Fighting to be a finallist at the junior rowing worlds

Today the top junior rowers from throughout the world raced in the semi-finals aiming for a spot in the final of the 2006 World Rowing Junior Championships in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Weather conditions remained changeable. Some sun, some rain, a bit of a tail wind, a bit of a side wind, but throughout the water remained favourably flat.

Junior Women’s Single Sculls (JW1x)

Some of these scullers got a day off. Some arrived at the semi-final through the repechage. Today the slate was clean as semi-final one lined up. Leaving the starters hands first was Natalia Madaj of Poland. Madaj’s impressive opening pace gave her a boat length lead over Ilze Leoke of Latvia in second with Lucy Walczak of Great Britain a bit back in third. Madaj and Leoke were under no threat for their positions going through the middle of the race. Then Lindsay Meyer of the United States began to move from an incredibly slow start. First she overtook Lithuania, then she reeled in Sweden and finally she overtook Walczak to move into the third qualifying spot in an impressive sprint. Madaj, Leoke and Meyer qualify for the final.

Semi-final two opened with Norway’s Frida Schneider out in front. But a strong second 500 push by South Africa’s Kirsten McCann propelled her into the lead. McCann made the final last year in the junior double and going solo is obviously a wise choice as she kept her cool in staying just inches ahead of Schneider and Juliane Domscheid of Germany. As Schneider dropped back Domscheid pushed into second with McCann breaking away at the head of the field. A relaxed McCann crossed the line in first rowing a comfortable 27 stroke rate. Domscheid and Schneider qualify also for the final from second and third respectively.

Junior Men’s Single Sculls (JM1x)

Slovenia’s Andraz Krek knew about the speed of Hans Gruhne of Germany and wasn’t going to let the German dominate him. Getting out in front at the start, Krek fought to hold off Gruhne. But the much taller Gruhne, last year’s junior double winner was confident. Pushing past Krek, Gruhne then proceeded to do just enough to hold the lead. Gruhne and Krek looked in a class of their own with the normally high rating Aleksandar Aleksandrov of Bulgaria an open water distance back in third. Nothing changed in the order. Gruhne, Krek and Aleksandrov move on to the final.

Five hundred metres had been rowed in semi-final two and there was still nothing at all between the top five boats. Who was going break away. Predrag Lackov of Serbia & Montenegro has the legacy of this event being won by his country last year and he must have had that in mind as he broke away from the pack and worked on inching away. But the rest of the pack had no intention of letting this happen. Italy’s Bruno Rosetti chased hard and retained an overlap with Sweden just a touch back. In the final sprint Lackov finally moved away from the pack, leaving a full on battle raging behind him for the remaining two qualifying spots. A photo finish gave Rosetti second and Switzerland’s Michael Schmid just ahead of Sweden in third.

Junior Women’s Pair (JW2-)

Semi-final one featured reigning junior champion, Romania’s Nicoleta Albu. Albu already has two junior medals after also taking silver last year in the eight and this year Alba took her boat into the lead with partner Adelina Janatova. The duo then moved away from early leader and now in second, Bulgaria’s Nadejda Slavcheva and Iskra Angelova. Albu and Janatova then moved clear away from Bulgaria who were now working at maintaining a big lead over Italy and Ukraine. At the line Albu and Janatova advance to the final with the fastest qualifying time and as clear favourites. Slavcheva and Angelova take second and Ukraine grab the third and final qualifying spot off Italy.

Germany’s Kerstin Hartmann and Katrin Reinert came into this event after winning silver at the under 23 championships two weeks ago and as last year’s silver medallists they were confident of their boat speed. Today they shot out into the lead in semi-final two and raced in a class of their own with an open water advantage by the half way point. Canada’s Erica Shaw and Rosie Deboef sat in second. Then a very slow starting Cristina Silva and Liuba Germanova of Portugal suddenly got their act together and worked their way through the entire field and into second. The United States, struggling with early steering problems, tried to follow suit. But Canada held them off. At the line Hartmann and Reinert easily take first. Portugal earns second and Canada qualifies from third.

Romania and Germany will meet tomorrow in the final and, judging by the semi-final racing, this is going to be one of the biggest showdowns of this regatta.

Junior Men’s Pair (JM2-)

Semi-final one opened with Aleksandar Radovic and Ivan Ostojic of Serbia & Montenegro in the lead over Australia’s Adam Wertheimer and Jonothan Hookway with Denmark slipping into third. The tall Radovic and Ostojic come from a basketball crazy nation and both play the game when not rowing. But, back to the race. From the rear of the field a very slow starting Charles Cousins and Mohamed Sbihi of Great Britain began to pour on the power. Sbihi, in stroke, was using all of his two metre tall frame to its full extent and as the race progressed the British began to close on Ostojic and Radovic. Raising their rate to 39 the Brits charged. Radovic and Ostojic just managed to hold them off. Great Britain take second and Australia qualifies from third.

Semi-final two featured Romanian favourites Ionel Strungaru and Marius Luchian. Strungaru is working on going for his fourth junior gold medal and he moved one step closer to this goal by taking the lead over Linus Lichtschlag and Hendrik Bohnekamp, both from the same rowing club in Berlin. Despite the impressive past of Stungaru the Romania’s were nowhere near to dominating this race. Sensing that Germany was close by Greece’s Miltiadis Stergiou and Athanasios Kollias went for broke. Overtaking Germany, Greece closed the gap on the Romanians. Strungaru and Luchian were fully prepared. Taking their rating up a notch the Romanians moved easily away, leaving Greece and Germany to battle it out for second and third. At the line Romania move on to take one of the middle lanes in the final. Greece and Germany advance from second and third place respectively.

Junior Women’s Double Sculls (JW2x)

In semi-final one early leaders, Estonia’s Kaisa Pajusalu and Jevgenia Rondina had warmed up for these junior races by competing two weeks ago for their country at the under 23 championships. They finished an impressive fifth at the under 23 event and today they put themselves in a very good medal position by remaining in front for the entire race. This is Pajusalu’s third junior championships and she is surely a name to watch in the future. Behind Estonia, Austria’s Lisa Farthofer and Christine Schoenthaler worked at holding tightly on to second over constant challenges from Lauren Hutchins and Sarah Graham of Canada. At the line the positions had not changed. Estonia, Austria and Canada move on to the final. From the bank, the cow bells ringing for Switzerland did not seem to help. Switzerland will return to contest the B Final.

Last year both Germany and Romania medalled. Today, with new crews, the two countries met again in the second semi-final. Of the two crews only Cristina Ilie of Romania has raced before at the international level (earning a silver last year in the eight). But, instead of Germany and Romania, it was Poland’s Marta Betlejewska and Kamila Socko who came out in the lead. The Poles, however, could not maintain their first half pace and Germany had moved into striking distance with 500 metres left to row. Romania, meanwhile, had their hands full to try and hold on to third because a charging United States had found their second wind. Ilie and partner Ionela Curelet of Romania, however, had the better stamina, the better sprint and a stroke rate of 37. The smaller, exhausted Americans could not hold the pace stopping just before the line. Germany, Poland and Romania move on to the final.

Junior Men’s Double Sculls (JM2x)

The large number of entries in this event meant that there were three semi-finals and a top two finish was needed for advancement to the final. The standard was impressive coming through the heats and repechages and today in the semi-final racing the pressure was on.

Defending his 2005 gold medal in semi-final one, Tim Bartels of Germany and new partner Stephan Krueger overtook the fast starting Russian combination of Nikita Igudin and Maxim Zhemaldinov. Now in the lead, Bartels and Krueger settled into a solid and strong 30 stroke rate pace with Igudin and Zhemaldinov, competing at their first junior championships, settling into second. The order did not change, the two qualifying spots looked secure. But back in the field and opening up a late charge, Hungary suddenly came to life. Their sprint, however, was too, little too late. Germany and Russia advance to the final.

France started off in the lead of semi-final two and as they went through the half-way point the French still had it. But then Slovenia’s Janez Jurse and Jan Spik (2004 junior champion in the quad), poured on the pressure. Moving into first with 500 metres left to row, the Slovenians tried to maintain their position. But then the Croatian’s came alive. Taking their rating to 39, Damir Martin and Valent Sinkovic of Croatia went for broke. At the line they had sprinted past France and overtaken Slovenia. France, also at 39, attacked back. Finishing third was not good enough. Croatia qualify from first. A very happy Slovenia go to the final from second.

Lucjan Walczak and Ariel Makowski of Poland took off in the lead of the final semi-final ahead Serbia & Montenegro and remained in this coveted position going through the middle of the race. But Denmark’s Nils Stene and Henrik Stephansen were pulling up on the Poles. Stephansen holds the lightweight junior world record on the indoor rowing machine with a 6:12 time over 2000 metres and Stene, apart from rowing, is a top skier. With 500 metres left to row, Stene and Stephansen had found the lead. Is this the future lightweight double for Denmark? Stene and Stephansen then pulled completely away from Walczak and Makowski. Denmark and Poland both qualify for the final.

Junior Men’s Four (JM4-)

Great Britain dominate this event at the senior level. Today they showed that they’re not too shabby as juniors by leading semi-final one from start to finish. Three seat, Thomas Lucy is the sole survivor of last year’s bronze medal crew and he is joined by 2005 internationals from a variety of boats including Lewis Beech who competed last year in the quad. France did their best to hold on to Great Britain’s pace and kept their boat well in touch for the first half of the race with Italy slotting into third. The order did not change with a very consistent Great Britain pushing further into the lead, their boat demonstrating far more boat run with less effort than France and Italy. These three boats will return to race in tomorrow’s final.

Last year’s silver medallists Germany took off at the head of the field in semi-final two just ahead of Slovenia. The German boat contains two international newcomers, Marco Newmann and Mathias Rocher, and they are joined by Sebastian Kasielke (2005 gold in the coxed four) and Christoph Zimmermann (2005 silver in the eight). Together they moved clean ahead of Slovenia and the rest of the field as the race progressed. Meanwhile Slovenia held on to second over Spain in third. The Netherlands followed a good length back in fourth.

Coming into the final sprint Germany’s smooth style kept them in the lead and ahead of Slovenia who qualify from second with Spain only just holding on to third after a last minute charge by the Netherlands. Germany now gets to meet Great Britain, from one lane over, in the final.

Junior Women’s Quadruple Sculls (JW4x)

Germany has been in charge of this event for years. Today in semi-final one they held with tradition and took the lead ahead of France in second. France held tightly to the German pace for the first half but then appeared to be outclassed and slipped back. Meanwhile Greece moved into third after overtaking Romania but then had to hold off a middle 1000 charge by the Dutch. In the final sprint Germany had earned the luxury of holding onto an easy 31 stroke rate with France and Greece both at 36. The Netherlands had run out of steam. Germany, France and Greece move on to the final.

Semi-final two opened with Ukraine in the lead followed by Austria. All seemed to be going well until the weather gods decided to change the conditions. The rain began to pour and the wind changed to head wind conditions. It must have suited the New Zealanders. By the half way point Anna Stantial, Laura Fischer, Genevieve Armstrong and Kate Reymer of New Zealand had taken the lead by ignoring the rain and pushing on. Belarus must have quite liked the weather as well and followed the Kiwi example. This forced Austria back into third and left Ukraine out of a qualifying position. At the line New Zealand qualify for the final from first, Belarus take second and Austria hold on to third.

Junior Men’s Quadruple Sculls (JM4x)

Twenty-six countries started in this event. Today it had been narrowed down to three semi-finals (18 crews) with the top two boats from each semi qualifying for the final. In semi-final one Germany knew the criteria and got out to an early lead over Uruguay. The Germans then proceeded to completely annihilate the rest of the field so that by the half way point they had clear water over Uruguay, still in second. Uruguay then began to fade leaving Slovenia and the Netherlands to take up chase. But they were unable to close the gap on the dominating Germans. At the line Germany qualify from first and with the fastest qualifying time. Slovenia take second.

France led the way in semi-final two over Portugal. Stroked by Albin Arnaud, France had made it to the semi via the repechage so being in the lead was impressive and their growing lead over the rest of the field was even more impressive. Then Croatia began to move. Pushing past Serbia & Montenegro, then Russia, then Portugal, the Croatians went after France. Croatia’s momentum was impressive, but France held them off. At the line France advances to the final. Croatia looked like they had already won the final, the team cheering loudly after the finish. Croatia races in tomorrow’s final.

Semi-final three had Australia in the lead at the start with Lithuania following closely behind. But a boat stopping crab then forced the Lithuanians out of contention as Austria and Ukraine began to move. Ukraine still has Ivan Dovgodko from the boat that won bronze last year and he must have been doing the right calls from two seat. By the last 500 metres Ukraine had moved up to second and were closing the gap on the leading Australians. Australia and Ukraine qualify for the final.

Junior Men’s Eight (JM8+)

It was no surprise to see defending champions, the United States in the lead of semi-final one. American high schools love to focus on the eight and many of these athletes will head for top collegiate rowing crews in the next year. Behind the United States, New Zealand held tightly on to second ahead of Russia in third. Going through the half way point Russia couldn’t hold the pace and were overtaken first by Italy and then Poland with New Zealand working on closing the gap to first. A third 500 piece by the New Zealanders propelled them into first. The United States had no reply. Coming into the final sprint New Zealand could afford the luxury of a steady 34 stroke rate having shaken off the Americans. At the line New Zealand move on to the final from first, the United States hold on to second and Italy also qualify from third. A special mention must go to Poland who rowed with heart in the closing sprint at a 42 stroke rate. But it was not enough and the Poles will have to return to race in the B Final.

Lat year Germany and Romania took the final to a photo finish for silver and bronze. One year later they met in semi-final two and carried out a two-way battle at the head of the field. Germany had the opening advantage and the psychological edge over Romania at the start. The Romanians held on tight to the Germans, keeping their boat overlapping. Germany fought them off. Meanwhile Great Britain sat back in third working at holding off the Netherlands. At the line Germany takes first, Romania second and Great Britain qualify for the final from third.