Worlds 1999 Reports - Thursday 26th August

The Rowing Service

Updates written during racing wherever possible, unless races were missed, in which case catch-up later.

Conditions: Much calmer water than the day before, mostly due to steady and increasingly heavy rain in the early part of the day which finally petered out around noon, and briefly tried again at 1 pm. Wind light but extremely variable, if anything cross-tail from lane 6 side initially then going round to lane 1 cross-head, gusts from time to time.

Pictures

- from Ruedi Ulli.

I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to do race-descriptions for the C/D semifinals today. Maybe a round-up later.

Men's lightweight single, A/B semis

Three to A final, three to B final
The second semi not nearly as exciting as the first, but a good race in the top three. Last year's silver and bronze medallists, Michal Vabrousek (CZE) and Karsten Nielsen (DEN) were on form, the Dane the first to show ahead, and holding his lead until 1200 metres, when Vabrousek squeezed past. Neither sculler was that stressed, knowing the strength needed to be saved for the weekend, and the Czech won it in smooth style. The story of the race was German Martin Falcke, who despite being out of the fun in lane 6 and under repeated assault from Frenchman Laurent Ceresoli, rowed superbly in third place throughout to qualify for the world championship A final. Over the line he seemed stunned, then elated, whooping and punching the air as the other scullers turned to warm down.
First semi "live": Mannucci of Italy off first, three times world champion Peter Haining (GBR) lying sixth initially. 400 metres out, and Haining pushes through into second place, Karl Parker of Australia following. 900 metres, and Parker's gone through into second, Mannucci still leading well, Haining in third and being threatened by Hungarian Kokas and the Irish sculler Sam Lynch. 1400 metres gone, and from nowhere comes Lynch, surging all the way from fifth right past the pack and into the lead as the Italian blows. 200 to go and Haining now attacks, a bowball in front of the Irishman. 100 metres to go, and Haining raises the rate again, now Kokas into second and attacking very hard, neck and neck to the line, hear the double beep, Haining celebrates, he's sure, double beep again for 3rd/4th and nobody knows if Lynch or Parker has the third final place. Results, and for once Haining's called it wrong: Kokas by just a quarter of a second over the Scot, Lynch into third by the same margin over Parker, and Mannucci a slow fifth, with Pawel of Poland a long way back.

Women's lightweight single, A/B semis

Three to A final, three to B final
The second semi here was a little faster, being a better battle for first, although none of the top three were ever troubled with threats of relegation. Gutsy Argentinian Maria Julia Garosiain may be a tad upset: starting second she then led for over half the race, but as Pia Vogel of Switzerland and Mirna Rajle of Croatia steadily pushed themselves home, Garosiain faded quite badly, and was lucky not to be pushed for third place. Australia, Great Britain and Spain in the B-final places some boat-lengths behind.
The first semi for this event was two-part race: USA/GER/ROM for the A final and NED/FRA/JPN for the B. By a thousand metres out it was clear what would happen, and all the scullers slowed pace a little, easing off now that the main job of qualification was done. It was also the only race in which the order never changed after the first 200 metres. Lisa Schlenker from the States looked excellent in first place, with Valerie Viehoff and Angela Alupai of Germany and Romania behind.

Men's coxless four, A/B semis

Three to A final, three to B final
A new type of reporting: - written "live" Crews away fast, Italy showing first at 50 metres, with GBR just behind (rating 54 in the first few strokes). 250 metres gone, and Italy looking round to see what they have to do - GBR focusing hard, eyes all swathed in shades, making a slight push at 400 metres. First marker-point, and GBR in front by half a second, NZL looking confident behind in third and trying to reel the leaders back in. 750 metres and Italy and GBR matching catch and finish together, the Brits just two seats up but the Italians by no means letting go - this heat already two seconds faster than the previous one. Now at 1100 metres the British four make a strong push out, take themselves further into the lead, and by 1400 out they are starting to show their power, only a canvas overlap left for the Italians now and they are being challenged hard by NZL. 400 to go, and the Kiwis attacking again, GBR rowing very comfortably though not at all clear of the pack. Last hundred metres, and the Italians, still second, are pushing back again, GBR utterly unbothered at rate 36, no sign of a finish lift at all, crossing the line around a half length up, and immediately spinning and rowing straight back off to the docks. So some serious mind-games going on in the fours: Australia appearing to row harder and four seconds slower, but in fact though maintaining pace, as unstretched as the British bunch. Egypt, Holland and Byelorussia outclassed in the B-final places. Thanks to Hugh Matheson for the rates.
First semi (not written live). 1999, and the new Oarsome Foursome in action: Australia determined to send Redgrave a message that he can't ignore in Sydney. The Stewart brothers (Geoffrey and James), with Bo Hanson, and Ben Dodwell, started with huge confidence, pushed along by a quick-starting German four who then faded back to fourth. The world-record-breaking Norwegians seem to have lost some of their speed, or at least not improved since Lucerne, already a second down on the Aussies and in third at 400 out. The class act of the race, however, was France. Starting very badly, they turned on the speed and cruised steadily back from sixth place, demolishing crew after crew and getting back to a length down on the Australians at halfway. Both fours seemed to relax a little there, and it wasn't until the last few hundred metres that France started their sprint. With Australia rating higher but not flat out, the French rowed a great finish, closing to within 0.6 of a second on the Oarsome Foursome and clearly delighted with their performance. As the crews neared the finish, there was a terrific attack from Germany on the Norwegian third place, to no avail. Romania and Poland were left to struggle at the back.

Men's double sculls, A/B semis

Three to A final, three to B final
The second semifinal featured erstwhile singler Iztok Cop with Luka Spik in the Slovenian boat, achieving an early and commanding lead over the French double of Guillaume Jeannet and Frederic Kowal. USA's Peterson and McGowan briefly featured in third, but the Hungarian double, Akos Haller and Tibor Peto, had been gathering speed, and before the thousand-metre mark had pushed through France and America into second place. The Croatian and Polish doubles finished a long way back.
First semi: Today most of the quickest heat-qualifiers have been put into lane five, for some reason, and World Cup champions this year Olaf Tufte and Fredrik Bekken of Norway were no exception. After letting Sebastian Mayer and Stefan Roehnert of Germany take off first, they pushed through at 750 metres. From then on it was cruise-pace, slowing in the last 500, as the two doubles, accompanied by Bertil Samuelson and Bo Kaliszan in third place from Denmark, led easily over UKR, EST and ITA. Two seconds slower than the other semi, but whose counting when you can drop the rate towards the finish?

Women's double sculls, A/B semis

Three to A final, three to B final
The second semifinal here was a brilliant tactical display from the Dutch double of Pieta Van Dishoeck and Eeke Van Nes. The excellent Chinese double of Lin Liu and Xiuyun Zhang went off fast and hard, establishing an early lead ahead of the main body of the pack. The Dutch women looked completely unfazed, and tailed the Chinese with care for 1500 metres, deliberately letting the Chinese set the pace and waiting for the right moment. That came at 350 to go, and they turned up the heat. Both crews were already well into qualifying places, with France already through the Swiss for the third position, but there were psychological points to be scored before Saturday, and the Van double intended to be the ones in charge. Up came the rate, and by the finish line the Dutch had taken two seconds off the leaders, and were now a third of a length up. Britain's defending world champions Miriam Batten and Gillian Lindsay were left to languish in fifth place from start to finish, out of touch with the race and now relegated to the B final along with Denmark.
First semi. Another "we're the champions, and you'd better believe it" demonstration, this time from Germany's Jana Thieme and Kathrin Boron, the current World Cup champions. Leaving Lithuania and Australia trailing badly, they were six seconds clear at 900 metres, and were able to scull home in complete confidence. Hungary, USA and Romania finished in that order in the B-final places, although by the finish line Kulifai and Szekely of Hungary were only a second back from the A-final third place.

Men's coxless pair, A/B semis

Three to A final, three to B final
Oliver Martinov and Ninoslav Saraga from Croatia, two seconds behind the Australians at Lucerne this year, had a point to prove, and left the start like bullets. The RSA, SLO and ROM pairs were more or less out of it, but France and Germany (the latter the reigning world champions) had a mighty tussle, never more than a half-length behind, and swapping the lead several times. Sens and Kirchoff have a mountain to climb in historical terms - no pair has defended this title since Steve Redgrave "retired" in Atlanta, but they may not have the pace to do it either, finishing third behind France's Michel Andrieux and Jean-Christophe Rolland, who are trying to grab back the gold they took in Aiguebelette '97. Neither pair really pushed the Croatians, whose starting pace certainly matched the Aussies.
The Australian Oarsome pair of Drew Ginn and James Tomkins, with a decade's international experience, had been by thirteen seconds the fastest qualifiers from the heats in this event, on the first Sunday of racing. Therefore it was no surprise to see them draw out a commanding lead straight away, clear at 350 metres gone, and row to a comfortable and technical win in the first semifinal. Challenging for qualifying places alongside them were Great Britain (world cup champions), Italy, and the Canadian pair of Morgan Crooks and Dave Calder. The Canadians did their best to keep up with the Aussies at first, but soon fell behind, and did a good job to rescue their temporary 6th place and finish fourth - out of the A final but with some pride intact. Italy started badly, but then Dario Lari and Pasquale Panzarino put in some solid power, and with Brits Steve Williams and Simon Dennis following, set off in pursuit of Australia. The two pairs remained close to each other right through, and as the green-and-gold slowed towards the end, the British pair raised the rate and attacked, pushing through the Italians to take second place and very nearly by clear water.

Women's coxless pair, A/B semis

Three to A final, three to B final
Second semi: An exciting race, with two of the qualifying crews lying well back to begin with. The Ukrainian pair shot off, Germany following, and as they found a strong rhythm the German power asserted itself, Kathleen Naser and Elke Hipler stretching out a lead at 800 metres gone. At that point Romania were moving from third into second, and the Ukraine were still second, but with strong challenges from South Africa and Great Britain, they started to look beatable, and eventually dropped to fifth, well in front of China. Meanwhile Blackie and Bishop of GBR, world cup champions this year, started a quite incredible assault, and marched from fifth to third in the final four hundred metres, finishing within spitting distance of the German and Romanian top two.
First semi: Sally Scovel and Lianne Nelson from the USA looked promising in the start of this race, but soon dropped into fourth place, while local heroes and defending world champions Emma Robinson and Theresa Luke from Canada asserted their strength. Rowing long and smooth they forged ahead, the Australian pair of Rachael Taylor and Kate Slatter trying to push past as they reached 500 to go, but in the end saving their strength for the final, and qualifying in second with Russians Albina Ligatcheva and Vera Potchitaeva in third, well clear of the pack.

Men's single, A/B/C semis

Two to A final, two to B final, two to C final
The third race in this batch featured world champion and erg hard man Rob Waddell from New Zealand, plus the Estonian Jueri Jansson. As is often his strategy, Ali Ibrahim Aly of Egypt took an early lead, blasting out of the blocks, only to "fly and die" into fourth place later in the race. Meanwhile first Nicola Sartori of Italy, and then Waddell, were into their race rhythm, Waddell taking the lead at half-point, in a time faster than both Mueller and Porter (though in fractionally better conditions). From then on the Kiwi was never threatened, Sartori settling for a good qualifying second, and Jansson and Aly easily holding off the Argentinian and South African scullers.
Second semifinal: by comparison the scullers seemed to set off in a leisurely and smooth fashion, but faster, since the rain had stopped and the wind dropped a bit. A very different race, as Canadian Derek Porter went "watch this" and once the rates had settled, kept his bowball just ahead of Bulgarian Ivo Ianakiev. With the crowd roaring, he put on a beautiful sprint to the finish, drawing his lead out to nearly half a length. Meanwhile there was a tough battle for the two B-final places in this, one of the most hotly contested events in the regatta. Jan Ziska of Slovakia looked pretty safe after the first few hundred metres, but Britain's Greg Searle and USA's Jamie Koven were once again head-to-head, as they have been so often over the last few years. A match pair these two, both came from highly successful crew boats into the single within months of each other, and they have continually met, in Europe and around the world, like Agassi and Sampras. Koven has been winning more often recently, and today was no exception - he sneaked past Searle at half-way, and finished half a second up, relegating the desperately disappointed Brit to the C-final, in company with Tom Symoens of Belgium, who dropped right back.
The first semi was an authority-stamping classic. All six scullers bulleted off the start as if their lives depended on it, bulldog frowns fixed on their faces, proclaiming "I'm hard, and what are you going to do about it?" The Latvian, Andris Reinholds, grabbed the first markerpoint, but before long, experienced Czech Vaclav Chalupa was whizzing past, blades digging deep stroke after stroke. No chance to relax, though, as Xeno Mueller (Swiss, living in the USA), stalked him like a panther for several hundred metres. As the rain hardened, the big cat decided it was time to get dry, and just after 500 metres to go, Mueller went into top gear. Up went the rate, down poured the power, and he was off, sliding into a commanding lead and leaving Chalupa floundering. After the finish line, with Hacker and Reinholds safely into the B final behind them, Xeno psyched out the entire line-up, turning straight away and heading off for the boat-racks, while the rest heaved for breath behind him. The only cloud on this race was the umpire, who gave a white flag for a fair race before Yugoslavian Nikoa Stojic, who seems to have blown up around 1000 metres, crossed the line half a minute behind.

Women's single, A/B semis

Three to A final, three to B final
The second semi was a display of power and style from several rowers, but the foremost of them was German Katrin Rutschow. Led off the start by Romanian Marioara Popescu, she came surging smoothly past at 700 metres, and from then on looking nothing but comfortable, sculling impressively well at a relaxed low rate. The real interest for the home crowd was Marnie McBean, who came through from very low in the field to take third place with several hundred metres to go, and from then on never looked back, qualifying elegantly in the outside lane behind Russian Irina Fedotova.
The first semifinal saw Ekaterina Karsten of Byelorussia set a blistering starting pace, but Bulgarian Roumiana Neykova drew her steadily back, and by half-way had taken back the lead. Sonia Waddell rowed a well-judged race in third, although she seemed to lose her position to Pole Agnieska Tomczak for a short while in the final 200 metres, and had to put on a determined spurt to take her qualifying place back from the European.

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