Coming through the B Finals at the Under 23 Champs

A small head-cross wind with sunny conditions greeted the crowd and the athletes on the water. Stroke rates were higher today and times faster as the B Finals warmed up the course for today’s A Finals.

Lightweight Women's Single Sculls (BLW1x) – B Final

Carolyn Smith of South Africa raced as a junior in the women’s pair. Today, in this sculling event, she led the B Final. But Smith could not maintain her early speed and Monika Sajincic of Slovenia took over in the lead. Sajincic, 20, finished fifth in this event last year and must have felt the increase in standard as she raced for a chance to be seventh in the world. Sajincic made the best of it and from her leading position moved away from the rest of the field including Francesca Gallo of Italy who was now in second. The order did not change in the final sprint.

Results: SLO, ITA, DEN, RSA, MEX, VEN

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (BLM1x) – B Final

Being the last to come out of the starter’s hands did not deter Jose Guipe of Venezuela. The 19-year-old who raced the senior Rowing World Cup circuit must have been feeling good. Working his way up to Alan Eber Armenta of Mexico, who was in first, Guipe found the lead by the half-way point. Guipe kept the pressure on and sprinted through to a first-place finish. Armenta held on to second adding to the Latin American flavour. Croatia’s Marko Kusurin, rating 37, got through to third.

Results: VEN, MEX, CRO, FRA, TUR, HKG

Women’s Single Sculls (BW1x) – B Final

After an opening fast push by Marije van Amersfoort of the Netherlands, Ulla Varvio of Finland took over in the lead. Varvio is at her fourth under-23 championships and has been in the single for her entire international career. Last year she finished seventh and racing in today’s B Final, seventh would be the best she could do. Varvio has become Finland’s best open-weight single sculler and will be a name to look for in the future. Today Varvio spent the 2000m race practically in a class of her own so that by the finish she had a seven-second lead over van Amersfoort in second. Varvio, for the second year running, is seventh overall.

Results: FIN, NED, SRB, LAT, ESA, BEL

Men’s Single Sculls (BM1x) – B Final

Damir Martin of Croatia may have finished fourth last year, but the bigger field and tougher standards meant that today Martin competed in the B Final. Martin showed his experience by coming through into the lead and holding off last year’s sixth-place finisher, Mathias Raymond of Monaco. Raymond is Monaco’s sole international rower and he made history last year by being the first Monaco citizen to make an international sporting final in decades. Martin won handily with Raymond in second and Greece finishing third.

Results: CRO, MON, GRE, LAT, NED, SRB

Men’s Pair (BM2-) – B Final

For the first half of the race there was nothing between Belarus and the Netherlands. The Netherlands had a slight advantage, but it was not enough to give them any confidence. Then the Dutch appeared to run out of speed. Belarus took over in the lead and the Dutch did all that they could to hold off Hungary who were charging through in third. At the line Belarus became seventh for 2008. The Netherlands stay just ahead of Hungary to be counted as eighth.

Results: BLR, NED, HUN, CRO, SWE, TUR

Women’s Double Sculls (BW2x) – B Final

France got off to a cracking pace, but their inexperience soon came through as they were overtaken first by Russia, then Romania, Lithuania and Estonia. Russia’s Irina Kochergina and Anna Kornilova. Kochergina has been a three-time junior team member while Kornilova raced for the first time internationally last year on the under-23 team. Together they held a close battle with Romania and came off as the better crew.

Results: RUS, ROU, LTU, EST, FRA, AUT

Men’s Double Sculls (BM2x) – B Final

In a race dominated by Eastern European crews, Jan Spik of Slovenia did his best for his country. His brother Luka is a two-time Olympic medallist and continues to dominate the double at the senior level. Jan raced today with partner Andraz Krek and stayed in the lead from start to finish. Latvia tried to hold Slovenia’s pace, but the effort turned out to be too much and they slipped back in the final sprint. Instead Belarus sprinted through from the back of the field to finish second.

Results: SLO, BLR, LAT, UKR, EST, AUS

Men’s Four (BM4-) – B Final

A very experienced Romanian boat took off in the lead under the stroking of Andrei Timpau. Timpau is a junior world champion and has also competed at the under-23 level for three years as well as racing at last year’s senior World Rowing Championships. But Denmark, the United States and France were not making it easy for the Romanians. These three boats remained within striking distance of the leaders throughout the race, pushing the Romanians hard. Coming into the line Denmark pulled out a huge sprint. Romania took their rating to 40. Romania remained in front.

Results: ROU, DEN, USA, FRA, POL, BUL

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (BLW2x) – B Final

The Netherlands are getting a reputation for fast starts and they showed it again today in the lightweight women’s double B Final. The Dutch, however, began to fade through the middle of the race letting Italy take over. But the race was very tight with Poland, Australia and Hungary all very much in on the action. Just before the 1500m mark the unlucky Australians, sitting in third, caught a crab. It did not deter them and they got right back into their work. Coming into the final sprint Hungary charged. So did Poland and Australia. Italy was in trouble. At the line Hungary had got that all-important leading spot, Australia overtook Poland and grabbed second.

Results: HUN, AUS, POL, ITA, NED, USA

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (BLM2x) – B Final

Norway’s Kristoffer Brun and Are Strandli grabbed the lead at the start and did not give it up. The duo are in their second year together after racing to ninth at last year’s European Championships. This left Hong Kong and Denmark to go against each other for the second spot. A better sprint by Denmark brought them into second coming into the line but it was not enough to enable them to catch the Norwegians.

Results: NOR, DEN, HKG, RUS, SUI, BLR

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (BM4x) – B Final

At the start there was nothing between these six crews with only Hungary showing a slight early advantage. By the half-way point the field had spread out with Hungary and Italy battling it out at the front and Croatia, Slovenia and Austria all vying for the third spot. Hungary kept their speed up. Italy started to slip. Croatia sprinted for the line at a 40 stroke rate. Hungary held on to first with Croatia grabbing second from Italy.

Results: HUN, CRO, ITA, SLO, AUT, ROU

Men’s Eight (BM8+) – B Final

Illness in the New Zealand crew meant that just five boats lined up at the start and it was Australia that had an early showing with Spain holding on to the Australian’s pace. Spain, however, could not sustain the rhythm and Australia moved further into the lead with Russia, then the Netherlands getting the better of Spain.

Results: AUS, RUS, NED, ESP, ITA