Flying B Finals at World Rowing Champs

These B Finals featured a high caliber of former World Champions and international medal holders with every race being a race to the line.

France took off at the front of the field in the lightweight men’s pair and let the remainder of the field play catch-up. Guatemala gave it a shot but couldn’t make a dent on Vincent Faucheux and Damien Margat’s lead. The French kept the pressure on rating 40 at the end to become seventh in the world.

A very accomplished line-up made for an incredibly close finish in the lightweight women’s double. Four of these entries have either World Champion or World Cup medals, with Germany the reigning World Champions. Five crews went for broke – Spain, Germany, the United States, Poland and Ireland. The US slipped back through the middle of the race but joined in again on the final sprint. Five boats crossed within three seconds of one another with Sinead Jennings and Niamh Ni Cheilleachair of Ireland earning line honours and a seventh place in the world, just five seconds outside the World Best Time.

The crowd was loud, Great Britain was coming second in the lightweight men’s double. But in the lead was Japan’s most accomplished rower, Daisaku Takeda with partner Takahiro Suda. Behind the British were last year’s World Champions from Hungary and also in the mix, last year’s champion in the single, Vasileios Polymeros rowing with Dimitrios Mougios for Greece. Japan remained in first to be seventh in the world.

Germany is certainly an unusual sight in the B Final for the lightweight men’s four. At these very competitive World Champs, that is all the Germans had managed. But they made sure that they were in the lead, holding off all challenges, including a strong second half by Poland, to finish first and seventh overall.

Ukraine made easy work of the women’s quad over Canada, taking the lead and staying comfortably ahead. Ukraine take seventh in the world for 2006.

The men’s quad turned into a fight for the line as leaders Germany found themselves under threat from both the United States and Australia. A 43 stroke rate sprint by Australia closed the gap on Germany bit it was not enough to catch the Americans who held on to second. Germany take first just ahead of the United States.

Great Britain got out to a canvas lead in the women’s eight and settled into a 36 stroke rate pace. New Zealand, settling at 38 hung on and started to pick off British seats through the body of the race. But Great Britain fought back. And back. The loud crowd of nearly 200 New Zealand supporters who had crossed the world to see their rowers were in full cry. But Great Britain continued to challenge. At the line New Zealand had matched Great Britain’s 43 stroke rate sprint to finish first and seventh in the world.

France led the charge in the men’s eight, disappointed not to have been in the A Final with this, their priority boat. Keeping at a 37 stroke rate, France tried to hold off the challenge from Russia in one lane over. They couldn’t. Russia, who had shown great potential earlier in the week were underrating the French by one beat and working further ahead. Russia take seventh in the world with a flying last sprint by Switzerland giving them eighth.

Adaptive rowing opened the day with the arms men’s single seeing a huge win for China’s Xiao Hui Luo at his first international regatta. This makes Luo seventh in the world following his 1000 metre dash that he completed in 5:57.

The mixed crews in the trunk and arms double took a while to be aligned for the floating start with Brazil taking the lead, using power rather than timing to keep their boat in the lead. But a double crab caused Brazil to lose their lead and settle for second behind Igor and Mary Kogan of Israel.

Portugal led from start to finish in the legs, trunk and arms mixed coxed four. By the finish Portugal had a 14 second lead over Hong Kong in second.