Campbell grabs second chance at the World Rowing Champs

Great Britain’s single sculling star Alan Campbell showed that he was back at full health by winning his repechage and New Zealand’s reigning world champions in the women’s pair, Coles and Haigh look to be back on form with their advancement. Read on.

Women’s Four (W4-) – Repechages

One repechage, five boats, one would drop off, four would go on to the final. Germany and Canada took a flying start but it didn’t take long for the Canadians to lose the pace and slip right back. This is when Belarus and the United States came into their own and took over at the head of the field. Germany tried to hold on. Belarus and the United States charged. At the line the 40 stroke rate by the United States gave them to top spot with Belarus, the Netherlands and Germany also qualifying.

Men’s Coxed Pair (M2+) – Race for lanes

With only six countries contesting this event, just one race is necessary. Today they got a preliminary taste in preparation for Saturday’s final and five of the six crews indicated they could all be in for a medal chance. The Serbian’s got off the line in the lead and did their best to hold on. But right on the Serbs coat tails was the United States. Despite this race being like doing seven minutes of leg presses, the Americans kept their rating up around a 36 stroke rate and had soon pushed through to the front.

In the final sprint five boats were all within a close couple of seconds of each other. United States in first, Germany second, Italy in third, Serbia fourth and Canada only just over two seconds back in fifth.

Lightweight Women Single Scull (LW1x) – Repechage

Of the two repechages raced both winners went under eight minutes; a reflection of the depth of talent in this field. In repechage one it was America’s Lisa Schlenker who led the way. Schlenker’s international rowing career began 12 years ago and she currently holds the lightweight record on the indoor rowing machine. Schlenker rowed a controlled race at a steady 30 to finish first over Cuba’s Ismaray Marrero Aria with Phuttharaksa Nikree of Thailand also qualifying for the semi-final from third. This advancement gives two-time Olympian Nikree her best result to date by making the semi-final.

After the race Schlenker said: "You don’t take any of the competitors here for granted. I haven’t been in the single since 2002 so I don’t know what countries or what athletes are coming up, what new athletes there are or older athletes are deciding to be back in the single. So you really don’t take anyone for granted. Everyone has my respect."

In Repechage two France’s Coralie Ribeil got off to a flying start moving out to an open water lead by the half way point. But then Great Britain’s Antonia Van Deventer came to life and started to close in on 19 year old Ribeil. As Ribeil began to falter, Van Deventer took the lead with Ribeil holding on to second over Norway’s Hilde Gudem who qualifies from third.

Lightweight Men’s Single Scull (LM1x) – Repechage

Four repechages lined up, two from each race would advance to the semi-final and fronting up in repechage one was the very accomplished Michal Vabrousek of the Czech Republic. Vabrousek is in his 14th year of international competition and is a World Champion from 2000. Today Vabrousek used his experience to pace himself and overtake the fast starting Slovakian followed by Jonathan Koch of Germany to take the lead. Vabrousek and Koch move on to the semi-final.

Repechage two had Oleksandr Serdiuk of Ukraine in the lead with Guatemala’s Edgar Nanne tightly on his tail. Together the two scullers moved away from the rest of the field in qualifying positions. Both move on to the semi-final with Nanne on the way to one of his best international results by taking a spot in the semi-final after finishing 12th last year.

Canada’s Jeff Bujas got out into the lead of repechage three and held on. Bujas comes out of his country’s 2005 bronze medal lightweight quad and is back on form after an injury over the winter, but today in the single he was doing a fine effort at the head of the field over the talented Gerard van der Linden of the Netherlands. Both scullers had a decent lead over the rest of the field and will advance to the semi-final.

After the race Bujas commented: "I think I relaxed a bit too much in my heat and that got me worried about my race. After watching our Canadian light men’s double and light four and seeing how hard they raced it was inspiring and helped me today push past that line and that mental barrier and really go for it. So that helped out a lot."

Elias Pappas of Greece was unlucky not to get through from the heat after vigorously challenging Great Britain’s favourite Zac Purchase. Today he showed his boat speed once again by taking the lead of repechage four and extending it out to an open water domination. This left Rolandas Kazlauskas of Lithuania to hold on to second. Nothing changed in the order and both Pappas and Kazlauskas were able to drop their rating to a steady 29. Surprisingly former multiple World Champion Stefano Basalini of Italy could only manage third and will return for the C/D semi-final.

Lightweight Men’s Eight (LM8+) – Race for lanes

As six boats left the starters hands, the reigning World Champions Italy could do little more than hold off Poland. But as the race progressed Italy, who come to Eton complete with the winning lightweight four from the under 23 championships in the boat, picked up pace and overtook the Netherlands, Denmark then the United States to go after Germany who possessed a handy lead. In the final sprint Italy got their boat overlapping with the Germans, but Germany remained in first place.

Women’s Single Scull (W1x) – Repechage

She finished second this year at the under 23 championships and today, Serbia’s Iva Obradovic led repechage one Rating a steady 34 through the first half of the race, Obradovic stayed just ahead of Cuba’s Maria Gonzalez Borroto. Borroto, 38, comes back to international rowing after a two year gap and looks to be back in form. The two scullers pulled clean ahead of the rest of the field and gave themselves the luxury of not having to sprint.

Some would say Slovenia’s Majda Jerman is bordering on being a lightweight rower at 170cm but today she footed it in fine form at the head of repechage two. This left Spain’s Nuria Dominguez Asensio to slip into second. But Tine Schoeyen of Norway was not going to let the two leading crews get away. Schoeyen attacked and re-attacked down the 2000 metre course. At the line Jerman takes first and Asensio had just held on to second to qualify for the semi-final.

Men’s Single Scull (M1x) – Repechage

At 184cm Tim Maeyens of Belgium may not be the tallest single sculler, but he rows with heart and determination. Today he led the first of four repechages after pushing past France then Cuba’s Yoennis Hernandez Arruez. Rating a steady 32 Maeyens proceeded to extend his lead crossing the finish line at an easy 30 stroke rate with open water over second semi-final qualifier, Arruez.

Repechage two featured the comeback of Great Britain’s Alan Campbell. Campbell suffered in the heats as he tried to shake a cold, but today he looks to be back in good health shooting out at the start with a 48 stroke rate. Switzerland’s Andre Vonarburg tried to hold on and in the process both crews moved away from the rest of the field. Finland, in third, did not attack and Campbell and Vonarburg move comfortably on to the semi-final.

There’s no doubt that the nice guy of the men’s single, Lassi Karonen of Sweden was the favourite going into repechage three. Karonen sat in the centre lane and took off at the head of the field at a handy clip. Karonen was followed by single sculling newcomer, Jamie Schroeder of the United States. Schroeder comes to Eton having been part of the 2006 winning Oxford crew in the famous Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. But closely tracking Schroeder was Lithuania’s Sigitas Klerauskas. In the final sprint with Karonen clearly in front, Klerauskas charged. Schroeder responded with an impressive 44 stroke rate. Klerauskas got the lead, Schroeder fought back. Schroeder took the lead again to secure a qualifying spot. The strain on Klerauskas was clear. Too exhausted to hold his balance, Klerauskas flipped at the finish.

After the race Schroeder commented on his switch to the single: "I wanted to try sculling after the last Olympics, partly because I have a lot of school left. I ended up at Oxford [Oxford University in Britain], and that’s where I still am. So I knew I wouldn’t be able to do full time at the camps and school at the same time."

Repechage four featured top Dutch sculler Sjoerd Hamburger. In a very controlled race Hamburger took off at the lead and did just enough to stay ahead of two-time Olympian Santiago Fernandez. Maintaining a steady 30 stroke rate 2005 under 23 champion Hamburger remained in the lead. With no challenge coming at Fernandez the Argentinean also retained a steady pace to move on to the semi-final along with Hamburger.

After the racing Hamburger said: "Today was a good race, a bit better than Sunday. I am relieved that I came first and proceeded to the semifinals. It will be really exciting — a tough race. I’ll probably have to have the race of my life to get to the A finals. But I’m feeling strong and looking strong, so I’m trying the best I can."

Women’s Pair (W2-) – Repechage

The first of two repechages featured current World Champions Nicky Coles and Juliette Haigh of New Zealand. Coles and Haigh have stuttered this season but today they made a steady 35 stroke rate look easy. Overtaking Romania Coles and Haigh continued to advance their lead with Denmark (Majbrit Nielsen and Fie Graugaard) being the major threat to Romania’s second qualifying spot. In the final sprint the New Zealanders had enough of a lead to hold on to first with Demark and Romania sprinting for survival. Nielsen and Graugaard pulled it off. New Zealand and Denmark advance to the final.

Repechage two opened with Megan Cooke and Anna Mickelson of the United States at the head of the field. The versatile Mickelson comes to the pair with an Olympic silver medal from the eight and world championship experience in the quad. This year Mickelson, along with Cooke, are racing in the eight as well as the pair. The Netherlands’ Annemarieke van Rumpt and Annemiek de Haan set themselves up as the closest threat to Cooke and Mickelson’s lead and pushed the American duo to the line. Both boats advance to the final.

After the race Cooke commented on rowing in two events: "It's awesome. Our training program sets us up for physical improvements every 2k we go down we get stronger. So it’s nice to do that."

Men’s pair (M2-) – Repechage

Repechage one featured Germany’s Jochen Urban and Andreas Penkner and Serbia’s Goran Jagar and Nikola Stojic. These two crews have been racing each other all season and both been hot on each other’s tail. Today it was clear that Germany and Serbia were the classier competitors in the field. The two crews got out in front and coming into the final 500 metres barely a canvas separated the two boats. As Urban and Penkner chose to continue the sprint, Jagar and Stojic looked to button off. Both boats qualify with Slovenia also earning a spot in the semi-final coming through in third place.

Great Britain’s Colin Smith and Tom James came together late in the season after rowing against each other in the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. In the heats two days ago they appeared relative flat with James not being at 100 percent health. Today they led repechage two and made the race look easy as they stayed just ahead of an incredibly close battle between Dan Beery and Sam Burns of the United States, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. With Great Britain firmly in first and only two remaining spots the US, the Czechs and the Dutch were giving it all they could. At the line the Netherlands, despite a 44 stroke rate sprint, had missed out. Great Britain, the United States and the Czech Republic move on to the semi-final.

Women’s double (W2x) – Repechage

One repechage and three boats to advance to the semi-final saw a tight race between four crews with France’s Celine Cuisant and Inène Pascal vying for the lead over Lidia Veroci and Aliz Konya of Hungary and Italy and Norway pacing each other. Just 500 metres remained on the course and barely a second separated these top four crews. The sprint was on. Cuisant and Pascal showed the greatest determination. Norway didn’t quite have what it takes. France, Hungary and Italy advance to the semi-final.

Men’s double sculls (M2x) – Repechages

Only first and second from each of these four repechages would advance to the semi-final and in repechage one Lithuania’s Kestutis Keblys and Mindaugas Griskonis decided the way to do it was to get out fast at the start, keep the pressure on and pull out a sprint at the end. Keblys and Griskonis got out fast but then Kostyantyn Zaitsev and Hennadii Zakharchenko of Ukraine chased them down taking over the lead. Keblys and Griskonis, who just came together in partnership earlier this season, reacted back. At the line a very happy Lithuanian duo punched the sky in delight. Ukraine also qualify from second.

Belgium’s Stijn Smulders and Christophe Raes have been plugging away together for a couple of years now earning a sixth place finish last year and today they rowed a solid, in control, performance in the second repechage. Meanwhile, behind Belgium, Poland was pushing through from the back of the field keeping an even split pace that gave them second place with 500 metres to row. Michal Sloma and Marcin Brzezinski of Poland have been together since 2005 and finished ninth at last year’s World Rowing Championships. Belgium and Poland advance to the semi-final.

After a short stint in the lead by 2001 World Champions, Hungary, Belarus’s Valery Radzevich and Pavel Shurmei took over. Radzevich and Shurmei have rowed together since 2002 but, until this year it’s been all about the quad. Today the Belarusian’s kept a steady 36 stokes per minute down the course to keep in the lead despite the constant threat of Croatia’s Mario Vekic and Ante Kusurin. At the line very little separated Belarus and Croatia with both boats advancing to the semi-final. Meanwhile Hungary are relegated to the lesser semi-final along with last year’s silver medallists, Italy who have never really fired this season.

Repechage four opened with under 23 bronze medallists Russia bursting out of the start. This opening burst was maintained for half the race before the Yanakiev brothers from Bulgaria took over after a piece after the 1000 accelerated them from the back of the field and into first. Ivo and younger brother Martin Yanakiev kept the pressure on and left the Russians in the dust. Norway’s Olympians (Nils Simonsen and Morten Adamsen) took up chase and snuck through into second to qualify along with the Bulgarians.

Men’s Four (M4-) – Repechage

At the head of the field in the first of two repechages France was making sure a spot in the semi-final would be reserved for them. Stroked by former junior champion from the quad, Dorian Mortelette the French kept a slight edge over Australia with Ireland also right on the pace. Coming through the second half of the race the Czech Republic then came alive and it was all on for the final sprint. France took their rating up to 40, demanding a hold on first place, Ireland went to 38. At the line France qualify for the semi-final from first, Ireland take second and the Czech Republic earn third and also qualify.

Jumping out at the start of repechage two Canada took command of the race leaving Spain to hold on to second. Sitting in the Canadian boat Scott Frandsen, Kyle Hamilton and Ben Rutledge were all part of the 2004 Olympic eight that came to Athens as favourites but didn’t medal. The team is back to shake off demons and work towards Beijing. In stroke Barney Williams took silver at Athens in the four and since then has been captaining Oxford University to back to back wins in the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. Today they rowed beautifully in the lead at a 36 stroke rate. At the finish Canada take first, a very happy Spain follow in second and Italy, stroked by the indomitable Raffaello Leonardo storm through to earn the final qualifying spot.