Australia show themselves at rowing champs

All eyes were on Australia as they raced internationally for the first time this season on day one at the 2009 World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland. Racing in the heats the best rowing crews in the world had a very slight tail wind and flat water to help them along the Malta Lake rowing course. Australia must have been itching to race as they showed that training all season in their home country had done them no harm.

WOMEN’S PAIR (W2-)

The three heats required a top three finish for the crews that wanted to go directly to the semifinal. The fastest time was recorded in Heat One when New Zealand’s Emma Feathery and Rebecca Scown led from start to finish. Coming into this regatta, Feathery and Scown made themselves the crew to beat by winning the last two Rowing World Cups this year. They then disappeared off to a training camp in Switzerland and arrived in Poznan earlier this week to acclimatise.

At the finish line Feathery and Scown had recorded the fastest qualifying time beating Romania to the finish line. The Romanian’s are the Olympic Champions but have a new crew of Camelia Lupascu and Nicoleta Albu this year. Romania focus predominantly on the four year Olympic cycle and they are likely to be pleased to be at this position with London still three years away. Behind Romania, Argentina held on to a strong third to be the final qualifying crew.

Heat Two featured Zsuzsanna Francia and Erin Cafaro of the United States. The duo are not only their country’s top pair, they will also be racing in the eight. Francia featured as World Rowing’s athlete of the month in July and during that time her personal website received so much interest that the site could not sustain the demand. Spectators will be able to watch Francia again in Thursday’s semifinal after the duo led from start to finish and used their long, layback stroke to cross the line first at a 35 stroke rate.

Behind the Americans, a full on battle was being conducted between Australia and Great Britain. The two crews went head to head through the middle of the race and it was only at the end that Great Britain broke away to finish second. Australia must have enjoyed their race. This is Kim Crow and Sarah Cook’s first international race of the year and it would have felt good to blow off the cobwebs. The Australian’s qualified from third.

Kerstin Hartmann and Marlene Sinnig of Germany finished second behind the New Zealanders at last month’s Rowing World Cup. Today they led Heat Three from start to finish crossing the line in a comfortable 32 stroke rate fashion. Behind Hartmann and Sinnig a very close battle was taking place between China and Russia. The two boats, situated in lanes one and two, were neck and neck through the middle of the race and it was only a big push by the Russian’s that gave them second at the line. China qualified for the semifinal from third.

Results Heat One: NZL – ROU – ARG – NED – UKR

Results Heat Two: USA – GBR – AUS – BLR – POR

Results Heat Three: GER- RUS – CHN – FRA – CRO

 

MEN’S PAIR (M2-)

This event has attracted 16 nations with New Zealand and Great Britain coming into it as the top crews. Great Britain raced in the first of three heats with the aim of being in the top three for a direct path to the semifinal. Great Britain’s Andrew Triggs Hodge and Peter Reed made easy work of it in Heat One. The duo got out of the starting blocks first and then moved into an open water lead through the middle of the race. Hodge and Reed had no reason to sprint at the end, cruising over the finish line at an easy 26 stroke rate pace.

Meanwhile France remained solidly in second to qualify. Germany sat in third for the entire race but had to sprint to the line when Cuba charged down the outside in an unexpected final 500m challenge. Germany were lucky to just hold off the Cubans to qualify for the semifinal. At the back of the field, the Czech Republic must have been suffering, having already raced this morning in the coxed pair.

Greece’s Nikolaos and Apostolos Gkountoulas were the leaders of Heat Two. These twins finished fourth at last month’s Lucerne Rowing World Cup, but this race showed their potential to medal. A negative split race with a smooth 39 stroke rate finish showed that the Greeks are well conditioned and well briefed. Their first place finish also meant that they beat Lucerne bronze medallists, David Banks and Charles Cole of the United States. To find out more about Olympian Banks, check out the World Rowing homepage "Meet the Athletes ". Banks and Cole overtook Serbia to take second with the Serbians looking under no pressure in their third place.

New Zealand’s Eric Murray and Hamish Bond made easy work of Heat Three. The duo come to these World Rowing Championships unbeaten. They arrived in Europe in time for the second Rowing World Cup in Munich and began a winning streak that went through the Henley Royal Regatta, the third Rowing World Cup and brought them here to Poznan. The rest of the field raced for second with Canada and South Africa going at each other through the middle of the race. Despite an early advantage by Canada, Shaun Keeling and Ramon Di Clemente of South Africa managed to wear out the Canadians to take second. Canada qualified from third.

Results Heat One: GBR – FRA – GER – CUB – CZE

Results Heat Two: GRE – USA – SRB – KAZ

Results Heat Three: NZL – RSA – CAN – POL

WOMEN’S DOUBLE SCULLS (W2X)

Three heats in this event meant a top three finish was needed for advancement to the semifinal on Thursday. This race has seen a mixture of brand new faces and old talent. Heat One exemplified this. Out in front was Great Britain’s Anna Bebington, who finished third in this event at last year’s Olympics, and Annabel Vernon from her country’s Olympic medal quad. Behind them was Bulgaria’s top rower, Olympic Champion from the single, Rumyana Neykova with 2005 doubles partner, Miglena Markova. Sitting in third was Olympic medallists from the lightweight double, Sanna Sten and Minna Nieminen of Finland. This order remained the same to the line with these three boats qualifying.

Heat Two presented one of the upsets of the day. Megan Kalmoe and Ellen Tomek of the United States were Olympic finalists last year and come to Poznan after winning the final Rowing World Cup of the season. But the Americans could not hold off a final push by Sally Kehoe and Phillipa Savage of Australia. Kehoe is a former junior World Champion in the single while Savage raced at the Beijing Olympics in the single. They both, by chance, come from the same town but both have very different rowing backgrounds. Kehoe has been racing since a teenager and worked her way up to the senior squad. Savage came into the sport as an adult and got to a high level very quickly. This is their first season together. Australia, the United States and Germany qualified for the semifinal.

The crowd loved Heat Three. It featured hometown talent, Julia Michalska with partner Magdalena Fularczyk. The Polish duo finished second at last month’s Rowing World Cup and after working their way past sisters, Jitka and Lenka Antosova of the Czech Republic, the Poles were able to row past the grandstand as leaders. Michalska and Fularczyk rated 37, relishing the crowd’s support. The Antosova sisters, in their first season together, qualified from second with New Zealand, in third, also qualifying.

Results Heat One: GBR- BUL – FIN – BLR – LTU

Results Heat Two: AUS -USA – GER – UKR

Reults Heat Three: POL – CZE – NZL – DEN

MEN’S DOUBLE SCULLS (M2X)

Leading into these Rowing World Championships, a bunch of six boats all look to have the potential to take a medal. Today the 18 crews were divided into three heats with the top two boats in each heat getting a direct path to the semifinal. Heat One opened with Munich Rowing World Cup winners Matthew Trott and Nathan Cohen of New Zealand in the lead. But there was very little in it with Cedric Berrest and Julien Bahain of France right on their tails. Bahain and Berrest are the top two single scullers in their nation and their success so far this season has meant the duo have big plans to stay together until the London Olympics.

Berrest and Bahain prevailed over Trott and Cohen at the end of the race with the New Zealanders, in second, also qualifying. Had the Kiwis backed off the pace or are the French faster? The crews will next race on Thursday.

They medalled at the Olympics last year but Great Britain’s Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham have had an up and down season. Today they raced in Heat Two starting off in second behind Allar Raja and Kaspar Taimsoo of Estonia. In one of the tightest finishes of the day, Great Britain managed to push past Estonia in the final 500m with Poland Charging through to put pressure on the leading two. The Poles ran out of rowing course. Great Britain and Estonia are the two qualifying boats.

Eric Knittel and Stephan Krueger of Germany surprised everyone, including themselves, when they won gold at last month’s Rowing World Cup. The duo, who raced in Heat Three, are in their first season together with Knittel returning from a 2008 injury-plagued year. Four boats jumped out together, pacing each other for the first half of the race. Germany then managed to break away slightly with only Slovenia’s Jan and Luka Spik able to hold on to Knittel and Krueger’s pace. As the United States and Switzerland slipped back, Germany and Slovenia moved away to take the top two spots to qualify for the semifinal.

Results Heat One: FRA – NZL – SRB – BLR – EGY – KAY

Results Heat Two: GBR – EST – POL – CUB – UKR – NOR

Results Heat Three: GER – SLO – SUI – BEL – USA – UZB

This event attracted 16 nations with Great Britain looking to be the crew to beat judging by their performance this season. But Olympic silver medallists, Australia, with their crew completely in tact from 2008, have not raced yet this season internationally and many eyes will be watching their performance. The three heats required boats to finish in a top two position if they wanted to advance directly to the semifinal.

In Heat One Slovenia showed that their silver medal at the Lucerne Rowing World Cup had not been a fluke. They came through to overtake the highly touted USA crew to find the lead. The race, however, remained tight throughout with Greece, Poland and the United States remaining hot on Slovenia’s heels. Then Greece fell off the pace leaving Poland, the United States and Slovenia to fight it out for the line. Slovenia, rating 41, finished first, Poland second and the US will have to return for the repechage.

Heat Two featured the favourites, Great Britain. The British form looked confident as they took off ahead of Spain at the start and managed to pull to over a boat length lead through the middle of the race. The Czech Republic came up to challenge Great Britain, but the Brits remained in control and crossed the line ahead of the Czechs, who also qualified for the semifinal.

The number of coaches following Heat Three on bikes suddenly increased. The unknowns, Australia were back. Last year Australia were late Olympic qualifiers on this very course. They then took silver at Beijing and they have not been seen since. Today Germany took off in the lead with Australia in hot pursuit. The two boats remained neck-and-neck throughout the race. Australia then put the hammer down possessing the bigger sprint to cross the line first and record the fastest qualifying time. Germany must be pleased with their second place that held off a solid sprint by the New Zealanders.

Results Heat One: SLO – POL – USA – UKR – GRE – EGY

Resutls Heat Two: GBR – CZE – ESP – FRA – CRO

Results Heat Three: AUS – GER – NZL – BLR – IND

This event had attracted 18 nations who filled up three heats with the aim of getting in the top two to earn a direct path to the semifinal and opening up the racing was Mirka Knapkova , 28, of the Czech Republic. Knapkova comes to these World Champs from an unbeaten 2009 season and in every race she has made it look easy. Today Great Britain’s Katherine Grainger gave Knapkova a good run for her money, but Knapkova was still able to walk away at the end and was under no pressure when she crossed the finish line in first.

Britain’s most successful female rower, Grainger is in her first season in the single and despite starting off the season with a gold medal (Rowing World Cup I), Grainger has not been able to medal since then. Grainger, however, gave it a good go and qualified for the semifinal from a very healthy 7:36 second place.

At the start of Heat Two, three boats were on top of each other. China’s Xiuyun Zhang had a slight lead with Germany (Juliane Domscheit) and New Zealand (Emma Twigg) right with her. By the half way point Domscheit had slipped right off the pace with only Twigg within striking distance. No one was willing to challenge in the second half of the race with the status quo remaining. Zhang, rating a low 22, and Twigg also rating 22, qualified from first and second respectively, clear water separating the entire field.

A back injury has kept reigning World Champion, Ekaterina Karsten-Khodotovitch out of racing this season, but the Belarusian has still been able to train and she must have been saving up for these all important World Rowing Championships. But Karsten did not have it easy in her debut international race of the season. Russia’s very experienced Julia Levina took the lead at the start with Sweden and Serbia, along with Karsten, very much on the pace.

Coming through the middle of the race, Levina retained an ever-so-slight edge with Karsten closing hard. Serbia’s Iva Obradovic also remained with the leading pair. Karsten then pushed through leaving Levina in second. Both boats qualified for the semifinal and both boats earned the two fastest qualifying times.

Results Heat One: CZE – GBR – POL – EST – NOR – USA

Results Heat Two: CHI – NZL – GER – BEL – UKR – KOR

Results Heat Three: BLR – RUS – SRB -SWE – ESP – IRI

MEN’S SINGLE SCULLS (M1X)

Rounding out the day was the 22 nations in the men’s single. These scullers were split into four heats with the top boat only in each heat earning a spot in the semifinal. Under the seeding system the top rowers are spread out evenly over the four heats so predicting the four winners was not difficult.

Olympic Champion, Olaf Tufte of Norway started the proceedings in Heat One, leading from start to finish. But Tufte, despite his two-time Olympic Champion pedigree, did not dominate. Mindaugas Griskonis of Lithuania gave the champion absolutely no respect and hammered Tufte for the entire 2000m. Tufte, however, kept his boat just in front and crossed the finish line rating 37 strokes per minute. Griskonis will return for Tuesday’s repechage.

Heat Two was a lot more clear cut for Great Britain’s Alan Campbell . Campbell is yet to win a world champion title, but every season he looks to be getting closer to that goal. Today Campbell got out ahead of Olympic silver medallist, Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic and seemed to wear the Czech sculler down. In the second half of the race, Synek appeared to be uninterested in challenging Campbell, instead he looked resigned to second place. Campbell earned a spot in Thursday’s semifinal, while Synek will return for Tuesday’s repechage.

World Champion, Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand has come to Poznan following an unbeaten season. He won at two Rowing World Cups and also sneaked in a win at the Henley Royal Regatta and the Holland Beker in Amsterdam. Today Drysdale had to overtake relative newcomer, Angel Fournier Rodriguez of Cuba to find the lead in Heat Three. It took nearly half the race to do it, but Drysdale looked confident, holding a 31 stroke rate pace. Drysdale qualified for the semifinal.

Birthday boy Tim Maeyens of Belgium medalled last month at the Lucerne Rowing World Cup and today completed his first step to a World Championship medal by winning Heat Four. Maeyens, 27, is known for his fast starts and he took the lead over Sweden’s Lassi Karonen without too much bother. The Belgian then powered away to earn an open water advantage through the middle of the race. Karonen came back at the end with a 39 stroke rate sprint, but Maeyens had enough of a margin to hold him off. Back in the single and at the back of the field, Estonian rowing legend, Jueri Jaanson held on to the pace of Germany’s Mathias Rocher.

Results Heat One: NOR – LTU – ARG – BLR – CHI – IRI

Results Heat Two: GBR – CZE – USA – UKR – IRQ

Results Heat Three: NZL – CUB – GRE – RSA – IRL – IND

Results Heat Four: BEL – SWE – GER – EST – CRO