Tactics and upsets at Rowing World Cup II

Home of the 2009 World Rowing Championships, Poznan put football to one side to focus on a day of 61 races.  A slight tail wind that varied in pressure race to race meant that times across heats were hard to compare.

Lightweight Women Single Scull (LW1x) – Heats

First, second and third would advance to the semifinal with heat one going to Germany’s Berit Carow who is part of the strong German lightweight squad all vying for the double. Carow went head to head with Katrin Olsen of Denmark with Laura Ralston of Great Britain right behind in third. They all advance to the semi.

China’s Hua Yu sorted her position out by the half-way point avoiding a big sprint at the finish with Austria’s Michaela Taupe, in her fifteenth international season, back in second. Yu comes into the single after finishing first at the Rowing World Cup in Munich in the lightweight double and the C Final of the single. In Poznan Yu is focusing solely on the single.

But the fastest qualifying time was in heat three with Clemence Willaume, 20, and Coralie Ribeil, 19, both of France, having a national team battle at the head of the field. Willaume got the edge by choosing to sprint to the finish with Norway’s Hilde Gudem also qualifying.

Lightweight Men’s Single Scull (LM1x) – Heats

Tim Male of Great Britain steamed ahead in heat one after overtaking two French entries and then cruising home in a comfortable 25 strokes per minute pace. Male competed at the Athens Olympics in the lightweight four but since then has been back sculling under the colours of Britain’s Tideway Scullers, the home of Munich heavyweight winner, Alan Campbell. Male moves on to the semifinal.

Italy’s Stefano Basalini sits on the list of top 10 rowers for 2005 with four World Champion titles, but the Olympics still elude him. He started off the season in the double with Leonardo Pettinari, but is back in the single with a small group of three Italians competing at Poznan. Basalini made easy work of heat two and heads directly to the semifinal.

Women’s Single Scull (W1x) – Heats

Munich all over again? Seeding put the top three rowers in each of the three heats. Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus led the way in heat one and easily dominated the field, gliding home in a casual 25 stroke rate practicing a strong second half of her lengthy drive. Julia Michalska of Poland and Julia Heitmann of Germany also qualify for the final.

Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic got out ahead of her nearest threat Germany’s Peggy Waleska and controlled the race in Karsten style. Process-style racing then had Nataliya Guba of Ukraine, back after a post-Athens break, in third.

Third in Munich, France’s Sophie Balmary was not happy with her placing and is hoping to do better at this second Rowing World Cup. Six foot tall Balmary is the current record holder on the indoor rowing machine and today she got ahead of Frida Svensson of Sweden retaining a solid pace and holding 30 strokes per minute at the end and recording the fastest qualifying time. Svensson and Maira Gonzalez Borroto of Cuba also qualify for the semifinal.

Men’s Single Scull (M1x) – Heats

Twenty-four entries from 18 countries in four heats with only place one advancing to the final opened with Alan Campbell of Great Britain. Campbell has been the flavour of the month in Britain and his Northern Ireland home town of Coleraine, ever since winning gold at the Munich Rowing World Cup at the end of May. Today Campbell continued on his winning ways and in heat one also clocked the fastest qualifying time to go directly to the semifinals.

Heat two had the first appearance of New Zealand this season with Mahe Drysdale following Campbell’s style and taking the lead then controlling from the front. Finishing on what looked like a comfortable 30 strokes per minute, Drysdale checked his stroke coach after crossing the line ahead of Austria and rowed into the cool down zone.

Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic burst onto the singles scene last year by winning two of the three Rowing World Cups, but this season he has not been so dominating. Today he got off to a fast start in heat three before being reeled in by Germany’s Marcel Hacker. Hacker’s 2005 season did not go so well, but he looked to have made a turnaround last month at the Munich Rowing World Cup. Synek has proven to do best when leading, but with Hacker overtaking, Synek will have to qualify now through the repechage.

In heat four Norway’s Olaf Tufte was seeded in the top lane and that’s the way he rowed. Olympic Champion Tufte missed out on a medal at Munich where he suffered from allergies. But his nose must be clearer here in Poland and he stayed ahead of friend and occasional training partner, Lassi Karonen of Sweden. Tufte now goes directly to the semifinal.

Women’s Pair (W2-) – Heats

The power of Australia’s women’s eight showed its face with the crew breaking down into pairs and racing in each of the three heats. Australia competed at the first Rowing World Cup in Munich and then went to their European training centre in Varese, Italy. The extra time in Europe must have done them well as they qualified three of their four entries.

Heat one opened with the German combination of Nicole Zimmermann and Elke Hipler leading the way over Australia 2, Amber Bradley and Kate Hornsey. The order remained the same with both boats qualifying for the semifinal.

Germany did it again in heat two with the reshuffled German combination of Maren Derlien and Chistina Gerking leading from the start. They were followed by Australia’s Emily Martin and Sarah Heard, back to put the Munich boat flipping incident behind them. The accomplished Martin is on the 2005 top 10 list of rowers and has international experience dating back to 1998. But making for one of the closest races of the morning, a late sprint by the Netherlands pushed the pace. The Dutch, however, looked to run out of steam and will return for the repechage.

The big upset came in heat three when a slow start by World Champions Nicky Coles and Juliette Haigh of New Zealand put them back in third with Australia 3, Sarah Cook and first-year rower, ex-track star, Kim Crow, leading the way. Coles and Haigh soon pushed through to second and went after Crow and Cook. They couldn’t close the gap despite a 37 up to 40 stroke rate sprint at the end. Both crews qualify for the semifinal.

Men’s Pair (M2-) – Heats

The formula in these three heats was a top three finish to advance directly to the semifinal and World Champions Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater opened proceedings in heat one. But the New Zealand duo didn’t have it all their own way having to overtake a fast-starting Slovenia to take the lead. Behind them, Germany’s number three crew kept the New Zealanders in check and in the final 200 metres Twaddle and Bridgewater pushed the rate up from 34 to 39 to cross the line ahead of Philipp Naruhn, 22, and Florian Eichner, 20, of Germany, both in their first year as senior rowers, with Slovenia also qualifying.

Racing internationally for the first time since winning this event at the Athens Olympics, 31-year-old Drew Ginn of Australia showed that he still has what it takes. Teamed up with Australia’s Duncan Free, who’s better known for his sculling abilities, the duo looked together with long flowing strokes. Ginn and Free, in heat two, kept Yongquiang Zhang and Xiangdang Wang of China in check. Wang and Zhang had a very strong showing in Munich and they held on to second pulling out a 42-stroke rate sprint at the end over Australia’s 28-stroke rate. Germany also qualify from third.

Germany added another boat to the semifinal line-up by winning heat three over Munich winners, Goran Jagar and Nikola Stojic of Serbia & Montenegro. Jochen Urban and Andreas Penkner of Germany come out of the eight to race in the pair and they look to be a solid combination. Stojic and Jagar did not contend the final sprint, dropping their rating to 28 to stay just ahead of fellow countrymen Goran Todorovic and Jovan Popovic who also qualify for the semifinal. 

Women’s Double (W2x) – Heats

Coming out of the quad and into the double Australia’s Dana Faletic and Sally Kehoe led the way in heat one of three heats, but not without a struggle. Sticking to Faletic and Kehoe like glue were Munich winners Annie Vernon and Anna Bebington of Great Britain. Despite both boats being easily in the two qualifying spots, they continued an Australian versus Great Britain battle right to the line with Kehoe getting up to a 37 rating and Bebington to 38. Both boats go directly to the semifinal.

The other half of Australia’s quad showed up in heat two. Catriona Sens and Sonia Mills came off their training camp in Varese, Italy and found themselves going head to head with Qin Li and Liang Tian of China. This is Li’s first international season and, with Tian they look to have made big improvements from the B Final finish at Munich when Li was partnered with partner Yulan Gao. A more solid sprint by China gave them the edge over Australia at the finish and both boats will go directly to the semifinal.

Going for their fourth World Champion title in the double this season, the current World and Olympic Champions, Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell of New Zealand got out at the start in heat three over Yana Dementieva and Natalia Ryzhkova of Ukraine. Dementieva and Natalia come to the double after spending last season in the quad, with Dementieva also having raced at the Athens Olympics in the ill-fated disqualified quad. But at the front of the field, New Zealand demonstrated a very solid middle 1,000 of the race and choosing to stay at a firm 32-stroke rate. Both boats move on to the semifinal.

Men’s Double (M2x) – Heats

They finished second at Sydney and Athens, then won last year at the 2005 World Rowing Championships. Slovenia’s most accomplished rowers ever, Iztok Cop and Luka Spik are back in the double again. The independent Cop chose not to compete in the single at Munich, leaving Spik to do it alone for his country. Today they led heat one over China. With two boats to qualify Slovenia chose a steady 31 stroke rate to close the race. China and Slovenia move on to the semifinal.

Great Britain’s Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham got out of the starting blocks first in heat two and never looked back. But they did have to look sideways as pacing them from one lane over, Jean-Baptiste Macquet and Olympic Champion Adrien Hardy of France have become the chosen double for their country after having the best showing of all the French doubles at Munich (third). The pacing continued between these two leading crews to the finish and both crews go on to the semifinal.

Going back to their original World Champion coach (from 2001) Akos Haller and Tibor Peto of Hungary look to have made the right choice. They set the benchmark at Munich by finishing second and today they made a step closer to a Beijing medal by winning heat three. This left Poland and Sweden to fight it out for second and final qualifying spot. Marcin Brzezinski and Michal Sloma of Poland pleased the holidaying home crowd by being the boat. Sweden will return for the repechage.

Rene Bertram and Robert Sens of Germany are establishing themselves as the crew to beat. They won last month in Munich and took the lead in heat four over Estonia. Tonu Endrekson and Andrei Jaemsae come to the double after winning bronze last year in the quad and they stayed well ahead of Korea in third. Germany and Estonia advance to the final.

Men’s Four (M4-) – Heats

Two heats with a ruthless first place finish necessary for a direct path to the final set heat one off at a fast pace. An early lead was soon swallowed up when Ireland showed the strength of their middle 1,000. But that strength couldn’t hold them at the end when a charging New Zealand crew, stroked by Eric Murray took command. Ireland had no answer to Murray’s 39 stroke rate sprint. Coach Chris Nilsson knew about that speed after falling off his bike trying to keep up with his crew in training yesterday. New Zealand moves directly to the final. Meanwhile a reshuffle of Germany’s silver medal Munich four doesn’t look to be paying off. They finished in fourth after battling with Poland.

Coach Juergen Grobler playing around with the order in the boat doesn’t seem to have slowed the British. The current World Champions have kept Andy Hodge in stroke but shuffled the rest of the crew and within a few strokes of the start the British had found the lead. That’s where they remained. No other crew could get even within striking distance of the British crew that have gone undefeated since they came together at the start of 2005. Hodge and his crew go directly to the final to find out what New Zealand can throw at them.  

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – Heats

Three Chinese boats made the final in Munich, one got the gold. The lineups have been shuffled around and in heat one Munich winner, Dongxiang Xu has teamed up with Shimin Yan. Together they led the field over current World Champions, Germany’s Marie-Louise Draeger and Daniela Reimer with Poland back in third. The order remained the same through the entire race. Xu and Yan go directly to the final.

A clean sweep for China. In heat two the Chinese again dominated with 15-year-old Xuefei Fan and partner Haixia Chen taking the lead right from the start. Despite a fast start, China’s number one crew couldn’t sustain the pace and slipped further and further back, leaving Great Britain to try and chase the Chinese. But despite getting their rating up to 36 the British couldn’t catch Fan and Chen who move on to the final.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) – Heats

After racing in singles at Munich, France has had to withdraw due to gastro-intestinal symptoms. This caused a reshuffle of the three heats. Still, seeded in the middle lane of heat one were Munich winners Marcello Miani and Elia Luini of Italy. Luini set the World Best Time in this event with former partner Leonardo Pettinari and the partnership with 22-year-old Miani seems to be working well. But moving with the Italians, Mark Hunter and James Lindsay-Fynn were showing what the British could do. The Italians held them off. Both crews will advance to the semifinal.

Denmark’s Mads Rasumssen and Rasmus Quist must have wondered what was going on in heat two. Taking off at the start they already had an open water lead by the first 500 metres. This lead continued to grow into a gaping yawn as Jose Czcy and Juan Abadie of Argentina tussled with Hong Kong and Finland to hold on to second. A 37 stroke rate sprint by Argentina helped them retain the qualifying spot. Denmark and Argentina move on to the semifinal.

The third heat opened with Australia’s Tom Gibson and Sam Beltz going head to head with Czech brothers Jan and Ondrej Vetesnik. Everything seemed to be going fine and on track for qualification for these two front runners as the last 500 metres came into view. Then everything changed. Coming back from a mediocre start Cuba’s Yunior Perez and Eyder Batista let it rip. Australia and the Czech Republic were under threat. Both raised their ratings to 38 with Cuba charging down the outside on 39. The sprint of the day must go to Perez, back internationally after a four-year break, and Batista, brand new to the international scene. A photo finish gave Australia and Cuba the two qualifying spots.

Noticeable in their absence, France’s Olympic silver medallist Frederic Dufour and partner Fabrice Moreau had to scratch after gastro-intestinal symptoms cancelled their chances.

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-) – Heats

Gastro-intestinal symptoms also affected two French entries in the lightweight four causing a reshuffling of heats and denying the crowd a chance to see the return of Sydney gold medallist Xavier Dorfman. Down to two heats the job of winning heat one was left up to Ireland. The silver medallists from Munich, Ireland, were up against Munich bronze medallists Australia who have swapped Tim O’Callaghan into the boat.

Ireland got the edge at the start and with just one boat to qualify directly for the final, this is the position they aimed to hold. And they did. Keeping a consistent three seconds ahead of the Australians, Paul Griffin and his Irish crew finished first.

Heat two saw a three way battle between Munich winners Germany, and unlucky fourth at Munich Great Britain as well as newcomers Egypt. For the first half of the race there was nothing in it. Then Egypt dropped back a bit leaving Great Britain and Germany to tussle. But in the final sprint Egypt came back. Great Britain, however, managed to hold on to first and qualify for the final with Germany and Egypt ending in a photo finish, but they will have to return for the repechage.

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x) – Heats

Racing the double earlier today didn’t seem to affect Australia. They took off at the front of heat one and despite having a close battle with the newly formed first appearance of Germany, the Australians, rating just one beat higher than the Germans, got to the line first to qualify directly for the final.

China caused one of the biggest upsets of the day in heat two. Sitting next to them were the World Champions Great Britain. Stroked by Britain’s most medalled female Olympic rower, Katherine Grainger, the British took off in the lead. But only just. China, with Guixin Feng in her second international season, in stroke seat, stuck to the British and wouldn’t relent. The lead flip-flopped several times. The final 200 metres came into view. Great Britain got up to 38 strokes. China was at 40. They crossed the line together. Great Britain looked across at their competitors. China had won. The Chinese go directly to the final.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x) – Heats

Poland got their first win of the day when the World Champion quad displayed controlled rowing in heat one. Stroked by Adam Korol with Michal Jelinski, Marek Kolbowicz and Konrad Wasielewski forming the team, the Poles left the start first, opened up a gap over Belarus and kept some clear water distance. Poland qualify for the final.

Winners at Munich, the Czech Republic followed Poland’s tactics and had found the lead within the first 500 metres. But France had other ideas. Through the middle of the race the French held onto a slim lead. But they couldn’t match a push by the Czechs. Then Ukraine started to charge. Again France couldn’t answer. At the line the Czechs become the qualifying boat with Ukraine and France missing out and having to return for the second-chance repechage. Poland and the Czech Republic will meet for the first time this season in the final on Saturday.

Women’s Eight (W8+) – Heats

The large field of women’s eights opened with Romania, in heat one, getting off the line first and holding onto a margin over Great Britain. Maintaining a steady 35 stroke rating through the body of the race, Romania allowed the British to get close and overlapping, but not too close. With just one boat qualifying directly for the final, Great Britain will have to return for the repechage.

The only person fresh and un-raced today in Australia’s boat in heat two was the coxswain, Lizzy Patrick. China made the most of this and took off at the start in the lead with Australia (third in Munich but current World Champions) back in fourth. But the Australians soon got used to the transition from pair to eight and started to find their pace moving past New Zealand, then past Belarus and finally taking on China in the lead. China held on, but the charging Australians had found another gear and despite China getting their rating up to 42, Australia, on 38, crossed the line first to go directly to the final.

Men’s Eight (M8+) – Heats

This event started off with 108 competitors. Illness knocked out the French. This left 11 crews to race in two heats with the winner only going directly to the final. The first upset came in heat one when Belarus took off at the head of the field. The Belarusians haven’t been very successful in recent years in the eight but maybe they have found a secret weapon. Sitting in the coxswain seat is 48-year-old Piotr Piatrynich. One hundred and sixty centimeter tall Piatrynich came onto the international scene, again, at the age of 47 and in his second season he must be having a fine influence.

At the line Belarus, rating 38, had a handy lead over Great Britain, also rating 38, in second. Belarus go directly to the final.

The second heat saw Munich bronze medallists Australia reshuffling their crew with the four to create an eight that led the field from start to finish. This shattered the high hopes for Poland who could do nothing but hold onto second. Australia goes directly to the final.