Clear and chilly start to the European Championships

Today's racing started out with morning heats and closed with afternoon repechages.

Women's single sculls (W1x)

Heat 1

In this first race of the day, and first race of the European Rowing Championships, the Czech Republic’s Mirka Knapkova, who turned 27 on Wednesday, dominated from the start. Followed throughout the whole race by Italy’s Gabriella Bascelli, former under 23 world champion from 2002.

Knapkova kept a steady lead right to the end, and finished well ahead of the field. Italy’s Bascelli and Lithuania’s Saltyte move to semifinal A/B, whereas Kristine Gosa (LAT) and Juliane Domscheit (GER), fourth and fifth respectively, will race in this afternoon’s repechage.

Heat 2

Heat 2 was all about Sweden and Russia. With a ninth place finish at the 2007 World Rowing Championships, Frida Svensson of Sweden qualified for next year's Olympic Games. Russia's Julia Levina was a regular finalist at World Rowing events in 2006, but having just missed out on Olympic qualification at the World Champs earlier this month, she is looking to keep in form in view of next year's final Olympic Qualification Regatta. From the half-way mark, Svensson and Levina had secured their first and second places, with Sanne Beukers steadily following in third. These three boats qualify for the semifinal, with Natallia Haurylenka of Belarus going to the repechage from fourth.

Heat 3

Heat three of the women’s single sees this year's world silver medallist Rumyana Neykova take on France’s Roxane Gabriel, Serbia's Iva Obradovic and Hungarian Katalin Szabo. A clear race, with Neykova leading from early in the race, Roxane Gabriel took a fast start in tow of Neykova, and was second at the 500m, but was soon left behind, as Obradovic and Szabo sped up. By the 1500 metre mark, Neykova had secured a comfortable lead, and was able to sit back and relax at a stroke rate of 26 to 27. Coming up to the finish line, the Bulgarian had opened up a significant gap of clear water, and crossed the line in 7:59.13. Over four seconds behind, Obradovic comes in second position. Szabo and Gabriel, even further behind, make third and fourth place respectively, with Gabriel having to take the start in this afternoon’s repechage.

Men's single sculls (M1x)

Three heats, 14 boats, with the top three in each race qualifying directly for the semifinal.

Heat 1

This year's 17-year-old World Junior Champion, Aleksandar Aleksandrov of Bulgaria, had decided to lead from the start and lead until the line. And with his powerful legs he did just that, increasing his rate up to 35 strokes per minute in the last 500m, distancing himself from the rest of the field and crossing the line two lengths ahead of France's Daniel Blin, who had kept a steady second place throughout the race. Olympic Champion at Athens in the quad, Igor Kravtsov of Russia, held on to third place for 1500m, but fell back behind Monaco's sole international rower Mathias Raymond who had saved his energy to move up into the third and final qualifying spot for the semifinals in the last 500m. Russia and Miheil Ejoshvili of Georgia go to the repechage.

Heat 2

On the start line in Heat 2: Arnold Sobczak (POL) on home turf, Mindaugas Griskonis (LTU), Daniel Makowski (GER), Kiryl Lemiashkevich (BLR) and Robin van Keeken (NED).

The 21-year old Lithuanian took an early lead, and stayed there for the entire race. With little threat from his competitors, except a close encounter around the 1500m mark with Germany’s Makowski, Griskonis easily secured his semifinal position. But Germany was not ready to just let it happen. With 600m to go, Makowski definitely put his foot down. Griskonis did look over anxiously, but soon made sure he stayed in position. Despite a gutsy performance by Germany, Lithuania stayed well ahead, finishing 5.18 seconds in front of the rest of the field. Makowski finishes second, Sobczak third. Van Keeken and Lemiashkevich, the youngest in this race, go to the repechage.

Heat 3

Austria's Ralph Kreibich put on an impressive performance in Heat 3. Recording the fastest split times from the 500m mark, Kreibich moved up the field from fourth, overcoming Ukrainian Dmytro Pokopenko in the final 1000m to take first place. World silver medallist in the men's eight in 2006 and world bronze medallist in the men's pair in 2005, Italy's Luca Agamennoni is trying out his luck in sculling, but by the half-way mark the entire field had relegated him to fourth behind Belgium's Bart Poelvoorde. Austria, the Ukraine, and Belgium go to the semifinal. Italy goes to the repechage.

Women's pair (W2-)

Seven boats participate in this event. Four boats race in Heat 1: Lithuania, Germany, Russia and Poland.

Heat 1

The first race decided early on, as Germany’s Lenka Wech and Maren Derlien, the engine room of Germany’s W8+ which finished fifth in Munich earlier this month, had secured a clear eleven-second lead by the 1000m mark. Germany stayed ahead, and continued to increase the gap.

Lithuania, who experienced some steering and balance problems early on in the race, managed to get back on track. However, this was not enough to get them out of their fourth place position, which they kept right to the end.

At the line, Germany win in 7:22.74, Russia second, Poland third and Lithuania fourth. Germany go straight through to the A Final on Sunday. All others take part in the repechage.

Heat 2

From the first stroke of Heat 2, the battle was on between Romania and France to secure the single qualifying spot for the semifinal. France's Laffes and Rubaud held on to first during the initial 500m, but Romania's Cojocariu and Albu were determined to make it directly to the semifinal without having to go through the repechage. By the half-way mark, they had secured their qualifying spot and held on to it, widening the gap with the rest of the field until the line, finishing more than seven seconds ahead of France, and 13 seconds ahead of Bulgaria's Boncheva and Angelova who at 18 years old are the youngest competitors in this race.

Men's pair (M2-)

Eight entries in this event and two heats, with the winner of each heat going directly the A Final.

Heat 1

As could be predicted, the strong boat of this first heat was Serbia. Olympic finalist Nikola Stojic and Goran Jagar were out of the starting blocks ahead, and stayed there. There was little to do for Russia’s Babayev and Veselkin, but they stayed as close as possible and kept a clear lead over Hungary and Bulgaria.

At the line, Serbia finish in 6:53.87 and qualify for the A Final. Russia, 5.80 seconds behind, go to the repechage where they will again be up against Hungary (26.94 seconds behind Serbia) and Bulgaria (27.85 seconds behind Serbia).

Heat 2

Poland's Hojka and Godek wanted to put on a show on their home territory, and led the field in front of German brothers Jan and Falk Mueller for the first quarter of the race, and then in front of Italy, who had moved in on Germany, up until the halfway mark. But the Polish show would not last, as the Italian crew, combining Andrea Palmisano, 2007 World U23 Champion in the coxed four, and Giuseppe de Vita, from this year's senior men's eight, started building up speed, and with 500m to go secured the direct qualification spot for the semifinal, finishing one length ahead of Poland. Poland, Germany, and Slovenia's Marko Grace and Blaz Velcl, who had stayed at the back of the field throughout the race, go to the repechage.

Women's double sculls (W2x)

Heat 1

Only one crew will move straight to the A Final, giving the advantage of a full day’s rest tomorrow before the big race. Belarus knew what was at stake here, and made sure they were the ones. Despite leading from the start, Hanna Nakhayeva and Volha Berazniova were overtaken around the 1500m mark by Norway. However, picking up their rating again, they fought back, and crossed the line ahead of the field. Second place came to Norway’s Martha Helgeland and Tine Schoeyen, despite several changes in the sequence throughout the race. At 500m Denmark were in second position, and by 1000m Norway had come back to worry the Belarusians. At the line, a close, less than a second advantage for Belarus, puts Norway in second, Romania in third, Denmark in fourth and Germany in fifth.

Heat 2

The second heat in the women's double sculls made for tight racing, with experienced crews battling each other until the line. Junior and Under-23 World Champions, Gabriela Varekova and Jitka Antosova finished a credible fifth place at this year's senior World Rowing Championships, Italy's Laura Schiavone and Elisabetta Sancassani have been a regular combination at senior level, and Sanna Sten and Minna Nieminen have medalled at a number of senior World Rowing events in the lightweight women's double. By the half-way mark Italy had moved from second to first place. At the 1500m mark, Italy still held on to first, one length ahead of the Czech Republic who had moved up from fourth at the 500m mark. With 250m to go, Schiavone and Sancassani were still leading, ahead of Varekova and Antosova, but the Czechs were sneaking up, increasing their rate to 36 strokes per minute. Only one length separated the first and fourth placed boats. In the last five strokes, Varekova and Antosova closed in on Italy, crossed the line first and grabbed the single qualifying spot for the A Final. Italy, Finland and the Ukraine go to the repechage.

Men's Double Sculls (M2x)

Heat 1

One of the bigger events in these championships, with 12 entries, this heat features World Rowing top ten athlete Daniele Gilardoni from Italy. Usually in the lightweight events, Gilardoni teams up here with Lorenzo Bertini to take on the open category.

Italy is up against Greece, Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia and Norway.

Greece took the lead, but was being pushed most of the way by Poland, who were determined to perform in front of their local support. They pushed, and pushed, but Greece were not going to give up their Saturday off that easily. Eventually, they conceded, and Poland came out ahead to qualify directly for the A Final.

Behind Poland and Greece, Italy’s double put on a fair performance. Probably having happily enjoyed some good Polish food over the past couple of days, not having to make weight as they usually do, the Italians were feeling strong, and closed in on the Greek boat, crossing the line just 1.31 second behind.

Ukraine, Slovakia and Norway finish way behind, overtaken even by the umpire boat which was sandwiched between the leading “peloton” and the rest of the field. They will all get a second chance to show a more determined performance in tomorrow’s repechage.

Heat 2

Croatia and Russia were battling it out in first and second place for the first 1000m. But Germany's Knittel and Bartels were slowly and steadily closing in. At the 1500m, Germany was in the lead, with Russia in second and Croatia in third. With the highest rate of the field and the greatest speed, Germany was pulling further and further away from Russia. At the line, Germany grabbed first, qualifying directly for the semifinal. Russia, finishing six seconds behind Germany, Croatia, Austria, Denmark and Latvia go to the repechage.

Men's four (M4-)

Heat 1 was postponed due to breakage from the Portuguese crew, so it was straight in to heat 2 for the men’s four. Twelve boats in this event, so a full six-boat line-up in both heats.

Heat 1

The men’s four Heat 1 was scheduled earlier in the morning. But misfortune struck Portugal, who broke a rigger in the first 100m of the race.

Despite a second start and having to row back to the start a second time this morning, Slovenia got off to a cracking start. In pursuit of the one and only A Final spot from this race, Tomaz Pirih, Rok Rozman, Rok Kolander and Miha Pirih were determined to get there first. Not too far behind, Ukraine and Greece were trying to get rid of each other in order to take on the leading boat. But their battle lasted throughout the race, leaving them no time to concentrate on achieving first place. The many years of experience of the Slovenian four definitely showed here in this race, as they steadily paced along, with a regular 500m split time.

Slovenia unsurprisingly come through first, Greece second and Serbia third.

Heat 2

Romania, Denmark, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland and Lithuania are all hoping to secure the A Final position. Germany’s boat was this year’s World Under 23 Champion. They took the lead early, showing that they had high potential. The race developed to be a close battle between Germany and the Czech crew who stayed neck and neck for nearly the entire race, swapping leading positions throughout. Meanwhile, a similar battle was taking place between Poland and Denmark for third and fourth position. At the finish, Michal Horvath, Jan Gruber, Milan Bruncvik and Karel Neffe from the Czeck Republic crossed the line in 6:11.51, just 1.43 seconds ahead of Germany. Poland rowed in third and Denmark, a nearly two-second gap behind in fourth. Only the Czech boat qualifies for the A Final. The others will all take part in the repechage tomorrow.

Lightweight women's double sculls (LW2x)

Four boats in two heats meant the first finishing crew would go directly to the A Final.

Heat 1

In Heat 1, Laura Milani and Erika Bello of Italy and Poland's long-standing and experienced crew of Magdalena Kemnitz and Ilona Mokronowska fought it out for first. At the half-way mark, Poland gained half a length over Milani and Bello. With 750m left to go, Italy tried to catch up with Kemnitz and Mokronowska, but Poland kept charging forward, taking a full length out of Italy with 500m left to go and securing a comfortable first qualifying place. Italy continued loosing stamina and fell into third position, behind Great Britain's Sophie Hosking and Mathilde Pauls, silver medallists in the lightweight women's quadruple sculls at the 2007 World Rowing Championships. Great Britain, Italy and Hungary go to the repechages.

Heat 2

In contention position, Greece (Chrysi Biskitzi and Alexandra Tsiavou) are the ones to be reckoned with. This duo qualified for the 2008 Olympics through this year’s World Rowing Championships and Tsiavou also became Under 23 Champion in the single earlier in the season. Greece are up against Portugal, Denmark and France. Greece took the lead from an early stage, and were looking extremely good. Behind, by a significant margin, Denmark tried to keep up. Marie Gottlieb and Sine Christiansen were second in this year’s U23 Championships in Scotland and participated in two stages of the 2007 Rowing World Cup earlier this summer. Throughout the entire race Greece and Denmark led. By 1750m France’s Anne Touminet and Coralie Simon had figured out that they would be racing in the rep, and reduced their stroke rate in order not to was