World Rowing Championships are under way

Today tail wind conditions dominated at the first day of the 2006 World Rowing Championships in Eton, Great Britain. The heats got under way with smatterings of rain, some gusty conditions and enough of a chop to cause some of the world's top rowers to falter.

Women’s Four (W4-) – Heats

Today just as racing began the rain started for the two heats of the women’s four. A top place finish gave a direct track to the final and in heat one Australia, half of their women’s eight, led the way over the United States in second. Australia, stroked by the lengthy lay-back style of Kate Hornsey, is used to racing in two events having spent the season doing just that. Fresh legs kept them easily in the lead keeping the United States at bay. Australia move directly to Saturday’s Final.

The selectiveness of China’s international racing choices means there is always an element of surprise when they front up. Today their opening surprise came in the form of a win in the second heat. With 18-year-old twins, Meng and Tong Li in the centre of the boat, the crew pushed through to the lead and kept a steady 32 stroke rate pace to take the only qualifying spot.

Lightweight Women's Single Sculls (LW1x) – Heats

Three heats and a top two spot required for advancement opened with a leader's battle between American Lisa Schlenker and Teresa Mas De Xaxars of Spain. Schlenker and Mas De Xaxars last met at the 2004 Olympics when they both raced in the lightweight double. Schlenker has taken some time off from international competition and returns this year in fine form. Joining in on the leaders' battle though was Italy’s comeback kid Erika Bello. Bello last raced at the 1996 Olympics and joins the international scene again this year. The final sprint gave Mas De Xaxars the top spot with Bello sprinting past Schlenker to take the second qualifying spot.

There’s no doubt that Olympic medallist Marit van Eupen of the Netherlands is the favourite for gold in this event and she showed her form by leading heat two from start to finish. Van Eupen had the luxury of doing just enough to hold off an initial challenge by Cuba’s Ismaray Marrero Aria before a boat-stopping crab around the 1600 metre mark put her out of contention. This gave Michaela Taupe of Austria, who was handling the bumpy water better, to take over second and qualify along with van Eupen.

Germany’s Berit Carow decided, in heat three, she didn’t just want to win, she wanted to completely dominate. This left Switzerland’s Pamela Weisshaupt to play around in second and under no threat from the rest of the field. Carow kept her strokes long and her rating in the high 20s to finish with the fastest qualifying time. Carow and Weisshaupt, in her eleventh year of international competition, move on to the semifinal.

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x) – Heats

Twenty-four countries are contesting this event, twelve will make it through to the semifinal, six will be in the final, one will win gold. In this initial round heat one opened with local hero Zac Purchase of Great Britain who shot onto the international scene last year by becoming world under 23 champion. He spent the first part of the season out on injury but is back in fighting spirit here at Eton. Purchase kept his speed up through the first half of the race, going through the half-way point rating 35 with Greece’s Elias Pappas in hot pursuit. Pappas kept the pressure on forcing both boats to sprint to earn that one qualifying spot. Purchase’s sprint was just a tad better and he will advance directly to the semifinal.

In heat two New Zealand’s Duncan Grant and Gerard van der Linden of the Netherlands pushed the race to a photo finish when they went head to head for the full 2000 metres. Grant was last on the international scene when he tried to qualify for the Olympics in 2004. Van der Linden finished fifth at last year’s World Championships and has been a regular finalist this season. Coming into the final sprint Grant raised his rate first, getting as high as 43 strokes. Van der Linden fought back. Just 7/100th of a second separated them at the finish. Grant had the edge and moves on to the semifinal.

Spain is having a good day in lightweight singles with heat three all about Juan Zunzunegui Guimerans of Vigo, Spain. After overtaking Ukraine, Zunzunegui Guimerans got out to an open-water lead and settled into a 31 stroke rate rhythm to take the only qualifying spot. This looks to be a continuation of good results for Zunzunegui Guimerans who finished third at the final stage of the Rowing World Cup in July.

Slovenia’s Bine Pislar and Lukas Babac of Slovakia regularly race each other. Last year at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships, Babac had the better result. Today Pislar conducted the better race with Babac unable to catch Pislar’s pace. Pislar moves on to the semifinal. Surprisingly Italy’s four-time World Champion, Stefano Basalini spent the entire race well back in third.

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – Heats

She may be just 172cm tall, but Frida Svensson of Sweden rows with pure conviction. Today in heat one of four heats Svensson led from start to finish rating a solid 30 to 31 strokes per minute. But with two semifinal spots available, Russia’s Julia Levina slotted in. This left under 23 silver medallist Iva Obradovic of Serbia to try and challenge from third. Despite a solid challenge by Obradovic, the more experienced 33-year-old Levina (two-time Olympian) held on to second. Svensson and Levina move on to the semifinal.

Here’s the profile of the best female single sculler in the world: her name is Ekaterina Karsten. She’s from Belarus but trains under husband/coach Wilfried in Germany. She’s 185cm tall, has one child, is 34 years old and likes knitting in her spare time. In heat two today, Karsten continued her two-year unbeaten record by rating a steady 27 stroke rate to hold off Germany’s Peggy Waleska. Waleska gave it her best shot to close the gap on Karsten, but could do nothing to put a dent in the armor of Karsten. Both scullers qualify for the semifinal.

Heat three was nothing more than a procession. The Czech Republic’s Mirka Knapkova took the lead and carried out a Karsten-style 27 stroke rate pace. An open-water gap stretched back to former South African sculler, now Italian Gabriella Bascelli. Bascelli then had an open water lead over Spain in third. Nothing changed throughout the race. Knapkova’s winning margin was 10 seconds. Bascelli’s second-place qualifying spot was also large, 13 seconds over Spain. Despite Knapkova’s huge leading margin, the Czech still qualified with the fastest time. Is this her year to challenge Karsten?

Heat number four featured world record holder on the indoor rowing machine, France’s Sophie Balmary. Balmary finished fourth at last year’s World Rowing Championships, but today she led 2005 bronze medallist, Michelle Guerette of the United States and Slovenia’s Majda Jerman. At the line Balmary qualifies from first, Guerette shakes off Jerman to take the second and the final qualifying spot.

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) – Heats

Olympic Champion, Olaf Tufte of Norway opened up the first of four heats by showing he’s back on form. Tufte has been plugging away since his big 2004 win, but it took until the final Rowing World Cup this year for him to win gold again. Tufte led over last year’s under 23 champion, Sjoerd Hamburger of the Netherlands and with only one qualifying spot, Tufte looked to have it wrapped up. Still Tufte kept his rating just above 30 to move on to the semifinal.

The commentators at the Eton rowing course decided it was no surprise to see current World Champion Mahe Drysdale in the lead. The New Zealander was seeded in the centre lane and proved his worthiness by maintaining a handy lead over Sweden’s Lassi Karonen. Catching a crab around the 800 metre mark caused Karonen to stutter. But Karonen fought back and tried to close on Drysdale. Unperturbed Drysdale continued with a steady 29 stroke rate and will advance to the semifinal with the same finishing time as Tufte. Karonen will now return for the repechage.

At the head of the field in heat three, Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic was challenged strongly by Switzerland’s Andre Vonarburg. But Synek kept his rating up at 35 and maintained the edge over Vonarburg. Also holding onto the pace Belgium’s Tim Maeyens went for broke at the finish. Pushing his rating to 40 Maeyens forced both Synek and Vonarburg to sprint. The order didn’t change and Synek earns the qualifying spot. An empty lane five indicated current visa problems. Moldova was unable to enter Great Britain and Evgenij Ignatov will not race at Eton.

The final heat was all about the newly bald headed Marcel Hacker of Germany. Hacker missed the final Rowing World Cup following a hernia operation, but back in action here it looks like the operation was a success and his recent St. Moritz altitude training is working a treat. In the lead Hacker looked comfortable rating a steady 30 strokes per minute with Cuba back in second. The big surprise was local hope, Alan Campbell of Great Britain. From the opening strokes Campbell appeared to barely be racing. Not in 100 percent health Campbell will hope to be well when he returns to race again on Tuesday in the repechage.

Women’s Pair (W2-) – Heats

Two heats, two boats to go directly to the final. Heat one featured first and second from the final Rowing World Cup the winners, United States and silver medallists Nicole Zimmermann and Elke Hipler of Germany. Today Zimmermann and Hipler took the lead with the United States back in third. Meanwhile, sitting solidly in second, reigning World Champions Nicky Coles and Juliette Haigh of New Zealand showed that they had stepped up on early season average results. The order did not change throughout the race with the Germans advancing to the final.

The second heat saw Canada’s Darcy Marquardt and Jane Rumball take the lead and pull out to a boat's length over China in second with Australia just a tad back in third. Marquardt and Rumball kept their rating in the mid 30s to move further away from China. This left Australia and China to challenge each other. The two-way tussle had no impact on the Canadians and Marquardt and Rumball move on to the final.

Men’s Pair (M2-) – Heats

Heat one turned out to be the hottest of the three heats with current World Champions Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater of New Zealand being challenged by Canada’s new pair combination (Kevin Light and Malcolm Howard) as well as Germany’s Jochen Urban and Andreas Penkner. Howard and Light showed their boat speed earlier in the season when they finished with silver at the first Rowing World Cup. Urban and Penkner have earned two World Cup bronzes this year. All three boats were chasing a first today. As the race progressed the Germans found the pace a little too hot and fell back leaving New Zealand and Canada to fight it out. Both boats sprinted into the high 30s at the end, Canada shortening at the front end to get their rating up, New Zealand remaining long. Both boats qualify, NZ from first Canada from second.

Drew Ginn and Duncan Free of Australia always looked in control of heat two. After shaking off early leaders Yongquiang Zhang and Xiangdang Wang of China, the Australians did just enough to stay ahead of the Chinese. This led to a steady 27 rating for Ginn and Free with China sprinting about eight beats higher just to hold the pace. At the line both boats qualify for the semifinal. Meanwhile, at the back of the field, Great Britain just went through the motions as stroke Tom James aims to get back to better health in time for the repechage.

A close three-way battle between South Africa (Ramon Di Clemente and Don Cech), Italy (Giuseppe De Vita and Lorenzo Porzio) and Serbia in heat three, narrowed down to a two-way tussle as Serbia dropped back in the second half of the race. Cech and Di Clemente come to Eton after warming up by winning the Commonwealth Regatta earlier this month and today they managed to pull ahead of Italy with a stronger second half to qualifying from first. Italy also advance to the semifinal from second.

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) – Heats

The women’s double was represented by 15 countries and first up in heat one China’s Qin Li and Liang Tian led the way. Li is in her first international season but has been rowing for her province, Sichuan, for a number of years. Twenty-year-old Tian hit the international scene two years ago. Together they led over British rising stars Annie Vernon and Anna Bebington with this year’s under 23 champions Jitka Antosova and Gabriela Varekova of the Czech Republic following in third. Three qualifying spots were available and at the line the order had not changed. China, Great Britain and the Czech Republic earn a place in the semifinal.

Current World and Olympic Champions, Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell of New Zealand never take chances. Coming out in the lead at the start, the duo already had three seconds over the rest of the field with only about 70 strokes rowed. This lead remained as the rest of the field worked at getting the remaining two qualifying positions in heat two. In the running was France, Ukraine and Germany. Coming back from a slow start, Britta Oppelt and Susanne Schmidt of Germany established themselves in second with Natalia Ryzhkova and Yana Dementieva of Ukraine overtaking France to hold on to third. New Zealand, Germany and Ukraine move on to the semifinal.

Yuliya Bichyk and Volha Berazniova of Belarus are building up a solid rowing portfolio. Today they added to their statistics by winning the third heat and recording the fastest qualifying time in the process. They did this under urging by Australian newcomer Brooke Pratley and returnee to the international scene, Liz Kell. This urging continued for the full 2000 metres with only one second separating the two crews at the finish. The United States (Brett Sickler and Susan Francia) followed in third to qualify as well.

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – Heats

In one of the best represented events of this World Rowing Championships 24 countries lined up aiming for a spot in Saturday’s Final. Opening the first of four heats, current World Best Time holders, Jean-Baptiste Macquet and Adrien Hardy of France showed they had what it takes to qualify by leading the field. This left Norway to try and hold the pace from their second place position. But Macquet and Hardy proved to be too good and with only one qualifying position available, France now moves on to the semifinal.

France and Slovenia have been tussling it out all season and today France got to watch reigning World Champions, Iztok Cop and Luka Spik of Slovenia, come down the course in heat two being pushed by a solid performance from Croatia’s Mario Vekic and Ante Kusurin. Vekic and Kusurin are yet to make an A Final together, so pushing the Slovenians is certainly a step in the right direction. But with only one qualifying spot available, the seven-year partnership of Cop and Spik prevailed. The Slovenians move on to the semifinal.

Rene Bertram and Robert Sens of Germany have been showing their worth as the German double throughout this season and in heat three today they led the field, but it was far from a race domination. Sitting right on their tails, Stijn Smulder and Christophe Raes of Belgium challenged them for the entire 200 metre Eton course. Germany kept their rating high and the power on to be the sole qualifying boat.

Taking off out of the start at a 50 stroke rate got Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham of Great Britain off to a good start, but not good enough and under 23 medallists, Russia had the edge. But the fast start proved too much for the Russians with Ukraine pushing into the lead by the second 500 metre mark and Great Britain following closely on their heels. A big push through the 1250 metre point then gave Wells and Rowbotham the lead and they continued to burn rubber finishing easily in the sole qualifying spot by the finish of the race.

Men’s Four (M4-) – Heats

The first of three heats opened with a tight race between the Netherlands and Slovenia. Both boats have medalled this season at the Rowing World Cup and both boats are used to racing each other. Despite there being two qualifying spots neither the Netherlands nor Slovenia were willing to back off as the two crews moved clear of the rest of the field. At the line the Dutch had gained the edge with Slovenia qualifying from second.

The crowds along the banks of the Eton course swelled as Great Britain’s flagship crew took to the water in heat two and they certainly gave the locals something to enjoy. Stroked by Andy Triggs Hodge the Brits took an early lead over a strong showing by the new internationally untried United States line up which includes Josh Inman and Mike Blomquist from last year’s champion eight. Both boats maintained a solid 36 stroke rate rating with the British doing just enough to keep a boat length in front of the Americans. Great Britain and the United States advance to the semifinal.

It took until the last races of the day for the hottest contest as four crews – Canada, Germany, Ireland and New Zealand – fought for two spots. Canada took the lead at the start with New Zealand close behind with Germany and Ireland in the hunt. By the half-way point Ireland had dropped off the pace but there was little between the three leading crews. Coming into the last 500 metres Canada still had the lead. New Zealand charged, Canada reacted back, Germany charged. Stroke rates climbed into the low 40s. New Zealand had performed the best sprint. At the line New Zealand take first and within nine seconds of the World Best Time. Germany qualify from second and Canada will have to return for the repechage.