Heats establish leaders at Samsung World Rowing Cup III

Today the 1972 Olympic regatta course in Munich presented rowers with warm, flat conditions and barely any wind apart from some light and intermittent tail-cross-head wind conditions for the later lot of heats.

Crews established their abilities in this first round of racing with some getting to advance directly to Sunday’s finals while some, like the men’s single sculls, because of a large number of entries, would have to go through and extra round of quarterfinals later today.

Lightweight women’s single sculls (LW1x) – Heats
This event attracted enough athletes that four heats had to be raced with the top boat in each heat getting to go directly to the semifinals. Heat One featured the highest seed, Michaela Taupe-Traer of Austria who has won both the Belgrade and Lucerne World Rowing Cup this season. But it was Germany2 (Daniela Reimer) who showed the way at the start. This didn’t last long as Taupe-Traer took over in the lead and by the half-way point Taupe-Traer, 37, had three lengths over the rest of the field. No one could catch her and Taupe-Traer gets a spot in the semifinals.

Heat Two featured Sweden’s Cecilia Lilja. The Swede was fourth in Belgrade, then third in Lucerne. Could she see a silver in Munich? Using a higher stroke rate over Lucia Palermo of Argentina, Lilja held on to the lead. But a huge final 500m sprint by Palermo saw Lilja being overtaken as Palermo made up a four second deficit to win the race. Palermo is making a comeback after last racing at the 2004 Olympic Games. This is Palermo’s second regatta of the season. Her win over Lilja was just 19/100th of a second.

Leonie Pless of Germany1 took the lead in Heat Three with only Kristina Knejp Christensson of Sweden2 within attacking distance. Pless had to be careful as coming into the final sprint there was not much between these two scullers. Both athletes sprinted to the line, Pless, who finished second in this event at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup, getting there just before Christensson to earn a spot in the semifinals.

For the first half of Heat Four Great Britain’s Kathryn Twyman and Pamela Weisshaupt of Switzerland challenged each other. These two scullers finished fourth and fifth respectively at the last World Rowing Cup and they sculled well away from the rest of the field. Coming into the second half of the race Twyman had a small lead and Weisshaupt then decided to give the race away. Twyman crossed the line comfortably in first and in the sole qualifying spot.

Lightweight men’s single sculls (LM1x) – Heats
This event had six heats with the top three in each heat earning a spot in this afternoon’s quarterfinals. Heat One saw the very accomplished Peter Galambos of Hungary in the lead. Galambos tried to qualify for the Olympic Games last month in the heavyweight category but missed out so now he is back in the lightweight single. Leading the way home Galambos was able to cross the line under no threat at a 29 stroke rate pace. Galambos, Rajko Hrvat of Slovenia, Juan Jumenez Regules of Mexico and Jose Guipe Jimenez of Venezuela qualify for the quarterfinals.

Jonathan Koch of Germany1 started the best in Heat Two. Koch was chased closely by Australia’s Tom Gibson. Gibson, who will compete at the Olympics in the lightweight men’s double sculls, raced here in the single as his partner, Rod Chisholm is currently recovering from a rib injury. These two scullers remained easily in front with Switzerland’s regular, Frederic Hanselmann following in third. This order remained the same to the line with Oskar Russberg of Sweden following back in fourth but also qualifying for the quarterfinal.

Heat Three had just four boats and all four of them challenged hard until Svein Urban Ringstad of Norway decided to break away, taking Germany2, Daniel Lawitzke with him. Lawitzke then overtook Ringstad to get in front as the two went head-to-head into the final sprint. Ringstad then seemed happy just to qualify and dropped his stroke rate down letting Michael Mottram of Great Britain slip into second with Lawitzke crossing the line way in front. Lawitzke, Mottram and Ringstad qualify for the quarterfinals.   

Italy’s Pietro Ruta is easily the top sculler in this event. Racing in Heat Four, Ruta comes to Munich on the back of winning at the Belgrade World Rowing Cup. He also finished with silver in 2011. Ruta stayed ahead of Martin Slavik of the Czech Republic with Franciscus Goutier of the Netherlands pushing past Switzerland to grab the third and final qualifying spot. Ruta had the fastest qualifying time of the six heats.

The very accomplished Frederic Dufour of France1 missed out on a spot in his country’s Olympic lightweight double boat and has ended up back in the single and racing in Heat Five. Dufour tussled with fellow-countryman, Guillaume Raineau of France2 before shaking him off. Dufour finished first, Raineau second and Livio La Padula of Italy2 earned the third and final qualifying spot.

In Heat Six, Florian Berg started out in the lead and finished in the lead. The 24-year-old finished second at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup and he managed to break away from the field early on, keeping a comfortably large margin over the rest of the field. Poland’s Bertlomiej pulled through into second with Mayen Mejri of Tunisia getting the better of Hong Kong to finish third and earn a spot in the quarterfinals.
 
Lightweight men’s pair (LM2-) – Heats
A top three finish was necessary in each of the three heats for athletes to earn a spot in the semifinals on Saturday. In Heat One Arnoud Greidanus and Joris Pijs of the Netherlands grabbed the lead over Germany2 (Daniel Wisgott and Stefan Wallat). This remained the order through to the final sprint when Christian Pedersen and Jens Vilhelmsen decided to grab the bull by the horns and up their rating to 33. This gave the Danes second, just behind the Netherlands, at the finish. Germany2 held on to qualify from third.

The fastest qualifying time came in Heat Two with current World Champions (albeit different athletes), Great Britain taking the lead. Paul Mattick and Adam Freeman-Pask of Great Britain remained in front moving further away from Jannic Corinth and Lasse Antczak of Germany1 as the race progressed. Germany1 remained in second and qualify for the semifinals along with Alexander Chernikov and Christian Rabel of Austria who were in third.

Heat Three opened with Blair Tunevitsch and Alister Foot of Australia in the lead. Tunevitsch and Foot held nearly a boat length lead over Hong Kong’s Chiu Mang Tang and Ki Cheong Kwan through the first half of the race. But then Tang and Kwan started to close the gap on the Australians and by the finish line Hong Kong had overtaken Australia to finish in first. Australia qualify for the semifinals from second and Switzerland’s Silvan Zehnder and Michael Schmid following way back but still qualifying from third.

Men’s double sculls (M2x) – Heats
There were three heats in the men’s double with the aim for each crew to be finishing in a top three position if they wanted to go directly to the semifinals. Are the 2000 Olympic Champions back on form? The year 2000 was certainly the highpoint for Luka Spik and Iztok Cop of Slovenia, but they have continued to race and 2012 will see them go after another Olympic medal. Cop and Spik remained in front for the entire race of Heat One, leaving France’s biggest Olympic medal hope, Cedric Berrest and Julien Bahain to follow in second. Berrest and Bahain pushed the Slovenians right to the end and just a third of a second separated these two crews at the end. The third qualifying spot went to Germany2 of lightweight rowers, Linus Lichtschlag and Lars Hartig.

Heat Two was all about the fast starting Norwegians, Nils Jakob Hoff and Kjetil Borch. But through the first half of the race Norway were chased hard by 2009 World Champions, Eric Knittel and Stephan Krueger of Germany. Knittel and Krueger kept the pressure on into the third 500 but they did not manage to catch Hoff and Borch. Germany then took the pressure off letting New Zealand’s Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan push through into second. A very happy Hoff and Borch finished first with New Zealand and Germany1 qualifying from second and third respectively. Norway’s time of 6:25 was the fastest qualifying time.

Argentina’s Ariel Suarez and Cristian Rosso are off to the Olympics next month and they used Heat Three to fine-tune their sprinting abilities. Suarez and Rosso had the lead at the start before losing it to Saulius Ritter and Rolandas Mascinskas of Lithuania. Suarez and Rosso fought back and got out in front again and held it to the line. Lithuania took second and Australia finished in third. The Australian line up has been altered as David Crawshay is out for this regatta due to a back spasm. Crawshay has been replaced by super-spare Jared Bidwell with Scott Brennan remaining in the boat.

Men’s four (M4-) – Heats
This event had three heats with the top three boats in each heat earning a spot in tomorrow’s semifinals. Heat One featured the reigning World and Olympic Champions and also the new World Best Time holders after they captured this time at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup last month. That crew was Great Britain and they were in the lead right from the start. But coming into the second 500, Romania threw out a huge challenge and nearly overtook the British. Great Britain held on with the Romanian’s dying back. The British continued to push hard coming to the line with an open-water margin. Serbia came through to take second and Romania got third.

The Czech Republic are having a very good season. They started off the season with a fourth-place finish at the Belgrade World Rowing Cup and then went on to qualify for the Olympics at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta. Today they raced in Heat Two maintaining the lead from start to finish. The Czech’s were challenged, but not that strongly, by Belarus, with Italy getting into third. The order remained the same to the line with the Czech Republic, Belarus and Italy qualifying for tomorrow’s semifinals.

The final heat, Heat Three, recorded the fastest qualifying time when Australia’s Lockwood, Chapman, Ginn and Dunkley-Smith grabbed the lead and refused to let it go. The Australians were third at last year’s World Rowing Championships and then raced last month at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup finishing in a very close second. Behind the Australians New Zealand and two German crews went head to head. At the line Australia, Germany1 and New Zealand were the qualifying boats.

Lightweight men’s double sculls (LM2x) – Heats
Three heats lined up in this event and the job for these athletes was to finish in a top two position if they wanted a direct path to Saturday’s semifinals. Heat One ended up with having the top two boats from 2011 and 2010 racing against each other – New Zealand and Great Britain. But at the start Norway pushed out to the front of the field. This lead did not last long as both New Zealand (Storm Uru and Peter Taylor) and Great Britain (Zac Purchase and Mack Hunter) pushed past. Uru and Taylor got into the lead and held off Hunter and Purchase who tried to overtake through the middle of the race. As the finish line came into view the British took the pressure off with New Zealand opening up a huge lead. These are the two qualifying boats.

Beijing Olympic bronze medallists, Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist of Denmark showed their Olympic style in Heat Two. Rasmussen and Quist led from start to finish over 2000 Olympic medallist, Elia Luini of Italy with partner Lorenzo Bertini. These two boats moved away from the field with Denmark keeping a bit of pressure on, while Italy seemed happy to take the pressure off and qualify (under no threat) from second.

Heat Three featured surprise winners of the second World Rowing Cup last month, France. Stany Delayre and Jeremie Azou of France only came together this season and they seemed to click straight away. Today the duo led from start to finish over the comeback crew of Zsolt Hirling and Tamas Varga of Hungary. Despite not being under any pressure coming into the line, France still recorded the fastest qualifying time. France and Hungary move on to the semifinals.

Men’s single sculls (M1x) – Heats
Always a very well represented event, there were 26 scullers lining up divided into six heats. From these heats scullers would have to finish at least in a top three position to get a chance to race in the quarterfinals this afternoon. Heat One was to have featured reigning World Champion, Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand, but a bike accident two days ago put Drysdale out of the World Cup racing. Instead the first heat saw Argentina’s Joaquin Iwan in the lead and finishing way out in front. Iwan tried to qualify for the Olympics last month in the pair, but missed out. Perhaps the single will serve him well. Behind Iwan, Brazil, Slovenia2 and Kazakhstan all qualify for the quarterfinals.

Heat Two saw Juan Carlos Cabrera of Mexico take on Olympic Champion, Olaf Tufte of Norway and get the better of him. Tufte had the lead at the start and held it through the middle of the race, but did not seem worried about letting Cabrera take over as the finish came into view. These two boats will race again this afternoon in the quarterfinals along with Belgium2 and Monaco.

The fastest qualifying time (by quite a lot) came in Heat Three when Lassi Karonen of Sweden shook off Germany2’s Hubert Trzybinski to take the lead. Karonen pulled out of the Lucerne World Rowing Cup for medical reasons, but he looks to be back at full strength in Munich. Karonen, Trzybinski and Great Britain2 will race again in the quarterfinals.

Olympic representative for Mexico, Patrick Loliger Salas raced at the head of the field in Heat Four. Loliger got some more racing in last weekend when he finished fourth at Amsterdam’s Holland Beker regatta. Loliger will go to the quarterfinals along with Switzerland and Belgium1.

For Marcel Hacker of Germany, this regatta course was practically his second home in his early training days. Today Hacker returned to the Munich course to race in Heat Five. Hacker made easy work of the race doing just enough to remain in front and hold off France’s Mickael Marteau. Finland’s Robert Ven will also go to the quarterfinals.

It was no surprise to see Alan Campbell of Great Britain in the lead of Heat Six. Campbell has been a regular medallist over recent years and in the absence of Drysdale and Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic (who chose not to race in Munich and concentrate on Olympic preparation elsewhere) Campbell is potentially the favourite for gold. Campbell held of Egypt1 and Egypt2 using an easy style. These three crews will go to the quarterfinals along with Slovenia1.

Women’s single sculls (W1x) – Heats
This event attracted 20 competitors who were divided into four heats with the top two in each heat getting to go directly to the semifinals on Saturday. Heat One saw the return of the great Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus to the international scene. Karsten missed the first two World Cups due to a rib fracture, but she’s back for Munich in her pre-Olympic preparation. Karsten led heat one from start to finish under no pressure from Tale Gjoertz of Norway. Karsten and Gjoertz go directly to the semifinals.

Denmark’s Fie Udby Erichsen raced in Heat Two at the head of the field. Erichsen qualified for the Olympic Games last month at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta and must be using Munich as part of her Olympic preparation. Overtaking Germany1, Sanita Puspure of Ireland, who also qualified for the Olympics at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta, pushed into second to get a semifinal spot.

Heat Three had Azerbaijan’s Nataliya Mustafayeva leading the field. Mustafayeva moved from Ukraine to row for Azerbaijan and has been doing very well in the single. She qualified for the Olympic Games last year when she finished seventh overall at the World Rowing Championships. Mustafayeva remained in first for the entire race with Donata Vistartaite of Lithuania coming through in second. Both of these crews will advance directly to the semifinals.

Heat Four featured New Zealand’s top single sculler, Emma Twigg. Twigg has been having a mixed season. She was outside of the medals at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup and then pulled out of the Holland Beker regatta for health reasons. Today Twigg made good work of heat four leading from start to finish and crossing the line in the fastest qualifying time. Behind Twigg, Iva Obradovic of Serbia qualified from second.

Women’s pair (W2-) – Heats
This event had two heats with the top boat only from each heat getting to go directly to the final on Sunday. This would mean completing the regatta in just two races. It was no surprise to see Great Britain’s Helen Glover and Heather Stanning in the lead in Heat One. Glover and Stanning have been silver medallists for the last two World Rowing Championships and have won both World Cups this season. Glover and Stanning remained in the lead for the entire race leaving 2004 and 2008 Olympic Champions from Romania (Susanu and Andrunache) to hold on to second. Romania will have to return for the repechage.

World Champions, Juliette Haigh and Rebecca Scown of New Zealand had a much easier time in Heat Two. They had worked up to a comfortable lead by the half-way point and then did just enough to maintain it through to the finish. Early challengers, Germany held the pace for half the race and then slipped back, choosing to paddle to the finish line. New Zealand get a day off and get to go directly to Sunday’s final.

Men’s pair (M2-) – Heats
This event had two heats with the only top boat in each heat getting to go directly to the final on Sunday. All other crews would have to return for a second chance at Saturday’s repechage. In Heat One, a very solid race by Germain Chardin and Dorian Mortelette of France gave them the first place spot. This is a very good result for Chardin and Mortelette who only just qualified for the London Olympics last month at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta. The French held off a solid field to remain in front for the entire race well ahead of Great Britain2 in second.

In Heat Two New Zealand’s Eric Murray and Hamish Bond shook off a fast-starting Spanish crew to get into the lead. Murray and Bond are the three-time consecutive World Champions and are the favourites heading into the London Olympics. Then Italy’s Niccolo Mornati and Lorenzo Carboncini tried to keep up with New Zealand’s pace. But as the race progressed, Murray and Bond moved further away from the Italians and were able to break away to an open water lead. This earned Murray and Bond a day off and a direct path to Sunday’s final.

Women’s double sculls (W2x) – Heats
The women’s double sculls had two heats and the top boat in each heat would get to advance directly to the final on Sunday. In Heat One it was business as usual for Anna Watkins and Katherine Grainger of Great Britain. Watkins and Grainger have owned this category ever since they came together in 2010 and that situation wasn’t going to change in today’s heats. Grainger and Watkins did what they love to do – get into the lead and then watch the rest of the field, countering any moves that may come their way. Ukraine tried a move, so did New Zealand. But the British remained in control. Grainger and Watkins go directly to the final.

Is this the crew that may be able to beat Great Britain? In Heat Two Australia’s Kim Crow and Brooke Pratley debuted their international season together. Pratley missed the start of the season and the Lucerne World Rowing Cup due to injury. This left Crow to race in the single, which she did with medal-winning success. Crow and Pratley got out easily into the lead and moved clean away from the rest of the field. Even 2009 World Champions, Poland could not get close to the Australians. At the finish Crow and Pratley had qualified for the final in a time nine seconds faster than Great Britain’s time. When Australia and Great Britain meet for the first time in the final, a big race is expected.

Lightweight women’s double sculls (LW2x) – Heats
This event attracted 11 crews who were divided into two heats with the top boat only from each heat earning a direct path to the final. In Heat One Denmark’s Anne Lolk Thomsen and Juliane Rasmussen and Great Britain’s Sophie Hosking and Katherine Copeland went head-to-head down the 2000m Munich regatta course. As the wind turned to a bit of a tail wind, these two boats challenged each other for the full 2000m course. A better sprint by Hosking and Copeland gave them a very small lead and a spot in the final.

Despite the tight race in heat one, Heat Two ended in a faster time when Lena Mueller and Anja Noske of Germany grabbed the lead and would not let it go. Mueller and Noske qualified for the Olympics last month at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta and they now have their sights set on an Olympic medal. They finished in a very quick time of 6:56 to go directly to the final on Sunday.

Lightweight men’s four (LM4-) – Heats
The men of the lightweight four numbered 11 crews and these were divided into two heats with the top boat in each heat getting to go directly to the final on Sunday. For lightweight rowers this is a real boost as it means avoiding the weigh-in necessary before a repechage race.

The crews in Heat One knew this with Denmark and Great Britain taking it the most seriously. Denmark, stroked by the legendary Eskild Ebbesen, got out in front at the beginning and used a 38 – 39 stroke rate to hold the lead. Both Great Britain and the Czech Republic held onto the pace of the Danes with these three boats going through the middle of the race together. As the Czechs began to slip back, Denmark and Great Britain went head-to-head. With the final sprint coming into view, neither crew was willing to relent. Stroke rates rose on both sides to 42. The British appeared to have the better push. Great Britain crossed the line first and get to go directly to the final.

Last year’s World Champions, Australia raced in Heat Two. The Australians landed in Europe in time for the second World Rowing Cup where they finished rather disappointed in seventh place. Today the Australians turned that around by taking on France and Switzerland and getting the better of both of them to finish first. Australia now get to go directly to the final on Sunday.

The men of the lightweight four numbered 11 crews and these were divided into two heats with the top boat in each heat getting to go directly to the final on Sunday. For lightweight rowers this is a real boost as it means avoiding the weigh-in necessary before a repechage race.

The crews in Heat One knew this with Denmark and Great Britain taking it the most seriously. Denmark, stroked by the legendary Eskild Ebbesen, got out in front at the beginning and used a 38 – 39 stroke rate to hold the lead. Both Great Britain and the Czech Republic held onto the pace of the Danes with these three boats going through the middle of the race together. As the Czechs began to slip back, Denmark and Great Britain went head-to-head. With the final sprint coming into view, neither crew was willing to relent. Stroke rates rose on both sides to 42. The British appeared to have the better push. Great Britain crossed the line first and get to go directly to the final.

Last year’s World Champions, Australia raced in Heat Two. The Australians landed in Europe in time for the second World Rowing Cup where they finished rather disappointed in seventh place. Today the Australians turned that around by taking on France and Switzerland and getting the better of both of them to finish first. Australia now get to go directly to the final on Sunday.

Men’s quadruple sculls (M4x) – Heats
This event required crews to finish first if they wanted a direct path to the final on Sunday. Heat One featured the wonder-crew Croatia. This crew has set all sorts of firsts for their home nation. They were the first rowing crew to become senior World Champions when they took gold in 2010. They were also the first to get under-23 champion status. They are now looking to Olympic gold and after winning the first two World Rowing Cups this season that expectation may well be possible.

Today Croatia (Sain, Martin and the Sinkovic brothers) led their heat from start to finish over World Champions, Australia. In the final sprint Croatia had enough leeway that they did not need a full-out sprint to remain in first. Croatia now progress directly to the final.

The fastest qualifying time came in Heat Two when last year’s silver medallists, Germany raced a very even race from their leading position. Estonia challenged for a full 1500m but then let the Germans get away with Great Britain then pulling out a gallant final sprint. But the British had left their challenge for too late. Germany was able to take all of this into account and stay in front. The Germans go directly to the final on Sunday.