Rowing World Cup - Austria
Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) – Final
Last year was Qin Li’s first go at international competition.
She finished 8th in the double with 21-year-old Liang Tian.
This year they have stepped up a notch, but not without a
fight. With World Champions Australia and former World Champions
New Zealand not racing here the favourites must have been
Germany’s Britta Oppelt and Susanne Schmidt who are
currently ranked second in the world. However, Oppelt and
Schmidt had been beaten coming into this final and they came
out at the start back in fifth place. Meanwhile Li and Tian
had pushed past a fast starting United States duo to take
the lead.
The Chinese didn’t stop there opening up a full-length
gap going through the middle of the race and continuing to
increase it. Their long lay-back stroke and lower rating was
doing the trick for Li and Tian as the Americans slipped further
back. Then Germany’s two crews began to attack. The
sprint was on. Italy rated higher but made no impact. USA
got up to 38 to try and retain their position. Oppelt and
Schmidt, at 37, made up the most ground. At the line Li and
Tian had won gold, Oppelt and Schmidt pick up silver and their
sculling teammates, Germany2 of Christiane Huth and Stephanie
Schiller come through to bronze.
Huth, "The circumstances were very difficult because
of the rain. Actually we have expected more but we have to
learn what we can from the race."
Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – Final
World Champions France got piped in their semifinal. They
weren’t going to let that happen again. Maybe they didn’t
vouch for being in the tightest six-way race of the day. Coming
out in front at the start France tried to work their way away
from Australia in second. However by the half-way point Adrien
Hardy and Jean-Baptiste Macquet of France only had a half-second
lead with Great Britain’s Matt Wells and Stephen Rowbotham
picking up the pace. Wells and Rowbotham had been the duo
that beat the French yesterday and Hardy and Macquet must
have been cautious.
Coming into the final 500m, the gap over the entire field
had closed. Wells and Rowbotham had found the lead, Hardy
and Macquet were just in second and Estonia2 of Allar Raja,
23, and Igor Kuzmin, 24, from last year’s bronze medal
quad, had come through to third. But there was nothing in
it. The sprint was on. Germany’s Rene Bertram and Robert
Sens hit 37 strokes per minute, France were on 38, Great Britain
hit 40, Raja and Kuzmin were sneaking through down the outside.
In a photo finish that ended with only 1.32 seconds separating
the entire field, the French had been denied a medal. Wells
and Rowbotham take gold, Bertram and Sens silver and Raja
and Kuzmin earn bronze.
Wells, "We won, even though the quad is on top of the
game. Very much went to plan and at the 1000m mark I already
knew that we would win."
Rowbotham, "It feels like a long time coming?! It is
just a fantastic feeling!"
Raja, "When we saw that we were third, it was just a
great felling. Every race is getting better and better."
Bertram, "The decision of the race fell already at 1100m
when the English went away. It is obvious that they have a
very high level. We sprinted at the last 1750m."
Sens, "The conditions were not as good due to the wavy
water. I think the sprint was a little too late, it should
have been earlier."
Men’s four (M4-) – Final
Great Britain are aiming to retain their unbeaten record.
Today they hoped to do that by taking off out of the start
at a 50 stroke rate pace. It served them well. The same line-up
that goes into their third year together, Andy Hodge, Alex
Partridge, Peter Reed and Steve Williams making the calls
from bow have the winning formula. In two seat Reed holds
the current biggest erg score on the British team and has
a pair of lungs to match. At two metres tall Reed weighs in
at 98kg.
Settling at 38, Great Britain kept an eye on most likely
challengers, the Netherlands. The Dutch delivered. Through
the middle of the race the Netherlands kept their boat overlapping
with the Brits with France the only other real contender in
third.
The order didn’t change. Great Britain back up at 38
strokes per minute remained in the lead and take gold, The
Netherlands earn silver and last year’s sixth place
finishers, France, finish with bronze.
Vermeulen, "It is good to be back and I am certain this
will be an important year for us."
Despres, "The results are very good for the French rowing
team. It was a revenge against ourselves of last year, as
we made a lot of mistakes. We are very happy and we know that
we can go even faster."
Hodge, "It was a credit to the French ans the whole field."
Williams, "It is very nice of the Austrians to provide
English weather :-). I realised that I am still learning a
lot after 27 wins. I believe the next 27 months will be crucial."
Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) –
Final
The reigning World Champions, Dongxiang Xu and Shimin Yan
of China got a scare yesterday when they were beaten in the
semifinal. Today there was going to be another surprise for
them. This is how it unfolded. Xu and Yan got off the line
first and established just a tiny lead over Canada’s
Lindsay Jennerich and Tracy Cameron. The lead did not last.
Both Canada and Germany pushed ahead. Canada’s lead
also didn’t last. A strong piece coming into the last
500m gave Katrin Olsen and Juliane Rasmussen of Denmark the
lead.
Olsen, 29, and Rasmussen, 28, competed last year in the lightweight
quad where they finished second and now selected the Olympic
boat class, the double, the duo gave an indication to their
boat speed by winning yesterday’s semifinal. At a 34
stroke rate pace they continued to hold the lead with now
China3, Haixia Chen and Hua Yu, coming swiftly down the outside.
At the line the World Champions had not only lost, they were
off the medals podium. Instead it was Olsen and Rasmussen
in the gold spot, Chen and Yu taking silver and Jennerich
and Cameron holding on for bronze.
Olsen, "I believe this is a very well organised event
and the race was much better than expected."
Rasmussen, "The finish of the race was very fast and
we had to play the trump card in the last 250m."
Jennerich, "We tried to stay within ourselves but when
the Danes push, they really push. The final is all mental,
every team could have won this race."
Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) –
Final
A Danish double-header. Reigning World Champions Mads Rasmussen
and Rasmus Quist of Denmark said yesterday they had some more
to give when they won their semifinal. Today they gave a little
more. Facing winners of the other semifinal, Mark Hunter and
Zac Purchase of Great Britain, for the first time the Danes
did what they love to do. Get out into the lead and stay there.
Maintaining a steady 35 strokes per minute Rasmussen and Quist
moved ahead of Great Britain in first.
Bow seat for Great Britain, Zac Purchase is used to winning.
Two years ago he became World Champion in the lightweight
single at the under-23 level. Last year he won the same event
at the senior level. Coming into this final Purchase and Hunter
had won all their races. But facing Denmark, Great Britain
were forced to race for second. Meanwhile the real battle
was going on between Canada, Japan and Hungary who were all
trying to grab that final medal spot. At the line Rasmussen
and Quist had won gold, Great Britain take silver and Matt
Jensen and Douglas Vandor of Canada, using a 41 stroke rate,
earned bronze.
Rasmussen, "I am certain we can get faster because of
the new great Danish team performance."
Quist, "It was not the best race."
Hunter, "We have been rowing together for five weeks.
There is a lot of potential in this boat."
Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-) – Final
They may be reigning World Champions but yesterday China
got beaten by Italy1 in the semifinal. Today, facing Italy1,
they knew the challenge that was on their hands. China took
a flying start leaving the starters at a 40 stroke rate pace
and remaining at 38 as they passed through the first 500m
mark. Great Britain, winners of yesterday’s second semifinal,
held on. There wasn’t much in it and despite the effort
China was putting in, they could not shake off their opposition.
A piece before the half-way mark gave Italy1 the lead. Stroked
by former Portuguese rower Bruno Mascarenhas, the Italian
crew is made up of three of the athletes, including Mascarenhas,
who won bronze in this event at the 2004 Olympics. China fought
back and coming into the final sprint China got up to 41 strokes
per minute. Italy1 answered with 40, with Great Britain coming
back at 42. At the line China had retained their honour with
gold medal position, Italy1 had established themselves as
the best Italian line-up with silver and Great Britain had
held on to take bronze.
Great Britain's Lindsay-Fynn, "It is brilliant to be
the first crew to get a medal in this discipline for so long."
Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x) – Final
Two-time World Champions, Great Britain did not look under
any real pressure. Katherine Grainger, Great Britain’s
most successful woman rower, Frances Houghton, Debbie Flood
and new member Annie Vernon got out to a comfortable lead
and had enough space to keep an eye on China in second. With
an open-water gap Great Britain was able to sit comfortably
on 33 strokes per minute for the majority of the race with
barely a sprint necessary. Meanwhile China were giving it
their best effort even though they had a clear water lead
over the slow-starting, now picking-up-pace Germans.
At the line Great Britain take gold, China earns silver and
the young German crew comes through to bronze.
Grainger, "We knew that the boat of China would be tight
with us. I am really pleased with the outcome as we didn’t
even need our top gears. I have no doubts that we will need
it later on."
Flood, "The last 750m felt rather relaxing and we had
a really good start."
Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x) – Final
Coming into this event there was no doubt that Poland, as
reigning World Champions and World Best Time holders as well
as 2006 World Rowing Male Team of the Year, were the hot favourites.
The pressure was on them to perform. And they did. Leading
from the start Poland took to the front over Germany Two,
even if only just. Going through the middle of the race Germany
Two were still there. Poland had to keep the pressure on.
Then Italy began to move. Made up of two members of the Sydney
2000 gold medal quad, the Italians are aiming to get back
to the top of this event. Back into the fold is Rossano Galtarossa
who comes back from post-2004 Olympics retirement where he
won bronze.
In the final sprint Poland used their lead to keep an eye
on the rest of the crew with Italy and Germany taking second
to a photo finish. It came down to the difference between
being at the catch or the finish. Italy take second and Germany
win bronze. All three of these crews looked very happy as
they picked up their medals from the 217th race of this regatta.
Poland's Korol, "It was a very hard and difficult race."
Poland's Kolbowicz, "We knew Germany boats 1 and 2 were
very strong and fast. Today was a very strange day because
of the rain. We could go faster."
Germany's Bertram, "I think we could have come closer
to the Polish."
Women’s Eight (W8+) – Final
Was Germany saving themselves for this one? Despite some
of their team also racing in the women’s pair, the Germans
looked fresh as they headed out in the lead of this penultimate
race of the first Rowing World Cup. Surprisingly it was Great
Britain that latched onto second place. Australia, last year’s
bronze medallists, got off to a good start and then faded.
The extra pairs racing at this regatta maybe had taken its
toll.
Germany, stroked by Elke Hipler, stayed on 35 strokes per
minute and held on to the lead with Great Britain remaining
in second. This left Canada and the Netherlands to fight it
out for the bronze. In the process of the Canadian-Netherlands
tussle the two boats advanced to put Great Britain under threat.
Ratings started to rise. Germany held on to win gold. Great
Britain takes silver, their first silver medal for the women’s
eight this decade, and the Netherlands gets the better of
Canada to win bronze.
Great Britain’s Baz Moffat, "We really came together
but we were not surprised by the placing. We only focused
on the race."
Germany’s Annemarieke Van Rumpt, "This was a really
tough and close competition. Maybe there will be more home
advantage in Amsterdam and we hope to meet the USA team there.
We were surprised by the GB team."
German coxswain, Annina Ruppel, "It was a really great
weekend and I enjoyed the race. Right after the start we could
already control the field. The atmosphere in Linz/Ottensheim
was really great. The audience was very warm and nice."
Men’s Eight (M8+) - Final
Coming into this race Belarus had been proving themselves
and their newfound boat speed. They took off at a blistering
pace that gave them a slight edge. But Russia was having none
of it. Stroked by Denis Markelov, Russia found the head of
the field and tried to hold it. Meanwhile Canada were picking
back up from a relatively slow start and making a huge dent
on the field. With new coxswain Stephen Cheng and stroked
by Kyle Hamilton, Canada did a massive piece just after the
1500 metre mark and powered away from the field. Russia had
no answer. Belarus tried to hold on. China took their rating
up to 40 and fought back. At the line Canada earned gold,
Belarus held on to silver and an ecstatic China win bronze.
Perhaps the first ever international medal for a Chinese men’s
eight.
|
