06 Feb 2012
No excuses on day one of European Champs
This is the first time a championship event has come to Montemor-o-Velho which is a town of 30,000 on the west side of Portugal. The course, made on the river Mondego is just recently finished to be of an international standard.
The European Championships is an intensive three day event and this year has attracted a very high calibre field of the best of Europe. The only country noticeable in their absence is Great Britain. Today the conditions were flat calm with no wind and the fog lifting just in time for the first race. For the first time the racing programme included non-Olympic events and the day begun with lightweight men and women racing in their single.
Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (LW1x) – heats
This event attracted 10 countries split between two heats. The top two boats from each heat would advance directly to Saturday’s final. Heat One featured the very talented Austrian Michaela Taupe-Traer, 35, who is coached by Kurt Traer. Taupe-Traer raced in the double at last year’s European Rowing Championships, but she has done a huge amount of single sculling in her 19 year international career. Today, however, it was Laura Milani of Italy who had the edge. Milani did a huge push in the second 500 to take the lead with Taupe-Traer sticking close by. In the final sprint Taupe-Traer looked content to be in second. Milani finished in a very solid 7:52. Milani and Taupe-Traer are in the final.
It was not surprising to see Marie Louise-Draeger of Germany in the lead of Heat Two. Draeger has won the last two Rowing World Cups of this season and the 29 year old has an impressive international history that began as a medal winner 11 years ago at the under-23 championships. The less experienced, Alena Kryvasheyenka of Belarus hung closely on in second. Kryvasheyenka has only been racing internationally for two years but she is the current under-23 champion in the single. Draeger and Kryvasheyenka move on to tomorrow’s final.
Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x) – heats
A solid field of 12 countries lined up with the first boat only from each of the two heats earning a spot in Saturday’s final. All other boats would have to do this afternoon’s repechage. Heat One opened with France’s Maxime Goisset in the lead. But Goisset had strong competition coming from both Italy’s Olympian Marcello Miani and Denmark’s Henrik Stephansen. The three boats went through the middle of the race on top of each other. Goisset then found the pace too much leaving Miani and Stephansen to go at it hammer and tongs. With 500m left to row there was barely a whisker between the Dane and the Italian. At the line a slightly better sprint by Miani gave him the qualifying spot.
Heat Two turned out to be not so intense. Christian Rabel of Austria and Lukas Babac of Slovakia had a tight tussle at the start but by the middle of the race Babac had got his boat over a boat length ahead of Rabel.
After overtaking Austria, Lukas Babac of Slovakia took over in the lead and proceeded to move away from the rest of the field. Babac raced at the Olympics as a 19 year old and has spent his rowing career swapping between the single and double. Rabel then seemed to give the race away and Babac crossed the line easily in first and rating a comfortable 27 strokes per minute. Babac will go directly to the final on Saturday.
Women’s Pair (W2-) – heats
The two heats in the women’s pair required crews to finish first if they wanted to go directly to Sunday’s final. Heat 
Ukraine tried to hold on to the Germans but Sinnig and Hartmann had timed their race nicely and crossed the line first to qualify directly for the final.
Camelia Lupascu and Nicoleta Albu of Romania are the reigning European Champions and they took Heat Two in their stride as they undertook the first step to defend their title. The classy duo worked up enough of a lead that they felt comfortable stroking at a rate of 27 coming into the finish line. Croatia followed in second, but will have to return to race in Saturday’s repechage.
Men’s Pair (M2-) – heats
” border=”0″ src=”/medias/images/media_362483.jpg” title=” © Igor Meijer” width=”250″ />The two heats in this event required teams to be in the first spot alone if they wanted to go directly to Sunday’s final. Greece is the reigning European Champions of this event but they are fronting up with two new sweepers this year. Georgios Tziallas and Ioannis Christou are currently the fastest pair in their country and on paper they look to be the crew to beat. Today Tziallas and Christou led Heat One from start to finish building up a comfortable margin as the race progressed. The duo are likely to be the crew that will race in this event at the World Rowing Championships and this puts them one step closer. Tziallas and Christou are in the final on Sunday.
Heat Two opened with Italy’s Lorenzo Carboncini and Niccolo Mornati in the lead. This is the first season that Carboncini and Mornati have been in the pair together, but both have a huge rowing history to call on. Carboncini is a veteran of two Olympic Games and the younger Mornati has also seen two Olympics. The Italians led for the rest of the race holding off a big finishing sprint by Serbia by rating 38 strokes per minute. Italy will race in Sunday’s final.
Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) – heats
The 12 countries entered in this event were divided into two heats with the top boat only from each heat going directly to the final. The Antosova sisters of the Czech Republic had the edge at the start of Heat One with Germany’s Annekatrin Thiele and Stephanie Schiller holding their pace. Going through the middle of the race though, Thiele and Schiller had found the lead. The Antosova’s are known to have a strong start. Could they come back on the Germans?
By the second half of the race Thiele and Schiller had moved to an open water lead, crossing the line in what the commentator called a ‘comfortable margin’, otherwise known as a ‘distance’. Thiele and Schiller go directly to the final.
Last year Laura Schiavone of Italy won this event, racing with Gabriella Bascelli. This year Schiavone is back with her long-term rowing partner, Elisabetta Sancassani and together they led Heat Two. Behind them current World Champions, Magdalena Fularczyk and Julia Michalska of Poland raced their first international race since the 2009 World Rowing Championships. Both Fularczyk and Michalska have been working through injuries and all eyes must have been on their performance today. At the line it was Italy in front to earn the qualifying spot with Poland now having to return for Saturday’s repechage.
Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – heats
This event attracted 17 countries with crews divided into three heats. The top two boats in each heat would move on to Saturday’s semi-final. Heat One drew the winner of the Lucerne Rowing World Cup, Cederic Berrest and Julien Bahain of France and the 2009 World Champions, Eric Knittel and Stephan Krueger of Germany. Knittle and Krueger have not been able to race much this season due to Knittel recovering from injury. This race would be their test. Both France and Germany got off the line together and stuck tightly to one another. Berrest and Bahain had an ever-slight leading margin with Knittel and Krueger right there. A better finishing sprint by France gave them first. France and Germany qualify for the semi-final.
It looks as though Poland’s Michal Sloma and Wiktor Chabel have really stepped up their game. In Heat Two Sloma and Chabel raced a very mature race, starting out in the middle of the field and pulling through to a close first over Italy at the finishing end of the 2000m course. Sloma and Chabel have not made an A-final this season, but with a finishing time identical to France’s in Heat One, Sloma and Chabel must have big smiles on their faces. Italy’s Gabriele Cagna and Federico Ustolin led for most of the race but got overtaken by Poland at the end. Italy still qualifies for the semi-final.
Petr Vitasek and David Jirka of the Czech Republic had to pull out all of the stops to win Heat Three. Vitasek and Jirka had been tracked oh so closely throughout the race by Switzerland’s André Vonarburg and Florian Stofer and both boats gave it their all to the line. Although both the Czech Republic and Switzerland were in qualifying spots, there must have been a lot of bragging rights incorporated in that closing sprint. At the final Rowing World Cup Switzerland had finished fifth and the Czech Republic sixth.
The closeness of finishes in this event indicates that the men’s double will definitely be the race to watch come Sunday’s final.
Men’s Four (M4-) – heats
Two heats lined up for the men’s four with the top boat only from each heat earning a direct path to Sunday’s final. At the end of these two races Germany came out as the crew with the fastest qualifying time. Germany (Bertram, Urban, Kaeufer and Eichner) did it in Heat One when they led from start to finish with enough of a margin that they could keep an eye on any moves coming from crews behind them. Serbia gave it their best to keep up with Germany, even closing with a 40 stroke rate sprint, but Germany held a better pace. Serbia will have to race in Saturday’s repechage.
France raced a very solid race in Heat Two. The crew only came together in July when they finished an impressive third at the final Rowing World Cup. The coach must have realised that they were on to something, keeping the crew together. France (Macquet, Chardin, Despres and Mortelette) led from the start, moving away from closest rival, the Netherlands, as the race progressed. France earn a spot in the final.
Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – heats
The women’s single had 14 countries entered, divided into three heats with fastest woman in the world, Ekaterina Karsten-Khodotovitch of Belarus taking to the water in Heat One. The idea here was to be in the top three spots for a direct path to the semi-final and Karsten decided to show some early boat speed. Starting off in the lead, Karsten raced her own race from the head of the field and showing a level of speed that none of the other competitors could even hope to match. Spain’s Nuria Dominguez Asensio gave it a good stab and so did Kaisa Pajusalu of Estonia, but it looked as though Karsten was just playing with them. Karsten, Dominguez and Pajusalu advance to the semi-final.
Julia Levina of Russia looked very good in Heat Two. She didn’t lead at the start but had a very solid middle 1000m that brought her up on the leader, Fie Graugaard-Udby of Denmark. The well-timed experienced Levina then took the lead in the close of the race to finish first and record the fastest qualifying time. Behind Levina, Sweden’s Frida Svensson and Graugaard-Udby also qualify for the semi-final.
A fast start by Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic in Heat Three meant that she barely had to race the second half of the race. Annick De Decker of Belgium was outclassed by Knapkova but still held on to take second with late entrant, Sophie Dunsing of Germany qualifying from third.
Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) – heats
” border=”0″ src=”/medias/images/media_362489.jpg” title=” © Igor Meijer” width=”250″ />The men’s single matches the lightweight men’s double as having the most number of entries at this regatta. Twenty countries lined up with the top two from each of the four heats earning a spot in Saturday’s semi-final.
Heat One featured Olympic silver medallist and the best sculler so far in 2010, Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic. Synek is known for his wily racing tactics and today he must have decided that second was good enough. Slotting in behind Tonu Endrekson of Estonia, Synek held a solid first 1000, but appeared to just be content to row through the second 1000. Is Endrekson the new Jueri Jaanson? An Olympic medallist in his own right, Endrekson looked comfortable in his leader position. Endrekson and Synek advance to the semi-final.
Sweden’s Lassi Karonen clocked the fastest qualifying time when he battled with Mindaugas Griskonis of Lithuania in Heat Two. Griskonis is the reigning European Champion, but this year the depth of talent in this event is far greater. Still Griskonis showed that he had good speed, coming in second and recording a time under the magic 7 minute mark. Karonen and Griskonis advance to the semi-final.
After an initial opening burst by Jan Spik of Slovenia, Germany’s Karl Schulze took over in the lead in Heat Three. Top German sculler, Marcel Hacker is out for the rest of the season for personal reasons, leaving a gap in the squad. Schulze looks to be filling this gap successfully as he held first through the centre of the race. Then Olympic Champion, Olaf Tufte of Norway decided he would quite like to finish first and upped the pace. At the line Tufte and Schulze are the two qualifying boats.
Heat Four saw a number of relatively new names to the men’s single. Russia’s Vladislav Ryabev had the lead at the start with Roel Braas of the Netherlands and Bulgaria’s Georgi Bozhilov slotting in to be the closest rivals. As Braas slipped right off the pace, Bozhilov moved up to take the lead with Ryabev comfortably qualifying from second. The final sprint had its own drama further back in the field when Switzerland’s Fabrizio Guettinger capsized and had to be helped to land.
Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – heats
All eyes were on Christina Giazitzudou and Alexandra Tsiavou of Greece in Heat One of two heats. The Greek duo are the reigning World and European Champions but they haven’t raced together since the Europeans last year. Today they showed that they were still completely compatible and in doubles racing form by not only leading from start to finish, but totally dominating the race. With only the first place advancing directly to the final, Greece had it sewn up from the start. Giazitzudou and Tsiavou’s time of 7 minutes earns them the fastest qualifying time.
Perhaps not surprisingly it was Germany’s Daniela Reimer and Anja Noske in the lead of Heat Two. But the Germans were far from dominating. At the start France had the edge and going through the middle of the race Poland, France, Italy and Ireland all were very much on Germany’s pace. Reimer and Noske held on and earn a direct path to the final on Sunday.
Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) – heats
Like the men’s single, the lightweight men’s double attracted a whopping 20 nations of the 34 countries entered here. These 20 boats were broken down into four heats with the top two boats from each heat going on to the semi-final.
In the absence of New Zealand, Germany looked to be the crew to beat at this regatta and they raced in Heat One. Linus Lichtschlag and Lars Hartig of Germany are a relatively young duo, but they have already proved themselves at the senior level earlier this season. Today they led Heat One from start to finish only having to hold off Matevz Malesic and Jure Cvet of Slovenia to stay in first. In a race that turned into a procession, Germany and Slovenia became the two qualifying boats.
The somewhat sleepy crowd really woke up for Heat Two. Portugal’s main medal hope Pedro Fraga and Nuno Mendes were coming down the course. Fraga and Mendes are one of the only Portuguese rowing crews to go to the Olympics and they have every intention of sticking around for London 2012. Fraga and Mendes are well known for their blistering finishes and today they showed that they had put a lot of work into the first half of the race. Despite a strong challenge from Jeremie Azou and Remi Di Girolamo of France, Portugal held it together and then sprinted to the line at a 38 stroke rate to finish first. Their time of 6:21 is the fastest qualifying time by a good five seconds. France move onto the semi-final with Portugal.
Italy’s Lorenzo Bertini and Elia Luini came together as a duo for the first time at last year’s European Rowing Championships. They finished second and have stuck together since. Today Bertini and Luini raced in Heat Two coming through to the front of the field by the half way point. Despite their early speed Bulgaria dropped back leaving an opening for Austria’s Joschka Hellmeier and Florian Berg to come through. Italy and Austria qualify for the semi-final.
Last year Greece won this race, but with two new scullers in the boat this year, it was a clean slate. The new Greek duo of Panagiotis Magdanis and Ilias Pappas raced in Heat Four. Leading from the start Magdanis and Pappas had to hold off Sweden, Russia and then Norway to keep in first. At the finish line Greece and Norway are the semi-final qualifiers.
Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-) – heats
This event had three heats with the top three in each heat going directly to the semi-final. All other crews would have to return for a repechage this afternoon. In Heat One Poland and Switzerland gave it everything for the entire 2000m. Although both crews were in qualifying spots, neither was willing to give an inch. At the line Switzerland finished first by a hair’s breadth with Poland in second and Serbia qualifying from third.
The four boats in Heat Two stuck closely together through the first half of the race before Italy (Vlcek, Danesin, Caianiello and Goretti) managed to break away and earn a solid lead. The Netherlands then slotted into second with Austria a distance back in third. None of the crews really had to sprint for the line as the status quo had been established earlier on in the race. Italy, the Netherlands and Austria qualify for the semi-final.
France won this event last year, but have shown up with a new crew this year. This new crew raced in Heat Three from the front of the pack. Current World Champions, Germany hung on to France and both boats raced it to the line. Germany is working their way up in boat speed after losing one crew member due to injury. Matthias Schoemann-Finck has been replaced in bow by Bastian Seibt. At the finish France, Germany and, surprisingly in third, Denmark qualify for the semi-final.
Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x) – heats
This event attracted eight countries including last year’s European Champions, Ukraine. Ukraine raced in the first of two heats and aimed for finishing first as this is the spot that would give them a direct path to Sunday’s final. Just over six minutes later Ukraine had pulled it off. In a relatively pedestrian race, the order of the finish got decided within the first 400m with nothing changing for the rest of the race. The only question left to answer was how much did Ukraine want to win by. Ukraine goes directly to the final.
An early lead by Switzerland in Heat Two was soon swallowed when Germany stepped up the pace to take over in front. Switzerland had no answer and Germany (Oppelt, Baer, Manker and Richter) moved further and further out into the lead. The Germans qualify for the final with a time just over a second slower than Ukraine.
Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x) – heats
The 13 countries entered in the men’s quad were divided down into three heats with the top three boats from each heat going directly to the semi-final.
Russia won this event at the 2004 Olympics and they have been searching for the dream team ever since. In Heat One, the Russian’s led from start to finish despite a huge amount of pressure coming on them from the Czechs. Russia held it together to finish first with the Czech Republic qualifying from second and Ukraine, last year’s European Rowing Champions, earning a qualification spot with their third place finish.
Croatia (David Sain, Martin Sinkovic, Damir Martin, Valent Sinkovic) has been the dominating crew this year, beating Poland on several occasions. They raced in Heat Two carrying out a close battle with the incredibly accomplished Italian line up. Italy held Croatia’s pace for the first half of the race and then seemed to let the much younger Croatian’s go. Croatia qualify from first, Italy from second and Estonia from third.
Lining up in Heat Three was the World and Olympic Champions Poland. The Poles have had a rocky season this year, so rocky in fact that they did not even make the final in their last international race. Now it looks like they are back on pace with stroke, Adam Korol back to full health. Poland fought with Germany for the entire race but pulled out a better sprint to win at the line. The Germans, who were second at the Lucerne Rowing World Cup, qualify for the semi-final from second. Way behind, France earned the final qualifying spot.
Women’s Eight (W8+) – heats
Two heats lined up in the women’s eight with Romania coming into the race as favourites and reigning European Champions. Romania raced in Heat One. Their aim was to finish first as this would give them a direct path to the final on Sunday. And finish first is exactly what they did. Romania took the lead at the start over Ukraine and never looked back. Ukraine tried hard to hold on but could never close the gap on Romania. Romania is in the final. Meanwhile, Italy and Russia were awarded the same finishing times after a photo finish couldn’t distinguish any difference. Italy and Russia earn third equal and will return to race in the repechage on Saturday.
Germany had to overcome a fast-starting Poland to get the lead in Heat Two. After finishing sixth at the Lucerne Rowing World Cup, Germany has a lot to prove at this regatta and they started off well by winning this heat. It did not come easy however as after the Germans shook off Poland, the Netherlands came in to attack. Through the middle of the race the two boats were practically side by side. A better sprint by Germany, which saw their stroke rate hit the high 30s, gave them a win and a spot in the final.
Men’s Eight (M8+) – heats
The men’s eight was divided into two heats with the top boat only from each heat getting a direct path to Sunday’s final. The reigning European Champions, Poland raced in heat One and after getting away from Italy, they moved to a clear water lead through the second half of the race. Poland’s comfortable win begs the question, did the other crews back off, or was Poland just way too quick?
The current World Champions, Germany raced in Heat Two and managed to get away from the rest of the pack going through the middle of the race. By the finish line, a low rating Germany was not sprinting and had a clear water lead over Ukraine in second. Germany moves on to the final with the real race definitely going to come through when they meet the Poles.