Calm day ends in upset at Sydney World Rowing Cup heats

The 2013 season got off to an early start under the heat of late summer in Australia. The first of the Samsung World Rowing Cup of the season was taking place at the beautiful Sydney Olympic Regatta Course in Penrith.

Coming out of off season training some of the best athletes in the world were treated to perfect water condition and temperatures in the low 20s (degrees Celsius). There was then a gap in World Cup racing as the regatta course turned to races for the Australian Open Rowing Championships.

As the sun went down World Cup races wrapped up in head –cross wind conditions and the biggest upset of the day. The six-year winning streak of the United States women’s eight came to an end at the hands of a young Australian crew.

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x) – heats
Making the most of their home country advantage, Australia jumped off the line in first taking a nice one second margin out of the United States in second. This is how Heat One began with the crews aiming to be in the first position for a direct path to the final. The United States had the best pedigree of this heat with the crew chock full of Olympic medallists. Megan Kalmoe finished third in the quad at the London Olympic, while Esther Lofgren, Susan Francia and Eleanor Logan are Olympic Champions from the women’s eight. But it was Australia that held an ever so tiny leading margin over the United States. As the Sydney Olympic regatta course finish line came into view the United States pushed their stroke rate to 35 strokes per minute, with Australia reacting by going to 40. The United States had the better power and crossed the line in first.

Often during the first big race of the season stroke rates can be a bit sluggish, this was not the case in Heat Two. All boats got off the starting line at around 46 strokes per minute. New Zealand had the best start getting a very handy lead over Great Britain in second. By the middle of the race the New Zealanders looked like they had the event sewn up. Coming into the final sprint Great Britain fought back and began to close on the Kiwi advantage. The New Zealand crew of Gray, Perry, Armstrong and Shelton had a big enough edge that they were able to hold off the late British charge. Both crews looked liked they’d given it their all at the end.
Qualifiers: USA, NZL

Women’s Pair (W2-) – Heats
The United States use the pair extensively in training to make their Olympic Champion eight go faster, so when there’s a US boat in a pairs race you know that they’re going to be quick. Meghan Musnicki and Caroline Lind of USA2 lined up in the first of two heats. The goal here was to finish first to get a direct path to Sunday’s final. Musnicki and Lind come from the London Olympic Champion eight and they made easy work of their heat by leading from start to finish. This left Great Britain and Australia to hold a bit of a tussle for second. The race, however, was well wrapped up by Musnicki and Lind who performed a relative cruise home at a 33 stroke rate to qualify directly for the final.

Heat Two saw the Olympic Champion in the pair, Helen Glover of Great Britain paired up with relative newcomer to the national team. Polly Swann. Glover’s Olympic partner is taking extended leave, giving Swann a chance to step in. Together they covered the course in 7:22 giving them the fastest qualifying time of the two heats. After racing the first 500m, the rest of the field put up absolutely no challenge to the British. Glover and Swann recorded an open water win.
Qualifiers: USA2, GBR1

Men’s Four (M4-) – Preliminary race
Four boats had entered this event so heats were not required. This meant today’s race was all about racing for lanes in the final. The two Australian boats, who are also competing in the Australian Open Rowing Championships going on simultaneously as part of the Sydney International Rowing Regatta, chose not to race in this preliminary race.

This left New Zealand and Great Britain to perform a two boat head-to-head race. Both boats gave it their best remaining in overlapping closeness for the entire race. New Zealand, built around Olympic fours rower Jade Uru, held a slight advantage for the full 2000m. Coming into the line New Zealand was on 37 while Great Britain had 39 strokes per minute.
Results: NZL, GBR

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x) – Preliminary race
As in the previous event, the men’s quad had less than six boats entered so needed no heats. Today the three boats entered raced for lanes in Sunday’s finals. All three crews got off the line together with Great Britain just a tad in front. The British crew of Lucas, Thomas, Cousins and Townsend were all on the British national team in 2012 with Cousins, Lucas and Townsend competing at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Coming through the second 500m New Zealand’s new quad line up, which included Olympic Champion from the men’s double sculls, Nathan Cohen, got their nose in front of the British and began to inch away. But the British fought back. In the final 500m Great Britain had a lot more in the tank than New Zealand with the New Zealanders being gobbled up to finish second. Meanwhile Australia, who are likely to be also racing in the Australian Championships later today, just raced to the 1000m mark and then took the pressure off to cruise home.
Results: GBR, NZL, AUS

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) – Heats
The London Olympic ‘big guns’ are predominantly on extended leave from international racing leaving this field open for a chance for some new talent to shine. In Heat One it was Georgi Bozhilov of Bulgaria that truly shined. With the first boat only qualifying directly for the final, Bozhilov overtook a fast-starting Kieran Kobelke of Australia to take the lead. Bozhilov was third in last year’s European Championships and he is definitely a sculler on the move. Dongyong Kim of Korea gave it his best to challenge Bozhilov. Bozhilov, however, remained firmly in control and qualified for the final with the fastest qualifying time.

There was absolutely no pressure on Great Britain’s Jonathan Walton in Heat Two. Walton got the better of the very competent lightweight, Jost Schoemann-Finck of Germany at the start and then proceeded to annihilate the field. By the last 500m Walton, who raced on the under-23 team in 2012, was able to take the pressure off and cruise home at a 23 stroke rate.
Qualifiers: BUL, GBR

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – Heats
The two heats in this event required crews to finish first if they wanted a direct path to the finals on Sunday. In Heat One Julia Edward and Lucy Strack of New Zealand controlled the race. Edward was part of the 2012 Olympic lightweight double while Strack was part of the crew that qualified the lightweight double for the Olympics in 2011.

Following Edward and Strack was the very competent British crew of Kathryn Twyman and Imogen Walsh. Both are regulars on the British national team with Twyman racing in the lightweight single last year and Walsh in the lightweight double at the European Championships. At the line Edward and Strack had held onto the lead to qualify directly for the final on Sunday.

The second heat was slower than heat one despite a very tight tussle going on at the head of the field. Xiujuan Song and Miao Wang of China were battling it out with Australia2 of Alice McNamara and Maia Simmonds with Australia1 also on the pace. McNamara is the best known name here as a regular on the Australian team including racing the lightweight single at last year’s World Rowing Championships. McNamara also competes in stair running and has recently won the Empire State Building stair running competition.

Through heat two Song and Wang held a slight edge but had to work hard right through to the line to hold off McNamara and Simmonds. Despite the Chinese looking as though they had run out of steam, Song and Wang managed to remain in first to qualify directly for the final.
Qualifiers: NZL, CHN

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) – Heats
You never know who is going to pop up in a post-Olympic year. Popping up here in Sydney in Heat One were Hui Li and Tianfeng Dong of China. The last time Li and Dong were spotting racing internationally was in 2009. But they must have been working away in China as they took on Olympic fifth-place finishers, Pedro Fraga and Nuno Mendes of Portugal. With two boats qualifying for the final China and Portugal were in the right positions. Still they both raced hard with Fraga and Mendes taking the lead through the middle of the race. Usually it is Fraga and Mendes that have the best sprint, but today they chose not to and Li and Dong crossed the line in first.

Heat Two ended up being slower than heat one with less of a tussle going on at the head of the field. There was denying the pedigree of Great Britain’s Adam Freeman-Pask and Richard Chambers. Chambers is a London Olympic silver medallist while Freeman-Pask finished second at the European Championships last year in the lightweight men’s four.

After an initial lead of Jun Wan and Deming Kong of China1, Freeman-Pask and Chambers took the lead and never looked back. Both of these crews qualified for the final on Sunday.
Qualifiers: CHN2, POR, GBR, CHN1

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – Heats
Heat One had the crowd sit up and take interest. On the water was Australia’s Olympic rowing hero, Kim Crow. Crow was the only Olympic rower in London to compete in two events and she medalled in both of them. Many of the Australian women rowers racing at the Australian Open Rowing Championships in conjunction with the Samsung World Rowing Cup, wear a ribbon in their hair in the style of Crow.

Today, coming back from illness, Crow led her heat from start to finish. This event needed crews to finish in a top two position if they wanted to directly progress to Sunday’s final. After overtaking the United States and Zimbabwe, Kaisa Pajusalu of Estonia slipped into second and tried to move on Crow. Pajusalu raced last year at the European Championships in the single and finished third.

A big cheer greeted Crow as she rowed through to the finish line in the lead. Crow and Pajusalu had qualified for the final.

United States’ Eleanor Logan featured in Heat Two. Better known for rowing on the Olympic Champion women’s eight, Logan showed that she is also handy with two oars by leading her heat from start to finish. This left Canada and China One (Bin Tang) to battle it out for the remaining qualifying spot. By the second half of the race, Tang had the edge with Canada’s Carling Zeeman having no reply. Logan and Tang qualified for the final.
Qualifiers: AUS, EST, USA1, CHN1

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) – Heats
This event has seen a bunch of new combinations with Heat One of two heats featuring New Zealand’s recently selected line up of Fiona Bourke and Zoe Stevenson. As the first placed crew only would advance directly to the final, Bourke and Stevenson made sure that they would be it. Bourke comes to the double from racing in the quad at the London Olympics while Stevenson was successful in the under-23 women’s eight in 2011.

By the middle of the race Bourke and Stevenson had an open water lead over Great Britain in second. Bourke and Stevenson remained unchallenged through to the line looking tidy and in beautiful synchronicity as they rowed past the finish line grandstand.

Heat Two turned out to be slightly faster than heat one with Frances Houghton and Victoria Meyer-Laker of Great Britain Two fighting it out with Fei Wang and Xiuyun Zhang of China. Wang and Zhang held the lead for the majority of the race but didn’t seem to have a sprint in them. This allowed Houghton and Meyer-Laker to push past and win the race. Houghton and Meyer-Laker crossed the line in first to advance directly to the final.
Qualifiers: NZL, GBR2

Men’s Eight (M8+) – Preliminary Race
Despite this being a preliminary race for lanes, the men’s eight proved to be one of the closer races of the day with all boats remaining in striking distance to each other for the entire race.

Out in front at the start was the United States. The US finished fourth at the London Olympic Games and remaining in the boat from this crew was Grant James, David Banks and Stephen Kasprzyk. Great Britain chased hard and managed to get their nose in front by the third 500. The British boat is chock full of talent. Three of the Olympic Champion four make up the stern of the boat with three members of the bronze medal eight, including coxswain Phelan Hill are also in the boat. As the last 300m came into view it was a beautiful sight of four eights fighting for the line. The 39 stroke rate by the British crew gave them the edge and enabled them to cross the line in first.

These crews will race each other again in Sunday’s final.

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x) – Heats
The goal in this event was to finish in a top two spot for a direct path to Saturday evening’s final. Heat One of two heats featured former World Champion Duncan Grant of New Zealand. Grant spent last season trying to qualify for the London Olympics in the lightweight four and this season is back in the single. Grant took an early lead over Michael Egan of Australia and managed to inch away as the race progressed. With these two boats in the qualifying spots, no other boat seemed able to challenge and Grant and Egan became the qualifying boats.

At the back of the field John Boafo Nana Kwaku of Ghana received a big cheer as he raced to the finish line in his first international race. This is the first time that Ghana has sent a team to the World Rowing Cup.

Heat Two was led by Germany’s sole representative in Sydney, Jost Schoemann-Finck. This is the second time that Schoemann-Finck has raced this morning as he also raced about one hour ago in the open men’s single sculls. But the lightweight single is Schoemann-Finck’s priority event and he stamped his authority by taking the lead and finishing with an open water margin. Behind Schoemann-Finck, Jamie Kirkwood of Great Britain managed to shake off Korea to finish second. Schoemann-Finck and Kirkwood became to two qualifying boats.
Qualifiers: NZL, AUS, GER, GBR

Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (LW1x) – Heats
The two heats in this event required scullers to finish in the top spot if they wanted a direct path to Saturday afternoon’s final. In Heat One Ka Man Lee of Hong Kong China jumped off the line in first but then appeared to drop off the pace as Ruth Walczak of Great Britain took the lead. Walczak raced last year in the lightweight women’s double at the European Championships where she finished third. Coming to the line in a time of 8:02, Walczak had not only qualified directly for Saturday’s final but she had also recorded the fastest qualifying time. This regatta could see the rise of Walczak on the international stage.

A topsy-turvy Heat Two opened with Sarah Pound of Australia in the lead. Pound’s blistering start gave her an open water lead by the first 500m mark and she continued to increase that lead so that by the 1000m mark Pound had a full eight seconds over Jaclyn Halko of Canada Two in second. Then everything changed. Halko, who rowed for Poland to a World Champion title last year, is now back in Canada and Halko suddenly appeared to come alive. A blistering third 500 gave Halko the lead and although she couldn’t maintain it Halko had enough steam to hold the lead to the end.
Qualifiers: GBR, CAN2
 

Racing continued in the early evening with the water conditions changing to a gusty cross  – head wind. This caused an alteration in the lanes used on the Sydney International Regatta Course.

Men’s Pair (M2-) – Preliminary Race
The last time there was an international men’s pair race on this regatta course it was the final of the 2000 Sydney Olympic men’s pair when Jean-Chrisophe Rolland and Michel Andrieux of France started their finishing sprint right back at the 1000m mark for one of the most talked about races at the Sydney Olympics . Rolland and

Andrieux won gold for France and today two French crews lined up including the London Olympic silver medal pair of Germain Chardin and Dorian Mortelette. Chardin and Mortelette took off in the lead of this preliminary race for lanes for Sunday’s finals. But Australia pushed hard and got into the lead. Chardin and Mortelette reacted back  with France’s number two crew of Benjamin Lang and Julien Despres now moving up through the field.

In the final sprint, Lang and Despres moved their stroke rate up to 37 and challenged Chardin and Mortelette who then decided to take the pressure off. Land and Despres go to the final having earned the best lane.

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – Preliminary Race
Michael Arms and Robert Manson of New Zealand were selected for this boat over from the Olympic Champion double of Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan and they made the best of it in their first international race as a double. Arms and Manson come from the Olympic men’s quadruple sculls.

Today they raced in the preliminary race for lanes in Sunday’s final by leading from start to finish. Early in the race Estonia challenged, but Arms and Manson appeared stronger and more race ready. Coming into the final sprint Great Britain managed to get ahead of Estonia but did not have enough water left to catch up to Arms and Manson. Arms and Manson go to the final with the psychological advantage of a warm-up race win.

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-) – Preliminary Race

This was definitely an upset. Great Britain had two Olympic silver medallists sitting in the boat and looked to be a shoe-in to win. But the New Zealand crew had other ideas. New Zealand tried to qualify this boat for the London Olympics but just missed out. At the New Zealand team trials earlier this month the competition to get into this boat was strong. Today the new Kiwi crew showed their worth by not only beating the British, but beating them soundly. Watch out for James Lassche, James Hunter, Peter Taylor and Curtis Rapley through the 2013 season.

Great Britain came in second with China in third. The Australian crews chose not to race as they are also competing in the Australian Open National Championships that is running at the same time.

Women’s Eight (W8+) – Heats
Two heats lined up for the final event of the day with the goal in each heat to finish first. A first place would secure a direct path to the final. What was to follow turned out to be two of the biggest upsets of the day. In Heat One Canada got off to a great start in first followed closely by Great Britain. This Canadian crew has four of the crew that took silver at the London Olympics including coxswain Lesley Thompson-Willie.

But going through the middle of the race Great Britain had pushed into the lead. Great Britain were fifth at the Olympics and they have retained three rowers from that eight. They also have women’s pair Olympic Champion, Helen Glover sitting in the boat. With Great Britain now in the lead Canada appeared to have no comeback. Great Britain move directly to Sunday’s final.

It took until the final race of the day for the biggest upset perhaps of the season. The United States women’s eight has not lost a race since 2006 despite who was in the boat line up. Today, on the waters of Sydney’s Olympic regatta course the United States found themselves trailing Australia for the entire race. The Americans tried to sprint it out at the end and managed to close slightly on the Australians, but the Australians held it together and will make up a middle lane in the final. For the first time in a long, long time the United States will race in a repechage.
Qualifiers: GBR, AUS