Time trial fun for Aiguebelette heats

Time trials make for a much more psychological race for the crews as the element of self motivation is key as there are no other crews to race against. Thus the clock becomes king and crews do not know until after the finish if they have gone fast enough to make it through to the next round. Crews were divided into groups of six so that the progression system would still follow the standard FISA progression.

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x) – heats

A total of 20 boats lined up in this boat class with the top two boats in each ‘heat’ getting to go directly to the semifinals on Saturday. These athletes were seeded so that the best two in each heat would get to leave first. In Heat One winner of the Sydney World Rowing Cup, Tiexin Wang of China led the way. Wang took no chances taking his boat home to record the fastest time of all four heats. Wang came to the single after racing at the London 2012 Olympic Games in the lightweight men’s four. Also qualifying from heat one was Damien Pigueras of France Two.

The second heat saw a German clean sweep with Daniel Lawitzke of Germany One finishing first over Jost Schoemann-Finck of Germany Two. Schoemann-Finck had the higher rating finishing at an impressive 40 strokes per minute. Despite a very fast start for Zak Lee-Green of Great Britain in Heat Three, it was Paul O’Donovan of Ireland One who came through to finish first. This is a great start for O’Donovan who was a C-finalist at the European Rowing Championships earlier this month.

Heat Four began with Alexandre Pilat of France One setting off at a rapid pace. Pilat held the speed through the middle of the race, but his finish let him down slightly and he finished in second. But second was enough to get Pilat a direct path to the semifinals. In contrast Bulgaria’s Nedelcho Vasilev opened with a much slower pace but managed to keep it constant through the body of the race. Vasilev earned a spot in the semifinals.

Qualifiers: CHN, FRA2, GER1, GER2, IRE1, GBR, FRA1, BUL

Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (LW1x) – Heats

The 13 scullers lining up for this boat class had to be in the top three positions of their heat to get a spot in the semifinals. First off the line in the time trial format in Heat One was Lena Mueller of Germany One. Mueller held a very steady pace through the body of the race. Her sprint, however, didn’t do her credit and she finished second behind Dandan Pan of China in Heat One.  Both of these boats qualified for the semifinals along with Julie Marechal of France. All of these crews completed the 2000m course in under eight minutes.

The fastest qualifying time came in Heat Two when a very aggressive race by Julia Edward of New Zealand saw her record a time of 7:46.10. Edward was in the lightweight double sculls last season, but her doubles partner is not racing in Aiguebelette putting Edward into the single. Following Edward was Christina Pultz of Denmark and Maia Simmonds of Australia who both qualify for the semifinals.

Ruth Walczak of Great Britain is no stranger to success. Walczak was the bronze medallist in this boat class at the 2013 World Rowing Championships and she recorded the fastest time in Heat Three. Great Britain use time trials as part of their national team testing and Walczak proved that she was used to this style of racing. Behind Walczak was Marie-Louise Draeger of Germany Two. Draeger is back in the boat after taking a year off following the 2012 Olympics. Draeger raced in the open single in London, but lightweight is her natural boat class. Draeger finished second and Ka Man Lee of Hong Kong qualified for the semifinals from third.

Qualifiers: CHN, GER1, FRA, NZL, DEN, AUS, GBR, GER2, HKG

Women’s Pair (W2-) – Heats

A total of 15 crews competed in the women’s pair with winners of the World Rowing Cup in Sydney, New Zealand’s Louise Trappitt and Rebecca Scown the first to leave the starting blocks. Trappitt and Scown finished at a 34 stroke rate in Heat One. But was Victoria Opitz and Meghan Musnicki of USA Three who finished first. Musnicki and Opitz will also compete in the women’s eight at this regatta. New Zealand qualified for the semifinals from second and Great Britain Two of Monica Relph and Olivia Carnegie-Brown were third and also qualify.

Heat Two saw Natalie Mastracci and Susanne Grainger of Canada recording the fastest split times for the entire race. Mastracci and Grainger are also racing in the women’s eight and with today’s result in the pair they get to go directly to the semifinals and miss having to do a repechage. Also qualifying from Heat Two was Grace Luczak and Caroline Lind of USA Two and the Irish pair of Leonora Kennedy and Lisa Dilleen.

The Olympic Champions are back racing internationally and fronted up in Heat Three. Helen Glover and Heather Stanning of Great Britain showed they still had Olympic form in their first international outing together since the 2012 Olympic Games with long, powerful strokes exemplifying their style. They also showed that they could record the fastest qualifying time overall, with their time of 7:02.69 easily putting them in the position of favourites for the semifinals. Behind the British, Amanda Polk and Lauren Schmetterling qualified another boat for the United States in this boat class. China One also made it through with Min Zhang and Tian Mao in that boat.

Qualifiers: USA3, NZL, GBR2, CAN, USA2, IRL, GBR1, USA4, CHN1

Men’s Pair (M2-) – Heats

A solid line up of 13 entries made up the men’s pair with World and Olympic Champions, Hamish Bond and Eric Murray of New Zealand completely outclassing the field. Bond and Murray left the starting blocks as the first crew in Heat One and their finishing time of 6:21.80 a significant 13 seconds faster than the next fastest time. Bond and Murray keep rewriting rowing history and it looks like their 2014 season will be no exception, with this their first international outing for the season. Bond and Murray rated an aggressive 38 stroke rate at the finish.

Also qualifying from Heat One was Matthew Gotrel and Paul Bennett of Great Britain One and Agustin Diaz and Joaquin Iwan of Argentina Two.

Nikola Stojic of Serbia first raced internationally in 1992 and he is back for another season with his 2012 Olympic partner Nenad Bedik. This duo finished first in Heat Two with France’s Valetin Onfroy and Laurent Cadot in second also qualifying for the semifinal. France’s Olympic medallist pair (Mortelette and Chardin) are racing in their nation’s eight, leaving the pair open to this new combination.  Yujie Shao and Jun Liu of China qualified for the semifinals from third.

The closest time to the New Zealanders came in Heat Three and it was recorded by Rodrigo Murillo and Martin Lasserre of Argentina One. Murillo raced in the B-Final at last year’s World Rowing Championships and it looks like he and partner Lasserre have clicked well together. Also qualifying from Heat Three were the two German boats of Bastian Bechler and Anton Braun of Germany One and Peter Kluge and Alexander Egler of Germany Two.

Qualifiers: NZL, GBR1, ARG2, SRB, FRA, CHN, ARG1, GER1, GER2

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) – Heats

The biggest field at this regatta had six heats with a total of 30 boats. This means quarterfinals are necessary and the top four boats of each heat would get to go to the quarterfinals this afternoon. Overall, France’s Stany Delayre and Jeremie Azou recorded the fastest qualifying time of 6:21.22 in Heat Three. Delayre and Azou finished first earlier this month at the European Rowing Championships and they are France’s leading performer at present.

Next fastest overall, by just a fraction, was Germany Two in Heat Six. This duo included former British rower, Jason Osborne and his partner Moritz Moos. Then, just a fraction slower was the new United States combination of Joshua Konieczny and Christopher Meyer in Heat One. Meyer was part of the lightweight double at last year’s World Rowing Championships and Konieczny is his new 2014 partner.

China One and the Netherlands were the next up for boat speed with China One including Junjie Fan and Tianfeng Dong racing in Heat One. Dutch twins, Tycho and Vincent Muda raced in Heat Six with a time just a bow ball faster than the Chinese. From these six heats  a total of 12 boats made it through to the quarterfinals with reigning World Champions Kristoffer Brun and Are Strandli of Norway in the mix, but not at their quickest.

Qualifiers: USA, CHN1, NOR, ARG, CAN, POL, HUN, HKG3, FRA1, NZL, MEX, BRA1, GER1, FRA2, POR, BRA2, GBR, DEN, CZE, CHN2, GER2, NED, AUT, HKG2

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – Heats

A 20 crew line up started in this boat class with all the top rowers minus the reigning World Champions, Italy. These crews were divided into four heats with the top two finishing times in each heat getting to go directly to tomorrow’s semifinals. All others would have to race again this afternoon in the repechages. In Heat One the top two boats finished just 0.5 of a second apart with Tianyu Teng and Wenyi Huang of China just a bit faster than Leonie Pless and Anja Noske of Germany. For Teng, this is her first international race and she is teamed up with arguably China’s best lightweight woman sculler at present, Wenyi Huang. Huang already has an Olympic silver medal to her name.

The fastest overall qualifying time came in Heat Two from Imogen Walsh and Katherine Copeland of Great Britain. Walsh and Copeland recorded a time of 7:02.44. They were third earlier this month at the European Rowing Championships and now look to be hot favourites at this regatta. The United States new duo came through in second to qualify. Devery Karz and Michelle Sechser. Sechser raced last year in the lightweight single while Karz last raced internationally four years ago at the under-23 level.

Great Britain’s second crew, Eleanor Piggott and Charlotte Taylor did very well in Heat Three to finish first ahead of the other qualifying crew, Ella Flecker and Alice McNamara of Australia. Heat Four saw the return of Olympic seventh-placed finishers, Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee of Canada. Obee rowed in the single last year while Jennerich took some post-Olympic time out. Sweden’s Cecilia Lilja and Emma Fredh qualified just a fraction back in second.

Qualifiers: CHN1, GER, GBR1, USA, GBR2, AUS, CAN, SWE

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – Heats

A total of 22 crews were entered in the men’s double sculls and in these time trials they were divided into four heats. This meant that only the fastest boat from each heat went directly to Saturday’s semifinals. On top in Heat One was Poland’s Miroslaw Zietarski and Dawid Grabowski. This is Zietarski and Grabowski’s first season together.  Heat Two had European Rowing Championship silver medallists, Boris Yotov and Aleksandar Aleksandrov of Azerbaijan as the qualifying crew. This young combination have a big future ahead of them in the professional programme they follow in their adopted country Azerbaijan. Their 37 stroke rate finish definitely helped their position.

Heat Three saw New Zealand’s new doubles combination of brothers Karl and Robert Manson in first place. Older brother Robert was part of the double last year with Karl coming up from the under-23 ranks. But the fastest qualifying time of all four heats came in Heat Four with World Champions Nils Jakob Hoff and Kjetil Borch of Norway recording it. Hoff and Borch did not medal at the European Rowing Championships and they look like they have stepped up for this regatta with a finishing time of 6:14.18.

Qualifiers: POL, AZE, NZL, NOR

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) – Heats

The time trials in this boat class saw three heats, with the leading boat in each heat seeded as the fastest boat and the top three boats all going directly to the semifinals. Belarus proved their starting position in Heat One by finishing first. Ekaterina Karsten and Yuliya Bichyk of Belarus are in their second season together and at the European Rowing Championships they were the gold medallists in the quad. Now back in the double they look like a crew to watch. Also qualifying for the semifinals were the British duo of Frances Houghton and Victoria Thornley and China Two of Yuwei Wang and Weiwei Zhu.

Heat Two saw the fastest time overall which was recorded by winners of the double at the European Rowing Championships, Magdalena Fularczyk and Natalia Madaj of Poland in a time of 6:47.22. Way behind the Polish duo but still qualifying was Claudia Belderbos and Inge Janssen of the Netherlands and Yan Jiang and Yang Lyu of China One.

After finishing first at the World Rowing Cup in Sydney, Olympia Aldersey and Sally Kehoe of Australia have made the team for the Australian European tour and they showed their worth in Heat Three by finishing first despite being seeded at the back of the field. The other qualifiers from this heat was the United States (Meghan O’Leary and Ellen Tomek) and New Zealand’s Fiona Bourke and Zoe Stevenson, rated at 39 strokes per minute as they crossed the finish line.

Qualifiers: BLR, GBR, CHN2, POL, NED, CHN1, AUS, USA, NZL

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) – Heats

This boat class had attracted 23 entries, meaning only the top boat in each heat qualifed directly for the semifinals. Silver medallist from last year’s World Rowing Championships, Angel Fournier Rodriguez of Cuba, was the first out of the starting blocks and he led the way amongst the first six scullers Fournier is on his way to being Cuba’s most decorated rower as he starts off his 2014 season in good form. Fournier recorded a time of 6:48.06.

Germany’s Marcel Hacker was first in Heat Two and looked relaxed as he crossed the finish line rating 33 strokes per minute. This is Hacker’s 25th season and, as the World Rowing Athlete of the Month at present, you can learn more about him here. Hacker finished in a quick 6:47.30. The current World and European Champion, Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic, used his full nearly 2m tall frame in Heat Three to finish first and go directly to the semifinals.

Perhaps the toughest heat came last, with Heat Four recording the fastest qualifying time overall. This time (6:46.96) was recorded by Olympic Champion Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand. Drysdale must be feeling a level of relief after he completed an inconsistent season last year. Behind Drysdale, Roel Braas of the Netherlands and Olaf Tufte of Norway (who rated 39 at the finish) recorded almost identical times and will race again this afternoon in the repechages.

Qualifiers: CUB, GER, CZE, NZL

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – Heats

The 18 single scullers in this boat class were divided into three time trial heats with the top two times in each heat getting to go directly to the semifinals. The race opened with Olympic Champion and European Champion, Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic setting the pace. Knapkova qualified from first heat, with Genevra Stone of the United States qualifying from second. Stone took time off after racing to seventh at the London 2012 Olympic Games and is back as the top current sculler for her country.

In Heat Two winner of the World Rowing Cup in Sydney, Emma Twigg of New Zealand, finished first. Twigg’s time of 7:26.25 was the fastest overall qualifying time putting her in top position going into the semifinals. In second, Magdalena Lobnig of Austria also made it through on the direct path to the semifinals which will be raced on Saturday. Heat Three was led by China’s Jingli Duan. Duan was the bronze medallist at the World Rowing Cup in Sydney and is going into her fourth international season. European Rowing Championship medallist, Sanita Puspure of Ireland was second and will also qualify for the semifinals.

Qualifiers: CZE, USA, NZL, AUT, CHN, IRL

Preliminary Races

For boat classes that had less than 13 entries a preliminary race was held to decide the lanes for Saturday’s heats. This preliminary race made sure that these crews would still get two more  side-by-side races at this regatta. Crews across the boat classes treated this race differently in how they chose to race, thus making the finish order difficult to judge the outcome for tomorrow’s heats.

By this stage of racing a cross wind had picked up through the first 1000m of the race, smoothing out in the second half to a calm-water finish.

The lightweight men’s pair (LM2-) is classified as an international event and has nine entries here in Aiguebelette. A plethora of new combinations signified this boat class with Carlo Lauro and Agustin Campassi of Argentina looking like a crew to watch out for. Lauro last raced internationally in 2012 while Campassi has not seen international competition since 2010. They are part of a growing Argentinean squad that must be aiming for lots of boats at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Australia and Canada both gave the men’s four race a good bash. Australia and Canada have solid reputations in the four with Australia being the London 2012 silver medallists.

A solid turnout of 11 entries in the women’s quadruple sculls (W4x) represents a good cross section internationally in this boat class. If the top times are anything to go by, the countries to keep an eye out for in the heats tomorrow are Canada, Poland and the United States. Canada finished second at last year’s World Rowing Championships and they have maintained the same line up for Aiguebelette. Poland was third at the European Rowing Championships earlier this month, but they have adjusted their line up for Aiguebelette.

The men’s quadruple sculls (M4x) saw a very solid race from China. The Chinese, with just one change to the crew, is the same as the crew that finished second at the World Rowing Cup in Sydney. They posted a very solid finishing time of 5:48.15. Germany also looked good in this preparation time trial race.

New Zealand splashed out today in the Lightweight men’s four (LM4-) in their first international race of the season. The New Zealander’s were silver medallists at last year’s World Rowing Championships and today they recorded the fastest time which will put them in the centre lane of tomorrow’s heats. From today’s time trials it looks like France will be in the mix of the top boats come Saturday.

The women’s eight (W8+) saw Canada put in a solid performance with a crew that included rowers who had already raced in the women’s pair earlier today. China also showed their boat speed with the World Champions, the United States, choosing not to race and instead saving themselves for tomorrow’s heats.

Despite Dorian Mortelette not being able to race in the French crew, France still put in a solid effort in the men’s eight (M8+). The French time of 5:32.83 must have put a call out to their opposition that they mean business.