Germany hot in under-23 heats

Women’s Four (BW4-) – Heats

Two heats lined up this morning and crews needed to finish first if they wanted a direct path to the A final on Saturday. The United States are reigning World Champions in this event and they featured in heat one. But today, the United States sat at the back of the field. Instead it was Italy out in front. The Italians finished seventh overall at the under-23 champs last year in Brest, Belarus, but it looks like a new story this year. Stroked by first time international, Silvia Torsellini, this crew included only one member from last year’s four. Keeping their stroke rate at a clippy 37, Italy remained in the lead. Coming into the finish last year’s silver medallists Australia pressed the Italians, but Italy reacted well and will be the sole qualifying boat. Crossing the finish line the crew slapped each other on the back, happy with their result.

Germany took complete control of heat two. France and Belarus were able to stick with the Germans until the 500m marker but then the race was all but over. Only one rower in the German boat is un-medalled and last year the country finished third in this event. By the half-way point Clara Karches, Lea-Kathleen Kuehne, Isabella Reimund and Marchand of Germany had an open water lead. They continued to hold their stroke rate in the mid-30s and had no reason to sprint in the close of the race. Germany go directly to the final.

Men’s Coxed Four (BM4+) – Heats

The first two boats in these two heats would advance directly to the final and in heat one, four boats were very much in the running and on top of each other. France, Italy, New Zealand and Serbia only had inches between them, France holding a slight advantage. As last year’s World Champions Italy slipped back from the group, France continued to lead, their greatest threat now coming from Serbia.

Coming into the finishing quarter of the race, Italy decided they had no chance of qualifying and dropped their stroke rate down to the low 20s. France and Serbia continued to race hard as New Zealand also gave it their all to qualify. Despite getting their stroke rate to a solid 42, New Zealand could not push through to the top two. Instead Serbia and France become the two qualifiers with Serbia finishing just ahead of France. Neither of these countries featured in the coxed four at last year’s under-23 champs.

Germany absolutely dominated heat two. The tall, solid German crew got out in front and never looked back. Coxed by 16-year-old Lucas Raatz, the crew included two members who have never raced internationally before. Using long, smooth, strong strokes the Germans rowed through the middle of the race comfortably in first. Last year, Germany finished second and this crew looks to have the style to go one better this year. The United States tried to close the gap on the Germans, but coming into the final sprint the US looked happy just to qualify. Germany and the United States advance directly to the final, the Germans gaining the fastest qualifying time.

Lightweight Women’s Quadruple Sculls (BLW4x) – Heats

There were two heats in this event, and only the top boat in each heat would earn a direct path to Saturday’s final, leaving all other boats in the repechage on Friday.

In heat one, the United States of America enjoyed an early lead until, China, despite their lower stroke rate, took over the lead. All four Chinese rowers are first time internationals and despite their lack of experience on this platform ChengCheng Wang, Yueyue Liu, Fenglan Wang and Yanfei Cao of China rowed a very mature, consistent race keeping the pressure on right through to the end, and didn't have to raise their rate of striking. Japan sprinted through to take second but only China will qualify for the final.

Germany was second in 2010 and today they raced in heat two, leading from start to finish. By the middle of the race the German boat, Regina Pieroth, Lea Heider, Lena Bieber and Katrin Thoma, had a commanding lead, and the race became almost processional. No one challenged Germany in the second half of the race and the Germans took an easy win, qualifying directly for the final.

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (BW4x) – Heats

Two heats lined up in this event, and the top two boats in each race will qualify directly for the A final on Saturday.

It was hard to look past the German crew in heat one. They are reigning World Champions in this event and, despite retaining only one member of last year’s winning crew, the 2011 lineup was nothing short of formidable. Stroke pair, Lisa Schmidla and Julia Lier raced earlier this season at senior Samsung World Rowing Cup I and finished fourth in the double sculls. Behind them Marie-Catherine Arnold has two Junior Champion titles while bow, Ulrike Toerpsch has already experienced four years of international rowing. The Germans took the lead at the beginning and moved out to a comfortable margin through the middle of the race. Germany continued to hold the lead as Australia slotted into second, under no threat from the other crews. Germany and Australia move on to the finals.

Despite the class present in the Germans boat, Italy finished just one second down on the Germans in winning heat two. The Italians finished seventh last year and their 2011 line up of  Alessandra Patelli, Gaia Palma, Giada Colombo and Valentina Calabrese look like they can go better. But Italy found themselves being pushed hard by New Zealand. The New Zealanders held on tightly to the Italians and together these two countries moved away from the rest of the field. Every time New Zealand pushed, Italy countered it. The order remained the same with Italy and New Zealand finishing as the two qualifying boats. Last year’s bronze medallists, Romania finished third and Ukraine chose to drop the rating and save their energy for tomorrow’s repechage.

Lightweight Women's Single Sculls (BLW1x) – Heats

The lightweight women’s single is the biggest women’s event at this regatta with 21 countries taking part. These 21 scullers, all weighing a maximum of 59kg, were divided into four heats. The top boat in each heat will earn a spot in tomorrow’s semifinal.

The heats opened with Canada leading the way. Patricia Obee of Canada comes to the lightweight single after winning a bronze in the eight at last year’s under-23 champs. Obee is currently rowing and studying in the United States but returned to Canada to compete for her country. She led heat one from start to finish in complete domination. Rating 27- 28 through the body of the race, Obee understroked her competition but still remained clearly in front. Switzerland’s Eliane Baumberger slotted into second and no other boats challenged these two leading crews. Obee and Baumberger move on to the semifinals.

Heat two followed a similar scenario to heat one, as Katherine Copeland of Great Britain did just what Obee did; she took the lead from the first stroke and moved to a huge open water lead. No one had a chance of getting anywhere close to Copeland. At the start of the season Copeland raced as a senior at the Munich World Rowing Cup and finished second. Today she remained untouchable through to the finish line. Behind Copeland, Anna Ioannou of Cyprus pushed through Bulgaria and Poland to sprint to the finish line, rating 34. This commitment gave Ioannou the second qualifying spot.

In heat three Clara Francois of Belgium asserted her dominance early in the piece. Francois has been rowing internationally since her junior days in 2006 and after slipping into race pace, Francois rowed a very consistent, steady race. Both Paraguay and South Africa tried to challenge Francois, but they didn’t have the pace. Instead South Africa’s Kate Johnstone had to give it her all to remain ahead of Paraguay and qualify along with Francois for the semifinal.
It took until heat four for the fastest qualifying time to show up. Reigning under-23 World Champion, Alena Kryvasheyenka of Belarus was challenged hard by local Dutch sculler, Annick Taselaar especially through the middle of the race. Taselaar then seemed to be satisfied with finishing second and chose not to sprint the last 500m of the race. Kryvasheyenka goes into the semifinal with the fastest time by a huge seven seconds and Taselaar qualifies from finishing second.

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (BLM1x) – Heats

25 countires featured in this event. They were divided into six heats with the top three boat from each heat, plus the next fastest time, earning a spot in the quarterfinals to be contested on Friday. This event has been dominated for the last two years by Iran’s Mohsen Shadi Naghadeh, but Naghadeh has now moved out of the under-23 age group, leaving the door open for a new champion.

A range of countries that have reasonably small rowing numbers featured in heat one, and these scullers rowing for the pride of their country. Formally a very strong rowing nation, Bulgaria’s Nedelcho Vasilev was out in front. Vasilev was ninth last year in this event, but fifth at the senior Samsung World Rowing Cup I in Munich in May this year. Today, Vasilev led for the entire race, with open water for much of it. Behind Vasilev Slovenian, Korean and Armenian entries also qualify.

Algeria’s Sid Boudina was the fastest in heat two by a healthy margin. Boudina raced a superb race and set himself up as a sculler to watch out for as this event moves on to the quarterfinals. Boudina is the only rower from Algeria competing at this regatta and it looks like he is on his way to improve on his 20th place finish in 2010. Behind Boudina Peru’s Renzo Leon Garcia qualified from second. Like Boudina, Leon is the sole representative from his country. Denmark also qualified.

There was no surprise to see Jeremie Azou of France out in front in heat three. Azou is a regular competitor at the senior level and has already medalled at the senior World Champion level. Azou finished in a time of 7:30, the fastest qualifying time of the heats by a full six seconds. Also qualifying for the quarterfinal along with Azou was the Netherlands and Croatia.

Panagiotis Magdanis of Greece was in the lead in heat four. Magdanis won the lightweight double last year at the under-23 championships and has also rowed at senior level. Today Magdanis fended off challenges from Italy and Azerbaijan, and managed to leave them behind through the second half of the race. Magdanis qualifies for the quarterfinal along with Azerbaijan’s Kamal Mammadov and Emanuele Ferraiuolo of Italy.

Despite repetitive middle 1000m challenges from the Czech Republic, Andrew Campbell of the United States had the better boat speed in heat five. Campbell held off Mikysek Martin of the Czech Republic as well as a late race charge by Kilian Menzl of Austria. Campbell raced at junior level last year and finished third in the single at the World Rowing Junior Championships. He looks to be well on his way at the under-23 level with the win in this heat. Menzl and Mikysek also qualify for the quarterfinals.

Germany got in on the action in heat six. Roman Acht of Germany took the lead and never let go. Most German under-23 rowers have come through from the junior national team ranks, but Acht is unusual, as it is his first time on the international scene. Nevertheless, he showed that he was well worth his place, as he finished first, qualifying for the quarter finals. Sweden, Ireland and Chile also qualified.

Men’s Pair (BM2-) – Heats

Crews competing in the four heats of this event had to finish in the top spot to progress through to the semi-final.

Heat one opened with the much touted British boat of George Nash and Constantine Louloudis. The duo raced against each other at this year’s Oxford versus Cambridge Boat Race and then joined together for the British national team. The duo competed at the senior Samsung World Rowing Cup in Lucerne as Great Britain’s second pair and finished a healthy seventh. Today Nash and Louloudis led heat one from start to finish, shaking off Germany in the second half of the race. Great Britain move on to the semifinals with the fastest qualifying time of 6:55 by a full eight seconds over the next fastest time.

Heat two saw an extremely tight battle between David Grabowski and Bartosz Zablocki of Poland and Americans Christopher Stiles and Samuel Hoidal. There was less than a second between these two boats coming into the last 500m of the race with the Poles looking much more smooth and flowing than the abrupt style of Stiles and Hoidal. This last sprint went the way of Zablocki and Grabowski, as the United States couldn’t stay in touch. The Poles qualify for the semifinals.

The reigning World Champions, South Africa raced in heat three. Lawrence Brittain who won in 2010 is now with new partner, David Hunt and together they proved that this combination has the potential to defend their title. Hunt and Brittain shot out into the lead at the start and by the middle of the race they had more than a boat length’s lead over France. The French tried to fight back but instead found their position threatened by Bulgaria. Bulgaria challenged South Africa – too little too late. Hunt and Brittain earn a semifinal spot.

In heat four, Turkey’s Youth Olympic Games crew and Romania left the starting blocks together, but by the halfway point Cristi-Ilie Pirghe and Alexandru Palamariu of Romania had pulled away to establish a slight lead. Turkey held on but to no avail. Coming into the finish, Romania maintained their boat speed to finish first and qualify for the semifinals.

Women’s Double Sculls (BW2x) – Heats

Just two heats in this event and the top two boats in each heat would qualify directly for Sunday’s final. Russia had this in mind in heat one and took off at a cracking pace, pulling away from the entire field by the first timing marker at the 500m mark. However, Romania’s Mihaela Petrila and Ioana Craciun were moving on the Russians and as the boats came through the third 500m, Petrila and Craciun had overtaken Russia and Austria were now challenging. Russia had run out of steam and as Lisa Farthofer and Magdalena Lobnig of Austria charged past, Russia were swallowed up by Great Britain as well. At the line Romania and Austria had earned a spot in the final.

Heat two looked like to be a near repeat of the 2010 final – where Germany beat Belarus in the final to become World Champions. The Germans line up of Daniela Schultze and Mareike Adams is new this year, whereas Belarus has retained Tatsiana Kukhta from the silver medal boat last year. Today Germany grabbed the lead at the start and absolutely dominated by developing a huge open water lead. Adams is a World Champion at both the junior and under-23 level and her partnership with first time international, Schultze looks fortuitous. Together the duo easily qualified, Belarus also qualifying but from quite a distance back.

Men’s Double Sculls (BM2x) – Heats

Crews had to be in the top two spots for a direct path to the semifinals on Friday and 2010 medallists, Germany got the ball rolling in heat one. Last year Sebastian Peter took silver in this event and he is back again in 2011 with new partner Hagen Rothe. Together they got out into the lead over reigning under-23 Champions, Lauris Sire and Dairis Adamaitis. A year ago Sire and Adamaitis came from behind to beat the Germans. Germany would not have forgotten this. Peter and Rothe today got the psychological advantage over Sire and Adamaitis by holding the lead throughout the race. Germany and Latvia qualify for the semifinals, Germany with the fastest time.

France and Slovenia do very well in this event at the senior level and in heat two it looked as though both countries are bringing through some new talent to take over at the senior level in the future. France’s Mickael Marteau and Sigmund Verstraete battled with Ales Zupan and Grega Domanjko of Slovenia for the entire 2000m race. With both first and second qualifying, this leading tussle was purely academic, but it brought the two countries through to the end in qualifying position. Norway gave a big push coming into the finish to close on the leaders, but steering problems set them back and they will have to race in the repechage.

A fast-starting Dutch crew opened heat three. The margins however between the four fastest boats were small and the Netherlands were soon swallowed up by Italy’s Corrado Verita and Manuel Igneri as well as Anton Dziameshka and Maksim Radzko of Belarus. Freek Robbers and Dirk Uittenbogaard of the Netherlands fought back and managed to get ahead of Belarus, before running out of puff. Italy and Belarus qualify for the semifinal. 

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (BLW2x) – Heats

Crews in the three heats lining up in this event had to finish in the top three if they wanted to get a direct path to the semifinals. Racing opened with under-23 World Champions, Greece showing their stuff in heat one. Triantafyllia Kalampoka and Christina Giazitzidou of Greece have spent this season racing at the senior level at two of the Samsung World Rowing Cups. Their best finish was fourth place. Going into the race they must be considered the favourites to win. Belarus, however, challenged the Greeks hard through the first half of the race before deciding to save their energy. This allowed the United States to close on Belarus. Greece, Belarus and the United States earn spots in the semifinal.

Despite the credentials of Greece, the fastest qualifying time was recorded in heat two when Germany’s Wiebke Hein and Nora Wessel came through from the middle of the field to win. Germany were bronze medallists last year but with two different rowers. Hein comes from World Champion success at junior level in 2010 whilst Wessel came second in the lightweight quad at the under-23 champs in 2010. Leading for most of the race were Austria’s Stefanie Borzacchini and Christina Sperrer, before Germany overtook them at the end of the race. Austria still qualified from second with Canada taking third and qualifying.

The crowd at the Bosbaan rowing course in Amsterdam had something to cheer about during the last race of the morning – The Netherlands pulled off a win in heat three. Elisabeth Woerner and Lieve Leijssen of the Netherlands started out the race just behind Spain but soon proved they had the better stamina and coming into the second half of the race, the Dutch were able to inch ahead. Meanwhile New Zealand, who were silver medallists in 2010, were moving up on the Spaniards. A sprint to the line secured first place for The Netherlands, New Zealand (Alyce Pulford and Julia Edwards) came through to second and Spain held on to third. These are the qualifying countries.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (BLM2x) – Heats

24 countries entered this ever-popular event. These countries were divided into four heats and crews had to finish in first place to earn a direct path to the semifinals raced on Saturday.

Greece are the reigning World Champions and they featured in heat one, but with two new crew members, Georgios Konsolas and Nikolaos Afentoulis. This duo raced last year in the under-23 lightweight quad and finished sixth, but with a legacy to hold up, the duo made sure heat one was theirs. Meanwhile, Russia and Austria held a private battle for second and third right to the line. Austria’s Alexander Chernikov and Bernhard Seiber got the upper hand at the line, but only by a quarter of a second. Greece, however, is the sole qualifier for the semifinals.

Germany’s Christian Hochbruck and Matthias Arnold dominated their race in heat two. Hochbruck and Arnold are both medallists at the under-23 level but raced in different events last year. Together they look to be formidable. Italy, rating 38, tried to catch up to the Germans, but did not have enough push. Germany is the sole qualifying boat.

The fastest qualifying time was recorded in heat three as France’s Damien Piqueras and Alexandre Pilat showed their smooth, consistent rowing style. Piqueras was on the junior national team last year while Pilat has already medalled at the senior level taking silver in the lightweight quad at last year’s World Rowing Championships. France got themselves into a comfortable open-water lead through the middle of the race, but despite such a good margin, the crew had to keep their wits about them as Spain hurtled for the line with a 39 stroke rate. The Spanish ran out of water and France were the qualifying boat.

The final heat, heat four, was dramatic from start to finish. The Czech Republic had the lead at the start but by the half-way point Great Britain had taken over. The British, with two different rowers, were second last year and they had high hopes of doing well in this event. James Coombes and Gavin Murty of Great Britain had a handy lead coming into the final sprint, but a race is not won with 500m to go. Coming into the sprint Daniel Matyasovszki and Bence Pozsar of Hungary gave it their all. Hungary charged on the British. At the line it was almost impossible to tell who had won. Matyasovszki and Pozsar showed their absolute joy when called the winners, by 0.08 of a second over Great Britain. Hungary qualify.

Lightweight Men’s Four (BLM4-) – Heats

Three heats lined up in the lightweight men’s four with the aim to be in the top three to gain a direct path to the semifinals on Saturday.

In heat one the three medallists from last year – Great Britain, Italy and the United States – lined up to race each other. Without a second thought the British took off in the lead, feeling the confidence that comes from being reigning under-23 World Champions.

By the halfway point, however, Spain had pushed into the lead with Great Britain and Italy following closely behind. Italy then smelt success and upped their stroke rate to 38 to gain on Spain and push past Great Britain. The British had no reply. At the line Italy, Great Britain and Spain qualify for the semifinal.

A year ago Germany made the final but did not medal in this event. Today they started their quest to rectify this situation in heat two. Taking off in the lead, Germany’s Franzmann, Noske, Corinth and Antczak put themselves in a position where they could defend the front spot. Hungary and Australia battled with each other for the second place spot. But despite this battle, Germany remained comfortably in front and go to the semifinal with Hungary and Australia.

The French led the way in heat three. France’s crew was made up of Clement Duret, Constant Ryngaert, Augustin Mouterde and Edouard Jonville held their leading margin throughout the race leaving Poland to try and catch up. Rather than catch up, however, Poland had to worry about the ever-present Canada. Despite the pressure, the order at the line remained the same. France, Poland and Canada make it to the semifinal.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (BM4x) – Heats

The three heats that lined up in this event must have felt rather relieved. For the last couple of years Croatia has owned the quad. The crew is no longer competing at under-23 level and they have moved on to racing solely as seniors.

Crews needed to finish in the top three to qualify for the semifinals and in heat one last year’s bronze medallists, Ukraine, made their speed felt. The Ukrainian crew had retained three members of this bronze medal crew, but despite this talent, Ukraine did not have it easy. Latvia was right on top of Ukraine through the first half of the race. The Ukrainians then managed to inch away but they still had Latvia and then Germany within striking distance. Coming into the line, Ukraine kept the pressure on to finish first. Germany and Latvia also qualify from second and third respectively.

A very strong Czech crew made no mistakes in heat two. The Czechs finished fourth in 2010 and they are hoping to push into the medals this year. Winning this heat brought the Czechs one step closer to their goal. Behind the leaders, Italy came through from the back of the field to pull out an almighty sprint that moved them ahead of New Zealand, Switzerland and 2010 silver medallists Russia and into a qualifying spot. The final qualifier from this heat was Russia, who managed to hold on to Italy’s final sprint to finish just back in third.

A tight four-boat finish was the look coming from heat three. Estonia had been leading for the majority of the race with Spain right on their tails. But Spain was not giving up. Less than a second separated Spain from Estonia coming into the final sprint and with the added pace of the United States closing in. Estonia crossed the line first with Spain and the United States a little bit back. These three boats qualify for the semifinal.

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