Closing on WBTs at Under 23 Champs

Semifinal racing at the 2010 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Brest, Belarus, saw times get close to the World Best Times as crews fought to make it through to tomorrow’s final. The lightweight women’s double sculls nearly broke the World Best Time when Greece and New Zealand raced to a photo finish.

Today’s conditions on the Brest regatta course saw slight tail wind conditions with a slight bobble building on the water as the day advanced. These semifinal races were started earlier than originally planned and squeezed into five-minute intervals after organisers decided to get through racing as quickly as possible to avoid potential heavy winds in the afternoon.

Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (BLW1x) – Semifinals

Belarus got the semifinal proceedings going with their lightweight sculler winning Semifinal One. Alena Kryvasheyenka of Belarus carried out a very close battle with Stefanie Borzacchini of Austria. The lead swapped several times between these two scullers through the middle of the race. Kryvasheyenka is part of a new wave of rowers in Belarus and part of a push by the government to boost this sport. Last year Kryvasheyenka medalled at the junior level in the pair and today she moved on to the final of this sculling event with the fastest qualifying time, a swift 7:48. Borzacchini had to settle for second with New Zealand’s Leah Stanley getting the better of Kazakhstan to earn the third qualifying spot.

The second semifinal opened with South Africa’s Kirsten McCann in the lead. This is McCann’s fifth year on the international scene and she is already an Olympian. But going through the middle of the race Atsumi Fukomoto of Japan successfully challenged for the lead. McCann fought back but also very much on the pace was Catherine Bouchard-Pilote of Canada. This is Bouchard-Pilote’s first ever international event and the 19-year-old showed she has what it takes, pulling out a huge sprint to finish first. McCann qualified from second and Fukumoto from third.

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (BLM1x) – Semifinals

Winner of Semifinal One, Peter Chambers of Great Britain looks like the one to beat. Chambers has already won a medal this season at the senior World Cup level and comes from a rowing family, his brother is Olympian Richard. Today Chambers’ finishing time of 7:00 was just five seconds outside of the World Best Time. It took Chambers until the second half of the race to find the lead with Italy, France and Belgium all being very much on the pace. At the line the top three qualifiers were less than a second apart, Chambers in first, Alexandre Pilat of France in second and Hannes Obreno of Belgium getting the better of Italy to finish third.

Last year’s under-23 Champion Mohsen Shadi Naghedeh of Iran featured in Semifinal Two. Naghedeh is not known for starting fast but today Naghedeh was not far back with Brazil’s Ailson Silva in the lead. In the second stretch Naghedeh pushed ahead of last year’s silver medallist, Silva. Then Naghedeh changed gear and moved right away from the rest of the field. Silva had no answer and instead Silva found himself under threat from Germany’s Christian Hochbruck. A huge sprint by Hochbruck brought him into second ahead of Silva with Naghadeh finishing at a comfortable pace to hold first. Naghadeh, Hochbruck and Silva qualify for tomorrow’s final.

Lightweight Men’s Pair (BLM2-) – Semifinals

Austria shot out at the start of Semifinal One, but their early lead was soon under threat by last year’s silver medallists, twins Tycho and Vincent Muda of the Netherlands, with Germany storming down the outside. Despite the charge coming from Yannic Corinth and Lasse Antczak of Germany, the Mudas looked to be improving as the race progressed and Germany began to slip back to join a crowd fighting for the two remaining qualifying spots. Corinth and Antczak are racing on the German national team for the first time while the Mudas have been racing internationally for four years.

At the line the Netherlands crossed the line nicely in first, Germany qualified from second and a solid second half by Christian Klein and Michael Kerrigan of the United States gave them the third qualifying spot.

Semifinal Two opened with five boats practically on top of each other with only Canada off the pace. By the half-way point margins had changed remarkably with Charles Breschet and Edouard Jonville of France in the lead followed by a close battle between fastest qualifiers Ireland and Italy with Hungary not far behind. Italy’s Marcello Nicoletti and Matteo Pinca got the better of Ireland and went after France. Breschet and Jonville raced together last year in the lightweight four finishing sixth. This year, in the pair, they remained in the lead of this semifinal to qualify for a middle lane in tomorrow’s final.

Behind the French, Hungary’s Peter Bartfai and Peter Vermes absolutely surged to overtake both Italy and Ireland enabling them to grab second. Italy held on to the third and final qualifying spot.

Lightweight Men’s Quadruple Sculls (BLM4x) – Semifinals

At the senior level Italy all but own this event and today the Italian crew took off in the lead of Semifinal One. But there was very little in it between the top five crews with these five still close together coming into the middle of the race. It took until the third 500m for crews to really sort themselves out. Germany kept their pace consistent which gave them a leading edge ahead of Italy and Greece as Denmark and Canada dropped back.

Surprisingly Italy did not manage a huge sprint at the end and as Germany crossed the line in third, Greece was able to pull ahead of the slowing Italians who just qualified from third.

Usually crews do their fastest 500m in the opening quarter of a 2000m race, but in Semifinal Two Switzerland recorded their fastest section in the close of the race. This fast close, however, was not enough to get Switzerland into tomorrow’s final in a race that had the field very tight for three-quarters of the race. France had the leading edge for the first half of the race before Ireland broke out in front earning just a smidgen of a lead over Great Britain and France.

As crews raced for the line Ireland crossed first, followed closely by Great Britain with France taking third. Switzerland and their massive sprint brought them within 16/100ths of a second of qualifying.

Women’s Single Sculls (BW1x) – Semifinals

Coming through from the heats Lithuania’s Donata Vistartaite had the fastest time finishing her race with a huge open-water lead. Today in Semifinal One Vistartaite again recorded the fastest qualifying time putting her in the position of favourite for tomorrow’s final. But at the start it was Poland’s Natalia Madaj who had the lead. It didn’t last long as first Vistartaite and then Kaisa Pajusalu of Estonia overtook Madaj.

Now in the lead Vistartaite then showed her superior stamina by moving away from the field and maintaining her boat speed. Although Vistartaite didn’t have the 11-second lead that she managed in the heats, the Lithuanian still crossed the finish line with an open-water lead. Pajusalu finished second and Madaj qualified from third.

It has been a while since the Netherlands has had an open women single sculler on the international scene. Is Nicole Beukers of the Netherlands about to fill that spot? At the start of Semifinal Two, Beukers had the lead. But it did not last long. By the middle of the race Tale Gjoertz of Norway was in the lead with Tatsiana Kukhta of Belarus slipping into second. Then Olympian Lindsay Meyer of the United States began to show her second half speed.

Meyer’s comeback from a slow start was known by her competition after her heat two days ago and today Meyer followed the same path moving from fourth place through to second and then taking on Gjoertz in the lead. As Meyer charged for the line Gjoertz had just enough of a lead to hold off the final sprint by Meyer. Gjoertz, Meyer and Kukhta qualify for tomorrow’s final.

Men’s Single Sculls (BM1x) – Semifinals

Narrowed down to the final 12 rowers, the first six took to the water in Semifinal One. Germany has been consistently strong in this event and their new sculler Karl Schulze comes from team boat rowing. Schulze raced last year in the quad. Today, in the single Schulze took over in the leading spot and by the half-way point he had built up an impressive five-second lead over his nearest rival, Stergios Papachristos of Greece.

Then from the outside, Bram Dubois of Belgium took flight. Coming into the final sprint Dubois was still moving and, having overtaken Papachristos, Dubois was moving on Schulze. The Greek had no reply as Schulze hung on. At the line Schulze qualified from first, Dubois makes his first A-final at the international level and Papachristos gets third.

Dirk Uittenbogaard of the Netherlands completely turned around Semifinal Two by coming through from the back of the field to finish first. In a race that saw incredibly close racing and the lead change several times, at the start Switzerland had the lead. Then Russia took over at the half-way point. Uittenbogaard was still at the back. Then Aleksandar Aleksandrov of Azerbaijan held the lead. Meanwhile Uittenbogaard had been working his way through the pack. In the final sprint three boats went for gold. A photo finish declared Uittenbogaard the winner, Aleksandrov had second and Georgi Bozhilov of Bulgaria earned third.

Men’s Pair (BM2-) – Semifinals

John Smith and Lawrence Brittain of South Africa set the standard in the heats and they lined up again today in Semifinal One. Brittain raced in the B-final last year and it looks like he’s definitely stepped up this year with new partner Smith. They had the lead at the start, but only just over Igor Lucic and Luka Djordjevic and Igor Lucic of Serbia.

Lucic and Djordjevic then moved ahead with Smith and Brittain holding on tightly. Now Canada’s Anthony Jacob and Conlin McCabe decided to move on into the action and coming into the final sprint the Canadians charged. Lucic and Djordjevic looked like they were just holding on. Smith and Brittain were countering the Canadians’ moves. At the line Smith and Brittain had just held off Jacob and McCabe who got second with Lucic and Djordjevic in third. Surprisingly Hungary, silver medallists in 2009, are out of the final after finishing fourth.

Romania may not have won their heat two days ago, but today they rowed a very solid race to win Semifinal Two. Ionut Minea and Marius Luchian warmed up for this regatta by finishing an impressive fourth at the second Rowing World Cup this year. Today they were challenged by Carl Juergens and Alexander Egler of Germany through the body of the race before Benoit Brunet and Matthieu Moinaux of France took them on in the final sprint.

Brunet and Moinaux had started out in fourth and moved up into third before throwing out a huge sprint in the final 500m that shot them way past Germany and got them overlapping with Romania. The Romanians watched the French coming and did just enough to hold them off. Romania take first, France second and Germany qualifies from third.

Men’s Double Sculls (BM2x) – Semifinals

Eric Johannesen and Sebastian Peter of Germany won bronze in the double earlier this season at Rowing World Cup II and they finished Semifinal One here in Brest with the fastest qualifying time (albeit only just). They add this to Peter’s 2009 Under 23 Champion gold medal in the quad. Johannesen and Peter took the lead at the start and raced a steady and consistent race to hold off New Zealanders, Karl and Robert Manson who followed them in second. Robert is the reigning under-23 Champion in this event and he is joined by his younger brother this year.

Italy followed in third and nothing changed in the order right to the line. Germany, New Zealand and Gabriele Cagna and Federico Ustolin of Italy are the three qualifying boats.

Saulius Ritter and Rolandas Mascinskas of Lithuania raced in Semifinal Two winning in a time just a smidgen slower than the Germans’ time from the previous race. Ritter and Mascinskas did not lead at the start. That honour went to Lauris Sire and Dairis Adamaitis of Latvia. A strong push in the third 500m gave Ritter and Mascinskas the lead with Latvia holding on. Coming into the final sprint Lithuania retained the lead with the main sprint coming from Slovenia’s Ziga Pirih and Andraz Krek. Pirih and Krek, however, were too far back to do much damage but they did secure their third place finish. Lithuania, Latvia and Slovenia are in the final.

Men’s Four (BM4-) – Semifinals

Semifinal One opened with a solid start by Great Britain with Spain following in second. Stroked by Constantine Louloudis who comes to this boat from the 2009 World Champion junior four, the British continued to stay in the lead moving further and further away from Spain through the body of the race. Meanwhile, Spain found themselves under threat from Germany and coming through the third 500m the Germans had pushed into second.

At the front Great Britain now had a large lead and did not have to sprint hard to finish first. Spain, however, decided to push back and got their nose ahead of Germany to earn second with Germany qualifying for the final from third.

The second semifinal was much quicker than semifinal one when three boats went head to head for most of the race. Australia, the Czech Republic and Italy were the three boats in the action with the United States sitting just on the edge of it. At the start, Italy, who include three of the members that were silver medallists in the coxed four last year at the under-23 level, were in the lead. The Czech Republic held on tightly to the Italians and it paid dividends for them. Going through the third 500m the Czechs found the lead.

Italy, however, must have wanted a semifinal victory. A big sprint to the line brought Italy to the front of the field with the Czechs looking like they accepted second. Australia, now feeling the pressure for third from the United States, held on to take third. Italy, the Czech Republic and Australia are in the final tomorrow.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (BLW2x) – Semifinals

A loud ‘ohhhh’ rose from the crowd just after the finish of Semifinal One, when two crews – Greece and New Zealand – matched each other stroke for stroke right to the line. This race opened with the reigning under 23 champions, Greece’s Triantafyllia Kalampoka and Christina Giazitzidou, in the lead. By the half-way point newcomers Lucy Strack and Julia Edward of New Zealand had moved from third to second behind Greece while Great Britain’s Katherine Copeland and Charlotte Burgess held on to third.

As Great Britain slipped back, the battle between Greece and New Zealand intensified in the second half of the race. Coming into the line there was absolutely nothing in it with the Greeks and New Zealand crew side by side. The crowd was on their feet. The photo finish declared a Greek win by 1/100th of a second. Great Britain qualified from third. Greece had finished just two seconds outside the World Best Time.

Germany just about always delivers in this event and their combination of Helke Nieschlag and Sina Burmeister is no exception. Nieschlag is already a World Champion at the senior level while Burmeister has raced at the senior Rowing World Cup. Today they led Semifinal Two from start to finish despite strong challenges from Canada. Patricia Obee and Elisabeth Fenje of Canada had a reasonably inconsistent middle section of the race that saw their second place position under threat from Emma Fred and Cecilia Lilja of Sweden. But the Canadians really picked it up at the end to close on Germany. The order, however, did not change. Germany, Canada and Sweden advance to tomorrow’s final.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (BLM2x) – Semifinals

There is every indication that tomorrow’s final is shaping up to be a humdinger. Today in the semifinals, the top three boats from each race all finished within three seconds of each other. Narrowed down from the initial 22 countries, the six countries in Semifinal One conducted a tight race amongst the top four crews – Azerbaijan, Italy, Germany and Greece. Right from the start Panagiotis Magdanis and Eleftherios Konsolas of Greece held a bit of a lead and by the half-way point they had earned a two-second margin.

Meanwhile, behind the Greeks, Italy, Azerbaijan and Germany were incredibly tightly packed. A move in the third 500m brought Germay and Italy into equal second with Azerbaijan slipping back. But that was all to change in the sprint to the line. Javid Afandiyev and Igor Khmara of Azerbaijan did a huge sprint. Germany held on but Italy couldn’t. Greece, Germany and Azerbaijan go to the final.

Great Britain’s Benjamin Rowe and Kieren Emery had the starters’ edge in Semifinal Two with Spain, Belarus and Denmark hot on their heels. Then Belarus found the speed too much and slipped back leaving it up to Denmark and Spain to chase Great Britain. Peter Noerlem and Andreas Ramboel of Denmark did it the best. In fact they did it so well that at the finish they were in the lead. Denmark, Great Britain and Spain make Sunday’s final.

 

Lightweight Men’s Four (BLM4-) – Semifinals

 

Germany are the reigning under 23 champions in this event but today, in Semifinal One, the Germans saw themselves pushed back to third when Italy and the United States stormed through the 2000m Brest regatta course. Italy, stroked by Corrado Regalbuto, had the lead at the start, but only just over Germany. Through the middle of the race the Germans, United States and Italy formed a line, barely a bow ball separating them. Then the US pulled out to a slight lead with Italy holding their pace better than the Germans. In the final sprint Italy held on to first with the United States in second. Meanwhile Germany had to give it their all to stay ahead of Chile and qualify. Italy, USA and Germany will be in the final.

 

 

Semifinal Two opened with six crews all within the ball park of each other. Coming through the middle of the race Great Britain had earned a small leading margin as New Zealand and Denmark went toe to toe behind them. The Kiwis and Danes remained tightly together through the middle of the race as Japan closed the gap on the leading three crews.

 

 

Coming into the final sprint Japan gave it their all to try to make it into a qualifying spot. Denmark, New Zealand and Great Britain held them off. Great Britain, New Zealand and Denmark will meet again tomorrow in the final with Great Britain earning the favoured middle lane.

 

 

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (BM4x) – Semifinals

 

 

Croatia’s Damir Martin, David Sain and Valent and Martin Sinkovic come to these under 23 championships as the 2010 winners of the Rowing World Cup series. This crew are not only up there at the top of the senior level, but they did it by beating the current World and Olympic Champions, Poland. Today they raced in Semifinal One on the Brest regatta course. Ukraine, however, gave them a good run for their money and although Croatia didn’t really have to sprint the finish, Ukraine stuck with them for most of the race. At the finish the qualifiers were Croatia, Ukraine and the Czech Republic.

 

 

Semifinal Two turned out to be much closer. Through the first 60 strokes of the race barely a second separated the entire six-boat field with Germany just in front. By half way Switzerland had pulled into the lead with Russia hot on their tails. Russia then managed to haul in Switzerland and overtake them. The Germans were in trouble. In the final sprint Poland gave it their all with Russia and Switzerland holding on for all that they were worth. Russia maintained first place, Poland took second and a very relieved Switzerland qualified from third.

 

 

Men’s Eight (BM8+) – Semifinals

 

In the lead of Semifinal One was the United States. This crew is coached by former senior national team head coach, Mike Teti. Teti has earned a number of Olympic medals in his coaching career but recently decided to move to collegiate coaching. Today his crew remained in the lead for the entire race despite some solid challenges coming from last year’s under 23 champions, Poland. At the line the United States, the Netherlands and Poland had qualified for tomorrow’s final.

 

There is nothing slow about this year’s German eight. Racing at the head of the field in Semifinal Two, the Germans finished in a time of 5:34, just four seconds outside of a World Best Time. Coxed by Albert Kowert who is in his third year of under 23 racing, the Germans held off Great Britain in the first half of the race and then in the second half they worked their was into a full boat length lead and expanded on it. Great Britain remained in second with the Czech Republic overtaking Ukraine to come through into third.