23 Jan 2012
Under 23 heats close in on U23 World Best Times
Under 23 World Best Times came close to being broken in the men’s four and lightweight men’s double. The Czech Republic got within spitting distance of the men's four best time while New Zealand closed in on the lightweight men's double time.
Men’s Pair (BM2-)
The first of three heats opened with a dominating performance by Serbia & Montenegro. Marko Marjanovic and Jovan Popovic took the lead and never looked back. Both Marjanovic and Popovic already have under 23 experience with Popovic winning gold last year in the four. This is their first season together. With three boats qualifying the Czech Republic had worked their way into second past Poland who had slipped back to third. These three boats move on to the semifinal.
Pushing past a fast-starting Russia, Giorgio Tuccinardi and Dario Bosco of Italy got hold of the front position in heat two. Russia fought back followed closely by Belarus. The Italians, though, appeared in control rating a comfortable 33 to cross the line in first. Russia and Belarus also qualify.
It took until heat three to pull out the fastest qualifying time with Kristof Wilke and Sebastian Schmidt of Germany showing the way. Despite having a clear lead over Great Britain in second, Schmidt and Wilke held their pace. This is Wilke’s first time at the international level while the more experienced Schmidt raced this year at the Rowing World Cup. Following in third Croatia will also go directly to the semifinal along with Great Britain and Germany.
Jitka Antosova and Gabriela Varekova of the Czech Republic are going to be hard to beat. The duo are last year’s junior champions and this year they have been competing successfully at the senior level. Antosova and Varekova opened the proceedings by dominating heat one, rowing in a class of their own at the head of the field. France and Australia, in second and third place respectively, could do nothing to challenge the Czechs. All three boats qualify for the semifinal.
But Antosova and Varekova may have to use all of their skills to be at the top of this event as heat two produced much faster results. In a tightly fought race New Zealand’s Jaime Nielsen and Emma Feathery went head to head with Germany and Estonia. Right to the line there was very little between these three boats with Nielsen and Feathery just squeezing through to take line honours. New Zealand, Germany and Estonia all qualify for the semifinal with times faster than Antosova and Varekova.
Heat three was all about Italy at the head of the bunch with last year’s gold medallist, Laura Schiavone sitting in stroke seat. Paired with new partner Carlotta Baratto, Schiavone will be aiming to defend her title. But it wasn’t all plain sailing for the Italians. Pushing them throughout the race Lithuania kept their boat in close contact right to the line. Both boats advance to the semifinal along with Croatia who took third.
The first of three heats saw the lead change several times as first Estonia opened with a sprint to the front followed by a middle 1000-metre dash by France. But it was Lenko Dragojevic and Matija Cetinic-Frankos of Croatia that scored in the final sprint. Dragojevic and Cetinic-Frankos last raced together in 2003 when they competed in the under-23 quad. Today they advance to the semifinal in the double along with France from second position.
In one of the most exciting races of the day heat two turned on a three-way sprint for the two qualifying spots that forced the finishing judges to consult the photo finish. Russia’s former junior single champion, Alexander Kornilov, teamed up with newcomer, Nikael Bikua-Mfantse, dominated the lead for most of the race. But their margin over Dzianis Mihal and Stanislau Shcharbachenia of Belarus was tenuous and in the final sprint knocked Russia into second. Belarus take first and Greece miss out on qualifying by just a fraction of a second.
Looking across to lane two of heat three everyone would have seen the distinctive features of Italy’s senior World silver medallist and Olympian, Federico Gattinoni. Gattinoni won this event last year with partner Matteo Stefanini and they made no mistakes by taking the lead and building it to over a boat's length. Germany’s Markus Kuffner and Stefan Massanz challenged hard, taking their rating to 37, and in the process got themselves into the qualifying position and close to the Italians, who reacted by going from 34 to 39 strokes per minute. Italy and Germany advance to the semifinals.
Men’s Four (BM4-)
In the first of two heats New Zealand took the lead but soon lost it when both Germany and the Czech Republic managed a more even pace. Holding a consistent split for the remainder of the race the Czech Republic moved away from the rest of the field. With only one boat qualifying directly for the final a very tight race for second must have been for pride. New Zealand, Germany and Australia finished within inches of each other but will all return for the repechage.
The Czech Republic’s time of 6:01 not only gave them the fastest qualifying time but also put them within three seconds of the Under 23 Best Time set in 1999 by Romania.
Heat two also set a very fast time when Belarus took off at a cracking pace. Their pace was a little too cracking though. In the second half Ireland had found the lead. Ireland come to Hazewinkel having raced this season on the Rowing World Cup circuit, their best result at the senior level being ninth. Ireland remained in the lead with Belarus slipping to the back of the field. Ireland qualifies for the final.
Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (BLW2x)
Two heats with the top boat only qualifying for the final was the advancement way in this event and it was Russia that took the first shot in heat one. It wasn’t long, however, before Poland’s Weronika Deresz and Karolina Widun took over and held off a late charge by Japan to earn a spot in the final.
In heat two Laura Tasch and Claudia Schad of Germany controlled the proceedings forcing Italy to return for a repechage. Tasch has been building up senior experience over the last couple of years and at the World Rowing Championships in 2005 she made the final of the lightweight single. Today, teamed up with Schad, they recorded the fastest qualifying time.
Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (BLM2x)
The first of three heats opened with an upset when reigning under 23 champions Jan and Ondrej Vetesnik of the Czech Republic got relegated to second by the new New Zealand combination of Graham Oberlin-Brown and Peter Taylor. The Czechs challenged the New Zealanders for three-quarters of the race but chose to back off before the end and qualify for the semifinal from second. New Zealand finish within three seconds of the Under 23 Best Time.
Italy’s Marcello Miani is having quite the year. Prior to Hazewinkel, Miani finished the senior Rowing World Cup season as yellow jersey holder after being selected to partner four-time World Champion, Elia Luini. Racing in heat two with Daniele Danesin, the duo led from start to finish over Hungary. Both boats advance to the semifinal.
Heat three opened with Turkey in the lead and closed with them near the back of the field. All the sorting out went on in the middle of the race as France’s Fabien Dufour and Quentin Colard found the lead over a solid Ukraine performance from Oleksandr Popko and Valerii Chykyrynda. Both boats advance to the semifinal.
Lightweight Men’s Four (BLM4-)
Germany and Italy battled it out in last year’s final. Today new crew combinations lined up to take each other on again in heat one of three heats. Italy got out to an early lead but for the first half of the race there was nothing in it between the entire six-boat field. All boats sprinted to the finish with Italy qualifying from first, Germany taking second and Switzerland finishing in the third and final qualifying spot.
Heat two featured Greece in the lead. Looking long and powerful through the water the Greeks have one change from the crew that finished second last year, retaining twin brothers, Nikolaos and Apostolos Gkountoulas in the centre of the boat. The Greeks remained in front despite a challenge by the higher-rating Austrians. Both boats qualify along with France in third.
Heat three followed the design of their senior heavyweight counterparts by staging a head-to-head battle between Great Britain and the Netherlands. In the process the two boats moved clean away from the rest of the field with Great Britain getting the lead right at the end despite underrating the Dutch. Both crews move on to the semifinal along with Japan back in third.
Women’s Quadruple Sculls (BW4X)
Great Britain currently dominates the senior level of this event and today they proved that they are handy as well at the under 23 level. Overtaking the Netherlands and Germany, Great Britain pushed through to the sole qualifying spot in heat one and in the process recorded the fastest qualifying time.
Heat two was a relatively easy win for Romania with their Rowing World Cup combination racing here. Stroked by Ionelia Neacsu (already with junior, under 23 and senior Rowing World Cup medals to her credit) the crew will definitely be a challenge for the British when they meet in the final.
Men’s Quadruple Sculls (BM4X)
The top three boats in each of the three heats would advance to the final and in heat one the entire field was giving it a shot. It took until the last 500 metres for the field to spread out a little with Russia, the Czech Republic and Austria going head to head. A 38 stroke rate sprint by Austria gave them the lead in the closing metres of the race and all three crews will advance to the semifinal.
Belarus won last year but today sat at the back of heat two. This left Ukraine and Hungary to battle it out at the front with France doing their best to hold on. All three boats qualify.
In heat three the leading three crews sorted themselves out early on in the piece, but it took until the finish line for the exact order to be established. Germany, Italy and Romania kept close tabs on each other and all three will advance to the semifinal.
Women’s Eight (BW8+)
In it’s first year as an under 23 event the women’s eight has burst onto the scene in fine form with eight entries. Today heat one debuted with eights powerhouse, the Unites States, overtaking a high-rating Belarus to earn the only qualifying spot. Belarus started off rating high and going through the 750 metre mark still at 40 strokes per minute. Underrating the Belarusians by about three to four beats the United States pushed past and into the lead. Belarus fought back but were not effective enough through the water to get close to the Americans.
Heat two saw Romania pull out to a slim lead. The crew, including Ana Maria Apachitei and Camelia Lupascu racing for the second time today (also BW2-), had a close battle with Germany. With just one boat qualifying the slightly quicker Romania advances directly to the final.
Men’s Eight (BM8+)
Canada took control of heat one reacting to challenges as they came. The main challenge was from Romania, but Canada’s reactions were solid and Canada advances directly to the final.
Heat two looked like last year’s senior World Rowing Championship final with the United States, Italy and Germany tussling it out at the head of the field. This time, however, it was Germany that took first and with that earn a spot in the final and an extra rest. The remainder of the field will return for tomorrow’s repechage.