Junior rowers feel the Beijing heat

 A small head wind with very slight waves opened the day under sunny skies with less air pollution than day one, with very fair conditions overall. The temperature started at 26 degrees Celsius and increased throughout the day into the low 30s with humidity above 80 per cent. But according to the weather forecast, the heat has not and will not reach the critical stages defined in FISA's Safety Guidelines Manual, and a list of precautionary measures was distributed by FISA to teams to minimize the effect of the weather.

The impact of this heat and humidity on the athletes was evident especially for later races as rowers stayed on the water longer after the finish line, some with their feet dangling in the water. Diederik Oei who is here as Doctor for the Dutch Federation commented that they are researching the conditions and have a “beat the heat” programme under way to help athletes for next year’s Beijing Olympics. They are measuring the body temperature and loss of water of the athletes.

Junior Women’s Four (JW4-) – Repechages

In the first of two repechages Italy got the morning started by reaching the 500m mark first. The top two boats would qualify for the final. They held off attacks from New Zealand that came through the middle of the race by increasing their rating. But the attack caught the United States by surprise. Coming into the final sprint the many United States, Italian and New Zealand supporters filling the grandstands brought the cheering levels up as three boats went after two positions. Italy came through first with New Zealand qualifying in second after out-sprinting the United States.

Great Britain took a flying start in repechage two. They came into this event with the slowest qualifying time so knew they would have to make an early impact. Coming out of the blocks at 45 Great Britain got a slight lead. But the more experienced Belarus pushed back and took the lead with France keeping up with the leading pace and threatening Great Britain. At the finish Belarus had the lead with France, at 37, and Great Britain, at 38, taking the race to a photo finish. Unlucky for France, a crab in the last 50m cost them their chance to race in the A Final. Belarus and Great Britain go on to the A Final.

Junior Men’s Coxed Four (JM4+) – Repechages

Italy wanted to stamp their mark on the repechage and do more than just qualify. Stroked by Andrea Marcaccini, who won silver in this event last year, Italy had gained a handy boat length advantage over Australia in second. Behind the lead two boats, Ukraine and New Zealand, tussled with each other from lane two and four respectively. Coming into the last 500m Italy still had a handy boat length lead. Then Australia attacked. So did New Zealand. So did Ukraine. So did the United States. At the line only one-and-a-half boat lengths separated the top five boats and only four boats would qualify for the A Final. Italy had held on to first, Australia, just behind take second, New Zealand move through to third and Ukraine holds off the United States to take the final qualifying spot.

Junior Women’s Single Sculls (JW1x) – Repechages

Suzanne Maddamma of the United States must have been cursing herself coming out so slowly from the start. But it didn’t faze her. From the back of the field Maddamma worked her way into a qualifying position. Meanwhile Maria Wilgotsson of Sweden took to the lead using her experience of being the only one in this race to have competed last year where she finished eleventh. Behind Wilgotsson, Chisato Hoshizawa of Japan did her best to hold the leading pace. But Maddamma was steaming on, drawing level with Hoshizawa coming into the last 500m. Wilgotsson, still in the lead, looked relaxed at 30 strokes per minute and took the top spot to qualify for the semifinal. Maddamma earns second and Hoshizawa takes the final qualifying spot.

No one could touch Lauren Wilkinson of Canada in repechage two. Wilkinson took off in the lead and got enough of a gap that she could feel comfortable. This left Ukraine’s Nataliya Dovgodko and Marcela Milosevic of Croatia to fight it out for the second spot. Their fight, however, did not move them any closer to Wilkinson in the lead. Milosevic finished sixteenth last year in this event and her extra experience helped propel her into second with Dovgodko being the final qualifier from third.

Junior Men’s Single (JM1x) – Quarterfinals

Back for a second round of racing, four quarterfinals of the men’s single took to the water. Opening in quarterfinal one and aiming for a top three spot that would reserve them a place in tomorrow’s semifinal, Russia took a small early lead, but five of the six boats were all well on the pace. Only Turkey was struggling with the opening speeds. Australia’s Taylor Wilczynski then took control and by the half-way point had the lead. But there was still little in it between the top five boats and even to make place one, two or three boats would have to sprint. Wilczynski increased his rating, Mykolas Masilionis of Lithuania and Fei Li of China charged. Russia tried to hold the pace with Bram Dubois of Austria putting in a huge push. Wilczynski held first, Dubois takes second and Masilionis earns the third semifinal spot. Li, meanwhile, had given up the fight.

Quarterfinal two was all about Truls Albert of Norway, Adrian Juhasz of Hungary and Stergios Papachristos of Greece. Albert had an early lead, but there was very little in it between him and Papachristos and Juhasz. These three leading crews were unrelenting. It was going to come down to a sprint. In a photo finish Papachristos takes first, Juhasz takes second and Albert finishes in third to qualify. Papachristos took fourth last year in the under 23 double and also raced the same year in the junior quad.

He finished second last year and today in the third quarterfinal Aleksandar Aleksandrov of Bulgaria inched his way towards another junior medal. But at the start it was Miheil Ejoshvili of Gerogia who took a blistering start and had the lead. Was Ejoshvili going to burn himself out like he did in the heats yesterday? Going through the half-way point, Ejoshvili still had the lead going through the middle of the race but Aleksandrov, using long, but fast strokes, was gaining with New Zealand’s Henry Poor following suit. Coming into the final sprint Ejoshvili began to fade. Could Estonia catch him? At the line Aleksandrov takes first, Poor, with the crowd in the grandstand right behind him, takes second and Ejoshvili qualifies in third.

Leaving the best for last, the very smooth stroking Mathias Rocher of Germany cruised through the field after a slow start in quarterfinal four. Rocher has the look of a potential World Champion and already has a silver medal from last year’s junior four. He had the lead over Andrej Pavkovic of Slovenia and Martin Sinkovic of Croatia by the 750m mark. This left Pavkovic and Sinkovic to challenge each other with no real threat coming from anyone else in this field. Rocher, Sinkovic and Pavkovic move on to the semifinal, Rocher with the fastest qualifying time.

Junior Women’s Pair (JW2-) – Repechages

Two repechages with the top two finishers earning a spot in the final was the formula for the junior women’s pair. In repechage one, winners of their heat, Chaoqun Ni and Yuanyuan Hao of China returned again for the repechage after their boat weighed in too light after yesterday’s race and they were relegated to last. The Chinese seemed cautious and it was Cristina Silva Vieira and Liuba Germanova Wilhelm of Portugal who had the lead. Ni and Hao finally decided they wanted the lead and coming through the third 500m China took first rating a comfortable 33 strokes per minute. Silva and Germanova, still in qualifying position looked to be running out of steam but managed to hold off a late challenge by Canada. China and Portugal move on to the final. At this stage of the morning many of the Chinese spectators started to leave, probably to avoid the heat of the day.

Repechage two was led by the most experienced crew in this race, Bulgaria’s Iskra Angelova (second in 2006) and new partner, Luiya-Mariya Svilenova Rusinova. With their tee-shirts wrapped around their head to ward off the hot sun, Angelova and Rusinova took the lead and didn’t let go. This left the United States and South Africa to battle it out, head-to-head with each other, for the second qualifying spot. Despite South Africa pulling out an almighty finishing sprint, the United States stayed just ahead, helped by a large number of enthusiastic supporters. Bulgaria and the United States move on to the final.

Junior Men’s Pair (JM2-) – Repechages

The top three boats of these two repechages would advance to the semifinal and repechage one started out with everyone in for a chance. Even at the half-way point all six crew were still in with a chance. Then Moldova, in their second year together, started to drop back with Russia also finding the full 2000m pace too much. This gave Denmark a second wind with Matthew Tarrant and Matthew Anker of Great Britain following suit. Coming into the final sprint both Great Britain and Denmark were very much aware of each other, Jonas Dahl of Denmark looked out of the boat. Both sprinted. Anker and Tarrant take first, Denmark earn second and Turkey qualify from third.

Repechage two had Italy’s Riccardo Sansone and Matteo Colombo in the lead from the start. But this lead was barely evident with Austria pacing them stroke for stroke down the Shunyi course. Sansone and Colombo looked better technically as both boats raised their rating to 37 then 38 in the last 400m. Austria then decided they’d done enough. Italy take first, Austria qualify from second and Ukraine do just enough to earn the final spot in tomorrow’s semifinal.

Junior Women’s Double (JW2x) – Quarterfinals

Switzerland went off fast at the start of the first of four quarterfinals with the aim of being in the top three to make the semifinal. At the other end of the course the Swiss supporters were waiting with cow bells poised to ring. But it was Rui Xu and Yangyang Zhang of China who had earned the lead by the first 500m mark. Xu and Zhang have already raced at the senior level this season earning a sixth place finish at the second Rowing World Cup. Yesterday they won their heat, today they looked comfortable at the head of the field. Serbia, Switzerland and Greece held their own battle for the second and third qualifying spots. Coming into the final sprint, China still held the lead with Greece coming through to second and a fading Switzerland dropping behind Serbia. China, a very happy Greece and Serbia qualify.

Julia Lepke and Carina Bar of Germany led from start to finish in quarterfinal two. This race sorted itself out quite early on with Denmark taking second and Romania slipping into third. Nothing changed in this order with Lepke and Bar finishing easily ahead of Denmark in second. Quarterfinal three featured last year’s winners, Kaisa Pajusalu and Jevgenia Rondina of Estonia. Drawing on the knowledge of their experience Pajusalu and Rondina took the lead and worked at moving away from the Netherlands in second. Behind them Canada and Australia held a two-way battle from lane six and four respectively. This private battle brought Canada and Australia closer to the Netherlands. In the final sprint Australia passed the Dutch to qualify in second. Estonia hold on to first and the Netherlands earn the third qualifying spot.

Quarterfinal four opened with Belgium in the lead and closed with them out of a qualifying spot. As Belgium began to slip back, Italy took over in the lead with Austria going after them and Norway joining in the charge. There was very little in it between Italy, Norway, Belgium and Austria coming into the final 300m. A solid sprint by Kristina Loefman and Frida Schneider of Norway earn them first, Austria take second and Italy earn third.

Junior Men’s Double (JM2x) – Repechages

The first of four repechages recorded the fastest qualifying time when Slovenia’s Dejan Sandic and Ziga Pirih took off in the lead. All five of these crews are new to the international scene so pre-race preparation would be a big decider on who would handle the 2000m course with the most maturity. Sandic and Pirih seemed to be managing this. Going through the middle of the race the Slovenians remained in first with Switzerland pulling through to second. With just two boats to qualify for the semifinal Slovenia and Switzerland had it wrapped up. Switzerland, despite being comfortably in second, sprinted at the end to the sound of cow bells. Repechage two followed a similar theme. Giuseppe Vicari and Matteo Rosetti of Italy had built a solid lead after taking a flying start and France followed a couple of boat lengths back in second. No one challenged these two qualifiers with Italy looking very powerful, but relaxed through the water. Italy and France move on to the semifinal.

By the 750m mark in repechage three the order had all but sorted itself out. Serbia’s Igor Perzic and Nenad Bedik had the lead with Estonia slipping into second. North Korea and Lithuania battled it out for third, but the top two qualifying spots were under no threat. Still, Perzic and Bedik kept the pressure on to the end. Serbia and Estonia move on to the semifinal. The long and strong strokes of David Wakulich and Alexander Soutter of Canada put them into the lead of repechage four. But Croatia stuck close to the Canadians pushing them down the 2000m course. This moved Canada and Croatia away from the rest of the field. Coming into the final 400m Croatia took the pressure down. Canada and Croatia move on to the semifinal round.

Junior Men’s Four (JM4-) – Repechages

Six crews aimed for a top three position and early on in the race crews aimed to sort themselves out. At the start Bulgaria took the lead. Serbia followed in second with Denmark taking up third. The United States, in fourth, challenged Denmark but found themselves slipping further back. Coming into the final sprint Bulgaria still held the leader's advantage rating 34. Serbia challenged taking their rating to 36 with Denmark on 35. A full US supporters' club urged their team on, but the order didn’t change. Bulgaria, Serbia and Denmark move on to the semifinal.

Junior Women’s Quadruple Sculls (JW4x) – Repechages

Austria and France got off the fastest in repechage one of two repechages. The aim was to be in a top two position for advancement to the final and Austria, following stroke Magdalena Lobnig, took off rating over 40 strokes per minute and settling into a high 38 pace. The only boat within striking distance of Austria at these early stages was France. But it seemed their first half speed was unsustainable for France and they started to falter. Meanwhile New Zealand and China, from lanes three and two respectively, were having a real battle and in the process moving past France and closing in on Austria. Coming into the final sprint the Chinese and New Zealand supporters were doing their best. On the water New Zealand responded. Austria and New Zealand qualify for the final.

Leading from the starter's gun, Belarus took off settling to a 35 rating in repechage two. Sitting in stroke and two seat, Hanna Bandarevich and Volha Bushkova, both raced in this event last year finishing fifth. They will be hoping to get into the medals this year and did it by holding off Italy and the Czech Republic. Coming into the final sprint the Czech Republic took their rating to 35 and closed on Belarus. Italy also went to 35 but made no impression on the leaders. Russia pushed hard in the last 100m as well. At the line Belarus remained in the lead with the Czech Republic taking the other qualifying spot.

Junior Men’s Quadruple Sculls (JM4x) – Repechages

The first of four repechages was rescheduled after Denmark suffered boat damage in the start zone. Coming back at the end of the day, the five boats in this repechage were all aiming for a top two finish that would see them move through to the semifinal. China left the starting area in the lead with Portugal and Italy following closely behind. By the half-way point China still had the lead as Italy, stroked by Leonardo Boccuni at his first international regatta, moved into second. Portugal tried to get back up but at the line it will be China and Italy moving on to the semifinal.

The Czech Republic faced tough competition in repechage two but put on a solid, well-timed performance, to remain in the lead. Going through the middle of the race the real battle was going on between Switzerland and Ukraine with both boats overlapping and dueling from lane four and three respectively. A blistering sprint by Ukraine in the final 200m closed the gap on the Czech Republic in the lead and denied the Swiss of a qualifying position by a canvas – less than half a second. The Czech Republic and Ukraine advance.

In repechage three Spain took an early lead before Serbia found their form and took over at the front earning first through the middle of the race. Coming into the final sprint the heat was still on as four boats – Spain, Poland, Japan and Serbia – went for two qualifying spots. Serbia felt the heat, Japan was pushing hard, Poland went for broke. Serbia and Japan qualify. The fastest race came in repechage four when France fought their way back from a reasonably slow start to earn the lead and then sprint for the line. Despite their early lead Austria ran out of the steam at the end of the race and Australia seized the opportunity to take the second qualifying spot.

Junior Women’s Eight (JW8+) – Repechages

One repechage required a top four place for advancement to Saturday’s final. Eights senior women’s powerhouse Romania took to the lead at the start. This crew has the legacy of winning last year and include two members that were in that boat. The Romanians earned a commanding lead with the Netherlands, Poland and China holding their own battle for second. Poland earned it first and then lost it to China. At the line Romania was well in front. China earned second and Poland and the Netherlands also qualify but with no pressure from Russia in fifth.

Junior Men’s Eight (JM8+) – Repechages

The Chinese have been making the eight a national phenomenon with a reality show to find an Olympic coxswain broadcasting for most of this year. The result has been a huge growth of the sport in the country and a huge interest in eights racing. In the last race of the day Chinese coxswain Donghan Ye showed everyone how it was done by taking his crew into the lead and remaining there for the entire race. Behind China five crews went for four qualifying spots. Italy had second with Romania, Great Britain and the United States moving with Italy. With China clearly in the lead, the four following boats charged. The US supporters rose to their feet and the crew reacted pushing through to second. Italy and Romania qualify from third and fourth respectively. Great Britain caught a crab in the excitement and miss out. Their disappointment was extremely obvious.