Keeping hopes alive at junior worlds

The waters of Lac du Causse Corrézien remained flat and the atmosphere was relaxed and upbeat with a truly family feel around the regatta course. This is the qualification regatta for the 2010 inaugural Youth Olympic Games and today was the last chance for athletes to keep their hopes alive of advancing to the next round. The method for youth qualification can be found here.

Change LI (s) racing at the 2009 World Rowing Junior Championships in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France.” border=”0″ src=”/medias/images/media_359179.jpg” title=” © Igor Meijer” width=”250″ />JUNIOR WOMEN’S FOUR (JW4-) – REPECHAGE

Five crews lined up. One crew would miss out on a chance to race in the final. Germany, who usually do not appear in the repechages due to their junior power, were the leaders at the start. Then China took over. Germany tried to keep up with the Chinese but China had the stamina to hold them off. Meanwhile the United States was doing battle with France. Belarus had slipped off the pace.

Even through the top four places were all but decided, all crews raced to the line. China hit 37 strokes per minute, Germany was one beat lower. The United States, on 37, was cherishing another chance to race as they had only recently come together as a crew. China, Germany, the United States and France went to the Final.

JUNIOR MEN’S COXED FOUR (JM4+) – REPECHAGES

The two repechages required boats to finish in the top two positions if they wanted the chance to race in the Final on Saturday. In Repechage One all crews came out of the start together with only Croatia slipping back early on. By the half way point Italy and Australia had established themselves as the leading boats. These two countries then proceeded to go neck-and-neck, swapping leads as they charged down the 2000m regatta course.

Coming into the line a big push by Australia gave them the edge over Italy, but barely a canvas separated them. The Italian mothers watching from the shore showed their emotions through tears. Australia and Italy had qualified for the Final.

Repechage Two had all boats getting off the line together with Great Britain a nose in front. France, however, was not going to let Great Britain get away and by the half way point the two leading boats remained locked together. Just behind, the United States was pressing hard to get up into a qualifying spot. These three countries conducted the main charge to the line. France, rating 35, had the best sprint. France and Great Britain are on their way to Saturday’s Final.

JUNIOR WOMEN’S SINGLE SCULLS (JW1x) – QUARTERFINALS

After yesterday’s racing, this field has been narrowed down to 24 boats and today they were divided into the four races with a top three finish needed if they wanted to be in tomorrow’s semifinal. In the first Quarterfinal Germany’s Lisa Schmidla recorded the fastest qualifying time overall. Schmidla was the only boat to go under eight minutes and she did it by leading from start to finish, keeping the pressure on right to the line.

Despite having an open water lead by the half way point, Schmidla pressed on and she kept her rating high through the second half of the race. Second time junior, Schmidla then sprinted the finish at a 36 stroke rate pace. After overtaking Virginia Diaz Rivas of Spain in the final 500m, Slovenia’s Anja Sesum crossed the line in second. Diaz Rivas qualified from third.

The second Quarterfinal had Ting Cao of China out in front at the start. But Nataliya Dovgodko of Ukraine was not going to let Cao get away. Dovgodko, who is in her third year of racing in this event, kept the pressure on and in the third 500 had closed the gap in Cao. Meanwhile Tomomi Akao of Japan had pushed past the United States and worked her way into the third. Akao raced last year in the quad finishing 15th overall. It looks like the single suits her well as she fought to keep her qualifying spot through to the line. China and Ukraine sprinted to the line, Cao rating 36 and Ukraine on an effective 31. China, Ukraine and Japan were the qualifying boats.

The level of crowd involvement picked up for Quarterfinal Three as Helen Lefebvre of France was featuring. At the start Hungary’s Kristina Gyimes was in the lead. Gyimes, 17, is at her first international event and her lead remained through the body of the race. Then coming into the final 500m Gyimes was running out of steam. To the crowd’s delight Lefebvre was going for all she was worth. So was Aimee Hernandez of Cuba. France and Cuba rated 36, Gyimes was on 38 and trying to hold on. France, Cuba and Hungary had made it to the semifinal.

Quarterfinal Four saw Palina Drahun of Belarus get off the line at a cracking pace. Austria’s Lisa Farthofer and Rachel Gamble-Flint of Great Britain were the only boats that looked to be able to keep Drahun’s pace. Drahun is at her first international regatta and is part of the big rowing push that is currently happening in Belarus. Coming into the final sprint Farthofer had slipped back but was still in a qualifying spot while Gamble-Flint was challenging Drahun with every stroke. Drahun’s rating slipped to 29, Gamble-Flint was managing 33. Great Britain reached the line first. Great Britain, Belarus and Austria went to the semifinal.

JUNIOR MEN’S SINGLE SCULLS (JM1x) – QUARTERFINALS

China’s Wanjie Yuan sent a clear signal to his fellow competitors by setting the time standard in Quarterfinal One. Despite being behind Georgia at the start, Yuan soon pushed through to take the lead. China’s single sculler then kept the pressure on and moved further and further away from the rest of the field. This left Felix Bach of Germany to slip into second with Med Houssem Laouiti of Tunisia giving a solid performance from third.

Coming into the line Yuan held the pressure, rating 33 strokes per minute. Germany, on 30 looked to be saving himself a little and Laouiti was giving it all he had at a 39 stroke rate to make sure he was not caught by Korea. Laouiti was successful. China, Germany and Tunisia advanced to the semifinal.

Ukraine has already qualified for the semifinal in the women’s single. They added another boat to tomorrow’s semifinal when Olexandr Nadtoka managed to lead from start to finish in Quarterfinal Two. But Nadtoka did not have an easy time of it. Pacing the Ukrainian for the entire 2000m was Kamil Zajkowski of Poland. Coming into the home stretch Nadtoka did just enough to hold off Zajkowski who, in turn, closed the gap on Nadtoka. But the real race was going on for the final qualifying spot between Belarus and Denmark. Taking the line in a photo finish, Belarus’s Anton Dziameshka had just held off Denmark by 1/100 of a second. Ukraine, Poland and Belarus made it through to the semifinal.

Quarterfinal Three saw the new United States sculler, Matthew Maddamma get off the line first. But Maddamma was being closely shadowed by Milos Vasic of Serbia. As Maddamma’s initial speed slipped away, Vasic took over in the lead and managed to establish an open water gap. This left Maddamma now to deal with Viacheslav Mikhaylevskiy of Russia who was moving into a negative-split style race plan. Maddamma had enough of a finish to hold off Mikhaylevskiy. Serbia, the United States and Russia have made it to the semifinal.

The Quarterfinal Four made for very interesting racing with the lead swapping and changing at various stages. First Brazil used a very quick start to get off the line in first. Then Cuba pushed through to take over at the half way point. But at the 1000m marker only one second separated the top five boats. Then Bulgaria’s Veselin Rusinov who had faltered through the second 500, picked up the pace and grabbed hold of the lead. Hungary’s Daniel Matyasovszki and Andre Redr of Slovakia went with the Bulgarian.

The field was still relatively tightly packed. The sprint was on for the line. Brazil charged. Hungary and Slovakia paced themselves stroke for stroke while Rusinov slipped on down the sideline. Bulgaria had sneaked through to take first. Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia had made it to the semifinal.

JUNIOR WOMEN’S PAIR (JW2-) – REPECHAGES

The two repechages in this event required a top three finish for crews to be able to advance to the semifinal. In Repechage One the United States recorded the fastest qualifying time and they did this by racing their own race at the head of the field. Kristine Caroll and Lucy Grinalds ended up in the pair after not making it to the US priority boat, the eight. But the duo are showing their worth and they must have been relishing in their leading position. This left Svana Bureau and Marie Rousset of France to follow back in second unchallenged by the Czech Republic in third. The United States, France and the Czech Republic are in the semifinal tomorrow.

Repechage Two was not nearly as straightforward as the previous race. Ukraine got off the line first, but they could not sustain their initial pace and soon slipped back with Greece’s Niki Moraiti and Ioanna Koutsorevythi taking over in the lead. The Greek lead, however, did not last long as Italy then attacked and pushed ahead. Laura Basadonna and Martina Valtorta are both experienced juniors. Basadonna has raced for the last two years in the four, while Valtorta was in the Italian junior quad last year.

Greece could not regain the lead despite trying a desperate counter-attack. Still the Greeks qualified from second. Italy, Greece and Latvia are in the semifinal.

JUNIOR MEN’S PAIR (JM2-) – QUARTERFINALS

Quarterfinal One opened with five boats within striking distance of each other with 500m rowed. It took another 500m to sort something out, but the extra distance did little to decide who would finish first. Bulgaria’s Danail Dimitrov and Georgi Maslarov had a slight edge with Germany and Lithuania not giving up an inch. Germany then did a push through the third 500 to propel them into the lead. Bulgaria fought back. Bulgaria were now rating 36 with Germany on 35. Lithuania held on at a lower stroke rate. At the line Bulgaria had regained the lead. Lithuania sneaked past Germany to take second and Germany qualified from third.

The French will be pleased. They managed to set the fastest qualifying time in Quarterfinal Two, albeit just a fraction of a second faster than Bulgaria’s time in the previous race. France’s Benjamin Fauchie and Matthieu Moinaux came out behind Hungary at the start. Then Croatia moved through to take the lead. France counter-attacked and in tune with the crowd support, France upped their stroke rate to 39 passing Croatia to cross the line in first. France, Croatia and Hungary are in the semifinal.

Serbia’s Igor Lucic and Luka Djordjevic looked long in the water and relaxed as they crossed the line first in Quarterfinal Three. The duo had been leading from the start and through the middle of the race they had completely outclassed their competition.

Meanwhile, India and the Czech Republic had been conducting their own battle which saw them practically on top of each other through the middle of the race. As Serbia cruised through to the finish, India and the Czech Republic remained locked together. Serbia, the Czech Republic and India are through to the semifinal.

Christos Koutsiaftis and Evripidis Sklivanitis of Greece have looked good coming through from yesterday’s heats. They are both at their second junior championships but raced in another event last year. Today, they led Quarterfinal Four from start to finish. But Greece did not have it easy. Belarus gave them a solid run for their money always staying in contact and sprinting to the line. Greece, rating 36 managed to remain just in front. Greece, Belarus and Great Britain are the boats that will be in the semifinal.

JUNIOR WOMEN’S DOUBLE SCULLS (JW2x) – REPECHAGES

The two repechages required a top two finish if athletes wanted to advance to the semifinal. As Repechage One came out of the starting blocks, ready to do about 260 strokes down the 2000m regatta course, three boats looked like they would be the ones that would fight it out for two positions. Ukraine had the lead at the start, but then Bulgaria (Nadya Yovcheva and Rosita Boncheva) pushed past. The United States followed not far back in third. Then the wheat began to sort itself out from the chaf. Yovcheva and Boncheva pushed away. Ukraine did not seem able to react back and neither could the United States. Bulgaria and Ukraine finished the race as the two qualifying boats.

The French have recently done a revamp to their junior development programme and it is beginning to show. Today they got a further boat through to the next round of racing with a win in Repechage Two. Carmen Mulot and Philippine Laval of France led this race from start to finish – but only just. Hungary stuck to the French like glue and with a stronger second half nearly caught Mulot and Laval on the line. A photo finish gave France the winners edge. France and Hungary went to the semifinal.

JUNIOR MEN’S DOUBLE SCULLS (JM2x) – QUARTERFINALS

Narrowed down from 34 nations to the remaining 24, these doubles returned to race. Some of them had already raced twice yesterday (heat and repechage) while others just had one race under their belt (heat). In Quarterfinal One Germany’s Hubert Trzybinski and Timo Piontek grabbed hold of an impressive lead at the start and dared all other crews to catch up. China gave it a good shot but could not quite pull it off. Bulgaria and Austria tried to catch up to China but could not pull it off. Germany, China and Austria are the boats that went to the semifinal tomorrow.

Quarterfinal Two featured Oleksandr Gurzhii and Anton Bondarenko of Ukraine. The duo were in a class of their own when they raced yesterday far out in front of the rest of the field. Today they had more of a challenge as both France and Denmark kept their boat in touch with the Ukrainians. Gurzhii and Bondarenko had just enough to hold off any challenge including a last ditch sprint by Denmark rating 38 strokes per minute. Ukraine, Denmark and France are in the semifinal.

Normally Romania look a bit rough around the edges even when they are the clear leaders. Today in Quarterfinal Three Petru Codau and Cristi-Ilie Parghie of Romania looked smooth and in control as they finished the race in first. The duo, however, were not always in control. At the start Lithuania and Serbia, along with Romania, were all on top of each other. This remained through the middle section of the race. Who would break away in the final sprint?

A big push by Romania gave them the leading edge. Lithuania and Serbia seemed content to let them go. Romania, Lithuania and Serbia moved on to the semifinal.

At the start of Quarterfinal Four it seemed reasonably clear who the leading three boats would be. What was not so clear was the order Italy, Switzerland and Slovenia would finish in. Italy had a slight edge through the middle of the race but could not break away from Slovenia or Switzerland. Then coming into the finish Switzerland showed that they were prepared to sprint. Nico Stahlberg and Elias Farhan of Switzerland managed to get their stroke rate to 37 and take the lead. Italy reacted back with 39, but Switzerland had their nose in front. Switzerland, Italy and Slovenia are in the semifinal.

JUNIOR MEN’S FOUR (JM4-) – REPECHAGES

The two repechages in this event required a top two finish for these athletes who return for their second race of this regatta. A top two position would give them a spot in the semifinal.

Lithuania made the best of it in Repechage One. The crew, stroked by Marius Ralickas had a small edge at the start, but they could not sit on their laurels as the rest of the fleet was still right on the pace. By the half way point little had changed. Denmark, Hungary and Russia were still right up with Lithuania with Serbia also keeping striking potential. Then Russia attacked through the third 500 and nearly overtook Lithuania. Lithuania managed to just hold off the Russians with a 35 stroke rate. Lithuania and Russia advanced to the semifinal.

The second Repechage recorded the fastest qualifying time when Turkey and the Czech Republic went head to head for the entire 2000m race. Under the control of stroke Ogeday Girisken, Turkey managed to get out to a slight lead over the Czechs. But the boats remained locked together and Turkey had no room to relax. A big push through the third 500 gave the Czechs a slight lead with China now joining in the fight.

The Czech Republic upped their rating to 40 and gave it all they had. Turkey hit 39, now trying to hold off the Chinese threat. The Czech Republic and Turkey had done it. These two boats are in the semifinal.

JUNIOR WOMEN’S QUAD SCULLS (JW4x) – REPECHAGES

The two repechages in this event had boats aiming for a top two finish if they wanted advancement to the semifinal tomorrow. All of these boats raced yesterday in the heats and they returned for another advancement chance today as the temperature around the course began to rise under clear skies. Romania had the opening edge in Repechage One. Stroked by Simona Avadanei, Romania pushed on to reach the half way point first. Their lead, however was slight. Both Japan and Great Britain were within attacking range.

Coming through to the final sprint, Great Britain upped their stroke rate to 37 and went after Romania. The British caught them. Great Britain and Romania were the two qualifying boats.

The United States has prioritised the quad as their top sculling boat for this regatta. In Repechage Two they managed to lead from start to finish including over a boat length’s lead through the middle of the race. A last 500m sprint by Belgium brought Belgium very close to taking the lead. But the line came too soon. The United States and Belgium were the two qualifying boats.

JUNIOR MEN’S QUAD SCULLS (JM4x) – QUARTERFINALS

Ukraine go to the semifinal with the psychological advantage of being the fastest qualifying boat. They did this in Quarterfinal One and they did it by leading from start to finish. Stroked by Artur Kravchenko, Ukraine got off the line at a cracking pace. Going through the middle of the race, Ukraine maintained the edge, but they were having to keep a wary, watchful eye over Italy and Russia who were baring down on either side.

Ukraine maintained their momentum and pushed on to the finish, taking their stroke rate to 34 to get that fast qualifying time. Italy did their best to come back outstroking Russia. These three boats had all done enough to be the qualifiers. They will race in tomorrow’s semifinal.

After Austria’s fast start in Quarterfinal Two, New Zealand pushed through into the lead. New Zealand is stroked by Hayden Cohen who is best known in rowing circles for his older brother, Olympian Nathan. Now in the lead New Zealand looked to be relishing it and they were able to push away to just over a boat length lead. This left the Netherlands to slot into second. In the race for the line Argentina gave it all they had. Despite underrating the Dutch, Argentina was able to move closer to second place. New Zealand, the Netherlands and Argentina qualified for the semifinal.

Poland practically own this event at the senior level and today their juniors raced in Quarterfinal Three. At the start Poland sat in third behind Hungary and the Czech Republic, but by the half way point they had managed to push through to second. Meanwhile, the Czech Republic were powering down the course in the lead. Poland looked to have no answer to the leaders pace and instead were having to work hard to stay ahead of Norway and Hungary.

Coming into the final sprint, Poland upped their rating to 37. Norway tried to catch up and in the process moved away from Hungary. The Czech Republic, Poland and Norway went to the semifinal.

The Germans are the reigning World Champions in this event and their new crew for 2009 featured in Quarterfinal Four. Starting how they intended to finish, Germany took hold of the lead and by the first main marker, the 500m mark, the Germans had earned a half boat length advantage. Behind them a four-way fight went on between France, Australia, Croatia and Switzerland. This fight continued through the body of the race. The crowd at the finish line were roaring their support – the loudest voices coming from Australian, French and German supporters. It seemed to pay off for these crews. Germany, Australia and France were the three qualifying boats, finishing in that order.

JUNIOR WOMEN’S EIGHT (JW8+) – REPECHAGE

Five boats lined up. Four would qualify for the final. New Zealand took no chances, tearing out of the start and into the lead. Germany, from two lanes over, tried to match the New Zealand pace and with that moved away from the rest of the field. This left Russia and France to do battle with Hungary now off the pace. Coming into the finish, New Zealand held their stroke rate at 37. Germany was at 38 with Russia, on 36 still trying to overtake France. It was purely academic. New Zealand, Germany, Russia and France were the qualifying boats.

JUNIOR MEN’S EIGHT (JM8+) – REPECHAGES

The two repechages required these eights to finish in the top two positions if they wanted a spot in the Final. Five boats lined up in Repechage One with Spain and the United States taking up the two middle lanes. But at the start it was France who got away first. This did not last long as the United States pushed through. This is the priority boat for the U.S. and they have regularly medalled in this event in the past. Once they were in the lead, the United States worked at creating a bigger lead. Initially France held on but they could not maintain the pace and Spain was able to push into the second qualifying spot. With the U.S. in front rating a reasonably comfortable 34, Spain charged for the line, hoping to guarantee their qualifying position. The United States and Spain are in the final.

Germany recorded the fastest qualifying time, albeit just, in Repechage Two, the last race of the day and the 99th race of the regatta. Germany faced a strong challenge at the start from Romania but then were able to make a slight break through the middle of the race. Like the United States, Germany is used to doing well in this event and they were probably quite surprised to have to race in today’s repechage. But, under the guidance of coxswain Henri Kuper, Germany made the best of the race crossing the finish line doing a powerful 33 stroke rate pace. Romania held on to second. These are the two qualifying countries.