New best time set by China at Rowing World Champs
Tail wind conditions, bumpy water and a mixture of rain
and sun was the weather formula for the second day of heats
racing at the 2006 World Rowing Championships in Eton, Great
Britain. The Chinese pulled off an upset by beating World
Cup leaders Ireland in the lightweight men’s four. They
also surprised by setting a new World Best Time in the lightweight
women’s quad. Read on for reports of today’s racing.
Lightweight Men’s Pair (LM2-) – Heats
Great Britain’s Chris Bartley and Richard Chambers have
been together ever since they won silver last year as under
23s in the four. This season they go unbeaten with a Rowing
World Cup win and champions in the pair at the Under 23 Championships.
Today they got off to a solid senior start by leading heat
one over Italy. With three boats qualifying Italy’s
Andrea Caianiello and the very experienced (nine international
medals) Salvatore Di Somma held on to second with Japan’s
Kazuhiro Takahashi and Yuta Hamada sprinting from the back
of the field to take the third qualifying spot through their
awesome sprint finish.
Heat two was led by Australia’s duo of Tim Smith and
Olympian Cameron Wurf but with strong challenges coming from
Spain’s Juan Manuel Florido Pellon and Jesus Gonzalez
Alvarez. Smith and Wurf held on to first with United States
way back in third also qualifying.
Heat three featured Germany’s Felix Otto and Ole Rueckbrodt
who have medalled at every international race they’ve
been in since 2003 with their sites set on the Olympic lightweight
four boat. The duo got out in front and left Russia and France
to battle it out for second. A better second half by Russia
gave them the second spot with all three crews qualifying.
Lightweight Women’s Quadruple Sculls (LW4x)
– Heats
Often underrepresented as an event due to it not being part
of the Olympic programme, the lightweight women’s quad
this year is represented by seven countries and there was
no doubt about the quality as China took heat one by the scruff
of its neck and set a new World Best Time. China did it by
getting out at the start with a 42 stroke rate, maintaining
40 through the 250 metre mark and still at a 38 at the 500
metre mark. They kept the rating high, moved to an open water
lead over Denmark and take the only qualifying spot.
Hua Yu, Haixia Chen, Xuefei Fan and Jing Liu become the new
best time holders removing a reference time by Australia that
has stood since Seville 2002.
Heat two was not so quick. Great Britain took the lead and
held off an early challenge from the United States, but then
pushed away to qualify with an open water lead. Surprisingly,
last year’s champions, Canada sat off the pace and back
in third with two from the same crew that won in 2005.
Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – Heats
A well represented 23 countries lined up in four heats with
one boat from each heat going directly to the semi-final.
Poland’s Magdalena Kemnitz and Ilona Mokronowska led
the way. Kemnitz is a gritty competitor and has been a finalist
in every international race she’s been in, including
the 2004 Olympic Games. The older Mokronowska is in her 14th
year of international competition and is aiming for her third
Olympics – Beijing. The duo kept a comfortable lead
over Finland and Greece and will move on to the semi-final.
After an initial lead by Spain in heat two, Australia’s
Marguerite Houston and Amber Halliday took to the head of
the field with Canada in hot pursuit. Halliday and Houston
last raced Canada at the Lucerne Rowing World Cup in July
and at this race Canada won with the Australians back in fifth.
More time in Europe (at their Italian training camp in Varese)
must have worked for Australia as they shook off Canada and
kept ahead of Spain to take the only qualifying spot. Australia
rowed away on their cool down row rating a low 14 strokes
per minute as they passed the many Australian supporters in
the grandstand.
They’ve come through the season looking in top form
with bow Dongxiang Xu proving to be one of the best lightweights
in the world. China are the new force in lightweight women’s
rowing and today partnered with Shimin Yan, they had heat
three well in their control and, unlike their quad counterparts,
Xu and Yan settled into a lower rating comfortable 33. This
left Great Britain and reigning World Champions Germany, to
tussle with each other for second. At the line Xu and Yan
had gone below seven minutes and earned a spot in the semi-final.
The Unites States most stable combination, Renee Hykel and
Julia Nichols have been partnered since 2005 and took silver
last year at the World Rowing Championships. Today they grabbed
hold of heat four and took ownership of the lead with a dominating
35 stroke rate. Ireland tried to hold the pace but the Americans
countered every move that Ireland threw at them. At the line
Ireland had closed the gap but it’s Hykel and Nichols
that will move on to the semi-final.
Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) –
Heats
The biggest event of these World Rowing Championships, 28
countries, 56 athletes lined up in six heats with the top
two advancing to the semi-final. Olympic Champions from Poland,
Tomasz Kucharski and Robert Sycz took an early lead in heat
one with France’s Fabrice Moreau and Frederic Dufour
holding the pace. Dufour finished second to the Polish at
the 2004 Olympics and this is the first time he’s raced
the champion duo since.
Kucharski missed last year’s world champs due to injury
and he has kept a low profile this season, but today they
looked back on form despite letting France slip through to
first by the 500 metre mark. These two crews completely outclassed
the rest of the field with France remaining in the lead and
Poland settling into a comfortable 30 stroke rate. Both crews
move on to the semi-final.
Winners of two Rowing World Cups this season Italy’s
four-time World Champion Elia Luini and the younger Marcello
Miani overtook Russia to get in front of the second heat.
Settling into a 34 stroke rate pace, Luini and Miani kept
a close eye on both Russia and Austria. A very consistent
race gave Italy first with Austria’s Juliusz Madecki
and Sebastian Sageder overtaking Russia to take the second
qualifying spot.
Last year’s single champion Vasileios Polymeros of
Greece has teamed up with Dimitrios Mougios in the double
this year and with every race they appear to be improving.
Today they conducted a very close battle with Japan’s
Takahiro Suda and Daisaku Takeda. But the Greeks managed to
get the better of the Japanese in the final sprint. Meanwhile,
Canada did their best to come back from a slow second 500
and nearly did it, but a crab just before the finish line
cut their sprint short. Greece and Japan qualify.
Heat four was dominated by Australia’s Sam Beltz and
Tom Gibson. This duo competed at two Rowing World Cups this
season finishing just outside the medals in fourth. Today
they were drawn in the same heat as reigning World Champions,
Zsolt Hirling and Tamas Varga of Hungary, but managed to stay
ahead of the champion duo. Both boats were forced into a final
sprint by a flying Chile, but it’s Australia and Hungary
who will qualify for the semi-final.
Up until heat five finishing times had been around 6:22 for
the 2000 metre race. Denmark’s Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus
Hansen blew this time away despite completely outclassing
the entire field and rating a reasonably comfortable 34 stroke
rate for the body of the race. Rasmussen and Quist finished
with a time of 6:14.55 – less than four seconds outside
the World Best Time. Were they relishing in the rain that
had just started to fall? Meanwhile, Slovakia’s Maros
Sloboda and Lubos Podstupka were unchallenged in their second
qualifying place and rated a comfortable 27 stroke rate.
Heat six opened with a close tussle between Great Britain’s
James Lindsay-Fynn and Mark Hunter and Germany’s Joerg
Lehnigk and Manuel Brehmer going head to head. This moved
the two countries clean ahead of the rest of the field with
the Germans seeming to be satisfied with second after the
initial tight racing. Great Britain take first and Germany,
now rating 27, qualify from second.
Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-) – Heats
Four heats began with the Germans overtaking a fast starting
United States to take the lead. But the margins were close
and even going through the half way point less than three
seconds separated the top five crews. Margins remained minimal
as the last 500 metres came into sight with Germany just in
front, Canada and South Africa neck and neck for second and
the United States just a fraction back. The sprint was on.
Finishing in a photo finish between Germany and Canada, Germany
earned the only qualifying spot that takes them through to
the semi-final.
Australia grabbed hold of heat two and let the Netherlands
do the chasing. The Dutch chased hard using the same 37 stroke
rate as the Australians in the final sprint, but Australia
just held them off and will move on to the semi-final.
The reigning World Champions, France wanted to stamp some
authority on their race – heat three. They did this
by leading from the start, shaking off an early challenge
by Russia and then fighting with a gutsy performance by the
unseeded Italians. Sitting in three seat of the Italian boat,
the very talented Leonardo Pettinari tried his best to bring
his crew to the front, but France held them off. France moves
on to the semi-final.
One of the biggest upsets of the day came in heat four when
last year’s silver medallists and winner of the final
two Rowing World Cups, Ireland found themselves in the unfamiliar
second position. What was more surprising was that the boat
in the lead was China. China has come out of nowhere racing
for the first time internationally in this lineup here at
the World Rowing Championships. Stroke Jun Tian raced at two
Rowing World Cups finishing in the A Final and today he took
his crew down the course at a rapid 38 stroke rate. The Irish
couldn’t hold them and China advances to the semi-final.
Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x) – Heats
Germany had a tight grasp on this race for years, but since
their silver medal finish in 2005, their grasp has loosened
and it appears that this year the double has become the priority
boat. This gave Australia a chance to take the lead in the
first of two heats and, despite a close challenge from Germany,
Australia held on to the lead. Australia advances directly
to the final.
In an almost upset finish, reigning World Champions, Great
Britain found themselves in the unusual position of second
place. Sitting in front was Russia stroked by the very accomplished
Irina Fedotova. Fedotova and her crew finished third in this
event last year and they were not happy with this result.
But the leading Russian margin was small and Great Britain
held on tightly. It was going to be decided in the final sprint.
Stroking two beats higher, Great Britain managed to take the
lead in the last 20 metres to move on directly to the final.
Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x) – Heats
The first of three heats opened with an incredibly tight two
way battle between Italy and the United States. The US had
already indicated their boat speed by finishing third at the
final Rowing World Cup beating Italy on this occasion. But
the Italians have found another gear and were sticking to
the Americans like glue. In the final sprint Italy and the
United States ended in a photo finish. The lower rating Italians
had come out on top. With three boats qualifying the United
States in second earns a spot in the semi-final as does France,
also on the pace, in third.
Similar to heat one, heat two had two crews, Poland and Russia,
pacing each other at the head of the field. Poland are the
current World Champions and Russia the current Olympic Champions
and by the half way point these two crews looked comfortable
and content to sit on a 36 rating. Australia followed in third
pulling out a 41 stroke rate sprint to close on the leaders
at the finish. All three crews advance to the semi-final.
It was all surprises in the final heat with Estonia the shock
leader and the recorder of the fastest qualifying time. They
did this by rating a solid 37 through the body of the race
and staying just ahead of Ukraine in second. More surprisingly
the Czech Republic, featuring legendary rower Vaclav Chalupa,
sat back in third. But this was enough to qualify. Estonia,
Ukraine and the Czech Republic advance to the semi-final with
the best qualifying times.
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