No slowpokes in Bled B-finals

China presented some up-and-coming crews, Poland presented a showdown in the women’s single and Malcolm Howard of Canada proved that he’s not just a middle-of-the boat eights rower.

WOMEN’S PAIR (W2-) – B-final

This race looked to be acting as a Chinese seat racing exercise. With three Chinese crews competing the question was would they finish in the order that they had been ranked by the coaches. In amongst the Chinese crews was Great Britain and it was the British that got off the line first holding onto the lead for the majority of the race.

It looked like China had really developed a good sprint with the three crews recording the top three times in the last 500m of the race. With Great Britain sneaking into third, China retained their ranking order and reconfirmed coach decisions, the leading boat being Meiling and Zhengping Sun.

Results: CHN2, CHN3, GBR3, CHN4, ITA, CRO

MEN’S PAIR (M2-) – B-final

France gave it all they had to lead for the majority of the race, but in the final 500m the French did not have enough sprint left in them. From the back of the field Great Britain looked like they had executed the perfectly timed race. But despite the massive British sprint, China’s Lin Wu and Zhaowen Sun was able to stay ahead and cross the line in first, giving them a seventh overall ranking. France could only manage fourth.

Results: CHN1, GBR2, SRB, FRA2, ESP, NED

WOMEN’S DOUBLE SCULLS (W2X) – B-final

The president of Belarus has recently declared government support for sport and rowing has been able to take advantage of this. Today in the B-final Belarus raced two rowers who will be names to watch for the future. Anastasiya Fadzeyenka, 23, and Katsiaryna Shliupskaya, 20, led this race from start to finish. Spain kept the Belarusians honest, but they could not catch the leading boat.

Results: BLR, ESP, FRA2

MEN’S DOUBLE SCULLS (M2x) – B-final

Canada sent a strong crew to this Rowing World Cup with the majority of boats making it to the A-finals earlier today. Gabriel Bergen and Steven Vanknotsenburg got to race in the B-final and they made the best of it by leading from start to finish. Canada are known to do well in the men’s pair and there is every indication that this combination will only get better as they spend more time together.

This race, however, was not all about Canada. The entire field remained tightly packed for the full 2000m. It took a photo finish at the end to decide the final order.

Results: CAN, POL, CHN, CZE, EST2, ITA2

MEN’S FOUR (M4-) – B-final

Belarus and Croatia snuck out at the start of this race leaving the real battle to go on between Spain and China’s number two crew. China and Spain remained on top of each other through the middle of the race with Spain using a better sprint to earn the advantage at the end. Belarus remained in front with Croatia, featuring 2004 Olympic medallist Niksa Skelin, finishing second.

Results: BLR, CRO, ESP, CHN2, CHN1, IRI

LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN’S DOUBLE SCULLS (LW2x) – B-final

France jumped out at the start with their new lightweight double combination and the young duo held the leader’s advantage for the first half of the race. China One and China Two came into their own. These two Chinese crews must be aiming to show their boat speed to their selectors and today at the finish China Two prevailed. Jing Liu and Feihong Pan will be forcing selectors to think who their top lightweight crew really is.

Results: CHN2, CHN1, FRA, SUI, ESP, POL

LIGHTWEIGHT MEN’S DOUBLE SCULLS (LM2x) – B-final

Jonathan Winter and Brian De Regt of the United Stated just missed out on qualifying for the A-final after a very competitive semifinal yesterday. Today they made up for it by racing the B-final and leading from start to finish. Greece and Austria tried hard to hold on to the Americans, but Winter and De Regt had more boat speed.

By the finish line Winter and De Regt had a handy lead and will go back to the United States for the next round of national team selection trials with an overall seventh place finish under their belt.

Results: USA, AUT, SLO, GRE, CHN2, GBR

LIGHTWEIGHT MEN’S FOUR (LM4-) – B-final

Spain started out hard in the B-final, with France holding on close. But by the 1000m mark, Spain was beginning to lose ground and Japan had moved up into the lead. Japan’s lead was marginal, however, with no more than one second separating it from the Czech Republic and Spain. In the second half of the race, the Czech Republic gained speed and pushed ahead of the field. France, who had fallen back into fourth, managed to move back up behind the Czechs in the final sprint.

Results: CZE, FRA, JPN, CAN, ESP, DEN2

WOMEN’S QUADRUPLE SCULLS (W4x) – B-final

Denmark had come through the repechages with the potential to do the best in this B-final today. The crew of Lea and Lisbet Jakobsen, Fie Graugaard-Udby and Tanja Ehlers from Denmark led from start to finish racing steadily and consistently. New Zealand, from the back of the field, pushed through with a big sprint at the finish to take second. The New Zealanders will stay on after this regatta in Bled as they prepare for the second Rowing World Cup in Munich in June.

Results: DEN, NZL, AUT

MEN’S QUADRUPLE SCULLS (M4x) – B-final

Belgian’s Tim Maeyens tossed up whether to race the single, double or quad at this regatta and chose the quad. Maeyens is very accomplished in the single but lately has been dabbling in other boats. Today Maeyens raced with Bart Poelvoorde, Alexander Koch and Hannes De Reu to win the B-final. China started out in front, but the Belgians soon reeled them in finishing in a nice 5:55 time.

Results: BEL, CHN, CZE

WOMEN’S SINGLE SCULLS (W1x) – B-final

This turned into a race of the Poles. Natalia Madaj of Poland Two started off out in front with Olympian Debbie Flood (GBR) tucked in-between Madaj and Agata Gramatyka. Madaj remained in the lead but these three boats were very close. Coming into the final sprint Gramatyka and Madaj both hit a 40 stroke rate. Flood, who has returned after a post-Beijing break, had no response. At the line Gramatyka managed to just inch out Madaj.

Results: POL1, POL2, GBR2, GBR1, POR

MEN’S SINGLE SCULLS (M1X) – B-final

Like his fellow countryman in the A-final, Julien Bahain, Cedric Berrest of France flew out of the starting blocks to take the lead in the B-final. But it was tight amongst the entire field and even at the half-way point it was still anyone’s race. This is when Canada’s Malcolm Howard made his move. Howard comes to the single for the first time this year from an Olympic gold in the men’s eight and his country has high hopes that he will follow Derek Porter’s example in being a top sculler.

Today Howard went one step forward in the single by winning this B-final. Roel Braas of the Netherlands followed in second. America’s top sculler Warren Anderson was unable to start after he broke an oar and had to head back to the boat park.

Results: CAN, NED, CHN, FRA2, SRB