Chalupa announces retirement with silver medal

Opening the day of non-Olympic “international” finals was the men’s coxed pair featuring the incredible Vaclav Chalupa of the Czech Republic. This is Chalupa’s 21st year of international racing and he was making Poznan his farewell regatta.

MEN’S COXED PAIR (M2+) – FINAL

Vaclav Chalupa of the Czech Republic won his first international medal 20 years ago. Today he retired still at the top of his game by racing to silver at the 2009 World Rowing Championships. Chalupa, 41, has a rowing career that stretches through six Olympic Games with no breaks from racing since he first competed at the 1988 Olympic Games.

Chalupa has made rowing his life moving his family to the rowing town of Racice and dedicating every year to the pursuit of rowing excellence. He is a sports hero in his country and revered throughout the rowing world for his stamina and persistence. Chalupa has continued through the ups and downs of his career and now looks to his 15-year-old son’s rowing future.

After a slow start, Chalupa with partner Jakub Makovicka got their boat in front just ahead of the American crew of Troy Kepper and Henrik Rummel coxed by Olympic medallist Marcus McElhenney. These two crews remained neck and neck with Kepper and Rummel looking just a bit smoother. A better sprint by the United States gave them the gold.

Results: USA, CZE, GER, CAN, FRA, ITA

Troy Kepper, Henrik Rummel, Marcus McElhenney (USA) – Gold
“The race went great, although we didn’t have the best start, we caught up by staying composed and putting the pressure on. If there was a problem? Yeah the Czechs! All the time! They kept their position, it was tough!” Marcus McElhenney

Jakub Makovicka, Vaclav Chalupa Jr, Oldrich Hejdusek (CZE) – Silver
“I’m happy with this medal. I hope I’ll be in bigger boats though in the future, I’ve been in the pair for four years and it’s time for a change. Maybe we’ll try to get in an eight together. But the main thing today is that it was my partner’s last year and this medal was the least we could get for him.”  Jakub Makovicka

“Yes, this was it. This was my last year and my last race at a World Rowing Championships. I would have liked to finish it with gold, but silver is o.k. too. My first medal was a silver at the World Rowing Championships in Bled in 1989 and this is my last. Now it will be time for my 15-year old son. Three years I reckon and he could win a medal too.” Vaclav Chalupa

Philipp Naruhn, Florian Eichner, Tim Berent (GER) – Bronze
“I wanted to win, but our start wasn’t good. But the second part of the race went well, so we are very happy about the result. We really had to get used to this boat class though. It was the first time for the three of us in the coxed pair.”  Florian Eichner

LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN’S SINGLE SCULLS (LW1x) – FINAL

From her outside lane Michaela Taupe-Traer of Austria aimed to dominate from start to finish. It is always a rower’s advantage to be able to sit in front and watch the rest of the field. But Taupe-Traer was only able to gain a slight margin. Going through the half-way point only two seconds separated the entire field. The margin narrowed even more through the third 500 with Meghan Sarbanis of the United States inching ahead.

Taupe-Traer was struggling and had now slipped back to fourth. All six boats still had a chance of medalling coming into the final sprint. Denmark’s Juliane Rasmussen was picking it up with every stroke. Italy’s Laura Milani had energy to spare. But it was Pamela Weisshaupt of Switzerland who had timed the race perfectly.

Weisshaupt, 30, is the reigning World Champion in this event and declared, coming into this regatta, that she was feeling good. Winning was well within her grasp. Winning is what she did. Weisshaupt successfully defends her title. Milani, under new coach Josy Verdonkschot takes silver and Rasmussen is the bronze medallist.

Results: SUI, ITA, DEN, USA, BEL, AUT

Pamela Weisshaupt (SUI) – Gold
“It just went well, and well and well, from the start to the finish all went well. It was much easier than expected. Everything worked out wonderfully, including my final sprint. Already this morning I knew I could do this. I always believed in myself.”

Laura Milani (ITA) – Silver
“The wind really bothered me and I didn’t want to take any risk, but just secure second place. I’m very happy about this and it’s a great feeling to win silver.”

Juliane Rasmussen (DEN) – Bronze
“It was a hard but a good sprint, I had great rivals. I was expecting to come second or third, so I did, and I am happy of my result. Looking forward to the Olympics!”

LIGHTWEIGHT MEN’S SINGLE SCULLS (LM1x) – FINAL

A rough semifinal put reigning World Champion Duncan Grant of New Zealand into an outside lane for today’s final. There were already whisperings whether the two-time World Champion could make it three in a row. Greece’s Vasileios Polymeros and Japan’s Daisaku Takeda had beaten Grant in the semi. Grant would have to do something special today.

Takeda took an early lead but Polymeros (2005 World Champion in this event) soon snuck past along with Grant. At the 500m mark Grant was rating 36 strokes per minute and for the rest of the race never relented. Holding the 36 stroke rate pace, Grant inched away from Polymeros and Takeda. Coming into the final sprint Polymeros would have to play catchup. He did it with vengeance. Taking his stroke rate to 43 Polymeros, Greece’s most successful rower ever, closed on Grant.

Grant saw it coming and was holding on by the skin of his teeth. Polymeros nearly had gold in his grasp, but a crab just before the finish destroyed his chances. Grant goes into the record books as three-time World Champion in this event.

Meanwhile, Denmark’s Mads Rasmussen had gotten the better of Takeda and taken third. Rasmussen will go back to Denmark to plan a wedding with lightweight women’s bronze medallist, Juliane Rasmussen.

Results: NZL, GRE, DEN, JPN, HUN, BRA

Duncan Grant (NZL) – Gold
“Great, but in the final you never know. A final is always tough. And I knew this was going to be especially hard, since both the Greek and the Danish got lots of medals and experience behind them. I got some good cheering from the bank, which was great in lane one and really helped because the last 250m were particularly tough.”

Vasileios Polymeros (GRE) – Silver
“It wasn’t my best race, I am not satisfied. A lot of waves and I caught a crab on the last couple of meters so I had to let it go. But overall it was a good year for me, I got a gold medal at the Mediterranean Championships and I hope next year will go even better.”

Mads Rasmussen (DEN) – Bronze
“It was a good race, my first medal in the lightweight single at the World Rowing Championships, but I must admit I had some trouble with the waves. Usually the last 500m are my best, today, I wasn’t able to stabilise and find the right rhythm.” 

LIGHTWEIGHT MEN’S PAIR (LM2-) – FINAL

Andrea Caianiello and Armando Dell’Aquila of Italy are the reigning under-23 World Champions. They won at the senior level in 2007 and were after gold again this year. But France’s Fabien Tilliet and Jean-Christophe Bette had other ideas. They last met Caianiello and Dell’Aquila at the final Rowing World Cup six weeks ago and they finished second to the Italians.

Today Tillet and Bette jumped off the line in the lead. Caianiello and Dell’Aquila didn’t miss a beat and stuck to the French like glue. This left South Africa and Serbia to have their own battle for third, with Denmark and Great Britain having their own race at the back of the field.

France and Italy moved together into the final sprint. Italy lifted their stroke rate first. France, stroked by Sydney Olympic Champion, Bette, reacted swiftly and went to a 38 stroke rate. France had won. Meanwhile South Africa, in the final 200m, caught a crab which gave Serbia’s Nenad Babovic and Milos Tomic the bronze.

Results: FRA, ITA, SRB, RSA, GBR, DEN

Fabien Tilliet, Jean-Christophe Bette (FRA) – Gold
“We were able to overtake the Italians for the first time. We concentrated very hard on them and as soon as our position was advantageous the waves became tougher and this is where it seems like the Italians had more trouble.” Jean-Christophe Bette

Andrea Caianiello, Armando Dell’Aquila (ITA) – Silver
“Our start was pretty good, but the French are just strong. They are a fantastic crew, have rowed at the Olympics and everything. I think we missed a bit of preparation for these World Champs after also racing at the U23s. But we are very satisfied with this medal. Next year we won’t be U23 anymore and we’ll focus on the Olympic boat then.” Andrea Caianielloa

Nenad Babovic, Milos Tomic (SRB) – Bronze
“The conditions are tough, it is hard to steer the boat, there is a cross wind. Of course we would have liked to get a gold or a silver medal, but bronze is good! At the last 500m we accelerated and caught up with the Italians and the French. We were very close.” Nenad Babovic

LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN’S QUADRUPLE SCULLS (LW4x) – FINAL

Racing was coming down to who could finish the 2,000m without catching a crab. As the water got rougher in the tail-wind conditions, all crews struggled to keep their blades clean above the water. Great Britain was doing a fine job at the lead of the field with Germany in hot pursuit. By the half-way point three crews remained in a tight overlap – Great Britain, Germany and Canada. But margins across the entire six lanes remained tight.

A big push by Germany, rating 35 strokes per minute in the third-500m gave them the edge over Great Britain with Canada and now the United States holding on to the leading pace. The sprint to the line saw water flying and frantic rating. With 200m left to row, bow for Great Britain, Stephanie Cullen caught a bad stroke. Cullen, however, wasted no time in getting back on the rhythm, but Germany was slipping away. The United States, despite looking exhausted, were holding on to the bronze medal spot. Canada was fading. The crowd got to their feet. Germany had done it.

Results: GER, GBR, USA, CAN, POL

Lena Mueller, Helke Nieschlag, Laura Tibitanzl, Julia Kroeger (GER) – Gold
“We always hoped to make it. After the Race for Lanes there was a lot of critique though. But we just gave it all today and it worked.” Lena Mueller

“We had similar conditions in Ratzeburg in our training camp so we knew this would be our conditions today. When we saw the British catch a crab we did a sprint, you just have to use a moment like that and it worked well. The gold medal is great.” Laura Tibitanzl

Stephanie Cullen, Laura Greenhalgh, Andrea Dennis, Jane Hall (GBR) – Silver
“We have never been so disappointed by a silver medal. We expected our rivals, we know that Germans are tough, we had to show our guts and character all along for the Americans not to take away our silver.”  Jane Hall

Hillary Saeger, Lindsey Hochman, Stefanie Sydlik, Abelyn Broughton (USA) – Bronze
“From the Race for Lanes we knew that this could be anyone’s race. The conditions were difficult so we tried to stay composed and relaxed and I think we did a good job as team. I’m very pleased with the result. ” Abelyn Broughton

LIGHTWEIGHT MEN’S QUADRUPLE SCULLS (LM4X) – FINAL

Ten World Championship titles. Eleven medals in the lightweight quad in the last 11 years. When the other five crews lined up against Italy’s Daniele Gilardoni, they knew that they had a battle on their hands. Gilardoni sat in two seat of the Italian boat flanked by other big names of Italian lightweight rowing; Sancassani, Bertini and Basalini. Could the crew make it a nine-year winning streak in this event?

All boats got away to a quick start with Germany and Italy just in front. By the half-way point the race had turned into a battle between Italy and Germany with Denmark and France fighting it out for the bronze medal. Italy, maintaining a very steady 34 to 35 stroke rate pace, then moved away from the Germans. Germany was now being challenged by Denmark.

Coming into the final sprint, Italy just had to keep their strokes clean. Germany had to worry about Denmark and Denmark had to worry about France. Italy takes their crew into history. Ten wins in a row.

Results: ITA, GER, DEN, FRA, MEX, USA

Franco Sancassani, Daniele Gilardoni, Lorenzo Bartini, Stefano Basalini  (ITA) – Gold
“We are an experienced crew, we couldn’t have wished for more. All of us were very concentrated all throughout the race, it was great! This is my eighth medal at the World Rowing Championships, tenth for Gilardoni, third for Bertini and seventh for Basalini. We are happy with our result.”  Franco Sancassani

Knud Lange, Lars Wichert, Felix Oevermann, Michael Wieler (GER) – Silver
“We had a very good start and if I saw it correctly we were ahead at the 500m. We found a good rhythm then, but the Italians are just strong in this boat and again today they were just the bit better. We are very happy about silver and will enjoy the celebration today.”  Knud Lange

Hans Christian Soerensen, Christian Nielsen, Rasmus Quist, Andreas Ramboel (DEN) – Bronze
“We are a new crew, we’ve only been rowing together three weeks, we are extremely happy with our result. The last 700 meters were hard, we pushed harder, did our best.”  Hans Christian Soerensen

LIGHTWEIGHT MEN’S EIGHT (LM8+) – FINAL

Coming into this race Italy and the United States were the favourites. The United States had the edge as defending World Champions, but today’s conditions would play a big part in the final position. Italy jumped into the lead at the start with the United States surprisingly back in fourth. Despite having the lead, the Italians then did a huge 41 stroke rate piece at the half-way point. This piece cleared them from the field. What could the defending champions do?

Italy was taking no chances. They continued to keep their stroke rate high under the command of coxswain, Andrea Lenzi with Olympian Bruno Mascarenhas in stroke seat. Coming into the final sprint, the United States had moved through to second having overtaken Japan and the Netherlands. The United States then tried to close the gap on Italy, but the Italians were ready for anything. Italy take the title.

Results: ITA, USA, NED, JPN, FRA, GER

Luigi Scala, Davide Riccardi, Livio La Padula, Martino Goretti, Emiliano Ceccatelli, Gennaro Gallo, Jiri Vlcek, Bruno Mascarenhas, Andrea Lenzi (ITA) – Gold
“A wonderful race. The waves were just a bit unfortunate, otherwise we might have been able to set a new best time. This is a fantastic group, a beautiful medal and a great spot here. Perfect. This was the most important race and the finale of the season, but in two weeks we’ll row again at the Italian Championships.” Jiri Vlcek

John Dise, Kenneth Mc Mahon, Ryan Fox, Andrew Diebold, Anthony Fahden, Matthew Muffelman, James Sopko, Matthew Kochem, Kerry Quinn (USA) – Silver
“It was a good race, a great effort of everybody, but rough conditions. We pushed our hardest on the third 500m. We are a younger crew and we hope to keep going for another four years together. This was a good start. We will now get straight back to training at our new development centre in Oklahoma.” Matthew Muffelman

Thom van den Anker, Diederick van den Bouwhuijsen, Maarten Tromp, Jolmer van der Sluis, Stijn Verwey, Rutger Bruil, Dion van Schie, Joeri Bruschinski, Ryan den Drijver (NED) – Bronze
“I am very disappointed, the conditions were difficult, we just couldn’t get it right. I mean if you are going in, it’s for the gold! But right now it’s hard to see how we could have done otherwise.”  Van Der Sluis Jolmer