Mixed day at the World Rowing Champs

Steady tail wind conditions got the crews down the course at a fast pace as the rowers tried to keep their blade work clean over the bumpy water.

Women’s Eight (W8+) – Repechages

Warming up the course at the earlier time of 9:00am, Germany got off the line in the lead for the first of two repechages. Stroked by Elke Hipler and Nicole Zimmermann (seven seat) who are also competing and are favourites in the pair, the team moved easily away from the rest of the field by maintaining a solid 37 stroke rate. With two qualifying spots available Canada pulled through into second and remained there under no real threat from Great Britain in third. Canada are a reasonably new crew but sitting in their coxswain seat is the very accomplished Lesley Thompson. Thompson has three medals from three Olympics and has come out of coxing retirement following the 2000 Olympics. Germany and Canada move on to the final.

After racing Germany's Lenka Wech described her comeback: "I didn’t really know if I wanted to retire or just take a year off. So I stayed in training but worked full time. I’m a trauma surgeon. So I was pretty busy. But I sort of wanted to come back because in Athens we came 5th and I was still my dream to get an Olympic medal. I thought well, I’m still young enough and I can do it."

Canada's coxswain said: "Canada has been in a rebuilding phase. I think we’re pretty good at four year cycles and looking at long term development in Olympic cycles. With the new women coming on, it’s really refreshing. It’s exciting to see the enthusiasm, and this idea of not putting limits on what they can do. Also, I think they’re willing to be patient and take things one step at a time. I’m really happy to be part of that growth cycle leading to Beijing."

At the head of the field in repechage two China was setting the pace. The Chinese crew is one of the most experienced of the field having only one change (Suli Mu) from the crew that finished fourth at the Athens Olympics. The Chinese team did not compete at last year’s World Rowing Championships as it clashed with the build-up to China’s national games but have been working away under the guidance of former United States coach Igor Grinko.
China remained in the lead holding a higher stroke rate over Romania in second. Romania tried to fight back but could only keep second over New Zealand in third. China and Romania advance to the final.

Men’s Eight (M8+) – Repechages

Two reps, the top three boats going through to the semi-final was the formula for the men’s eight and in repechage one it was all about Canada. This Canadian crew is stroked by Kristopher McDaniel who returns to Canada from being part of the Cambridge University crew for the famous Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race in England. Behind the Canadians France, stroked by Bastien Ripoll who competed against McDaniel in the Oxford University boat, was trying to hold on to Canada’s pace.

The Canadians continued to lead as France came under threat from a charging Romania. At the line Romania had pushed past France just at the line to take second. Canada, Romania and France move on to the semi-final.

After racing Ripoll said: "We came here with the Oxford team seven or eight times during the winter to do trials in the coxed four, so we’re used to coming here often. So it’s nice. We’ve been training together (with the French 8+) for only three weeks. The heat was our first race. Tomorrow is just fighting, fighthing…our goal is to try to reach the final. We’re building the French eight but we’re working on many years so we need time. There are a few guys in the eight who are beginning to have a lot of experience. And we try to use that experience tomorrow and try to reach the final. That the goal."

The second repechage featured Russia in the lead from the start. The Russian crew is the same as the sixth placed 2005 crew with the only change being coxswain Pavel Safonkin. Behind Russia Belarus slotted into second, with Switzerland in third, but all this was going to change in the second half of the race. A concerted push by China propelled them into third, then second as the Chinese closed on Russia. The sprint was on. Russia had done enough to finish first, China sprinted through to second and Switzerland managed to overtake Belarus to take the third and final qualifying spot.
China’s national television is about to start a reality show to find the best coxswain for the 2008 Chinese Olympic boat. China’s coxswain today, Dechang Zhang must be putting himself in a good position following this second place finish.

C/D Semifinals

The lightweight men’s single racing in the lesser semifinal featured some top names including former World Champion Stefano Basalini of Italy. This year Basalini will move on to the C Final after finishing second behind Lukas Babac of Slovakia who recently finished sixth at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships. South Africa’s Warren Wellbeloved also moves on to the C Final after finishing 18th last year in the lightweight double.

Clair Shield of Australia made easy work of the women’s single to move on to the C Final in a comparatively slow time for these tail wind conditions while Tine Schoeyen of Norway also had an easy time for advancement from her C/D semifinal.

The men’s single had rowing stalwart Jaakko Hasu of Finland sandwiched between the under 23 bronze medallist Daniel Frateanu of Romania and under 23 fourth place finisher Kristaps Bokums of Latvia. These three crews will move on to the C Final along with Ireland, Hungary and Austria.

A close battle between 2001 World Champions, Hungary, and under 23 bronze medallists Russia called for a 2000 metre battle in the men’s double. Hungary’s Akos Haller and Tibor Peto got the upper hand at the finish with the fastest qualifying time for the C Final. Just to show the caliber of this event, in the second C/D semifinal last year’s silver medallists, Italy raced finishing second to Australia. The depth of this field is very evident.

C Finals

Tunisia’s first ever rowing medallist at the international level (Rowing World Cup bronze in 2003), Ibtissem Trimech steps up from her 2005 seventeenth place to this year being thirteenth in the world in the lightweight women’s single. Trimech did this by staying ahead of Ilona Hiltunen of Finland who has been plugging away internationally since 1997.

An all-out sprint by Greece and the Netherlands at the finish in the men’s pair kept the excitement high. Greece finished first and thirteenth overall but must be disappointed after taking fifth place in 2005. Meanwhile Olympic silver medallist Niksa Skelin of Croatia finished fifteenth with his fill-in partner Milan Razov. Skelin’s regular partner, brother Sinisa is recovering from an allergic reaction earlier this season. Sinisa will be back.

Norway had no competition in the women’s double. They can now claim thirteenth position in the world, a big drop from finishing seventh last year.

Fighting for the top three positions in the men’s four proved intense. But it was Egypt, that led for the entire race, that managed to hold their position to become thirteenth in the world. Poland held off Australia to finish behind Egypt.

What happens when a former World Champion ends up in a C Final? He wins. That is what Stefano Basalini of Italy did in the lightweight men’s single. This came after Hong Kong’s Hiu Fung Law led for the first half of the race. Then Lukas Babac of Slovakia took over in the lead before Basalini sprinted through to become thirteenth in the world.

Water was breaking over the side of boats as the women’s single struggled down the 2000 metre course. After an initial burst by Australia, Portugal’s Sara Silva handled the conditions the best to become number thirteen in the world in her return to international competition after a four-year break.

Ireland’s Sean Jacob must be used to this kind of water as he made the men’s single look easy. This left the more experienced sculler, Jaakko Hasu of Finland to finish fourteenth in the world.

Former World Champions, Hungary and last year’s silver medallists Italy made a convincing race of it in the men’s double with Australia and Russia also giving it their best to hold the pace. Hungary finish first, and therefore thirteenth in the world, Italy take second.