09 Feb 2012
B-finals show spirit of progress
The B-finals opened with the men’s pair (M2-) and the ever increasing crowd was there in time to see Siarhei Danilau and Andrei Tatarchuk of Belarus get into the lead and remain there over Lithuania. This Belarus combination is a mixture of youth and experience. Danilau, 22, raced last year as an under-23 rower while Tatarchuk, 31, has been on the senior national team since 1997. The duo held the lead to finish seventh overall at this regatta.
Results: BLR, LTU, UKR, ITA, BUL, GEO
Germany has sent a mixture of their top squad plus their development athletes to Brest and today the up-and-comers, Julia Lepke and Carina Baer raced in the B-final of the women’s double sculls (W2x). Lepke and Baer got into the lead going into the middle of the race but then had to fight to keep ahead of Lithuania who chased the Germans right to the end. Lepke is just 20 years old and sits on the edge of the senior sculling squad while Baer, 19, finished third in the single at this year’s under-23 championships.
Results: GER, LTU, SUI, AUT
Like Germany, Slovenia has sent a mixture of their top crews and younger squad members. With the Spik brothers not attending this regatta, Ziga Pirih and Matej Rojec of Slovenia raced in the B-final of the men’s double sculls (M2x). The duo maintained a healthy lead over the rest of the field with the initial challenge coming from Hungary, before Cyprus came out with a huge sprint in the last 500m of the race that propelled them from the back of the field and into second.
Results: SLO, CYP, HUN, GEO
The men’s four (M4-) B-final saw a new Serbian crew take the lead and hold on to it. This crew of Nenad Bedik, Predrag Lackov, Milos Cudic, Igor Perzic remained ahead of Slovenia, despite Slovenia’s strong challenge through the middle of the race. Serbia’s impressive sprint gave them the edge at the end.
Results: SRB, SLO, POL, CRO, MDA
Donata Vistartaite of Lithuania took off at the head of the field in the women’s single sculls (W1x). By the half way point Vistartaite had earned an open water lead and she spent the rest of the race charging further and further away from everybody else. Vistartaite, 20, raced at this year’s under-23 championships where she finished fourth in the single. Hungary’s Katalin Szabo held on the second, but was nowhere near catching up with the huge lead that Vistartaite was creating.
Results: LTU, HUN, GRE, GER, BUL, MDA
A couple of years ago Ralph Kreibich of Austria was the European Champion. Today he raced in the B-final of the men’s single sculls (M1x). Kreibich left the start in the middle of the group and remained there with Martin Gulyas of Germany making the best race of it. Gulyas, 22, was pressed hard by Artem Kosov of Russia, but had enough push to react to anything Kosov was willing to hand him. This is a solid improvement by Gulyas who finished ninth at the 2008 European Rowing Championships.
Results: GER, RUS, AUT, HUN, LAT, UKR
Spain conducted an impressive race from the front in the lightweight women’s double sculls (LW2x). Lourdes Guillen Cruz and Maialen Arrazola Santesteban of Spain may be new to the international scene but a solid win in this European Championships B-final has got their racing off to a solid start. Switzerland followed in second.
Results: ESP, SUI, CZE, ITA
The lightweight men’s double sculls (LM2x) event started with 15 countries competing for the European Champion title. Now down to the seventh to twelfth places in Europe, Bulgaria showed the best of themselves. Zlatko Karaivanov and Vassil Vitanov of Bulgaria held their boat in the lead, but only just. This duo have been together since 2007 when they raced at the under-23 championships, finishing seventh. Spain held on to the Bulgarian pace for the entire 2000m. But Karaivanov and Vitanov had enough to hold them off.
Results: BUL, ESP, BLR, UKR, CZE, LTU
The lightweight men’s four (LM4-) opened with Hungary in the lead. Going through the second 500, Austria did a huge burst and propelled themselves into the lead. Hungary was able to hold on to the Austrian pace for a short time, but the Austrians then broke away to take nearly a boat length lead. Austria crossed the line in first to be seventh in Europe.
Results: AUT, HUN, RUS, BLR, LTU, POR
Italy may have finished second at the Beijing Olympics in the men’s quadruple sculls (M4x), but today they raced in the European Championship B-final. With just one change to their Olympic medal winning boat, the Italians know that better racing can be had. But today they raced a solid race, leading from start to finish and holding off challenges from Slovenia and Estonia. Slovenia, finishing third, must equal one of the worst results for the very experienced Iztok Cop. But Cop sees rowing in the quad as his way of giving back to the sport by helping to bring new rowers through to the top level.
Results: ITA, EST, SLO, LTU, ESP
Croatia have been plugging away in the men’s eight (M8+) ever since their bronze medal result at the 2000 Olympics, but their results have been reasonably average ever since and they have struggled to make it to the medals podium. Today they raced in the B-final carrying out an incredibly tight battle with Russia. Croatia had the better sprint and crossed the line in first.
Results: CRO, RUS, BLR