The race begins for final Olympic positions

Around the Rotsee Regatta Course there was a feeling of calm for this first day of heats. But there was nothing calm about what these athletes were about to go through. Today the aim for crews was to go as well in the heats as possible to ensure that they would not have to race a repechage. This led to tight finishes and fast sprints as each crew gave it their all to be in the best possible position.

Weather conditions on the Rotsee saw relatively flat waters with a tail-wind that got a bit stronger and the water a bit more bobbly as racing continued.

Women’s Pair (W2-) – Heats
Nine countries lined up at the start of the 2000m course aiming to be in the top two spots of their heat for a direct track to Tuesday’s final. These 18 athletes are all have the ambition to finish this regatta in first or second to earn a position in the Olympic Games.

Heat One opened with the Netherlands in the lead. They took a flying start but could not keep it up. This is when Germany (Kerstin Hartmann and Marlene Sinnig) stepped up followed by Maria Laura Abalo and Gabriela Best of Argentina. Best is an Olympian from the single and she came together with Abalo in 2011 to record positive results at last year’s World Rowing Championships. This gave them the inspiration to aim to qualify at this regatta.

Coming into the finish, the race had been well and truly worked out with leaders Sinning and Hartmann dropping their stroke rate to a comfortable 31 and Abalo and Best at 30. They are the two crews that will advance directly to the final.

A three-way race saw an incredibly tight finish in Heat Two. Last year at the 2011 World Rowing Championships, Canada finished just one place outside of qualifying and today they made late surge to try and break into the top two positions. But their effort was too late. Instead it was Sonja Keserac and Maja Anic of Croatia who had the lead with France’s Alice Mayne and Stephanie Dechand right behind them. Canada’s surge, however, caused a mad dash to the line with France on 39, Canada at 38 and Croatia on 37 strokes per minute. Croatia and France held the qualifying positions.

Olympic Qualification Places Available: 2

Men’s Pair (M2-) – Heats
Today the journey for Olympic Qualification in the men’s pair began with the first round of racing. There were two heats with only the winning boat going directly to the final and in Heat One three boats raced it to a photo finish.

In Heat One, South Africa’s Lawrence Brittain and Shaun Keeling led the way at the start before Alexander Sigurbjonsson Benet and Pau Vela Maggi of Spain took over the lead. Then Poland (wojciech Gutorski and Jaroslaw) pushed past.

A huge finishing sprint had Poland and South Africa both at 40 strokes per minute. Three beeps went. None of the rowers on the water knew the order. Finally Poland were announced as the winners. Sigurbjonsson Benet showed the pressure, unable to row his boat back to the dock, but he at least can be satisfied to have finished less than half a second behind Poland.

The second heat saw the French, Germain Chardin and Dorian Mortelette get out in front and remain there for the entire race. Last year another French combination only just missed out on qualifying by one spot and 2010 World Champions from the four, Chardin and Mortelette were the 2012 hopefuls. The French were able to cross the line with a clear water lead and a spot in the final on Tuesday.

Olympic Qualification Places Available: 2

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) – Heats
With the lure of Olympic success being the ultimate goal, for 18 athletes step one to getting to this summer’s Games began today. Two heats lined up with the top two boats in each heat getting a direct path to the final. In Heat One The Netherlands’ Inge Janssen and Elisabeth Hogerwerf got off to a very good start but were soon overhauled by Aikaterini Nikolaidou and Eleni Diamanti of Greece through the middle of the race.

Janssen and Hogerwerf came back with the Italians now challenging the leaders. A solid sprint by Janssen and Hogerwerf as well as Nikolaidou and Diamanti gave them the two qualifying positions.

The second heat opened with the United States leading the way. The USA only just missed out on qualifying for the Olympic Games when they raced in 2011, where Sarah Trowbridge raced with another partner. This year Trowbridge is partnered with Margot Shumway and together they made relatively easy work of their heat.

Coming into the finish Shumway and Trowbridge held a solid 36 stroke rate pace with Spain’s Anna Yuchenko and Nuria Dominguez Asensio coming through in second to qualify for the final.

Olympic Qualification Places Available: 2

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – Heats
This event attracted 14 countries and the goal of these athletes was a top two finish for a spot in the 2012 Olympic Games. First they had to get through the heats and today three heats lined up with the top three crews in each heat progressing directly to the semifinals.

Heat One featured the very solid, very experienced, Alessio Sartori of Italy. Sartori already has an Olympic gold medal from the 2000 Olympic Games and he is now partnered with Romano Battisti with the aim of qualifying in the double. Together they led this heat from start to finish and were able to avoid a finishing sprint due to their lead. Behind the Italians, China and the United States battled it out for the second and third spots. Samuel Stitt and Warren Anderson of the United States qualified for the Olympics last year in the men’s quadruple sculls, but this year they air paired together in the double. They move on to the semifinal along with the Italians and Ruoqian Yin and Wei Kang of China.

In Heat Two the statuesque combination of Lauris Sire and Dairis Adamaitis of Latvia rowed a very steady race to push through at the end in the lead and earn a spot in the semifinals. The Latvians were followed home by initial race leaders, Martin Basl and Jan Andrle of the Czech Republic in second with Russia qualifying from third.

It took until heat three for the fastest qualifying time to be recorded. This occurred when former Junior World Champion in the single, Aleksandar Aleksandrov of Azerbaijan teamed up with Boris Yotov to get the better of a close battle between them and Ukraine. Aleksandrov and 16-year-old Yotov crossed the finish line just 5/100th of a second ahead of Dmytro Mikhay and Artem Morozov of Ukraine with Poland (Wiktor Chabel and Piotr Licznerski) qualifying for the semifinal from third.

Olympic Qualification Places Available: 2

Men’s Four (M4-) – Heats
The men’s four has two Olympic spots available and the mission to get one of these began today. Two heats lined up with the top boat only from each heat earning a direct path to the final. The Czech Republic set the standard in Heat One by not only winning their heat but also recording the fastest qualifying time. The Czech Republic was heartbreakingly close to qualifying for the Olympics at last year’s World Rowing Championships. Missing out meant that they had to return this year for another go. Right behind the Czech’s, the Romanians pushed hard but did not have the staying power to push through to the end. The Czechs earn the first spot in the final.

France did not have such a good regatta at last year’s World Rowing Championships and one of the casualties of this was their four. The French four came into the 2011 World Championships as reigning World Champions, but not only failed to medal, they failed to qualify for the Olympics. Today France rowed a very smooth race in Heat Two at the head of the field.

Spain, however, almost caused an upset when they pulled out a huge finishing sprint and, at 44 strokes per minute, nearly caught the French. But France, Despres, Rondeau, Moinaux and Brunet, held off the Spanish and will go directly to the final on Tuesday.

Olympic Qualification Places Available: 2

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – Heats
There are now four places available for the London Olympic Games from this event and racing towards this goal began today with 16 nations taking to the waters of the Rotsee. These scullers were divided into three heats with the top two boats in each heat earning spots in the semifinal.

The first heat featured Iva Obradovic of Serbia. Obradovic raced earlier this month at the World Rowing Cup in Belgrade and was doing very well through the heats before an injury forced her out of the final. Today Obradovic started off in the middle of the field and then pushed through to the lead during the third 500m, continuing on to finish first in the fastest qualifying time. Obradovic’s power forced Kaisa Pajusalu of Estonia into second but Pajusalu was still able to easily hold onto the second qualifying spot.

Kim Crow of Australia is hedging her bets. In Heat Two Crow, who has also qualified the women’s double for the Olympics at the 2011 World Championships, raced at the head of the field. Crow was chosen by her country to be part of the Olympic double, but when her partner got injured it was decided that Crow would try for the single, just in case her partner did not heal in time.

After a battle with Cyprus and France, Crow found the lead and held on to first until the line. Meanwhile the rather slow-starting Genevra Stone of the United States came through using a fast sprint, to take the second qualifying spot for the semifinals.

Denmark’s Fie Udby Erichsen spent the last Olympic cycle in pair but decided this time round to try the single. Today Erichsen made easy work of Heat Three by leading for the entire race. It took only a matter of about 400m for Erichsen to earn a full boat-length lead before she pushed out to open water. This meant that Erichsen did not have to sprint the finish leaving Sanita Puspure of Ireland to fight through for the second qualifying spot. Puspure had to fight off Norway to get this position.

Olympic Qualification Places Available: 4

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) – Heats
For the 19 nations competing in this event, only the top four will earn spots in the 2012 Olympic Games. Today they were divided into four heats, meaning these single scullers had to get a top two position for a direct path to the semifinals.

Two-time Olympian, Tim Maeyens of Belgium showed his Olympic style making easy work of Heat One. Maeyens may be shorter than the average elite single sculler, but his fourth place finish at the Beijing Olympics shows that he can foot it with the very best. Coming to the line Maeyens had left the rest of the field far behind and was able to stroke at a low 27 stroke rate. In second place, Jernej Markovc of Slovenia also qualified for the semifinal.

Heat Two saw a tight battle underway between Dionysios Angelopoulos of Greece, Mario Vekic of Croatia and Peter Galambos of Hungary. Going through the half-way point only just over a second separated these three crews with Artem Kosov of Russia also challenging. As these boats charged for the finish Greece had dropped back a bit with lightweight rower, Galambos getting his nose in front. Vekic, at a 39 stroke rate, fought hard and kept ahead of Greece but had to be content to qualify from second. Galambos, crossing the line first, earned the fastest qualifying time.

In Heat Three Michal Sloma of Poland earned a small lead at the start and tried to pull away from the field. Sloma, however, found himself in second when Janis Timofejevs of Latvia performed a very strong third 500m piece. Sloma fought back and used a 34 stroke rate to outsprint Timofejevs to the finish. Timofejevs, meanwhile, looked content to qualify from second.

The fourth and final heat featured Georgi Bozhilov of Bulgaria, who missed out on qualifying for the Olympics at last year’s World Rowing Championships by just one position. Today Bozhilov was ready and prepared. After pushing past Andre Redr of Slovakia, Bozhilov got into the lead and held tightly onto it. Redr looked content to sit in second as he was under no threat from the rest of the field. This is how the order remained right until the line with Bozhilov having a huge margin as all of the boats chose to button right off and hold the status quo.  

Olympic Qualification Places Available: 4

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – Heats
This event has two remaining Olympic spots up for grabs. The journey to those spots began today with two heats lining up on the start pontoons. Only the top boat from each heat would get to go directly to the final on Tuesday. All other boats would get a second chance to advance in the repechage.

In Heat One, Germany’s Lena Mueller and Anja Noske led the way. It is quite a surprise to see Germany aiming to qualify through this last chance regatta. Germany has had great Olympic results with a fourth-place finish at Beijing and a silver medal from Athens. 2011, however, was not a great year for the German lightweight women. Today Mueller and Noske made sure that they controlled the race and by the second 500m Mueller and Noske had an open water lead. Looking rather comfortable at the finish, Mueller and Noske got a big cheer as they crossed the line in first, earning a direct path to Tuesday’s final.

The Netherlands just missed out on qualifying for the Olympics by one spot last year and today they returned to give it another go. Heat Two saw Rianne Sigmond and Maaike Head of the Netherland got out in the lead at the start and diligently worked their way away from the rest of the field. Coming through the middle of the race, Sigmond and Head had extended their lead to open water lead. A late push by Sweden and Belarus kept the pressure on the Dutch coming into the line, but Sigmond and Head had enough of a lead to stay in first and earn a position in the final.

Olympic Qualification Places Available: 2

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) – Heats
At the end of this Final Olympic Qualification Regatta two more crews would be going to the Olympic Games, but first they had to go through today’s heats. The 14 countries entered were divided into three heats with the top three boats in each heat getting to go directly to the semifinal.

Heat One saw the comeback crew of this event, Zsolt Hirling and Tamas Varga of Hungary. Hirling and Varga were World Champions in 2005 but then retired after a disappointing Beijing Olympics. They have come back together this season and recorded good results at the Belgrade World Rowing Cup earlier this month. The duo took the lead at the start and worked their way into enough lead that they could keep an eye on the rest of the field.

Behind the Hungarians, Bulgaria managed to work their way through to second by using a solid 34 stroke rate sprint with Austria qualifying for the semifinal from third.

Australia’s Roderick Chisholm and Thomas Gibson must have been blowing off some cobwebs in Heat Two. Arriving from the southern hemisphere early winter, Chisholm and Gibson kept the pressure on right to the finish despite having a handy lead for the majority of the race. At the finish Chisholm and Gibson held a huge distance over Poland’s Artur Mikolajczewski and Milosz Jankowski in second. Both these boats qualify with the final qualifier being Mark O’Donovan and Niall Michael Kenny of Ireland.

It took until the third heat for the fastest qualifying time to be recorded and it was done by American combination, Andrew Campbell and William Daly. Campbell is best known for his single sculling prowess with success last year at the under-23 level and together with Daly they have spent the winter season preparing for this event. By the half-way point, Campbell and Daly had found the lead but were being pushed very aggressively by Spain’s Arnau Bertran Sastre and Daniel Sigurjorsson Benet. Coming into the line Spain kept the pressure on the United States and both crews crossed the line within half a second of each other. The United States, Spain and, in third, Switzerland (Silvan Zehnder and Michael Schmid) were the qualifying boats.

Olympic Qualification Places Available: 2

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-) – Heats
The lightweight men’s four has two Olympic qualifying spots available and the mission started today to get to those spots. In the two heats only the top boat would get to go directly to the final and this led to two fast and furious races.

Heat One was dominated by the Netherlands’ crew of Roeland Lievens, Timothee Heijbrock and Vincent and Tycho Muda and this was not so surprising. Last year at the World Rowing Championships the Dutch were unlucky in racing when Lievens could not finish the competition for medical reasons and subsequently the crew failed to qualify for the Olympics. The crew then competed at the World Rowing Cup earlier this month finishing in a very good fourth place. Today the Dutch led at the start with only the United States able to hold the leaders pace. Coming through the middle of the race the United States managed to push into the lead, albeit only just. The Dutch fought back and at the line they had earned the direct path to the final.

Next up, Heat Two featured Serbia’s Nemanja Nesic, Milos Stanojevic, Nenad Babovic and Milos Tomic. This crew missed out on qualifying for the Olympics last year by just one position. Today the Serbs came out in second place behind New Zealand, but were able to punch through into the lead going into the third 500m. Serbia held the lead until the end and earned the sole direct qualifying spot for Tuesday’s final.

Olympic Qualification Places Available: 2

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x) – Race for Lanes
With just five countries entered a race for lanes was held in the women’s quad. Only on of these five countries will be able to qualify for the Olympics. This turned the race for lanes into a very tactical race. Did crews want to show their true boat speed, or did they want to keep an element of surprise for the final on Tuesday? The latter seemed to be the case.

Poland took the lead and moved away from the field. The rest of the quads seemed content to let the Poles go with the favoured Romanians slopping comfortably into second. Coming into the finish, the race was pretty much a procession and no one really seemed to be pushing hard.

Olympic Qualification Places Available: 1

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x) – Heats
At the end of this regatta two crews would be off to the Olympic Games from this event and with eight crews lining up, the odds looked to be better than most of the events here. Today the eight crews were divided into two heats with the first boat in each heat earning a direct path to the final on Tuesday.

In Heat One France overtook a fast-starting Denmark to get into the lead. The French – Chabanet, Androdias, Peltier and Hardy – then had to hold off an extremely strong challenge from the Czech Republic. France and the Czech Republic went through the middle of the race pacing each other before France wore the Czechs out and crossed the finish line looking comfortable at 30 strokes per minute. The Czech Republic, in second, also had taken the pressure off and crossed at a low 27 strokes per minute. France go directly to the final.

Heat Two was the faster heat and featured a new-look Estonian crew. Estonia showed their 2012 boat speed at the start of the month when they finished third at the World Rowing Cup in Belgrade. The crew of Jamsa, Raja, Endrekson and Taimsoo is chock-full of Olympic experience and they were showing their Olympic worth today by leading from start to finish. The Estonian speed left the rest of the field to contemplate racing in a repechage. Estonia crossed the finish line looking strong, solid and in control. They go directly to the final on Tuesday.

Women’s Eight (W8+) – Race for lanes
Five countries have come to Lucerne to race in the women’s eight and at the end of this regatta two crews will qualify for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Today they had a trial ‘race for lanes’ with the real race happening on Tuesday. Australia faced the race head-on grabbing the lead at the start and remaining there for the entire 2000m Rotsee regatta course. Germany came back from a slow start to slip into second but seemed unable to get an overlap with the Australians. Australia will go to the final with the psychological advantage.

Olympic Qualification Places Available: 2

Men’s Eight (M8+) – Race for lanes
There is just one Olympic qualifying position available in the men’s eight and the United States would dearly love to own it. The US has been in the eight in every Olympic Games and to miss out in 2012 seems unfathomable for them. Today the United States made the first step towards being the qualifying boat by clearly showing their strength in the ‘race for lanes’.

Right from the start the US had the lead and by the half-way point, under coxswain Zachary Vlahos, they had more than three seconds over France. Only two crew remain from the 2011 crew that failed to qualify for the US – Ross and Grant James have held on to their spots. The United States crossed the finish line well in the lead with New Zealand way back in second.  

Olympic Qualification Places Available: 1

To find out which nations have already qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games, see the 2012 Olympic Qualification Chart.