Tough head wind for B finalist rowers

Day three of racing at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Brandenburg, Germany, was a mixture of semifinals and lesser finals. Weather conditions of intermittent rain with sun continued and athletes worked into a head wind down the Beetzsee course. To follow is a report on today’s B Finals.

Women’s Four (BW4-) – B Final

New Zealand took over in the lead after the fast-starting Ukraine crew started to slip. New Zealand has not been a regular entry in this event but the growth of sport in the country has meant many more crews racing internationally. By the half-way point Ukraine had dropped behind Germany. They fought back and at the line New Zealand took first, Ukraine second and Germany, who were fourth last year, finish in third and therefore 10th overall.

Lightweight Men’s Pair (BLM2-) – B Final

A big increase in the number of countries entered in this event meant the racing of a B Final. Great Britain’s new combination of Jon Preston and Carl Delaney overtook Turkey to dominate the race. Preston comes through from the junior national team while this is Delaney’s first year racing internationally for Great Britain. The young duo are likely to be rowing names of the future. Turkey finishes second and the very high rating Hungarians (rarely slipping below 40 strokes per minute) take third.

Lightweight Men’s Quadruple Sculls (BLM4x) – B Final

France may have earned silver last year, but as standards improve at this regatta, France found themselves racing in the B Final. Romain Boutron, Stany Delayre and Guillaume Rochet all won silver in 2007. With just one change to their crew this year they managed to finish seventh overall. They did this by carrying out a close battle with Mexico, who led for most of the race, and Australia. For the entire race these three crews were separated by less than a couple of seconds. France’s better sprint got them to the line first, Australia take second and Mexico third.

Women’s Pair (BW2-) – B Final

Ukraine’s Maryna Kolyesnyk and Olena Iashna left Canada in the dust in this two-horse race. This is a step down for Iashna who finished fourth last year in the pair. Their slow finishing time of 8:40 indicated the strength of the head wind conditions.

Lightweight Men’s Four (BLM4-) – B Final

Austria may have won silver in 2007, but it was a whole new ball game this year as the crew found themselves racing in the B Final. The Austrians, stroked by Oliver Komaromy who is the only returnee from last years crew, started off in third. They then worked their way to the head of the field going through the middle of the race. Margins were tight with the Netherlands hot on the Austrians tail. At the line a better sprint by the Netherlands and Russia gave these crews first and second respectively. USA, who had held on tightly to third throughout the majority of the race, stayed there until the line. Austria had to be content with fourth.

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (BW4x) – B Final

In this two-boat race Italy tried their best to stay with Belarus, but the Belarusians were too quick. By the end of the race Belarus had opened up a full eight seconds over the Italians in these tough, slow conditions, on the Beetzsee regatta course.