23 Jan 2012
The crowd is the winner on the final day of the World Champs
Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (LW1x) – A Final
Marie-Louise Draeger of Germany grabbed the lead right from the start and commanded this race. Draeger won gold yesterday in the lightweight women’s quadruple sculls and, despite this, she looked fresh as she took off at the head of the field. Draeger is taking time out from the Olympic boat, the double that she raced at the 2008 Olympics to fourth, but she’s aiming to get back to it next year in a bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Draeger settled into a 33 stroke rate pace in these slight head wind condition and moved out to a huge six second lead going through the middle of the race.
Meanwhile a tightly bunched group of Brazil’s Fabiana Beltrame, New Zealand’s Louise Ayling and Laura Milani of Italy was moving practically together through the middle of the race and a full on sprint for the line would be absolutely necessary to decide the lesser medals. To the crowd’s delight, New Zealand’s Ayling was giving it her all. Back in March when the New Zealand crew for 2010 was selected Ayling was not amongst them. Ayling went home, worked hard, and came back to the final trials to prove to the selectors that she was fast enough. Ayling took her stroke rate to 38 with Milani holding on at 37 and Beltrame flying as well. It was so close, a photo finish was necessary to determine the results. Draeger wins her second gold of this regatta and Ayling impresses everyone.
Results: GER, NZL, ITA, BRA, SWE, USA
Marie-Louise Draeger (GER) – Gold
“This was great and my kind of conditions with a bit of a head wind. Everything went as I had imagined. I wanted to go out fast and be in front and that worked out. It might have looked like I had a big lead, but I was panicking a bit that the Italian might still come up. But the second 1000m are my strong part and I had a good finish. Only on the last 250m I felt that it might have been all a bit fast. The crowd gave me the final kick. I wanted to be in the single this year to have a bit of a break and this was supported by our head coach, but I plan to be the fastest lightweight in Germany again next year and want to be back in the double then.”
Louise Ayling (NZL) – Silver
"I only knew right at the end that I had come second when I heard the announcement. It wasn’t my perfect race, because I had some trouble at the start. But I powered on through. The crowd got me home."
Laura Milani (ITA) – Bronze
"I was very focused on my race and half way I had hoped to be second like last year in Poznan. At the end I’m happy with the third place, because I was very tired. I didn’t know where I had finished and had to wait for the results to come up on the scoreboard to be sure that I had won a medal."
Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x) – A Final
Coming into this race Hungary’s Peter Galambos looked to be the one to beat. Galambos, 23, had won two Rowing World Cups this season and he looked very strong coming through the heats and semifinals earlier this week. Galambos took off in the lead in an attempt to lead from start to finish.
The Hungarian is one of just two rowers from Hungary here and the medal hopes of the nation rested firmly on him. But the hope to lead dissipated when Italy’s Marcello Miani overtook him and using a strong 33 stroke rate pace, Miani began to move away from the field.
The middle 1000 played into Miani’s hands as he worked to a boat length lead over Galambos who was now under threat from Slovakia’s Lukas Babac with Denmark and Japan within striking distance. Miani raced at the Beijing Olympics in the lightweight double where he raced in the final with Elia Luini but Miani has moved into the single this year.
Coming into the closing 500m of this 2000m final, Miani continued to dominate the field with Denmark, Hungary and Slovakia giving it their all. Babac also raced at this regatta in the open men’s single, but his priority was this race. The former World Champion, Babac, rating 39, had pulled off silver with Galambos earning bronze.
Results: ITA, SVK, HUN, DEN, JPN, GBR
Marcello Miani (ITA) – Gold
"I don’t know how my race was, because I only turned my head at 200m from the finish line. And at this moment I was sure of my victory. Before the race I was confident and I hoped to win and I felt very good this morning. It was easier because Duncan Grant wasn’t in the final."
Lukas Babac (SVK) – Silver
"I felt really good, this is my seventh race this week and I’m really satisfied with this result. I jumped off the boat at the end to go celebrate with my friends."
Peter Galambos (HUN) – Bronze
"The first 1000m I enjoyed the race, the 2nd 1000m I was expecting a tail wind but got a head wind. Unfortunately my equipment suited a tail wind so I was a little
Lightweight Men’s Eight (LM8+) – Final
The reigning World Champions, Italy had full intentions of defending their title. All other crews had full intentions of denying them. Italy has maintained Bruno Mascarenhas in stroke seat and they got away with the best start. But the start was tight with Australia, Germany and China tracking dangerously close behind. By the half way point Australia and Germany had both got the better of Italy, but the margins remained tight.
The final sprint was coming into view and stroke rates began to rise. Mascarenhas took his team to a 43 stroke rate in a desperate bid to get back into gold. But they had no way of predicting what Germany and Australia had left. The Australians are coached by former American university coach, Curtis Jordan and they were flying. So was Germany. The Germans had done it. Last year they finished sixth. This year the Germans added another lightweight gold to their 2010 collection which included the women’s single and the men’s and women’s quadruple sculls. Germany’s Bastian Seibt stands up in his six seat and hugs five seat Jochen Kuehner.
Results: GER, AUS, ITA, CHN, USA
Lars Wichert (GER) – Gold
"It was awesome! We raced very hard on the start. The middle was the best and at the finish we went for the sprint. It was amazing we’ve only rowed a few times together in New Zealand, so this achievement was great for us."
Darryn Purcell (AUS) – Silver
"We did this for Ben, who we had to replace at short notice. It was tough to loose a guy, but Ben was still there with us during the race and great to have a silver medallist fill in with Blair. It was a good race and we moved when we wanted. The Germans were just better today."
Blair Tunevitsch (AUS) – Silver
"Ben just gave me my second World Championship medal. It was great to be part of this team and it’s good to see Australia on the podium twice for the lighties."
Davide Riccardi (ITA) – Bronze
"I’m not too disappointed, because I knew the wind was very strong in our lane and in this conditions it’s good to be third. The Australian and German crews are teams of big value and it was difficult to get in, but we hoped during the whole race we could win. But now third is ok as well, that’s sport."
Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) – A Final
Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins of Great Britain came together at the start of this season and right from the beginning it proved to be a winning formula. They have won every race this season and also took a couple of golds when they doubled up in races at the Rowing World Cups. Grainger is Great Britain’s most successful woman rower ever and she continues to build on that status as she heads towards the London Olympics. Today Grainger and Watkins led from start to finish looking relaxed, powerful and confident.
This British domination meant that the five other countries had to race for silver. Australia’s 2008 Olympian Kerry Hore and partner Kim Crow slipped into second and aimed to hold off all other crews.
At the back end of the field reigning World Champions, Magdalena Fularczyk and Julia Michalska of Poland were struggling to come back from a slow start. Fularczyk and Michalska had their first international race this season at the European Championships in September. The duo has had to work back into top rowing from early season injury and their silver at the Europeans gave them a lot of confidence.
Coming into the final sprint there was no question about the place of Grainger and Watkins, or Hore and Crow. Instead it was all about the bronze between the Czechs and a flying Fularczyk and Michlalska. The Poles had pulled off a medal. The British and Australians were happy.
Results: GBR, AUS, POL, CZE, USA, GER
Katherine Grainger (GBR) – Gold
"From all the results this year we were quietly confident coming into this race, but we also knew that we had to bring our best race. And we are pleased with the result."
Anna Watkins (GBR) – Gold
"The crowd is so loud, you can’t help but raise your game on that last 500m."
Kim Crow (AUS) – Silver
"Great race and I’m very pleased with the result. Kerry just pulled me down the course. We had planned to just row our race and stay internal. It was a really tough race and the British girls were awesome. I think the doubling up in the quad worked in our favour. This is our first regatta together and instead of one race we had five under our belt. It was also really important to have Sally and Brooke there on our team."
Magdalena Fularczyk (POL) – Bronze
“The wind was very hard on my shoulder. We have only been training together for four months because I had an operation on my leg so the race was quite hard. Next year we hope to train for ten months before coming to Bled.”
Julia Michalska (POL) – Bronze
“This is only our second start after the European Rowing Championships, but we were always in the medals, which is good.”
Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – A Final
It was hard to pick the favourite in this race. Coming into the final New Zealand’s Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan had won one semifinal and the British, Matthew Wells and Marcus Bateman had won the other. But reigning World Champions, Eric Knittel and Stephan Krueger were there and so were last year’s silver medallists, Cedric Berrest and Julien Bahain of France. At the start line all crews had the same 2000m challenge to face. Wells and Bateman attacked it by getting out into an early lead.
The British are known for strong starts with the aim of dominating the whole race. Today it looked as if this would be the case, but the Kiwis were ready.
Going through the middle 1000 Cohen and Sullivan remained at a high 38 stroke rate with the British a little lower. Cohen and Sullivan had no intention of letting Wells and Bateman break free and the New Zealanders still had the home crowd to spur them on.
It has been said by some New Zealand crews that they can already hear the crowd when they still have over a kilometre to row. Cohen and Sullivan had every intention of using this to their advantage and as the 1500m mark flew by, the New Zealanders started their sprint. Wells and Bateman desperately tried to hold on. To the crowd’s delight New Zealand had their nose ahead of the Brits and they weren’t slowing down.
Meanwhile Berrest and Bahain, now in third, had to hold off a late sprint by Norway. The New Zealanders win their third gold medal at this championships, the British take silver and France earns bronze.
Results: NZL, GBR, FRA, NOR, AUS, GER
Nathan Cohen (NZL) – Gold
"It’s an awesome feeling. I can’t even describe it. It hasn’t even sunk in. We could hear everyone yelling, so we had full blinkers on and we were sprinting for the finish line. We always wanted this day to happen, but with the quality of the competition we didn’t know. It’s a dream come true for Joe and I."
Joseph Sullivan (NZL) – Gold
“We stuck to what we decided and didn’t let anything phase out. We did everything to plan.”
Matthew Wells (GBR) – Silver
"This has been our best ever world performance. We were confident for 75% of the race. We went through all our gears, but the Kiwis started another gear at the end. The crowd helps with the last bit.”
Marcus Bateman (GBR) – Silver
“We didn’t expect the Kiwis to go up at the end. We were level most of the way and we pushed and pushed — at 1000m, at 500m, at 250m.”
Cederic Berrest (FRA) – Bronze
“We don’t have many regrets on the race. We struggled with the New Zealanders and the British in the first part of the race, but we couldn’t start with them when the battle began partly because we were in lane 1, a long way away from them. In the last quarter it was too late. We continued to attack, but we knew it was impossible to win. We were also sure of our bronze medal, because we knew that we had a big gap on the other crews.”
Women’s Eight (W8+) – A FinalThe United States is on a roll. They are current Olympic Champions, reigning World Champions and World Best Time holders. After this race the Americans can truly claim their dominance in this event.
In a beautifully timed race Anna Goodale, Amanda Polk, Jamie Redman, Taylor Ritzel, Esther Lofgren, Eleanor Logan, Megan Musnicki, Katherine Glessner and coxswain Mary Whipple showed what eights rowing is all about.
The US crew include three athletes that won gold at the 2008 Olympics and they draw on a very strong collegiate rowing programme that focuses on eights rowing. Canada, who also benefits from athletes in the United States college rowing programme, slipped into second, with Great Britain and Romania battling for the bronze position. This is an unusual for the Romanians to be in. The country has always been at the leading end of this event but with the new found strength of Canada and the rise of Great Britain, Romania had their work cut out for them.
Mary Whipple never really had to make her crew sprint and her boat retains World Champion status with Canada following in silver. A huge, 41 stroke rate, sprint by Romania secure them the bronze medal.
Results: USA, CAN, ROU, GBR, NED, CHN
Taylor Ritzel (USA) – Gold
“My mum is battling cancer at the moment and we are all wearing pink ribbons. She is watching at home at the computer. She is my inspiration and I was thinking of her stroke by stroke.”
Esther Lofgren (USA) – Gold
“We realised we could do it at the 1000m mark. We just pushed and pushed.”
Mary Whipple (USA) – Gold
“We got into our rhythm and I made them shove it inch by inch. We achieved our goal and we supported each other internally.”
Andreanne Morin (CAN) – Silver
"We had a good race. We executed well and it was a good fight with the US. And for this new crew we are quite excited for the years to come."
Leslie Thompson-Willie (CAN) – Silver
“It was a good solid 500. We felt comfortable where we were. We were trying to attack the US, but I think they were too strong for us.”
Eniko Mironcic (ROU) – Bronze
“We had a very good start, but we lost the race in the second 500m. USA and Canada were too strong for us. We hoped to win, but we won a medal and we are happy with that because we are a very young crew. It’s the second year we row together and I think we will improve our level for the Olympic Games.”
Watch the highlights of the Women's eights press conference
Men’s Eight (M8+) – A Final
A lot hinged on the German men. Their eight had the pressure of being the reigning World Champions. They also had the pressure of knowing that this was the key boat, the flagship boat, in the German squad. Germany’s crew of Gregor Hauffe, Maximillan Reinelt, Kristof Wilke, Florian Mennigen, Richard Schmidt, Lukas Mueller, Toni Seifert, Sebastian Schmidt and coxswain Martin Sauer must have had quite a pep talk before the race. Together they flew out of the starting blocks recording a very quick 1:21 split to take half a boat length out of the crew.
Behind the Germans it was practically a line with Australia just a nose ahead of everyone else. Germany remained in front as Australia, Great Britain, the Netherlands moved into the final sprint together. Germany, meanwhile, remained cool, calm and in control. Who would get silver? A huge sprint by Great Britain answered that question.
Results: GER, GBR, AUS, NED, NZL, USA
Sebastian Schmidt (GER) – Gold
"This was an awesome race by all crews. Everybody fought endlessly and we had the lucky end. It was pretty much a head on head race for the whole way and we only managed to get a small lead towards the end. It was all much tighter than last year. The field was great with more very strong boats. You can tell that the Olympic Games are coming up."
Phelan Hill (GBR) – Silver
"I think today was a fantastic race. All credit to the Germans, especially in the last 250m. Before the race we had said that we would have no regrets when we came off the water. This is a four year project to the Olympics. So perhaps not gold today, but silver is very respectable."
Cameron McKenzie-McHarg (AUS) – Bronze
“It was close all the way down, but we stayed internal and we executed our plan. A podium finish is a good start to our 2012 campaign and we are looking forward to coming strong.”
Toby Lister (AUS) – Bronze
“The Germans got a good quick start and we were unable to peg them back.”
Watch the highlights of the Men's eights press conference
URL Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9qrIqBYepk&feature=player_embedded