Times get close to World Best in semis

Lucerne’s Rotsee Regatta Course turned on flat calm conditions under cloudy skies. A slight wind that seemed to change from head into a slight tail wind throughout the day kept crews on their toes. This was the day for making it to tomorrow’s A-finals and it was a mixture between raw determination and stamina that made the cut. Most crews had to race twice yesterday in hot temperatures and today they had to return as fresh as possible to do it all again.

Men’s Pair (M2-) – Semifinals

The first semifinal opened with Greek twins, Nikolaos and Apostolos Gkountoulas in the lead, but by the half way point world silver medallists Peter Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge had pushed in front with the Greeks holding on very tightly. Then, as has been their style in all races that don’t include the New Zealand duo, the British moved smoothly away from the field into enough of a lead that there was no pressure on them to sprint. Instead the big sprinting went to Niccolo Mornati and Lorenzo Carboncini of Italy. The very accomplished duo have come into the pair for the first time this year and in the closing quarter of the race the Italians took on Greece and overtook them. Meanwhile Reed and Hodge were able to cruise to the finish line in first. The British duo acknowledged the large contingent of British supporters as they rowed back to the boat park. Great Britain, Italy and Greece go on to tomorrow’s final.

As in the first semifinal, it was Greece jumping out at the start. Semifinal Two opened with Georgios Tziallas and Ioannis Christou in the lead, but the margin over World Champions, New Zealand was minimal and soon Hamish Bond and Eric Murray of New Zealand had pushed through to the front. In a race pattern that echoed the British model in semi-final one, Bond and Murray slowly moved away from the rest of the field in the second half of the race. Now it was the Germans, Andreas Kuffner and Felix Drahotta that set their sights on getting ahead of Greece and closing the gap on New Zealand. New Zealand, at 31 did enough to remain ahead of the Germans who easily overrated the Kiwis. Kuffner and Drahotta then buttoned off in the last 50m, their work done. New Zealand, Germany and Greece advance to the finals.

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) – Semifinals

This event looks to have a new dominating double. Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins of Great Britain haven’t lost a race since they came together at the start of the season and today they led semifinal one from start to finish. Grainger is Great Britain’s most medalled female rower and at Lucerne, along with Watkins the duo are also racing in the quad as they have done all season. Behind the British, Stesha Carle and Kathleen Bertko of the United States held onto second spot over silver medallists from last month’s Rowing World Cup, Lenka and Jitka Antosova of the Czech Republic.

This order remained the same until the line with Watkins and Grainger crossing at a cruising 33 stroke rate while the United States held a higher 36 to retain second. Great Britain, the United States and the Czech Republic are in the final.

Although at the start of the season this combination was not what the selectors chose, it looks to be a late, but good, choice. Australia’s Sally Kehoe and Kim Crow came together after Crow’s partner got injured. Kehoe was originally Australia’s single sculler for the season. Today they won the second semi-final after overtaking Germany’s Annekatrin Thiele and Stephanie Schiller near the start. The Germans held on to Kehoe and Crow through the first half of the race then let them slip away. Instead, Germany had to deal with the second United States crew of Megan Kalmoe and Margot Shumway. Kalmoe and Shumway challenged Germany for the entire race but the Germans managed to just stay ahead with a big 38 stroke rate sprint to the line. The Germans looked like they had worked the hardest at the line. Australia, Germany and United States Two advance to tomorrow’s A-final.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) – Semifinals

There were three boats practically on top of each other at the start of Semi-final one. New Zealand World Champions, Storm Uru and Peter Taylor had a slight advantage over Canada’s Douglas Vandor and Cameron Sylvester with Fangbing Zhang and Tiexin Wang of China less than a second back. With Uru and Taylor holding a slight leaders advantage, Canada and China went neck and neck through the body of the race. As the wind started to turn to a bit of a headwind, China put in a big sprint. New Zealand, at a controlled 33 remained in front with China earning second over Canada. New Zealand, China and Canada qualify for tomorrow’s final. All three leading crews looked together and fresh as they paddled away from the finish line.

Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter of Great Britain won at the Olympics in 2008. Then both of them took a year off, Hunter to coach in the United States and Purchase to recover from injury. Back racing this season they won the second Rowing World Cup last month and today they set themselves up for another finals win by winning Semifinal two in the fastest qualifying time. Purchase and Hunter got out in front at the start with Germany, Portugal, Italy and Greece tracking each other stroke for stroke. Then going through the middle of the race Germany’s Linus Lichtschlag and Lars Hartig managed to get a bit ahead of Elia Luini and Lorenze Bertini of Italy. The Italians fought back and in the process moved closer to Purchase and Hunter. Coming into the line Purchase and Hunter did a quick 40 stroke rate piece before cruising in the final metres of the race. Italy, on 30 take second ahead of Germany who looked to be cruising coming into the finish line. Great Britain, Italy and Germany are in the A final.

Men’s Four (M4-) – Semifinals

Semifinal one opened what looked like a humdinger of a race with the entire fleet of six boats remaining overlapping through the first 500m. Then World Champions, Great Britain moved into the lead. Behind them France and New Zealand remained neck-and-neck. This tight tussle saw France and New Zealand swap positions several times while Great Britain moved away at the front of the field. No one was conceding an inch behind the leading Brits. New Zealand is at their second international regatta this season and the four finished fifth at the Munich Rowing World Cup. As the line came into view Great Britain was working but were in control, New Zealand got the advantage over France and Germany just missed out on qualifying. Great Britain, New Zealand 1 and France advance to the finals tomorrow.

In the slower of the two semis, Semifinal two saw the lead change several times as crews tussled with each other over the 2000m Rotsee Regatta Course. The United States, who medalled at the Munich Rowing World Cup, led at the start before New Zealand’s number two crew took over in the lead. New Zealand joined their two fours together at the Henley Royal Regatta last week and managed to get through to the final where they were beaten by World Champions in the eight, Germany. Today New Zealand remained in the lead through the middle of the race with the United States now fighting for second with the world silver medallists, Australia. A huge sprint by Ryan, Marburg, McKenzie McHarg and Hegerty of Australia gave them the win at the line, but only just over New Zealand. Australia, New Zealand Two and the United States earn a spot in tomorrow’s final.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – Semifinals

Hester Goodsell and Sophie Hosking of Great Britain are heading towards being the country’s most successful lightweight women ever. Today they turned their minds towards a second gold for the season by advancing to the final through Semi-final One. Goodsell and Hosking left the starters hands at the same pace as Poland’s Magdalena Kemnitz and Agnieszka Renc and Jo Hammond and Evi Geentjens of Belgium. This remained the tight three through the first half of the race with no one able to call a break. Then Belgium took over in the lead. Hammond and Geentjens didn’t look completely in time but it did not seem to matter as they were moving their boat the quickest. Then Goodsell and Hosking came into their own and took out first at the line as conditions moved to slight tail wind conditions. Great Britain, Belgium and Poland are in the final.

In the second semi-final Daniela Reimer and Anja Noske of Germany stamped their name all over a favourable spot in the final by leading from start to finish. Reimer and Noske managed this but not with much comfort. Throughout the race Triantafyllia Kalampoka and Christina Giazitzidou of Greece tracked them with every single stroke. Using an almost identical pace Greece remained just a canvas down on Germany for the entire 2000m partly caused by the pressure coming from Canada and Australia.

Coming into the final sprint Greece charged at a 39 stroke rate. Germany upped their rating to 36 to stay in front and the long strokes of the Australians brought them through to third. Australia looked relieved. Canada appeared distraught. They had not made the final, and only by a whisker. Germany, Greece and Australia advance to tomorrow’s final.

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – Semifinals

The first semi-final saw the French (Cedric Berrest and Julien Bahain) lead from start to finish. This duo is getting a reputation for racing their best when in front but sometimes losing it when strongly challenged. Yesterday they finished second in the quarter-final against Great Britain who they had beaten at last week’s Henley Royal Regatta. Today Berrest and Bahain moved on to the final in style by outpacing Allar Raja and Kaspar Taimsoo of Estonia. Both crews looked pretty relaxed as they came into the final sprint, France rating a comfortable 33 stroke rate. Petr Vitasek and David Jirka of the Czech Republic followed in third. Unlucky Norway, who won their quarter-final yesterday, could only manage fourth looking tired in this semi, and they will have to race in the B-final. France, Estonia and the Czech Republic are in the A-final.

Great Britain’s ‘Red Express’ of redheads Matthew Wells and Marcus Bateman recorded the fastest qualifying time in yesterday’s quarter-final and today they were the fastest qualifier after winning Semi-final Two. But Wells and Bateman did not get to cruise it. Behind them New Zealand’s Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan as well as Switzerland’s Andre Vonarburg and Florian Stofer, absolutely held on to the British pace. Coming into the final sprint only one second separated the top three crews. The sprint was on. New Zealand looked strong, Great Britain rated 35, Switzerland enjoyed the cheers for them from the crowd. Great Britain, New Zealand and Switzerland are in the final.

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-) – Semifinals

Throughout this season a Great Britain – Danish battle has been unfolding. They met today in Semi-final One. At the start Denmark’s Joergensen, Winther, Vilhelmsen and Pedersen had the lead with Great Britain and Switzerland both right on the pace. Going into the middle of the race there was absolutely nothing between these three crews with Great Britain now owning a slight lead. Then in the third 500m Switzerland did a huge piece and got their nose in front as Denmark started to slightly slip back.

Coming into the final sprint Denmark laid everything on the line and pushed ahead of Switzerland while Great Britain clawed their way into the lead. A point goes to Great Britain in their score card against Denmark. Great Britain, Denmark and a very happy Swiss crew move to the final.

Despite the tight tussle in semi-final one, Semi-final Two recorded the faster time when a four-boat charge led to a photo finish at the line. The race opened with just a couple of seconds separating the entire field. Then Serbia, Italy and Germany took over as toe leading boats while Australia sat on the edge and the Netherlands and Japan slipped back. The Italian crew of Jiri Vlcek, Daniele Danesin, Andrea Caianiello and Martino Goretti finished third when they raced at the first Rowing World Cup this season in Bled. They then went away to continue training and missed the second Rowing World Cup. As this race came into the final 500m a huge sprint began between five crews: Germany, Australia, the Netherlands, Serbia and Italy. Ratings went high. The finish line came into view. A photo finish was called. All crews sat waiting. Italy, Serbia and the Netherlands had done it. These three crews are in tomorrow’s final.

Racing was then suspended for 90 minutes as a buoy lane needed to be fixed.

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – Semifinals

Another mishap today meant that Semifinal 1 of the women’s single sculls was postponed to after the men’s eight race due to damage to the Belarus boat in the start area.

Ekaterina Karsten-Khodotovitch (BLR) is a multi World and Olympic medallist. As was expected, she finished first. But she did not completely dominate. Julia Levina of Russia and Donata Vistartaite of Lithuania kept the pressure on and followed closely. At the line, Karsten finished only two seconds ahead of Levina, with Vistartaite in third.
Frida Svensson of Sweden jumped out of the start blocks and took the lead, ahead of Canada’s Isolda Penney and Great Britain’s Debbie Flood who were going neck and neck. At the 1000m mark Svensson had the highest stroke rate at 37, but despite a lower stroke rate Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic was moving up the ranks and with three quarters of the race to go, she was in first, with Svensson and Penney nearly level. Debbie Flood had fallen slightly off the pace.  In the final sprint, Svensson edged up the field, closing Knapkova’s boat length’s lead. At the line, Knapkova finished half a boat length ahead of Svensson, and in a sprint for the line, Britain’s Flood overtook Canada to take the third and final qualifying spot.

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) – Semifinals

World Champion Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand and the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Synek lined up in Semifinal One of the men’s single sculls. Drysdale had so far not been racing internationally this season due to injury, and Synek won both initial stages of the Rowing World Cup. Olympic Champion Olaf Tufte lined up in Lane 2. With a bronze in Munich, Tufte would be aiming to medal again. At the line, these three scullers confirmed their supremacy: with Synek continuing in his winning ways and Drysdale and Tufte finishing in a near photo finish in second and third respectively.

Great Britain’s Alan Campbell took the lead at the start, but the field stayed tight, very tight. Not even one second separated the top scullers at the head of the field. Sweden was there with Lassi Karonen aiming for his third final of the season, and Canada was there too with Olympic Champion from the eight Malcolm Howard. At the line, Alan Campbell had done it, but Canada’s Malcolm Howard and Sweden’s Lassi Karonen were just one second behind in second and third.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x) – Semifinals

Two delays caused this event to be raced early Sunday morning rather than on the scheduled Saturday semis day. Firstly, semifinal one was half way through the race when a buoy line broke free causing the race to be stopped. Then a freak storm delayed racing again.

Today the men’s quadruple sculls finally got a chance to race their semifinal. They raced to get into Sunday afternoon’s final. Germany finished second at last month’s Rowing World Cup and today they overtook Russia to take over the leading spot in semifinal one. Russia held on to Germany until the middle of the race before starting to slip back in the second 1000m – a habit of a number of Russian boats. This gave the British the incentive they needed as they closed in on the Russians. Coming into the finish Germany and Great Britain were both rating 37 and moving away from Russia. These are the three qualifying boats who will race again this afternoon in the A-final.

Semifinal Two was the faster race with World Cup leaders Croatia setting the pace. Sain, Martin and the Sinkovic brothers have become the new force in quads this year and although chased hard by Ukraine and Australia, Croatia remained just in front. Meanwhile World Champions Poland struggled with the United States back in fourth. The US have had a rough time at this regatta. Along with the delays in this race they had a tree land on their quad during yesterday’s storm. They were still able to row their boat today. Coming into the line Croatia and Australia both rated 39 in a big push to the line. Both crews qualify for the A-final along with Ukraine.

Poland are out of the A-final in a season that has seen them slip further and further off the pace. There is talk in the Polish press that this crew will not try to defend their title at the 2010 World Rowing Championships later this year.