Bumpy conditions at the Poznan Rowing World Cup

Expected results can differ when weather conditions become difficult. Today on day two of the Rowing World Cup in Poznan, Poland, bumpy water saw tricky and close finishes. It also saw fast times as tail winds pushed the boats down the 2000m Malta Regatta Course.

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – Repechages

The two repechages required athletes to finish in the top two positions if they wanted to make it into tomorrow’s final. Poland opened up the afternoon of racing in repechage one with their top two scullers taking the lead. Poland One is Julia Michalska. She qualified this boat for the Beijing Olympics by finishing eighth at last year’s World Rowing Championships. Poland Two is Agata Gramatyka who is racing for the first time internationally in the single. Despite Michalska being the top female sculler for Poland, Gramatyka was giving Michalska a true run for her money. Going through the middle of the race Gramatyka had the lead. Michalska fought back and regained the lead. Gramatyka took the pressure off being under no real threat to qualify. Michalska and Gramatyka both advance to the final.

Chile’s Olympic entry Soraya Jadue Arriaza jumped out at the start and into the lead of repechage two. New Zealand’s Emma Twigg and Rika Geyser of South Africa moved with the Chilean. As Jadue started to tire, Twigg took over at the head of the field. Coming into the final sprint, Twigg remained in the lead with Geyser deciding that she really wanted a spot in the final. Geyser took her stroke rate up and overtook Jadue. This push left Geyser within striking distance of Twigg who was struggling in the conditions and rating 25. At the line Twigg had held on to first with Geyser, on 28 strokes per minute, taking second and also qualifying for the final.

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) – Semifinals

These two semifinal races required a top three finish for crews to advance to the final and in an unusual move New Zealand’s Mahe Drysdale set off in the lead of semifinal one. It has become usual to see Drysdale sit back at the start before moving through the field with his powerful, long strokes. Following closely behind Drysdale, after coming back from a bad start, was Andre Vonarburg of Switzerland. Drysdale continued to lead and as Vonarburg started to run out of steam, the higher rating Norwegian, Olaf Tufte came powering through. Rating 36 Tufte was closing the gap on Drysdale. Seeing the challenge, Drysdale lifted his stroke rate to 34. Tufte, handling the conditions better, went to 39. Tufte crosses the line in first, Drysdale takes second and Vonarburg qualifies for the final from third.

In the slower of the two semifinals, semifinal two featured Lucerne Rowing World Cup winner Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic. Synek left the start behind Tim Maeyens of Belgium who is getting a reputation for his fast starts. By the half-way point Synek had moved into the lead with Maeyens holding on. Meanwhile Sweden’s Lassi Karonen had got himself through to third but was visibly struggling with the conditions. In the third 500m Karonen had to pick up his rhythm after a crab stopped him in his tracks. Karonen picked up the pace and did all he could to hold off Estonia Two and maintain his third spot.

At the line Karonen had done it. The Swede qualifies for the final with third and Synek and Maeyens qualify from finishing first and second respectively.

Men’s Pair (M2-) – Repechages

The two repechages that lined up in the men’s pair had the formula of a top two finish for the chance to race in tomorrow’s A final. Poland, in repechage one, took off at a cracking pace. Then, from the Australian spares group, Terrence Alfred and Karsten Forsterling started to move with France’s Erwan Peron and Laurent Cadot. Australia’s Alfred had to fill into his country’s men’s four at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta at the eleventh hour when one of the crew became ill. He did a fine job, helping his country to qualify the boat for Beijing. As Peron and Cadot took over in the lead, Alfred and Forsterling followed closely with Denmark doing their best to hold on. Coming into the final sprint three boats charged for the line. France rated 46, Australia and Denmark tried to increase their rating. Australia finish first, France second and Denmark, in third, miss out on qualifying for the A final.

Repechage two was led from start to finish by France’s second boat. Germain Chardin and Dorian Mortelette come from their nation’s men’s four. Today they showed that they had talent in the pair. No other boat seemed able to catch the French. Great Britain was close and Germany One of Tom Lehmann and Felix Drahotta were not far back, but France had the lead. Coming into the final sprint there was very little between Germany and Great Britain. Despite the rough water both crews had raised their rate into the high 30s. The conditions got the better of Great Britain and Germany will go to the final along with France Two.

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) – Repechages

The two repechages in this event required athletes to finish in either first or second and in repechage one Germany’s new double combination of Juliane Domscheit and Jeannine Hennicke took the early lead. But it wasn’t long before Gabriela Varekova and Jitka Antosova of the Czech Republic were able to get their nose in front. Varekova and Antosova have been rowing together since they raced in the junior quad in 2003. They are not big rowers but they looked tidy in these difficult conditions. The Czechs remained in the lead with Domscheit and Hennicke comfortably in second. These two boats go through to the final.

The first half of repechage two was tight, very tight, between the four countries racing. Canada’s Janine Hanson and Krista Guloien had a slight lead. Hanson and Guloien were in the quad last year and qualified that boat for the Beijing Olympics. Here in the double they were holding their own. Belarus, New Zealand and Finland followed closely behind. As New Zealand slipped off the pace, Belarus, Finland and Canada fought it out for the two qualifying spots. Coming into the final sprint, Sana Sten and Minna Nieminen of Finland, who will be going to the Olympics in the lightweight class, used their lighter frames to skim across the top of the water and finish first. Canada take second and will therefore join Finland in the final.

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – Repechages

The two repechages in this event required a top two finish for rowers to advance to the final and in repechage one reigning World Champion, Luka Spik and Iztok Cop of Slovenia, led the way. Germany’s number one crew slipped into second with Belgium’s Olympic entry, Bart Poelvoorde and Christophe Raes following closely in third. Cop and Spik held the edge over the rest of the field through the middle of the race while Belgium and Germany battled it out. Coming into the line three boats had a shot at two qualifying spots. Slovenia held on to first to qualify for the final. Belgium pushed ahead of Germany to take the second and final qualifying position.

The second repechage followed a similar form as repechage one. The World Champions from 2006, France’s Jean-Baptiste Macquet and Adrien Hardy, took over in the lead with a very tight race for second unfolding between Germany Two and Belarus. Former under-23 champions Belarus started off with the advantage but Germany was not giving up. This battle brought Belarus and Germany closer and closer to France in first. The fight of three boats for two spots continued right to the line. France stuck to a 34 stroke rate. Germany went to 39. Belarus rated 36. France held on to first with German’s Rene Burmeister and Daniel Makowski qualifying for the final by getting ahead of Belarus to take second.

Men’s Four (M4-) – Repechages

The two repechages for the men’s four required these crews to finish in the top two positions if they wanted to be in tomorrow’s A final. Repechage one featured the Netherlands. This very stable crew has regularly been in the Rowing World Cup and World Rowing Championship medals over the last three years although the World Championship gold has eluded them. Today the Dutch took off at the head of the field despite having to deal with a 56 stroke rate start from the Slovenians. Geert Cirkel, Matthijs Vellenga, Jan-Willem Gabriels and Gijs Vermeulen for the Netherlands continued in the lead leaving Italy and Slovenia to fight it out for the second and only remaining qualifying spot. Coming into the final sprint the Dutch retained the leaders’ edge and a 38 stroke rate in slightly better water conditions. Italy took the rate to 42 and Slovenia matched the Italians with 41. A small crab just before the finish line by Italy handed Slovenia a spot in the final with the Netherlands. Italy will have to return to race in the B final.

The Czech Republic has been ruffling the feathers of this event over this season after medalling at the first Rowing World Cup. Today they led repechage one over the current World Champions, New Zealand. New Zealand held on tight and in the process moved away from Belarus and Great Britain’s number two crew. The order of the top two boats did not change and the Czechs and the New Zealanders advance to tomorrow’s final.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – Repechages

The two repechages in the lightweight women’s double was all about finishing in the top two spots if crews wanted to advance to the final. The first repechage featured four countries and the opening leader not surprisingly was Germany. Sitting in the stroke seat for Germany is Marie-Louise Draeger who has a World Champion medal from winning this event in 2005 and she has been a regular in this boat ever since. There is no doubt that Draeger, along with partner Berit Carow will be aiming for an Olympic medal in August. At the end of the race Germany, rating 28, was way far ahead of the rest of the field. Back in second Denmark also qualify for the A final.

Repechage two panned out in quite a different manner to repechage one. For the entire 2000m course there was nothing in it between Greece’s Chrysi Biskitzi and Alexandra Tsiavou and Great Britain’s Helen Casey and Hester Goodsell. Not only did the two crews match each other’s speed down the course, they also spent most of the race matching each other’s stroke rate. Greece had the edge at the start. Great Britain earned the edge through the middle of the race. Greece took over in the lead at the finish. Both boats will meet again in tomorrow’s final.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) – Semifinals

The two semifinals of this event required boats to get in the top three if they wanted to be in tomorrow’s final. In semifinal one the winners of both of this season’s Rowing World Cups, Great Britain was racing. Used to leading from the start, Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter of Great Britain found themselves in second and carrying on a very tight battle with Vasileios Polymeros and Dimitrios Mougios of Greece. Through the middle of the race the Greeks held the edge. Great Britain didn’t give in. Ratings began to rise. Hungary joined in the final sprint. A minor mishap for Polymeros in the last 50m gave the British what they needed. Great Britain finish first, Greece take second and Hungary sprint though to third to qualify.

Repechage two featured two Italian entries. Italy is yet to name their Olympic boat. There is, therefore, a lot more at stake than Rowing World Cup status for these two Italian boats. After shaking off Australia, Italy One of Elia Luini and Marcello Miani took over in the lead. Italy Two of Daniele Gilardoni and Lorenzo Bertini followed suit and grabbed hold of their fellow countrymen’s coat tails. With that the two Italian crews held their own private battle. This left current World Champion Denmark to be content with third. Coming into the finishing straight Luini and Miani maintained a higher stroke rate and earn the first spot. Italy Two and Denmark also qualify for the final from second and third respectively.

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-) – Repechages

The formula for this event was to finish in the top two positions to make it through to tomorrow’s final. Egypt got off to a good start in repechage one taking the lead and putting in a solid effort to hold the spot. The Egyptians, however, had set a pace that they could not sustain. Going through the middle of the race Italy took over in the lead. The Italians finished third at the 2004 Olympic Games and have retained three of the crew that won those medals. As the final 400m of racing began, four boats charged for the two available qualifying spots. Poland was there, so was the Dutch and, of course, Italy. Egypt too, was still within striking distance of a qualifying spot. Poland went to 41 strokes per minute. The Netherlands followed suit. At the line Italy remained in first with the Netherlands pulling off the second and only other qualifying position.

Repechage two began with a false start when Denmark jumped away too quickly. Starting for a second time, current World Champions Great Britain began in the lead. But their lead was slim and soon Italy Two had taken over. The Italians have a lot to prove if they are to be considered as the Olympic boat for their country and they were willing to give this race everything that they had. Great Britain, however, wanted to be first and through the third 500m the Brits had overtaken Italy. Then Denmark began to move. Denmark has had to replace Mads Kruse Andersen with Kasper Winther due to a rib injury and in the process changed their line-up order. In the sprint for the line, Denmark pushed ahead of Italy and closed the gap on Great Britain. The British held the Danes off. Great Britain and Denmark will race again in tomorrow’s final.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x) – Repechages

The two repechages in this event required each boat to aim for a top two finish if they wanted to return for tomorrow’s final. Russia, who appear to have fast starts and then sometimes fade, took off in the lead of repechage one. The Czech Republic followed closely matching the Russians speed. Going through the 1250m the Czech Republic started to squeeze into the lead. Russia held on. It was going to have to come down to the final sprint. With the water remaining bobbly, Argentina, sitting in third, then caught a massive crab. The Argentinean’s chance of qualifying for the A final were gone. The Czech Republic and Russia remained in the two qualifying spots.

It is not often that you see the three-time reigning World Champions in a repechage. Poland had a bad race yesterday and, thus, today found themselves in repechage two. They made no mistakes today. Germany tried to hold on to the Pole’s pace, but they could do little to narrow the gap between them and the leaders. Poland finishes first and Germany also earn a spot in the final by finishing second.