Junior heats continue at World Championships with new talent shining

Very large fields in the junior women’s and men’s single sculls saw a number of new scullers shine as many of these juniors raced for the very first time internationally. The rowers today enjoyed warm, sunny conditions which began in flat calm conditions on the Plovdiv regatta course but then built to bobbly water caused by a tail wind.

Junior Men’s Pair (JM2-) – Heats
The junior men’s pair had a full field of 22 nations entered. They were divided into four heats with the top boat only getting to go directly to the semifinals. In Heat One Greece’s Michail Kouskouridas and Athansios Tsialios got out to a dominating start so that by the first 500m mark they had a good four second lead. Kouskouridas and Tsialios continued to keep the margin large and continued to power on in the lead. This left the rest of the field to decide whether to let the Greek’s go or give it their all. It looked like the second option was chosen. Greece came into the finish line rating 36 but looking relatively comfortable. Greece qualified for the semifinals.

Serbia dominated in Heat Two with Igor Loncarevic and Andreja Sljukic easily in the lead within just a few strokes of racing. This is Loncarevic’s first time racing internationally while Sljukic raced at last year’s junior championships. By the middle of the race Serbia had an open water lead with Chile and Belgium battling it out for second. But the qualifying spot, barring catastrophe, was all but decided. Serbia were able to drop their stroke rate down to 27 and cross the finish line way out in front and in the one qualifying position.

Heat Three featured last year’s bronze medallists from the junior four, Neculai Aniculesei and Dumitru Mariuc of Romania. Romania are the reigning Junior Champions in this event and Aniculesei and Mariuc will be hoping to continue that tradition this year. The Romanians did not feel any need to sprint the finish as the rest of the field seemed content to let Aniculesei and Mariuc continue in the first place and the one qualifying spot. Romania now go to the semifinals which will be raced on Saturday and they do it with the fastest qualifying time.

Hungary’s Balazs Bendeguz Vancsura and Peter Csanyi took off at a very fast 42 stroke rate pace in Heat Four hoping to follow the formula of the other winning crews in the earlier heats. It didn’t go quite so easily for Vancsura and Csanyi as they may have hoped. By the middle of the race the Hungarians only had a small leading margin over France and the margins remained tight. Hungary had to keep their stroke rate high to remain in front of France. At the line Vancsura and Csanyi had done it. They became the sole qualifiers for the semifinals.

Junior Women’s Double Sculls (JW2x) – Heats
This event had three heats with the top two boats in each heat getting to go directly to the semifinals. The United States took off at a fast pace and kept their stroke rate at a high 37 for the first half of Heat One. But this aggression had not helped the United States break free of France’s Elodie Ravera-Scaramozzino and Eleonore Dubuis France stuck with the Americans and as the US began to tire in the final 500m of the race the French were able to get through despite under-rating the US. But it was semantics as both of these crews had qualified for the semifinals due to be raced on Saturday.

Heat Two had Romania in the lead at the start and by the middle of the race Ionela-Livia Lehici and Andreea Asolitanei of Romania had enough of a lead that they could drop their stroke rate and still remain in front. Meanwhile Poland (Justyna Wika and Marta Wieliczko) and Denmark were battling it out for that vital second qualifying spot.

Coming into the finish line Poland had the edge over Denmark and finishing second behind Romania, Poland looked very relieved. Romania and Poland had qualified for the semifinals.

The reigning Junior Champions Lithuania featured in Heat Three. But it was not a good day for these two scullers. With just 500m rowed the Lithuanians stopped rowing and were not able to finish the race and had to be helped from their boat. Instead Germany’s Julia Leiding and Carlotta Nwajide took off in the lead. Leiding was in the boat that came second in 2011 and with her new partner, Nwajide, the Germans were having a great race.

Coming into the final sprint Leiding and Nwajide had a three second margin over the very consistent Hungary. Being in the two qualifying spots Germany and Hungary looked content not to sprint and these are the two boats that got to advance to the semifinals. Leiding and Nwajide recorded the fastest qualifying time.

Junior Men’s Double Sculls (JM2x) – Heats

This boat class had attracted a huge 33 nations and they were divided into six heats with the top four boats from each heat earning a spot in the quarterfinals. In Heat One France had the fastest start before being overtaken by Latvia’s Gints Kalnins and Gints Zunde. But the race was far from sorted. Coming through the third 500m Estonia pushed into the lead. Latvia challenged back and the final sprint saw Kalnins and Zunde get back out in front.

At the line Latvia had finished first with France qualifying from second, Estonia taking third and South Africa finishing fourth. These are the four boats that will go through to the quarterfinals on Friday.

Heat Two saw the United States’ Richard Wagner and Chase Buchholz in the lead at the start with Poland chasing hard. Going through the middle of the race the United States and Poland continued to go head-to-head, matching each other stroke for stroke. Poland’s Dominik Czaja and Patryk Syposz then got their boat in front. But the Americans were not giving up. Neither Poland, nor the United States raced in the final last year, but today they were showing that they were two top crews.

The sprint to the line between the US and Poland saw the USA on a 39 stroke rate with Poland also at 39. In the last 15m Wagner and Buchholz managed to get their boat in front and finish first. The United States, Poland, Korea and Lithuania had earned spots in the quarterfinals.

Heat Three opened with Germany’s Kai Fuhrmann and Ole Daberkow in the lead and it finished with Fuhrmann and Daberkow in the lead. Germany won this event last year and at this time Fuhrmann was in the boat. Fuhrmann is back to defend his title, and with Daberkow they absolutely dominated this heat. This left the rest of the field to battle it out for the remaining spots and going through the middle of the race it was incredibly tight.

This tightness continued as four boats sprinted for the three remaining qualifying spots. Germany crossed the line in a 31 stroke rate style and then a huge fight to the line saw Belgium, Serbia and Slovenia get through to the quarterfinals. Germany had recorded the fastest qualifying time of all of the heats.

Moving on to Heat Four, the Czech Republic had the opening edge. The Czech’s were the 2011 bronze medallists and there must have been high expectations on them for this year. David Kral and Sebastian Vlcek of the Czech Republic are a new line up this year. They remained out in front and by the middle of the race they had built up a handy lead over Denmark in second.

As the Czech Republic crossed the line in first, Denmark followed in second and then a number of steering problems saw a bit of a mix-up but with Venezuela taking third and Zimbabwe qualifying for the quarterfinals by finishing fourth.

In Heat Five Austria led the way but the margin for Daniel Natter and Timon Gruber of Austria was slight. Croatia remained right on Austria’s tail with just three seconds separating the entire field at the half way point. The margins remained extremely tight. This was turning into the tightest race of the day. Coming into the end of the race Croatia had got their nose in front and they now moved away from the field. Rating 38 coming into the finish Karlo Sambolec and Matej Herega of Croatia looked confident and together.
At the line Croatia had finished first, Austria had held on to second, Belarus had qualified from third and Bulgaria’s fourth place had also got them into a quarterfinal qualifying spot.

Heat Six opened with China in the lead. This boat of Xuman Cheng and Lei Xu for China are both at their first international event and they remained in front throughout the entire race. This race was turning into a procession as Switzerland slotted into second and Norway following a way back in third. The real battle was going on for fourth between Iraq and Georgia. Iraq had the edge and also the better sprint. The qualifying boats were thus; China, Switzerland, Norway and Iraq.

Junior Men’s Single Sculls (JM1x) – Heats
A big field of 30 countries lined up at the Plovdiv course to begin their challenge for the Junior World Championship title. They were divided into six heats with the top four in each heat getting to go directly to the quarterfinals to be raced on Friday. In Heat One Poland’s Natan Wegrzycki-Szymczyk blasted out of the blocks. This meant that Wegrzycki-Szymczyk reached the first 500m marker in first place. This is the first time that Wegrzycki-Szymczyk has competed internationally and at 17 years old he still has another year as a junior ahead of him. Poland continued to lead and he had broken away to an open water lead.

A small battle went on for second place in the final sprint between Belarus and Argentina to the line with Axel Haack of Argentina getting the better of it. At the line Wegrzycki-Szymczyk had finished easily in first, Haack qualified from second, Pilip Pavukou of Belarus took third and Kasper De Rycke of Belgium took the final qualifying position by finishing fourth.

Heat Two saw Slovenia’s Jernej Markovc break away at the stark and get out in front.  Markovc has raced the last two years at the junior championships and he also attempted to qualify for the London Olympics earlier this season. This made Markovc one of the most experienced rowers in this event. Markovc continued to lead and by the half-way point Markovc had a three second lead over Boris Yotov of Azerbaijan.

Slovenia continued to move away from the field. In the final sprint Markovc rated 32 and kept a wary eye on the rest of the field from his leading position. The wary eye was on a finishing sprint going on between Yotov and James Johnston of South Africa. Yotov got to the line first with Johnston taking third and the final qualifier was Vladimir Malov of Moldova.

Heat Three opened with Michal Plocek of the Czech Republic in the lead. Plocek finished ninth in this event last year and must come to Plovdiv with the confidence of his country’s single sculling success at the London Olympic Games. Through the middle of the race Richard Vanco of Slovakia challenged Plocek’s lead and these two boats led the rest of the field. Plocek then decided to push away and through the third 500 Plocek broke away from Vanco who had decided that he was happy with second. Plocek crossed the line rating 29 and finishing first. Vanco took second, Martin Helseth of Norway was third and Mario Santer of Austria qualified for the quarterfinal from fourth. Plocek qualified with the fastest time at 7:01.

The 60th race of this regatta was Heat Four of the junior men’s single sculls and they got under way with China’s Ganggang Li accelerating out into the lead. Li raced last year in his country’s senior quad giving him a level of international experience. In the single today he was having a fine race and by the half-way point Li had a six second lead over Ireland’s Paul O’Donovan in second. The statuesque Li remained in the lead with O’Donovan then being challenged by Peter Purcell Gilpin of Zimbabwe in the final sprint. Rating 30, O’Donovan held off Gilpin. This meant the qualifiers for quarterfinals would be Li, O’Donovan, Gilpin and from finishing fourth, Andreas Luenekund of Estonia.

Heat Five saw Switzerland’s Emile Merkt get off the line quickly with Leonard van Lierop of the Netherlands following very closely behind. Merkt and van Lierop then carried out their own battle at the head of the field with van Lierop under-rating Merkt but still keeping up. Despite both boats well in qualifying spots van Lierop and Merkt continued to fight it out to the line. Just 40m from the line van Lierop got ahead of Merkt, but Merkt fought back ending the race in a photo finish. Confirmation from the judges gave van Lierop first place. Van Lierop and Merkt both go through to the quarterfinals along with Denmark’s 15 year old Nick Larson and Korea’s Jehyeon Son.

Heat Six had Moritz Moos of Germany in the lead. Germany are regular winners in this boat class and they won it last year with the sculler, Stephan Riemekasten. Moos was continuing in the top form set by his country and by the half-way point Moos had an open water lead of a huge seven seconds. This is Moos’ first time on the international scene and he held on to his massive lead coming into the last 500m of the race.

Behind Moos Tunisia’s Yassine Berrehouma followed in second with Graham Mink of the United States not far back in third. Coming into the finish line Moos rated a low 28 with Mink and Berrehouma sprinting it out for second. Berrehouma just held off Mink. Moos, Berrehouma, Mink and Tin Trucek of Croatia became the qualifiers for the quarterfinals.

Junior Women’s Single Sculls (JW1x) – Heats
This event had six heats with the first four heats requiring a top four finish for advancement to the quarterfinals. Heat five and six required a top three finish for quarterfinal advancement. This formula related to the total number of boats in each heat and it meant that coming last would mean missing out on a quarterfinal position.

Getting away in the lead of Heat One was Emma Kiehn of Denmark. Kiehn finished fifth in this event last year and her solid style was keeping her in the lead of this race. Liselotte van der Togt of the Netherlands slotted into second with Brazil’s Beatriz Cardoso in third and Lovisa Claesson of Sweden following in fourth. Then Claesson pushed past Cardoso and moved up on van der Togt.

As the last 300m came into view Kiehn rated a relatively easy 28 stroke rate at the head of the field with Claesson doing a big push to get ahead of van der Togt who seemed content to be in third. The final qualifier for the quarterfinals was Cardoso.

Heat Two opened with France’s Marie Jacquet in the lead. By the middle of the race Jacquet had a huge margin over Juliette Jeannet of Switzerland. Jacquet raced at the junior championships last year in the women’s four and this switch to sculling looks to be suiting Jacquet well. Jeannet remained in second with Russia and Austria fighting it out for third and fourth.

As these boat came into the closing metres of the race Jeannet closed the gap on Jacquet but could not catch the French sculler. Russia’s Ekaterina Kurochkina got the better of Lisa Hirtenlehner of Austria to finish third. All of these four scullers had qualified for the quarterfinals to be raced on Friday.

At the beginning of Heat Three Romania’s Laura Oprea and Lucie Zabova of the Czech Republic had the leading edge. These two boats pushed way from the field leaving an incredibly close battle going on for third between Korea, Lithuania and the United States. Going through the middle of the race just half a second separated these three following crews and it looked like it would have to be a sprint for the entire race as one of these scullers would miss out on qualifying.

The huge battle had not relented with 500m left to row as these three countries stayed locked together. Who would hold it together to the line? It was neck-and-neck between the United States and Lithuania when, just 15m from the line Sonata Petrikaite of Lithuania took a bad stroke. Nina Vascotto of the United States was able to get her bow ball ahead. The qualifiers for the quarterfinal became Oprea, Zabova, Yeji Kim of Korea and Vascotto. After the race Kim’s boat was weighed as being under weight and this gave Petrikaite the qualifying spot with Kim being relegated to the E-final.

Heat Four turned into a procession with the top four boats getting sorted out early on in the race. Krystina Staraselets of Belarus took off in the lead and broke away to a good four second lead going through the middle of the race. Natalia Sanchez Rojas of Chile had a bit of a battle with Kate O’Brien of Ireland through the middle of the race, while Diana Serebrianska of Ukraine was in fourth.

Staraselets remained well out in front and no boats had to sprint to the end with Uganda’s Constance Mbambu off the pace. Staraselets, Sanchez Rojas, O’Brien and Serebrianska becoming the qualifying boats.

In Heat Five South Africa’s Jenienne Curr had the lead. Curr raced last year in the double and her switch to the single is looking positive. By the middle of the race Curr had an open water lead with Japan’s Haruna Sakakibara following in second. Curr continued to increase her lead as Spain’s Aina Cid got the better of Sakakibara and moved into second. Once in second Cid looked comfortable. In the final sprint Curr and Cid did not have to increase their stroke rate but Sakaibara had to hold off an ending rush by Norway. Sakakibara was successful. Curr, Cid and Sakaibara all qualified for the quarterfinals. At the line Curr had finished with the fastest qualifying time.

Heat Six opened with Germany’s Anne Beenken in the lead. Beenken is the defending champion of this event and it was not surprising to see her way, way out in front. This left the other three scullers to race it out for second with Poland’s Katarzyna Welnz slotting into that position. As the last 300m came into view this race had truly become a procession with Beenken way out in front. Beenken was able to rate an easy 28 coming to the line. Welna followed in second, with the 15 year old Desislava Georgieva of Bulgaria finishing third and thus qualifying for the quarterfinals.

Junior Men’s Eight (JM8+) – Heats
Two heats lined up in the junior men’s eight with the top two boats in each heat getting to go directly to Sunday’s final. Coming out of the blocks in Heat One, Italy had the fastest start. The Italian supporters at the finish line let out a big cheer. But the margins were closed and by the first 500m mark the United States had the lead.

The United States frequently do well in this event but they finished fifth last year with Italy being the defending junior champions. The United States continued to lead stroking at a 37 rate to Italy’s 35. The margins remained tight between these two leading crews with Great Britain then moving up on the action. As the last 400m of the race came into view the Italians upped their stroke rate to 36, then 38, with the United States peaking at 41 to hold off the flying Great Britain crew. The Italian supporters won this race and so did their crew. Great Britain had out-sprinted the United States. Italy and Great Britain get to go directly to the final. Italy had recorded the fastest qualifying time of the two heats.

Heat Two was not quite as intense as the previous heat with a much more spread out field. Germany, who finished in the bronze medal position last year, took off in the lead and by the middle of the race they had broken free to an open water lead. This left Turkey and Denmark to battle it out for second. Neither Turkey nor Denmark made it to the A-final last year and it was great to see them racing in this event.

Germany, rating 37, remained well and truly in the lead with Turkey able to get away from Denmark and hold on comfortably to second. As the final 100m were being rowed these were the two qualifying boats with Denmark unable to challenge for second.