Heart and soul in the junior B-finals

The conditions on Lac du Causse, just outside of the town of Brive-la-Gaillarde treated them well. Under cloudy skies and temperatures of around 16 degrees Celsius and flat water, these under 19 rowers relished the conditions and gave the large and loud crowd on the sandy beach banks of the lake plenty to cheer about. 

JUNIOR MEN’S COXED FOUR (JM4+) – B-FINAL

It is easy to see Croatia coming down the course. Their red chequered row-suits and oars stand out in contrast to many of the other crews where red, white and blue dominate. It is easy to tell the New Zealanders. Dressed completely in black, they stand out over the other crews. Today Croatia and New Zealand held the leading positions in this race. Croatia had the edge at the start with New Zealand moving up through the second quarter of the race. South Africa and the United States also remained very much in the picture.

A big push by New Zealand, stroked by George Grieve propelled them into first with Croatia now on the defense. Both boats sprinted neck-and-neck for the line. New Zealand rated 40 then 42. Croatia rated a few pips lower. New Zealand’s aggression paid off. They finished seventh in the world.

Results: NZL, CRO, USA, RSA, POL

JUNIOR WOMEN’S SINGLE SCULLS (JW1X) – B-FINAL

Nataliya Dovgodko of Ukraine was unlucky not to be in the A-final after showing huge potential in the heats earlier in the regatta. This is her third year racing at the junior champs in the single and she is yet to medal. Today Dovgodko had an easy time at the B-final, leading from start to finish and crossing the line at a relatively sedate 30 strokes per minute. Meanwhile Kristina Gyimes of Hungary was giving the race all that she had. Gyimes had started off way too slow and was working her way up from the very back of the field.

Rating 37 in the final sprint, Gyimes was able to close the gap in Dovgodko and overtake France right at the finish. The drums were beating for Helene Lefebvre of France, but Gyimes had enough momentum to get to the line ahead. Dovgodko, in first, went two spots better from last year. Great Britain’s Rachel Gamble-Flint did not race for medical reasons.

Results: UKR, HUN, FRA, BLR, JPN

JUNIOR MEN’S SINGLE SCULLS (JM1X) – B-FINALS

Bulgaria holds the title of current World Champion in this event and with new sculler, Veselin Rusinov the country had pinned high hopes. Rusinov just missed out on the A-final yesterday, so today made the best of the B-final by getting out to an aggressive start and holding the lead. Rusinov, at his first junior championships, challenged the rest of the field to try and catch him. Hungary (Daniel Matyasovszki) and Tunisia (Med Houssem Laouiti) gave it their best shot.

These three nations remained within striking distance of each other through the body of the race with Rusinov pulling off a great sprint to finish comfortably in first.

Results: BUL, TUN, HUN, RUS, BLR, SVK

JUNIOR WOMEN’S PAIR (JW2-) – B-FINAL

Bulgaria featured again in this race with Luiza-Mariya Rusinova and Petya Mavrova getting out at the start in the front. Rusinova is no novice to this event. She is racing for the third time in the pair at the junior champs. By the half way point the duo had pulled away to a boat length lead over France with Latvia following closely.

In the final sprint France, despite crowd support, had run out of steam and slipped back. Greece’s Niki Moraiti and Ioanna Koutsorevythi then charged for the line. The Greek’s 39 stroke rate sprint brought them ahead of Latvia and France, but they were too far back to catch Bulgaria.

Results: BUL, GRE, CZE, LAT, GER, FRA

JUNIOR MEN’S PAIR (JM2-) – B-FINAL

It is not so common to see Germany in a B-final, but here they were racing to their best ability. Paul Habermann and Kevin Rakicki of Germany had to push past a fast starting India and Belarus to find the lead. By the half way point Germany were in front with India giving it their all to hold on. Then David Skrabalek and Matyas Klang of the Czech Republic showed that they had the stamina and moved into second.

The sprint to the line brought the crowd to their feet as they strained to pick the first across. Germany had done it just ahead of the Czech Republic and Belarus.

Results: GER, CZE, BLR, HUN, IND, GBR

JUNIOR WOMEN’S DOUBLE SCULLS (JW2X) – B-FINAL

Viktoria Zaporozhets and Lesya Gerasymchuk of Ukraine are younger than many of the crews here. Zaporozhets is 16 and Gerasymchuk is 15. Today they moved on in their rowing career to row a clean race in the B-final by taking on Bulgaria for the entire 2000m race. The two countries remained locked together until the finish line with a better sprint by Ukraine giving them the edge at the end and a seventh place overall. These two leading nations showed a contrast in rowing styles. Ukraine used a long, layback lower rating swing, while Bulgaria rowed upright and at a higher rating. Both styles were effective.

Results: UKR, BUL, LAT, GRE, FRA, HUN

JUNIOR MEN’S DOUBLE SCULLS (JM2X) – B-FINALS

Switzerland’s Elias Farhan is in his third year racing as a junior and last year he competed in his country’s very successful quad that finished fourth. This year, with new partner, Nico Stahlberg, Farhan made it through to today’s B-final. An indication of the high standard that prevailed.

The Swiss got off the line first and despite challenges from France, then Ukraine, the duo remained in front right to the line using a closing 38 stroke rate to seal the deal. Ukraine held on to second over a mad late dash by the Danes.

Results: SUI, UKR, DEN, FRA, SLO, AUT

JUNIOR MEN’S FOUR (JM4-) – B-FINAL

Turkey had been demonstrating their blistering finish earlier this week and today they caught everyone off guard by being fast off the start as well. Stroked by Ogeday Girisken the crew all raced two weeks ago at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships. Their order has been adjusted, but all athletes are the same. Behind Turkey, Russia and the Czech Republic were the closest challengers. Then in the second half of the race the United States moved through.

The sprint to the line saw three boats locked together. Turkey raised their rate to 40 with the Czech Republic hitting 39 and the United States also on 39. Turkey prevailed and crossed the line in first.

Results: TUR, CZE, USA, FRA, RUS, LTU

JUNIOR WOMEN’S QUADRUPLE SCULLS (JW4X) – B-FINAL

The crowd support for B-finals at the junior championships always outweighs anything felt at the senior level. Many of these spectators have travelled thousands of miles to watch the rowing and they made the best of it. This was evident in the women’s quad and the six crews on the water made sure that the crowd had something exciting to watch.

Belgium took out an early lead, but there was very little in it with less than two seconds covering the entire field. Even going through the middle of the race margins remained close with now Greece earning a slight lead. Belgium, however, still had some juice left for the final sprint. Could Greece hold them off? The answer was ‘no’.

Results: BEL, GRE, USA, GBR, ROU, CRO

JUNIOR MEN’S QUADRUPLE SCULLS (JM4X) – B-FINAL

Like their women counterparts, the men’s quad was also tight. Norway had dropped off the pace very early in the race, but five crews remained in close proximity. The Dutch had a slight lead over Italy with France and Australia neck-and-neck, right behind them. The Netherlands has brought a very small team to Brive. They decided this year to focus their athletes on last weekend’s junior regatta the Coupe de la Jeunesse.

In the third 500 Russia had joined in the leading tussle. All boats sprinted for the line. The Netherlands hit a 41 stroke rate. Italy held on and at a lower stroke rate managed to sneak past.

Results: ITA, NED, AUS, FRA, RUS, NOR

JUNIOR MEN’S EIGHT (JM8+) – B-FINAL

The drums were beating. France was leading the B-final of the men’s eight. Behind them the Czech Republic kept their crew locked in an overlap and tried to work their way up. New Zealand, meanwhile, tried to close the gap on the Czechs. France, relishing in their first place lead, moved further away from the rest of the field. Robin Le Barreau, France’s coxswain took his boat across the finish line in first.

Results: FRA, CZE, NZL, RUS, TUR, DEN