Campbell grabs second chance at the World Rowing Champs
Perfect conditions greeted athletes at the Dorney Lake rowing
course in Eton, Great Britain. Today, the first day of repechages
for the 2006 World Rowing Championships, gave rowers a second
chance to advance in racing. Great Britain’s single
sculling star Alan Campbell showed that he was back at full
health by winning his repechage and New Zealand’s reigning
world champions in the women’s pair, Coles and Haigh
look to be back on form with their advancement.
Women’s Four (W4-) – Repechages
One repechage, five boats, one would drop off, four would
go on to the final. Germany and Canada took a flying start
but it didn’t take long for the Canadians to lose the
pace and slip right back. This is when Belarus and the United
States came into their own and took over at the head of the
field. Germany tried to hold on. Belarus and the United States
charged. At the line the 40 stroke rate by the United States
gave them to top spot with Belarus, the Netherlands and Germany
also qualifying.
Men’s Coxed Pair (M2+) – Race for lanes
With only six countries contesting this event, just one race
is necessary. Today they got a preliminary taste in preparation
for Saturday’s final and five of the six crews indicated
they could all be in for a medal chance. The Serbian’s
got off the line in the lead and did their best to hold on.
But right on the Serbs coat tails was the United States. Despite
this race being like doing seven minutes of leg presses, the
Americans kept their rating up around a 36 stroke rate and
had soon pushed through to the front.
In the final sprint five boats were all within a close couple
of seconds of each other. United States in first, Germany
second, Italy in third, Serbia fourth and Canada only just
over two seconds back in fifth.
Lightweight Women Single Scull (LW1x) – Repechage
Of the two repechages raced both winners went under eight
minutes; a reflection of the depth of talent in this field.
In repechage one it was America’s Lisa Schlenker who
led the way. Schlenker’s international rowing career
began 12 years ago and she currently holds the lightweight
record on the indoor rowing machine. Schlenker rowed a controlled
race at a steady 30 to finish first over Cuba’s Ismaray
Marrero Aria with Phuttharaksa Nikree of Thailand also qualifying
for the semi-final from third. This advancement gives two-time
Olympian Nikree her best result to date by making the semi-final.
After the race Schlenker said: "You don’t take
any of the competitors here for granted. I haven’t been
in the single since 2002 so I don’t know what countries
or what athletes are coming up, what new athletes there are
or older athletes are deciding to be back in the single. So
you really don’t take anyone for granted. Everyone has
my respect."
In Repechage two France’s Coralie Ribeil got off to
a flying start moving out to an open water lead by the half
way point. But then Great Britain’s Antonia Van Deventer
came to life and started to close in on 19 year old Ribeil.
As Ribeil began to falter, Van Deventer took the lead with
Ribeil holding on to second over Norway’s Hilde Gudem
who qualifies from third.
Lightweight Men’s Single Scull (LM1x) –
Repechage
Four repechages lined up, two from each race would advance
to the semi-final and fronting up in repechage one was the
very accomplished Michal Vabrousek of the Czech Republic.
Vabrousek is in his 14th year of international competition
and is a World Champion from 2000. Today Vabrousek used his
experience to pace himself and overtake the fast starting
Slovakian followed by Jonathan Koch of Germany to take the
lead. Vabrousek and Koch move on to the semi-final.
Repechage two had Oleksandr Serdiuk of Ukraine in the lead
with Guatemala’s Edgar Nanne tightly on his tail. Together
the two scullers moved away from the rest of the field in
qualifying positions. Both move on to the semi-final with
Nanne on the way to one of his best international results
by taking a spot in the semi-final after finishing 12th last
year.
Canada’s Jeff Bujas got out into the lead of repechage
three and held on. Bujas comes out of his country’s
2005 bronze medal lightweight quad and is back on form after
an injury over the winter, but today in the single he was
doing a fine effort at the head of the field over the talented
Gerard van der Linden of the Netherlands. Both scullers had
a decent lead over the rest of the field and will advance
to the semi-final.
After the race Bujas commented: "I think I relaxed a
bit too much in my heat and that got me worried about my race.
After watching our Canadian light men’s double and light
four and seeing how hard they raced it was inspiring and helped
me today push past that line and that mental barrier and really
go for it. So that helped out a lot."
Elias Pappas of Greece was unlucky not to get through from
the heat after vigorously challenging Great Britain’s
favourite Zac Purchase. Today he showed his boat speed once
again by taking the lead of repechage four and extending it
out to an open water domination. This left Rolandas Kazlauskas
of Lithuania to hold on to second. Nothing changed in the
order and both Pappas and Kazlauskas were able to drop their
rating to a steady 29. Surprisingly former multiple World
Champion Stefano Basalini of Italy could only manage third
and will return for the C/D semi-final.
Lightweight Men’s Eight (LM8+) – Race
for lanes
As six boats left the starters hands, the reigning World Champions
Italy could do little more than hold off Poland. But as the
race progressed Italy, who come to Eton complete with the
winning lightweight four from the under 23 championships in
the boat, picked up pace and overtook the Netherlands, Denmark
then the United States to go after Germany who possessed a
handy lead. In the final sprint Italy got their boat overlapping
with the Germans, but Germany remained in first place.
Women’s Single Scull (W1x) – Repechage
She finished second this year at the under 23 championships
and today, Serbia’s Iva Obradovic led repechage one
Rating a steady 34 through the first half of the race, Obradovic
stayed just ahead of Cuba’s Maria Gonzalez Borroto.
Borroto, 38, comes back to international rowing after a two
year gap and looks to be back in form. The two scullers pulled
clean ahead of the rest of the field and gave themselves the
luxury of not having to sprint.
Some would say Slovenia’s Majda Jerman is bordering
on being a lightweight rower at 170cm but today she footed
it in fine form at the head of repechage two. This left Spain’s
Nuria Dominguez Asensio to slip into second. But Tine Schoeyen
of Norway was not going to let the two leading crews get away.
Schoeyen attacked and re-attacked down the 2000 metre course.
At the line Jerman takes first and Asensio had just held on
to second to qualify for the semi-final.
Men’s Single Scull (M1x) – Repechage
At 184cm Tim Maeyens of Belgium may not be the tallest single
sculler, but he rows with heart and determination. Today he
led the first of four repechages after pushing past France
then Cuba’s Yoennis Hernandez Arruez. Rating a steady
32 Maeyens proceeded to extend his lead crossing the finish
line at an easy 30 stroke rate with open water over second
semi-final qualifier, Arruez.
Repechage two featured the comeback of Great Britain’s
Alan Campbell. Campbell suffered in the heats as he tried
to shake a cold, but today he looks to be back in good health
shooting out at the start with a 48 stroke rate. Switzerland’s
Andre Vonarburg tried to hold on and in the process both crews
moved away from the rest of the field. Finland, in third,
did not attack and Campbell and Vonarburg move comfortably
on to the semi-final.
There’s no doubt that the nice guy of the men’s
single, Lassi Karonen of Sweden was the favourite going into
repechage three. Karonen sat in the centre lane and took off
at the head of the field at a handy clip. Karonen was followed
by single sculling newcomer, Jamie Schroeder of the United
States. Schroeder comes to Eton having been part of the 2006
winning Oxford crew in the famous Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race.
But closely tracking Schroeder was Lithuania’s Sigitas
Klerauskas. In the final sprint with Karonen clearly in front,
Klerauskas charged. Schroeder responded with an impressive
44 stroke rate. Klerauskas got the lead, Schroeder fought
back. Schroeder took the lead again to secure a qualifying
spot. The strain on Klerauskas was clear. Too exhausted to
hold his balance, Klerauskas flipped at the finish.
After the race Schroeder commented on his switch to the single:
"I wanted to try sculling after the last Olympics, partly
because I have a lot of school left. I ended up at Oxford
[Oxford University in Britain], and that’s where I still
am. So I knew I wouldn’t be able to do full time at
the camps and school at the same time."
Repechage four featured top Dutch sculler Sjoerd Hamburger.
In a very controlled race Hamburger took off at the lead and
did just enough to stay ahead of two-time Olympian Santiago
Fernandez. Maintaining a steady 30 stroke rate 2005 under
23 champion Hamburger remained in the lead. With no challenge
coming at Fernandez the Argentinean also retained a steady
pace to move on to the semi-final along with Hamburger.
After the racing Hamburger said: "Today was a good race,
a bit better than Sunday. I am relieved that I came first
and proceeded to the semifinals. It will be really exciting
— a tough race. I’ll probably have to have the
race of my life to get to the A finals. But I’m feeling
strong and looking strong, so I’m trying the best I
can."
Women’s Pair (W2-) – Repechage
The first of two repechages featured current World Champions
Nicky Coles and Juliette Haigh of New Zealand. Coles and Haigh
have stuttered this season but today they made a steady 35
stroke rate look easy. Overtaking Romania Coles and Haigh
continued to advance their lead with Denmark (Majbrit Nielsen
and Fie Graugaard) being the major threat to Romania’s
second qualifying spot. In the final sprint the New Zealanders
had enough of a lead to hold on to first with Demark and Romania
sprinting for survival. Nielsen and Graugaard pulled it off.
New Zealand and Denmark advance to the final.
Repechage two opened with Megan Cooke and Anna Mickelson
of the United States at the head of the field. The versatile
Mickelson comes to the pair with an Olympic silver medal from
the eight and world championship experience in the quad. This
year Mickelson, along with Cooke, are racing in the eight
as well as the pair. The Netherlands’ Annemarieke van
Rumpt and Annemiek de Haan set themselves up as the closest
threat to Cooke and Mickelson’s lead and pushed the
American duo to the line. Both boats advance to the final.
After the race Cooke commented on rowing in two events: "It's
awesome. Our training program sets us up for physical improvements
every 2k we go down we get stronger. So it’s nice to
do that."
Men’s pair (M2-) – Repechage
Repechage one featured Germany’s Jochen Urban and Andreas
Penkner and Serbia’s Goran Jagar and Nikola Stojic.
These two crews have been racing each other all season and
both been hot on each other’s tail. Today it was clear
that Germany and Serbia were the classier competitors in the
field. The two crews got out in front and coming into the
final 500 metres barely a canvas separated the two boats.
As Urban and Penkner chose to continue the sprint, Jagar and
Stojic looked to button off. Both boats qualify with Slovenia
also earning a spot in the semi-final coming through in third
place.
Great Britain’s Colin Smith and Tom James came together
late in the season after rowing against each other in the
Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. In the heats two days ago they
appeared relative flat with James not being at 100 percent
health. Today they led repechage two and made the race look
easy as they stayed just ahead of an incredibly close battle
between Dan Beery and Sam Burns of the United States, the
Czech Republic and the Netherlands. With Great Britain firmly
in first and only two remaining spots the US, the Czechs and
the Dutch were giving it all they could. At the line the Netherlands,
despite a 44 stroke rate sprint, had missed out. Great Britain,
the United States and the Czech Republic move on to the semi-final.
Women’s double (W2x) – Repechage
One repechage and three boats to advance to the semi-final
saw a tight race between four crews with France’s Celine
Cuisant and Inène Pascal vying for the lead over Lidia
Veroci and Aliz Konya of Hungary and Italy and Norway pacing
each other. Just 500 metres remained on the course and barely
a second separated these top four crews. The sprint was on.
Cuisant and Pascal showed the greatest determination. Norway
didn’t quite have what it takes. France, Hungary and
Italy advance to the semi-final.
Men’s double sculls (M2x) – Repechages
Only first and second from each of these four repechages would
advance to the semi-final and in repechage one Lithuania’s
Kestutis Keblys and Mindaugas Griskonis decided the way to
do it was to get out fast at the start, keep the pressure
on and pull out a sprint at the end. Keblys and Griskonis
got out fast but then Kostyantyn Zaitsev and Hennadii Zakharchenko
of Ukraine chased them down taking over the lead. Keblys and
Griskonis, who just came together in partnership earlier this
season, reacted back. At the line a very happy Lithuanian
duo punched the sky in delight. Ukraine also qualify from
second.
Belgium’s Stijn Smulders and Christophe Raes have been
plugging away together for a couple of years now earning a
sixth place finish last year and today they rowed a solid,
in control, performance in the second repechage. Meanwhile,
behind Belgium, Poland was pushing through from the back of
the field keeping an even split pace that gave them second
place with 500 metres to row. Michal Sloma and Marcin Brzezinski
of Poland have been together since 2005 and finished ninth
at last year’s World Rowing Championships. Belgium and
Poland advance to the semi-final.
After a short stint in the lead by 2001 World Champions,
Hungary, Belarus’s Valery Radzevich and Pavel Shurmei
took over. Radzevich and Shurmei have rowed together since
2002 but, until this year it’s been all about the quad.
Today the Belarusian’s kept a steady 36 stokes per minute
down the course to keep in the lead despite the constant threat
of Croatia’s Mario Vekic and Ante Kusurin. At the line
very little separated Belarus and Croatia with both boats
advancing to the semi-final. Meanwhile Hungary are relegated
to the lesser semi-final along with last year’s silver
medallists, Italy who have never really fired this season.
Repechage four opened with under 23 bronze medallists Russia
bursting out of the start. This opening burst was maintained
for half the race before the Yanakiev brothers from Bulgaria
took over after a piece after the 1000 accelerated them from
the back of the field and into first. Ivo and younger brother
Martin Yanakiev kept the pressure on and left the Russians
in the dust. Norway’s Olympians (Nils Simonsen and Morten
Adamsen) took up chase and snuck through into second to qualify
along with the Bulgarians.
Men’s Four (M4-) – Repechage
At the head of the field in the first of two repechages France
was making sure a spot in the semi-final would be reserved
for them. Stroked by former junior champion from the quad,
Dorian Mortelette the French kept a slight edge over Australia
with Ireland also right on the pace. Coming through the second
half of the race the Czech Republic then came alive and it
was all on for the final sprint. France took their rating
up to 40, demanding a hold on first place, Ireland went to
38. At the line France qualify for the semi-final from first,
Ireland take second and the Czech Republic earn third and
also qualify.
Jumping out at the start of repechage two Canada took command
of the race leaving Spain to hold on to second. Sitting in
the Canadian boat Scott Frandsen, Kyle Hamilton and Ben Rutledge
were all part of the 2004 Olympic eight that came to Athens
as favourites but didn’t medal. The team is back to
shake off demons and work towards Beijing. In stroke Barney
Williams took silver at Athens in the four and since then
has been captaining Oxford University to back to back wins
in the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. Today they rowed beautifully
in the lead at a 36 stroke rate. At the finish Canada take
first, a very happy Spain follow in second and Italy, stroked
by the indomitable Raffaello Leonardo storm through to earn
the final qualifying spot.
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