International Events race for places in the final

Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (LW1x) – Semifinals

Great Britain’s Andrea Dennis bolted out of the starting blocks. The lead was hers, but only just. Marie-Louise Draeger of Germany won her quarterfinal yesterday and was not giving Dennis any leeway. A couple hundredths of a second hardly separated the two. Not far behind was Brazil’s Fabiana Beltrame, and she was closing the gap. By the 1500m Beltrame had taken a very slight lead, but not one second separated the top three crews. At the line, the semifinal qualifiers remained unchanged. Germany crossed the line in first, then Great Britain and finally Brazil.

Alexandra Tsiavou of Greece has dominated all of her races so far in Lucerne. World Rowing’s Athlete of the Month for July is in fine form and shows it. Behind her Ireland’s Siobhan McCrohan and Erika Bello of Italy, winner of her quarterfinal yesterday, were swapping between second and third. The top three spots remained unchallenged by the remainder of the field throughout the race.

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x) – Semifinals

Duncan Grant of New Zealand is living up to his three-time World Champion status in this event. Jaap Schouten of the Netherlands has also been showing ambition here in Lucerne. Winner of his quarterfinal yesterday, Schouten had a slight advantage over Grant in the first 500m. But Grant edged back in front of the field and stayed there until the line. Japan’s top rower Daisaku Takeda was also fighting for a qualification spot, but lacked the stamina to hold on to third. It was Slovakia’s Lukas Babac who moved up the field from fifth to take the final qualifying spot.

Until this semifinal, Italian Marcello Miani led all rounds of racing until the line. The semifinal was not as straightforward. Hungary’s Peter Galambos, gold medallist in Munich, had taken the lead and was fighting hard to keep it. But Miani was giving Galambos a hard time, increasing the pressure and closing the gap in the last 1000m. At the line, five hundredths of a second only separated the two and it was Miani who had won the gamble. Greece’s Dimitrios Mougios takes the final qualification spot.

Lightweight Men’s Pair (LM2-) – Semifinals

In the first semifinal, Top 10 rower and Olympic Champion Jean-Christophe Bette of France led the field with partner Fabien Tilliet. They led convincingly and their leading position stood unchallenged, although Great Britain’s Adam Freeman-Pask and Chris Boddy tried to stay level with the leaders until the 1000m mark. The British then settled for second and let the French go. In the final sprint, however, the Dutch boat of Joris Pijs and Paul Drewes, carried by the shouting support of an enthusiastic fan on the bank, managed to qualify from second, a fraction of a second ahead of the British.

In Semifinal Two, the race was partly led by France2 made up of Nicolas Moutton and Thomas Baroukh. But the field was close, very close. Hardly a second separated the top five boats in the first 500m, and by the half-way point, the field had not spread out much more, but the top three crews were already defined, although they would swap positions until the line: Canada’s Matt Jensen and Rares Crisan crossed the line in first, followed by France and then Chile.