University students show form at Kazan

Heats were raced in ten boat classes while the lightweight men’s four and men’s eight rowed in exhibition races. Conditions were cool and a cross-tail wind blew throughout the day.

First on the water today were the lightweight women’s single sculls. Two boats from each of two heats were to progress directly to the final and so athletes rowed hard out of the start, all with their eyes on a direct route to this medal race. In Heat One South Africa’s Kirsten McCann took control from the first stroke, with Dutch rower Nielke Elise Van Hugenhuilza following here across the line to take the second spot. Heat Two saw Ireland’s Claire Lambe take the first A-final spot. Lambe has competed at multiple senior World Rowing regattas this season and finished in fourth place at the 2012 World Rowing Under 23 Championships. New Zealand’s Laura Tester crossed the line in second place.

The lightweight men’s single sculls sees the biggest number of entries of this regatta meaning that three heats had to be raced. Finishing in the top three of each heat would see rowers move into the semifinals, without having to race the afternoon’s repechage. One name in particular stood out on the start list for this event. Hungary’s Peter Galambos has established himself as one of the most notable lightweight single scullers in the world. He comes to this regatta having earned a silver medal at the 2012 World Rowing Senior Championships and is must be the favourite to take gold in Sunday’s final. He had a comfortable win in his heat to move through tomorrow next round of racing.

The women’s four is no longer an event at FISA event, but as it is a popular boat class at universities around the world it forms part of the programme at this championship regatta. Seven crews will challenge for gold here in Kazan but just one crew from each of today’s heat would take a direct route to the final. Both the Dutch and Russian crews had comfortable wins in their respective heats, finishing with clear water over their challengers.

The men’s pair also saw dominating performances to claim the two available final places. Poland found themselves in second place coming through the first 500m mark but then hit their rhythm and rowed to a convincing lead.  Italy’s Luca Parlato and Davide Babboni dominated Heat Two from the beginning and pulled away from the field to cross the finish line with over five seconds to spare over the Australian duo.

The women’s double was scattered with well-known names of Olympic fame. They are the Czech Republic’s Lenka Antosova, who raced to seventh position at the 2012 Olympic Games with her sister Jitka (who races the single sculls here in Kazan), and Germany’s Nina Wengert who rowed in the German women’s eight at the 2008 Beijing Games. Antosova raced in Heat One but will have to race tomorrow’s repechage as Hungary’s Krisztina Gyimes and Katalin Szabo proved themselves to be the fastest women’s double on the water today. Wengert and partner Sophie Paul left early race leaders Phillippa Whittaker and Karen Bennett to face tomorrow’s repechage, finishing nine seconds ahead of the British duo.

Europe dominated today in the men’s double sculls. Heat One saw a strong victory by Italy and the Netherlands, meaning they move directly to the final. Russia and France were victorious in Heat Two. With similar winning times in these two heats, the challenge for medals is sure to be a fierce one.

The single sculls at this event attracted more Olympic rowers. In the women’s single Jitka Antosova lined up, not long after her last international regatta, the 2012 Olympic Rowing Regatta. She took the only A-final qualification spot from her heat and will join newcomer Lisa Ingeborg Sceenaard in Sunday’s final. Mexico’s two-time Olympian Patrick Loliger rowed the fastest time of both heats of the men’s single sculls. Loliger comes to Kazan having finished 14th at the London Games. He moves directly to the final along with Russia’s Artem Kosov.

The men’s four has an entry of nine boats from across the world. Today the Dutch and German crews were the ones to watch. They dominated the race and held first and second place respectively throughout the 2,000m race. However, neither crew was happy to just accept a top two spot to get them directly to the final – these crews raced every stroke, finishing a mere 0.04 seconds apart despite not being strongly challenged by the rest of the field. They will meet China and Poland in the final, along with two other crews who will come through the repechage.

The crews who qualified directly for the finals of the lightweight double sculls showed their form today, winning by convincing margins. In the women’s lightweight double Russia and Great Britain came out on top, crossing the line with a clear water advantage over their competitors. Four boats qualified for directly for the final in the men’s event. Germany’s under-23 silver medallists, Matthias Arnold and Julius Peschel, made Heat One their own. They led the full 2,000m race and now move directly to the final with second place finishers France. Heat Two saw a battle for position for the majority of the race, with Italy and Hungary coming out on top when it mattered. All other crews must now face the repechage if they want to continue their challenge for medals at this university championship.

Two exhibition races closed the first round of racing at the Kazan course this morning. The line-up in the lightweight men’s four sees a mixture of experience and newcomers to international racing. Italy, a nation traditionally dominant in lightweight men’s rowing, were the crew to watch today. Leading the race from start to finish, they showed form that bodes well for Sunday’s final. In the men’s eight it was the Polish crew, coxed by Karool Pawel Martyna, who showed themselves to be favourites going into the final. However, crews often play their cards close to their chest in exhibition races so none of these university boats can be ruled out.

For full results of today's racing click here. Racing continues with repechages  at 09:30 (MST) on Saturday September 8th. Semifinal racing begins at 11.01 (MST). Results will be available throughout the day here.