-time Olympic Champions, Tomasz Kucharski and Robert Sycz of Poland never finished the race. At 200m the duo stopped rowing, Sycz was then taken out of the boat to receive medical help. Kucharski rowed the boat to the finish line and the duo will be permitted to row in the C/D semifinal. The Poles' Olympic qualification hopes will only be able to be rekindled at the last chance regatta in Lucerne next year in July.

Japanese lightweights are having a good day. In quarterfinal two it was Kazushige Ura and Daisaku Takeda of Japan challenging the reigning World Champions, Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist of Denmark. Usually Rasmussen and Quist get out to a strong start and are unrelenting on their competitors, but Ura and Takeda were holding on. Also well on the pace was the Czech brothers, Jan and Ondrej Vetesnik in third. Rasmussen and Quist settled into a high 35 stroke rate pace and began to move away from the rest of the field through the middle of the race. Ura and Takeda now worked their way away from the Vetesniks. Coming into the final sprint, Denmark had first, Japan second and then Juliusz Madecki and Sebastian Sageder of Austria charged. An awesome last 500m split of 1:39 gave Austria the final qualifying spot. Denmark, Japan and Austria go on to the semifinal. After the finish the Czechs sat for minutes, slumped in their boat.

A rocky season for Elia Luini and Marcello Miani of Italy seems to be coming right as the duo led quarterfinal three. This has been a poor season for the Italians and the win by Miani and Luini must be a boost to the large Italian squad. Behind them the 2005 World Champions, Zsolt Hirling and Tamas Varga of Hungary, took chase under hot scrutiny from Sam Beltz and Tom Gibson of Australia. With Italy holding a tenuous lead, Australia and Hungary went head to head. The pressure was unrelenting. Coming into the final sprint Beltz and Gibson decided qualifying in third was good enough for them and dropped the pressure. Italy qualifies from first, Hungary from second and Australia take the third qualifying spot.

The race was meant to include Russia, but Denis Moiseev and Vladimir Varfolomeev were excluded due to an anti-doping rule violation by both athletes.

Great Britain’s Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter have been the biggest threat to Denmark this season and today the new British duo lined up in the fourth and final quarterfinal. But it was China’s Guolin Zhang and Jie Sun in the lead at the start. The lead didn’t last long as Athens medallist Vasileios Polymeros and partner Dimitrios Mougios of Greece pushed through to take first. Going through the third 500m Purchase and Hunter pulled out a 37 stroke rate piece that accelerated them into the lead. The Greeks held on. At the line Great Britain, Greece and China move on to the semifinal. They all still have a chance at Olympic qualification.

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-) – Quarterfinals

The four quarterfinals finished with just one second separating the first four boats. This bodes well for hot semifinal racing as has been the way in this lightweight event. With the top three boats advancing to the semifinal in each of these quarterfinals, Italy, in quarterfinal one, decided they wanted to stamp their mark. This boat included three of the crew that won bronze at Athens. After a mix and matching with all sorts of different combinations going on for the last two years, Bruno Mascarenhas, Salvatore Amitrano and Catello Amarante are back together and so is the magic. By the half-way point Italy had opened up a length over Poland in second with Egypt following in third. The order did not change despite Germany doing all they could to get into qualifying position. At the line Italy, Poland and an elated Egypt move on to the semifinal. Germany just sat there, slumped in the boat.

The second quarterfinal also included Athens Olympic medallists. In the middle of the Australian crew Anthony Edwards and Ben Cureton won silver in 2004. Today they followed the Italians' method and grabbed hold of the lead. But the new-look Danish lightweight four, together for the first time this year, was right on Australia’s heels. The Danes remained unrelenting. Russia, meanwhile, was trying to do everything in their power to hold on to the third and final qualifying spot. The United States had different ideas. Coming into the final 500m leg-burning dash, Tom Paradiso, Pat Todd, Colin Farrell and Andrew Bolton, rowing for the United States, had got their bow in front of Russia and into that valuable qualifying position. The US had no plans to give it away. At the line Australia, Denmark and the United States qualify for the semifinal.

Quarterfinal three saw France throw out a big upset. The 2005 World Champions with Olympic Champion from 2000, Jean-Christophe Bette sitting in three seat, France grabbed the lead and held on. This meant that reigning World Champions, China, who haven’t lost a race internationally since they won in 2006, were left standing still in third. Ireland, meanwhile, took hold of second. This order remained for three-quarters of the race before China attacked in the final sprint. The Chinese went after Ireland, overtook them and then targeted France. Ireland, under pressure from Japan, charged. At the line France finish first and qualify, China gain second and Ireland hold on to third to continue to the semifinal. A very disappointed Japan will race in semifinal C/D.

Great Britain have been improving throughout this season. At the first Rowing World Cup they took bronze, at the second silver and at the final Rowing World Cup, Great Britain won gold – the first time at a Rowing World Cup for the nation in this event in 15 years. Today they fronted up full of hope in quarterfinal four. But it was Canada that had the lead. Daniel Parsons, Mike Lewis, Jon Beare and new father, Iain Brambell have had an up and down season but today they were making no mistakes for Canada. Great Britain held on tight, giving the Canadians no manoeuvring room. Coming into the final sprint Great Britain had found the lead. Canada fought back. Meanwhile, in third the Netherlands were having to contend with a charging Serbia. All boats sprinted.

At the line Canada qualify from first, Great Britain in second and the Netherlands hold off Serbia to take the very last qualifying spot in the semifinal. Dutch Federation predictions are expecting their crew to make the A Final. So far the crew have kept these hopes alive.

MARTINOV Oleksij (SRB): "I prefer competing in sunny weather."

LOWRY Cody (USA): "We like competing in weather like this."

UREVICK-ACKELSBERG Daniel (USA): "It`s fine. The rain is fine."

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x) – Repechages

The two repechages required a top two finish for advancement to the semifinal. In repechage one Croatia went out to a flying start but was soon reeled in by Belarus with Canada taking up chase. This order remained the same through the middle of the race with China and the United States still well within attacking distance. Coming into the final sprint a massive crab in the Chinese boat lost them ground, Belarus kept their pace alive and the United States charged. Mark Flickinger, Jamie Schroeder, Deaglan McEachern and Sloan Du Ross for the US, coached by international coach Kris Korzeniowski, qualify for the semifinal along with Belarus.

The joining together of their doubles and single scullers did the trick for Cuba in repechage two. Stroked by usual single sculler, Yoennis Hernandez Arruez, the Cubans took the lead at the start and did everything in their power to hold on. This left the fairly underrated Australians to take second with Great Britain holding the pace in third. Australia have put their best two scullers in the double with the quad being the next-in-line sculling boat. Today they were putting in a mighty effort. With 500m left to row there were still three boats, Cuba, Australia and Great Britain all within qualification striking position. Great Britain took their rating to 40 and changed. Australia, at 39, were closing on Cuba. At the line Australia had taken first to qualify for the semifinal. An absolutely elated Cuba take second and Great Britain miss out in third.

Women’s Eight (W8+) – Repechages

The first of two repechages featured the most consistent crew of the season, Germany. After missing out on a spot in the final from the heats, Germany was back for the repechage and in the lead. Coxed by Annina Ruppel, the Germans were giving nothing away to the other crews. This left Canada coxed by Olympic veteran, Lesley Thompson-Willie and 2000 Olympic medallist Buffy Williams in stroke, to battle with the Netherlands. A fast start by the Dutch gave them the edge over Canada, but there was very little in it.

Coming into the final 500m Germany, to the delight of the crowd, still had the lead with Canada and the Netherlands neck and neck. Canada’s superior sprint did the trick. Germany and the Netherlands advance to the finals and keep their Olympic qualifying hopes alive. The Netherlands, who finished third at the last Olympic Games, will have to race the B Final this year and then try to qualify next year for the Olympics in the last, but limited, chance next July.

Russia, who were meant to race, were excluded after bow seat Svetlana Fedorova was found yesterday to have committed anti-doping rule violations. This excludes the entire boat from racing.

In repechage two a misalignment at the start meant crews raced 200m before they were called back to the start. Great Britain took advantage of this with the second start. The crew appears to be improving with every race and were in the lead at the start. But the power and might of the United States, under the coxing guidance of Olympic silver medallist, Mary Whipple, soon brought the Americans to the head of the field. Great Britain tried to hold on. In this tussle at the front the two boats moved away from New Zealand who were holding a humdinger of a battle with China. At the line the US remained in first, Great Britain qualifies from second with both boats advancing to the final. New Zealand won the duel with China but will have to race in the B Final and look at Olympic qualification next year. This is also the case for China.

Men’s Eight (M8+) – Repechages

It is surprising to see the United States in a repechage, but there they were in repechage one aiming for a top three position to advance to the semifinal. The US jumped out to an early lead followed closely by France. The old-look fast Americans took shape again with the crew drawing out to nearly a boat length lead over France by the half-way point and proceeding to extend it to open water. At the line the United States had won easily. Switzerland, despite one crew change due to illness, overtook France in the final sprint to take second and France earns the final qualifying spot in third.

A battle between Great Britain and Poland took these two crews clear into the lead of repechage two. Poland led for the first half, but a stronger second half gave Great Britain the edge and they opened out to be clear winners. Poland takes second and Belarus stayed ahead of New Zealand to take the third and final qualifying spot.