Last chance to get to the Olympic rowing finals

China’s lightweights did it in the double. Poland remains the favourite in the men’s quad. Read on for more race information.

LIGHTWEIGHT MEN'S DOUBLE SCULLS (LW2x) – C/D Semifinal

The idea here was all about finishing in the top three positions for a chance at racing in the C Final at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The lower three places would go to the D Final.

Semifinal 1

You know racing is tough when the 2005 world champions are racing in the C/D Semifinal. Hungary’s Zsolt Hirling and Tamas Varga made the most of it showing their true boat speed to the ever swelling crowd. By the 500m mark they had nearly a full boat length lead. By the 1000m mark Hirling and Varga had an open water lead. Meanwhile Uruguay and Hong Kong China were going head to head for second and third. Throughout the race both boats were overlapping and they continued in this vein right through to the finish line. Uruguay’s Rodolfo Collarzo and Angel Garcia, rating 39, just pipped Hong Kong China in the last 50m. Hungary, Uruguay and Hong Kong China are in the C Final.

Semifinal 2

Japan’s Kazushige Ura and Daisaku Takeda pulled out the same tactics as the Hungarians in the previous race – but to more of an extreme. Takeda is the most successful Japanese rower and this is his fourth Olympic Games. The father of four finished in the A Final at the last two Olympics. The Japanese boat left the rest of the field to go for second and third – the other C Final qualifying spots. Brazil’s Thiago Gomes and Thiago Almeida held a very tight battle with Devender Khandwal and Manjeet Singh of India. As Japan moved further and further into the lead Brazil and India tussled. Brazil finished just ahead of India. Japan, Brazil and India go to the C Final.

LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN'S DOUBLE SCULLS (LW2x) – A/B Semifinal

The top three boats in each of these two semifinals would make it to the A Final due to race on Sunday. The remaining three crews would have to settle with the B Final.

Semifinal 1

After a short delay as the divers finished their weed check job, it was Germany’s Berit Carow and Marie-Louise Draeger that got off the line the fastest. Sitting in the middle lane, Carow and Draeger were able to keep an eye on the rest of the field. Finland’s Sanna Sten and Minna Nieminen, in the outside lane, were the biggest threat. By the half way point Sten and Nieminen, rating 34, had the lead. Sten and Nieminen just missed out on qualifying for the Athens Olympics. They have waited four years for this opportunity and it showed. Looking long and solid, Sten and Nieminen left Germany to contend with the Netherlands.

Coming into the second half of the race, Kirsten van der Kolk and Marit van Eupen of the Netherlands looked like they didn’t have to work too hard to get just ahead of Germany. The two crews looked content to stay together. This close rowing helped the Netherlands and Germany to close the gap on Finland. The line was nearing. Finland remained at a 33 stroke rate. The Netherlands stepped up to a 36 with Germany on 35. But charging through, at a 40 stroke rate was the black boat of Denmark, but the Danes had left it too late. The Netherlands, Finland and Germany go to the final.

Semifinal 2

Breaking away from the field at the start was Canada’s Melanie Kok and Tracy Cameron. It’s always a gamble in these Olympic racing conditions to break away at the start. Kok and Cameron must have decided that the gamble was worth it. By the half way point Kok and Cameron had a full boat length lead over the rest of the field.

The rest of the field was very tight. Less than two seconds separated them with China’s Dongxiang Xu and Hua Yu, the fastest of this group. Coming into the last 500m of the race, world champions Australia had pulled into second with China and Greece fighting back. Canada still had an open water lead. Stroke rates began to rise. Who would hold on the best?

The United States charged. World Best Time holders, China charged. Canada held on for dear life. Greece, rating 40, gave it all that they had. Australia was fading fast. At the line less that one and a half seconds separated the top four boats. The United States had left their sprint too late. Australia had run out of steam. Canada had just held on. Canada, China and Greece (Chrysi Biskitzi and Alexandra Tsiavou) had made it to the final.

Berit CAROW (GER)
“I guess it was a good race because we qualified for the A Final and you are never sure in this tough field. The cheering from the grandstands helps a lot, although it’s a bit misleading; normally you can only hear the crowd in the last 250m, but here the grandstands are much nearer the start too. Before the race we agreed ‘Let’s do it for our coach’, who is sick with flu and not here today.”

Chrysi BISKITZI (GRE)
“We were the outsiders in this race. Our heat wasn’t so good, but we’ve gradually found it in our boat. We willed ourselves to have enough strength to do it and we gave everything in that race. It was better to race today than yesterday – we had more time to recover from the repechage.”

Helen CASEY (GBR)
“I’m really disappointed that we were 5th, because we truly believed that we could make an impact and reach the A Final. We have been sculling well. Hester (Goodsell) always calls a good race but we just didn’t have the legs for it. The Netherlands were amazing and you always get a surprise from the Finns.”

Tracy CAMERON (CAN)
”The race was very businesslike and task orientated. In the heats we were too external, but after we watched the video we found key points that we could concentrate on during the race. We rowed within ourselves and the chips fell into place. Our fast start wasn’t exactly intentional but we won’t change it.”

Melanie KOK (CAN)
”We want medals for ourselves, so the media doesn’t add to the pressure. We’re not in the Olympic Village so feel a bit like in a bubble, isolated from the hubbub. This is good but we look forward to experiencing the excitement next week. We were successful in Poznan, but didn’t sit on our laurels here. After the day’s racing we do everyday stuff, and we don’t talk about rowing.”

LIGHTWEIGHT MEN'S DOUBLE SCULLS (LM2x) – A/B Semifinal

It would take a top three finish in these two semifinals to gain a spot in the final.

Semifinal 1

The Italians and the British were the first to show in the first of two semifinals. Italy rated slightly higher, Great Britain looked a little stronger. In Great Britain’s crew, Zac Purchase is at his first Olympic Games, stroke Mark Hunter is at his second. In Italy’s crew Elia Luini is at his third Olympics. He finished with silver in this event in 2000. Partner, Marcello Miani is at his first Olympic Games.

Going into the second quarter of the race barely one and a half seconds separated the top five crews. Purchase and Hunter were in the lead with a little bit of a buffer back to Luini and Miani in second and Cuba’s Eyder Batista and Yunior Perez, who had now overtaken Germany and France to find third. With Italy now breaking away from the bunch, Cuba and Germany battled it out for the final qualifying spot.

In very atypical lightweight racing style, the pack crossed the finish line very spread out. Great Britain in first, Italy in second and Cuba’s crew getting the better of Germany to take the third and final qualifying spot.

Semifinal 2

Greece’s Dimitrios Mougios and Vasileios Polymeros will sleep peacefully tonight. They go into Sunday’s final with the fastest qualifying time and they did it by leading the second semifinal from start to finish. Mougios and Polymeros started rowing together in 2006 and since then have been in and out of the medals at international races. Last year they finished second at the World Rowing Championships.

With the Greeks in the lead, current world champions, Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist of Denmark overtook New Zealand to slip into second. Mougios and Polymeros remained in the leading spot and coming into the final sprint to the line the Greeks appeared to be comfortable in first with the Danes feeling good in second. Something then clicked in the Chinese boat. Guolin Zhang and Jie Sun took their stroke rate to 45 and went for broke. New Zealand tried to hold on getting to a 42 stroke rate. Australia slipped back. Just before the line the New Zealanders were spent. China earned the final qualifying spot. Greece, Denmark and China will be in the A Final.

Marcello MIANI (ITA)
”The race went mostly as we had thought; we rowed like madmen to try to get in front, but felt in control and it was a well-planned race. We didn’t need a big sprint in the last 500m. We’ll have to see the other semifinal times but our performance gives us hope for the Final. We didn’t beat Great Britain, but maintained contact with them throughout.”

Mark HUNTER (GRB)
“It’s good to get into the Final with a win in the semi. During the race we focused on being long and strong, especially in this headwind. We didn’t get to watch the second semifinal because it’s important to cool down and start to prepare for the next race. We’ve been watching other sports on TV and feeding off the energy of other athletes. ”

Vasileios POLYMEROS (GRE)
“Our goal was to get to the Final, we didn’t mind which position in the first three. We pushed and pulled to 1500m then didn’t have to work so hard – just keep the distance. We were confident; we had good signs in training and we feel good inside. My wife is the bow of the Greek LW2x; I won bronze in 2006, she got silver in 2007. We’ve never medalled together before so hope to achieve that this time.”

LIGHTWEIGHT MEN'S FOUR (LM4-) – A/B Semifinal

The top three boats would advance to Sunday’s final. All other boats would get to race in the B Final of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Semifinal 1

Five boats raced in this semifinal after a gastric illness in three of the German crew meant that they were unable to race today. Australia jumped off the line in first and led the five boat field through the first 500m mark. The Australian margin, however, was not comfortable. Only a second separated the entire field. By the half way point Canada had squeezed through to the lead. Coach of the Canadians, Bent Jensen, has not let cancer treatment get in the way of seeing his crew row at the Olympics. Jensen’s crew have said their coach is their inspiration at these Games.

Canada remained in the lead and coming into the final sprint they remained at a strong 38 stroke rate. Meanwhile Australia had slipped back while Poland was charging down the outside. Poland has been together since 2007 where they finished eighth at the World Rowing Championships. The Polish continued to charge and at the 1450m mark they had overtaken 2006 world champions, China. They then went after Canada. The Netherlands also took up chase. At the line outsiders, Poland had won the Olympic semifinal. An elated stroke Pawel Randa stands up in the boat and salutes the crowd. Canada qualifies from second and the Netherlands also qualify from third.

Semifinal 2

Great Britain are the reigning world champions but they have posted mixed results at international races this year. Today they got into the lead of semifinal two and aimed to hold on. But by the half way point Denmark had moved into the lead. Denmark showed that they had the necessary speed in earlier rounds of these Olympic rowing races. Great Britain successfully held on to Denmark and the two boats went through the middle of the race together. Two styles were reflected here. Denmark held a very upright, little body swing style, while Great Britain chose a longer, lower-rating stroke.

Coming through to the final sprint 2005 world champions, France opened up a huge sprint. They managed to overtake Great Britain but Denmark held them off. Denmark, France and Great Britain will be in Sunday’s final.

Marshall GODSCHALK (NED)
“There was not much thinking at the end of that race, just concentrating on giving it all we had. It wasn’t a big deal to have to postpone our race until today, we just had to switch off mentally yesterday and on again today. The cheering from the crowd was awesome. It made me think of my family. I’m doing this for them and everyone I know. It’s sad that the Germans couldn’t compete – they are good, but we always believed we could qualify. At the start I said ‘Guys, we rowed well in the warm-up, we are good, we can do it’.”

Milosz BERNATAJTYS (POL)
“We didn’t expect to win, just hoped to be in the first three. This is our best result in four years. We didn’t know what was happening, it was like we had wings.”

James CLARKE (GBR)
“We went out pretty hard, particularly from 250m to 750m. We knew it was going to be tough. It was ‘Get out early and get out of trouble’, for which we paid the price later in the race, but it worked. Our goal has always been to get into the Final and it’s a relief, because we knew we should be there. This Semifinal was more aggressive and less comfortable than the heat, but we reminded ourselves of how we like to row in a headwind, which we may have on Sunday. By the time we found out that racing was cancelled yesterday it was a relief, because the energy kind of goes out of us. Weighing in twice in one day is difficult. We’re the last ones from Great Britain to qualify for the A Final – that’s 10 boats, which is a massive step up from four in Athens.”

MEN'S QUADRUPLE SCULLS (M4x) – A/B Semifinal

In these six boat semifinals the aim was to be in a top three position. This would give the crew a spot in the A Final.

Semifinal 1

Russia is the current Olympic Champion in this event but since their win in 2004 they have not managed to show much boat speed. Today they jumped out into the lead of semifinal one. Rowing their straight back, upright style, the Russians retained the lead through to the middle of the race. But then the three-time reigning world champions, who had been following closely, took over the lead. Poland, rating a solid 33, looked to be in winning form as they moved their boat away from Russia and away from Australia who had now moved into second. Coming through the last 200m of the race, Russia had faded away and the Czech Republic was also struggling. Australia and Germany, both rating 40, charged for the line. Poland held on. Poland, Australia and Germany are the nations that will be in the final.

Semifinal 2

In some ways this regatta has not been kind to the Italians, but they put things right in semifinal two. This Italian crew has two members of the 2000 Olympic champion quad. Simone Raineri and Rossano Galtarossa are back together with the aim of reliving their Sydney 2000 OIympics. Leading from the start, the Italians settled into a very solid 35 stroke rate pace. The United States followed in second. The US crew surprised everyone earlier this season after the newly formed crew beat the Polish world champions. Today the United States showed that they had what it takes at the Olympic level.

Coming through to the final sprint the United States took their stroke rate to 43 to hold off a huge charge by the French. In fourth, Estonia did not have enough grunt to react back and push for a medal spot. Italy, the United States and France are in the final.

Stephan KRUEGER (GER)
“We are satisfied because we are in the Final, but not so satisfied because we hoped to be closer to the first two. Today the wind made conditions more difficult. Yesterday we were tense and ready to race, but the waiting has made us tired so we were not as ready today. To win a medal is the dream of us all, but it will be hard.”

Rossano GALTAROSSA (ITA)
“The plan was to get in front early, and we knew we had to get out hard. We had something to prove. Estonia also performed well and we have 47 hours left before the Final.”

James SCHROEDER Jr (USA)
“We tried to put as much power as we could into every stroke. ‘Keep driving, power like a machine’. It was fantastic to race today and not yesterday, because two of our crew were sick, but are much better now.”