Day Three Daily Digest : Fiercely contested semifinals at World Rowing Cup II in Poznan

Flat calm conditions and sunny skies with temperatures reaching into the high 20s Celsius made for perfect conditions at the Lake Malta regatta course.

Olympic champion versus local heroes

Fintan McCarthy of Ireland looks as strong in the single as he was in the double last year. The Tokyo Olympic champion dominated the first semifinal of the lightweight men’s single sculls and will surely will be the man to beat in the A-Final. But in semifinal A/B two, all eyes were on the local heroes, Artur Mikolajczewski and Jerzy Kowalski of Poland, who secured a promising 1-2 finish ahead of the final this afternoon. With a strong push from the local crowd, can they secure a podium?

Men’s pair showdown

Don’t miss tomorrow’s A-Final in the Men’s Pair! With nothing separating the Netherlands and New Zealand in semifinal A/B 1, and the USA and Japan showing great strength to power through the field in semifinal A/B 2, this will surely be a close race. And what a performance from Chirill-Visotchi Sestacov and Alexandru Masnic of Moldova, who managed to secure a spot in the A-Final as well!

No stopping De Jong and Youssifou

The Dutch duo of Roos De Jong and Laila Youssifou seem unbeatable since the beginning of the season. They comfortably won a gold medal in Belgrade, and they showed their dominance in the women’s double sculls again yesterday with a dominant win in semifinal A/B 1. Who can stop them? Maybe the new US combination of Kara Kohler and Sophia Vitas, who dominated the second semifinal, or Kohler’s former foe in the single, Sanita Puspure of Ireland, now in the double with Zoe Hyde.

Untouchable Sinkovic Brothers

Speaking about an unbeatable duo, Martin and Valent Sinkovic look as strong as they’ve ever been in the men’s double sculls. Friday, they said they were going for the World Best Time in their heat. Today, they controlled semifinal 1 – a race where the Polish, racing on home waters, and the new Dutch combination of Stef Broenink and Koen Metsemakers, really tried to push them to the edge. But it was another confident win for the Croatian brothers. The challenge will be coming from the Australians Caleb Antill and Jack Cleary, and from the second Dutch crew, Guus Mollee and Guillaume Krommenhoek.

Olympians show their strength in the Women’s Four

The women’s four field is stacked with Olympians – and they all demonstrated their strength yesterday on Lake Malta. Olympic champions of Australia – a boat that features Annabelle McIntyre and Lucy Stephan, from the victorious Tokyo crew  – dominated semifinal A/B 1 ahead of the Netherlands and the USA. In semifinal A/B 2, Ireland (with Eimear Lambe and Aifric Keogh), New Zealand (with Beth Ross) and Canada (with Avalon Wasteneys and Sydeny Payne) easily punched their ticket to the A-Final.

The Karolien Florijn show continues

Out of the Dutch women’s four that snatched a silver medal in Tokyo, Karolien Florijn is head and shoulders above the rest of the field in the women’s single sculls at the moment. Unchallenged in Belgrade for World Cup I, she was seven seconds faster than her opponents in the first semifinal without having to sprint. The second semifinal was a close one – but a great sprint from Alexandra Foester of Germany, the reigning World Rowing U23 Champion, was enough to secure the win, with Tara Rigley of Australia and Jeanine Gmelin of Switzerland just ahead of Lisa Scheenaard of the Netherlands over the line.

Twellaar vs Androdias… again

The battle continues. Melvin Twellaar of the Netherlands and Matthieu Androdias of France will be the names to watch tomorrow in the A-Final of the men’s single sculls, after both athletes dominated their respective semifinals. The third podium position will be highly contested between Ben Davison of the USA, Bastian Secher of Denmark and Trevor Jones of Canada. The surprise came from Androdias’ doubles partner, Hugo Boucheron, who will race tomorrow in the B-Final.

Rock solid USA in the lightweight women’s double sculls

With the absence of the Italians and the French, the lightweight women’s double sculls is wide open for the taking – and the Americans are looking to send a message to the rest of the field. Molly Reckford and Michelle Sechser, fifth in Tokyo last year, dominated semifinal A/B 1 ahead of Poland 1 and China.  The second semifinal was arguably the closest of the session – with only 0.66 seconds separating Switzerland, Australia and Ireland on the line.

New names to follow in the lightweight men’s double sculls

Lots of new names to follow in the lightweight men’s double sculls. In semifinal A/B 1, Lars Benske and Ars Jarl Tjoem of Norway proved the great tradition of their country in that boatclass with a convincing win, ahead of the new German combination of Paul Leerkamp and Arno Gaus. Another new combination is the French one, with Hugo Beurey and Ferdinand Ludwig taking the win in semifinal A/B 2, just ahead of Ukraine and the USA.