Do-or-die in Blue Riband heats

Men’s Single Sculls (BM1x) – Heats

With twenty-eight entries in this event, quarterfinals are in order for these single scullers. To qualify for the quarterfinals, a finish in the top three or four in each heat would be necessary, depending on whether a race included four or five boats, along with the two fastest times from the last-placed athletes in each heat.

Heat one lined up five contestants, meaning a top four finish would be necessary to qualify directly for the final. The race was a fierce contest between Great Britain’s Jonathan Walton and Bulgaria’s Georgi Bozhilov. The lead swapped several times. Walton, who was ninth overall last year in the under-23 men’s quad, led for the first 500m, before Bozhilov barged through the halfway mark to take the lead. Watching each other closely across the Bosbaan, the two single scullers kept pace, never more than half a length between them. At 1500m to go however, Bozhilov’s power showed through, and he muscled his way to a half-length lead. Walton, content in second and easily qualifying for the quarterfinals, eased back to conserve energy and crossed the line second to Bulgaria, who recorded the fastest qualifying time. Behind them, Slovakia and Latvia take the final two qualifiying spots. A frustrated French sculler, Fabien Corner, punched the water as he finished in fifth, and must await the finishing times to see if he is fast enough to qualify.

Heat two was a master class in single sculling from American sculler Ben Dann, who led from the start, powering away from the field with long, fine strokes. Behind him the final outcome was slightly less clear. As the finish line came in to sight, the four remaining boats were all in contention for the final three qualifying spots. Italian sculler Daniele Zona, who placed 13th in this event last year, pushed ahead to take second spot, whilst Croatian sculler Mihovil Kotoras, who looked to be out of touch at the 1500m mark, chased the pack hard and managed to out-scull Norway, grabbing the fourth qualifying spot by 0.35s. Denmark stayed ahead of this do-or-die fight to take third place.

The Bosbaan crowds saw another commanding victory in heat three. Germany’s Hubert Trzybinski raced hard to the halfway mark, establishing a convincing lead over the rest of the field. Sculling through 1500m, Tzybinski was a length up, rating a cool 29. Lithuania and Greece were battling it out for second and third, with Turkey and Kenya several lengths behind. As they came into the final 250m, all crews noticeably relaxed to the line, and Turkey sculled away from the spirited Kenyan, who seemed to be paddling towards the line, until shouts from the grandstand spurred him on.

The Belgian Bram Dubois, eighth in the men’s double sculls at the 2011 Samsung World Rowing Cup in Munich, took out heat four. Leading from start to finish, the Belgian appeared cool and in control. Behind him, there was more of a fight for places. Vladislav Yakovlev of Kazakhstan, at just eighteen years old and therefore still a junior, was a length down on the field coming into the final 500m, but a great sprint in the closing stages saw him overhaul Egypt to take the final qualifying spot behind Slovenia and Finland.

In heat five, four scullers lined up, meaning there were only three qualification spots up for grabs. Austrian sculler Camillo Franek attacked the heat from the start, leaving the rest of the field behind. Zimbabwe and Belarus raced for second and third place, whilst Albania dropped to the back of the field within the first few strokes. Austria took an easy victory, five seconds ahead of Belarus in second. Zimbabwe qualifies from third.

The fastest qualifying time of 7.34.90 was recorded in the final heat of the event, which also featured four boats. Azerbaijan sculler Aleksandr Aleksandrov led from the start, and by 1500m was rating a controlled and dominant 29 strokes a minute. Hungarian sculler Domonkos Szell challenged in the first part of the race, but was happy to cross the line second, four seconds behind. Israel crossed the line to take the third and final qualifying spot some distance back.

The two final qualifying spots for those who were not in the top places in the heats go to Norway’s Bjoern-Jostein Singstad, who clocked a time of 7:44.50 in heat two and to Egyptian Moustafa Fathy, who finished in a time of 7:48.20 in heat four.

Women’s Single Sculls (BW1x) – Heats

The women’s single event presented another very competitive field of 17 entries. The first two placed rowers would progress directly to tomorrow’s semifinals, and the remainder would have to face the repechage.

Under-23 World Champion Donata Vistartaite of Lithuania could have been expected to take heat one by storm. However, Azebaijan’s Iskra Angelova would not let her have it. Angelova made her debut on the senior stage this year, coming eleventh overall in the women’s single sculls at the 2011 Samsung World Rowing Cup in Hamburg, and it looks like this senior experience has done her good. Half a length up with just 500m to go, it seemed Angelova had surprised Vistartaite. Despite several blistering attacks, in which the Lithuanian champion edged in front, Angelova held her own and crossed the line in first. These two scullers go directly to the semifinals, whilst Ukraine, Ireland, The Netherlands and Denmark will have to row in the repechage.

Heat two turned out as expected. Carina Baer of Germany, who took silver in the women’s quad last year at the World Rowing Championships in New Zealand, also finished ninth in the single at the Samsung World Rowing Cup in Lucerne a few weeks ago. Baer grabbed the heat by the scruff of the neck from the start, and did not let go. It was a commanding victory, some three or four lengths up by the 1000m marker on Serbia, who was fighting hard to remain in second.  The Greek sculler Aikaterini Nikolaidou threw all she could at Serbian Ivana Filipovic in the last 500m, but it was a case of too little too late, and Nikolaidou will race the repechage alongside Australia, Latvia and Armenia.

In heat three, Estonia’s Kaisa Pajusalu led easily from the start in her pink boat. The World Rowing under-23 silver medallist from 2010 stayed unchallenged as she powered down the Bosbaan. Hungary’s Krisztina Gymes took the second qualifying spot, and the remainder, Chile, United States of America and Slovenia will face the repechage.

Men’s Eight (BM8+) – Heats

These two heats were a fantastic culmination of the day’s racing. Storm clouds cast shadows over the Bosbaan but the rain stayed away as these big boats powered down the course. Only one boat would make it directly to the final, so all crews raced hard right to the line.

Germany, defending under-23 World Champions were up in heat one racing 2010 silver and bronze medallists USA and Great Britain. The Germans, however, were about to be obliterated by the great pace set from the start by the American boat. By the halfway point, Italy had dropped off to the back of the field, some three lengths down on the leaders. Great Britain were challenging the USA hard, but Germany surprisingly slipped out of contention by 1500m, two lengths down. As Great Britain began a blistering assault in the final 500m, rates reaching 40 strokes a minute, the noisy crowds knew this would go down to the line. The USA and Great Britain had to endure a photo finish, with only 0.07 separating them. The United States of America had held their nerve to progress through in 5.41, the fastest time of the day. Germany crossed the line some 13 seconds back, resigned to the fact they would be rowing the repechage along with Italy and unlucky Great Britain.

Heat two saw a much more convincing victory for the Czech Republic. Home support spurred The Netherlands to first position until the 500m mark, but soon they slipped back, as the Czech Republic stretched ahead to a three-quarter length lead by the 1000m mark. Moving together as one unit, and clearly enjoying a fantastic row, they were a length and a half ahead with just 500m left, over Australia. Australia, despite being yellow-carded at the start for being late, held their second place, whilst Poland and The Netherlands raced out for honours. Not wanting to disappoint the crowds, the Netherlands just piped Poland for third place. Australia, Poland and The Netherlands will race the repechage tomorrow.

To watch our live race tracker during the racing, click here

To watch live video streaming of the event, click here

For the World Rowing Under 23 Championships photo gallery, click here