Six world cup semi wins for GB Rowing Team in Lucerne
The GB Rowing Team were in consistently good form in Switzerland today clocking up six semi-final wins as more crews went through to tomorrow’s world cup finals bringing Britain’s tally to 14 finalists.
Olympic Champion Kat Copeland, in the lightweight women’s double scull with Imogen Walsh, was amongst the semi-final winners today.
Copeland acknowledged the step up she and Walsh made today compared to their heat here but said: “There is still stuff we can work on for tomorrow”.
Her crew’s progress was more expected than their male equivalents Jamie Kirkwood and Will Fletcher whose startling and protracted final sprint saw them win to go through.
Fletcher said afterwards: “It was great to win today. We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s final. We can just go for it and we’ve got nothing to lose”.
Graeme Thomas, Sam Townsend, Charles Cousins and Peter Lambert appear to be growing race by race here. Today they handled the back 1km well to ward off any pressure on their lead and won in 5:45.72.
Mark Aldred, Peter and Richard Chambers and Chris Bartley attacked the first half of their race to build a lead which proved unshakeable. Their winning time was 5:59.51 with their big rivals New Zealand and Denmark doing fierce battle in the other semi.
Aldred said: “I think we got out there well and controlled it today but there’s another gear to go for tomorrow’s final definitely”.
On a good day for GB’s lightweight crews the international class lightweight men’s pair of Sam Scrimgeour and Jonno Clegg also won their semi as did Adam Freeman Pask in the lightweight men’s single.
Britain’s other qualifiers today were the recently-formed, top-ranked men’s pair of Matt Langridge and James Foad, the double scull of John Collins and Jonny Walton and the single sculler Vicky Thornley.
They join the already-qualified grouping of the men’s four, women’s pair, men’s and women’s eights and the coxed men’s pair.
Andrew Triggs Hodge knows that the 2014 edition of the men’s four is causing heads to turn and the expectation of success to rise. That is not fazing the crew which includes Mohamed Sbihi, George Nash and Alex Gregory.
Hodge said: “There are always new things to learn and there are always things going on behind the scenes. We’re fighting hard to keep our position and keep our distance on the field, in anticipation that one day one of these crews, or a new crew, will make the step up. Every race we’re racing our own expectations, and what we know we can do. In training we’re discovering how to make that better”
Britain’s B finalists tomorrow include both women’s quads – the open weight and lightweight combinations – who will race each other for the third successive day – after they took third and fourth place respectively in today’s repechage into which they came via the same heat. They will be joined in the B final session by Oliver Cook and Phil Congdon in the men’s pair.
Sir David Tanner, Performance Director of the GB Rowing Team said: “We have had some very consistent semi-final results this afternoon to build on yesterday’s good, direct qualifications for the A finals. Our job tomorrow is to turn these promising performances into some good medals”.
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RACE REPORTS
Less than a second separated five of the six crews in the men’s pair semi-final featuring the top-ranked GB boat of James Foad and Matt Langridge. At halfway the GB boat was fourth by just one hundredth of a second behind South Africa with Italy in the lead.
At the 1500m marker the British duo both Olympic medallists put in a push to go into third and, as the pace picked up, stuck with it and rowed through Germany to take second behind the Italian winners. In an exciting dash to the line South Africa came through to take third in a tight finish with Germany.
The second semi-final was inevitably dominated by Hamish Bond and Eric Murray of New Zealand who are the World and Olympic Champions. Oliver Cook and Phil Congdon, the second-ranked British pair, had already done well to qualify for the semi-final and today were sixth throughout in a fast-paced race. They now race in tomorrow’s B final.
Jamie Kirkwood and Will Fletcher proved how topsy-turvy sport can be. At the World Cup three weeks ago they ended up in the water when Fletcher collapsed after crossing the line in a semi-final from which they did not qualify for the final.
Today they qualified for their first A final with a startling finishing sprint, having trailed the Czech, Italians, Germans and Canadians at halfway. The signs of a promising finish were there once they had nudged past the Canadians.
Fletcher said afterwards: “It feels good to have won and now we can go into tomorrow’s final really looking forward to it and with nothing to lose”.
Olympic Champion Kat Copeland and 2013 World Championships finalist, Imogen Walsh, who won their first career world cup title three weeks ago, had moved up into the lead by halfway today in Lucerne. Behind them the remainder of the field were tightly bunched and staying in touch.
A pleased Copeland said afterwards: “We both feel that was a big step on from yesterday but there is still stuff we can work on before tomorrow”.
Looking connected, the British duo kept up their boat speed, moved out to a lead and then defended it. Behind them Canada finished strongly and Poland powered through to take third, consigning Germany to the B Final.
Both British women’s quads featured in this afternoon’s repechage the open-weight quartet of Kristina Stiller, Olivia Carnegie Brown, Vicky Meyer-Laker and Beth Rodford were lying third throughout the first half. Try as they might – and they clearly did – they could not break the stranglehold of the Dutch and Australian crews on the top two qualifying slots for tomorrow’s final. The British boat was third in 6:25.72.
That means they will race their lightweight British counterparts in tomorrow’s B final. Ruth Walczak, Eleanor Piggott, Brianna Stubbs and Charlotte Taylor looked off the pace today but picked up well in a strong second half to take fourth place in 6:33.68.
The men’s quad of Graeme Thomas, Sam Townsend, Charles Cousins and Peter Lambert took their semi-final by the scruff of the neck.They led in the fist half and when the going was likely to get tough in the third quarter they ground out more of a lead and then sat on it with style as the line approached to win in 5:45.72. Germany were second and the USA were third.
Jonny Walton and John Collins were on the coat-tails of the leading Lithuanians, Serbians and Australians as the men’s double sculls semi-final got underway and moved through the 500m mark.
At halfway the positions were still the same and then the British duo broke through with a turn of pace to take third ahead of Serbia and were closing in the final sprint on Lithuania, who won, and Australia, bronze medallists in Aiguebelette.
Britain made a pacey start to their lightweight men’s four semi-final. Mark Aldred, Peter and Richard Chambers and Chris Bartley – the latter trio being 2012 Olympic silver medallists – were ahead early and still held that lead from Italy at the first timing point at 500m.
At halfway the British boat had built a longer lead and had over a second on their closest chaser, Germany. New Zealand won a closely contested opposite semi-final.
Victoria Thornley rounded up the afternoon’s racing schedule with a touch of style. Entered at the last minute into the single scull here as her double scull partner Frances Houghton is injured, Thornley toughed out today’s semi-final to take the third qualifying slot.
She moved up from fourth to third as the race moved into its final quarter and found enough to push the second-placed Mirka Knapkova, the Olympic Champion in a race won by Emma Twigg of New Zealand.
Earlier the lightweight men’s pair of Sam Scrimgeour and Jonno clegg battled Italy for the early part of their semi to qualify for tomorrow’s final before taking the lead just after halfway. They kept the power on and won in 6:51.63. Australia surprised Italy in the final few strokes to take second place.
Adam Freeman Pask was also s semi-final winner this morning in a time of 7:17.69 ahead of Germany with whom he had a tight battle until the final 250m when Pask came through strongly. Switzerland won the opposing semi-final in a very tight finish.
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RESULTS
World Cup III, Lucerne
(events featuring GB Crews only. Full results: www.worldrowing.com)
SEMI-FINALS
OPEN
WOMEN
Single scull – Semi final A/B 2
1. Emma Twigg (New Zealand) 7:30.37
2. Mirka Knapkova (Czech Republic) 7:32.65
3. Victoria Thornley (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:33.21
4. Sanita Puspure (Ireland) 7:34.91
5. Sara Magnaghi (Italy) 7:43.61
6. Julia Levina (Russia) 7:43.76
OPEN
MEN
Pair – Semi final 1
1. Marco Di Costanzo/Matteo Castaldo (Italy) 6:31.49
2. James Foad/Matt Langridge (GREAT BRITAIN 1) 6:32.06
3. David Hunt/Lawrence Brittain (South Africa 2) 6:32.82
4. Bastian Bechler/Anton Braun (Germany) 6:32.92
5. Giovanni Abagnale/Vincenzo Abbagnale (Italy 2) 6:39.85
6. Alexander Sigurbjonsson Benet/Pau Vela Maggi (Spain) 6:41.39
Pair – Semi final 2
1. Eric Murray/Hamish Bond (New Zealand) 6:24.42
2. Shaun Keeling/Vincent Breet (South Africa) 6:27.24
3. Veselin Savic/Dusan Bogicevic (Serbia 1) 6:30.33
4. Milos Vasic/Nenad Bedik (Serbia 2) 6:36.12
5. Ioannis Tsilis/Dionysios Angelopoulos (Greece 2) 6:41.33
6. Oliver Cook/Philip Congdon (GREAT BRITAIN 2) 6:43.70
Double scull – Semi final A/B 1
1. Rolandas Mascinskas/Saulius Ritter (Lithuania) 6:12.21
2. James McRae/Alexander Belonogoff (Australia) 6:12.45
3. John Collins/Jonathan Walton (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:13.44
4. Marko Marjanovic/Aleksandar Filipovic (Serbia) 6:16.14
5. Cesare Gabbia/Francesco Fossi (Italy) 6:31.82
6. Sophus Johannesen/Sverri Nielsen (Denmark) 6:41.44
Quadruple scull – Semi final A/B 1
1. Graeme Thomas/Sam Townsend/Charles Cousins/Peter Lambert (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:45.72
2. Karl Schulze/Philipp Wende/Kai Fuhrmann/Tim Grohmann (Germany) 5:46.93
3. Peter Graves/Stephen Whelpley/John Graves/Benjamin Dann (USA) 5:47.38
4. Luca Agamennoni/Simone Venier/Matteo Steffanini/Simone Raineri (Italy) 5:48.77
5.Christopher Morgan/Rhys Grant/Cameron Girdlestone/Kieran Kobelke (Australia) 5:49.03
6. Pascal Lussier/Michael Braithwaite/Will Dean/Matthew Buie (Canada) 5:53.01
LIGHTWEIGHT
WOMEN
Double scull – semi final A/B 1
1. Imogen Walsh/Katherine Copeland (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:02.26
2. Lindsay Jennerich/Patricia Obee (Canada) 7:03.72
3. Joanna Dorociak/Weronika Deresz (Poland) 7:05.36
4. Leonie Pless/Anja Noske (Germany) 7:06.00
5. Georgia Miansarow/Georgia Nesbitt (Australia) 7:14.60
6. Ricky Nencini/Daniela Nachazelova (Czech Republic) 7:23.78
LIGHTWEIGHT
MEN
Pair – Semi final A/B 2
1. Jonathan Clegg/Sam Scrimgeour (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:51. 63
2. Darryn Purcell/Alister Foot (Australia) 6:53.73
3. Guido Gravina/Alberto Di Seyssel (Italy 2) 6:55.94
4. Engin Ozkan/Huseyin Kandemir (Turkey 2) 6:58.34
5. Patryk Pszczolkowski/Bartosz Pszczolkowski (Poland) 7:06.50
6. Georgios Konsolas/Nikolaos Afentoulis (Greece) 7:11.32
Four – Semi final A/B 2
1. Mark Aldred/Peter Chambers/Richard Chambers/Chris Bartley (GREAT BRITAIN) 5:59.51
2. Blair Tunevitsch/Samuel Beltz/Nicholas Silcox/Thomastom Gibson (Australia) 6:01.32
3. Elia Luini/Martino Goretti/Stefano Oppo/Paolo Di Girolamo (Italy 2) 6:01.70
4. Jonathan Koch/Lars Wichert/Matthias Arnold/Julius Peschel (Germany) 6:01.99
5. Jiri Vlcek/Armando Dell’Aquila/Livio la Padula/Giorgio Tuccinardi (Italy 1) 6:05.27
6. Brendan Hodge/Maxwell Lattimer/Eric Woelfl/Evan Chang (Canada) 6:10.25
Single scull – Semi final A/B 2
1. Adam Freeman-Pask (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:17.96
2. Daniel Lawitzke (Germany) 7:18.62
3. Spyridon Giannaros (Greece) 7:19.90
4. Steffen Jensen (Denmark 1) 7:20.69
5. Peter Noerlem (Denmark 2) 7:28.11
6. James Wilson (Australia) 7:34.84
Double scull – Semi final A/B 1
1. William Fletcher/Jamie Kirkwood (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:24.04
2. Pietro Ruta/Andrea Micheletti (Italy) 6:25.15
3. Jan Vetesnik/Ondrej Vetesnik (Czech Republic) 6:26.71
4. Lars Hartig/Konstantin Steinhuebel (Germany) 6:28.31
5. Henrik Stephansen/Andrej Bendtsen (Denmark) 6:30.43
6. Alexander Walker/Nicolas Pratt (Canada) 6:37.25
REPECHAGES
Quadruple scull – Repechage 1
1. Olivia van Rooijen/Elisabeth Hogerwerf/Carline Bouw/Nicole Beukers (Netherlands) 6:24.33
2. Jessica Hall/Jennifer Cleary/Madeleine Edmunds/Kerry Hore (Australia) 6:24.41
3. Kristina Stiller/Olivia Carnegie-Brown/Victoria Meyer-Laker/Beth Rodford (GREAT BRTAIN 1)
6:25.72
4. Ruth Walczak/Eleanor Piggott/Brianna Stubbs/Charlotte Taylor (GREAT BRITAIN 2) 6:33.68
5. Bendetta Bellio/Veronica Paccagnella/Alessandra Patelli/Gaia Palma (Italy) 6:38.40
6. Anne Andersen/Christina Johansen/Hedvig Rasmussen/Rannva Olsen (Denmark) 6:40.28
PRELIMINARY RACE
OPEN
WOMEN
Eight – Preliminary Race
1. Canada 6:12.75
2. Rosamund Bradbury/Louisa Reeve/Katie Greves/Donna Etiebet/Jessica Eddie/Zoe Lee/Polly Swann/Caragh McMurtry/Zoe De Toledo (cox) (GREAT BRITAIN) 6:15.40
3. Romania 6:15.88
4. Germany 6:18.29
5. Australia 6:20.88
6. Netherlands 6:22.18
C FINAL
OPEN
MEN
Single sculls – Final C
1. Stanisalau Shcharbachenia (Belarus) 7:01.70
2. Alan Campbell (GREAT BRITAIN) 7:04.35
3. Dani Fridman (Israel) 7:06.06
4. Nico Stahlberg (Switzerland 2) 7:10.23
5. David Aregger (Switzerland 1) 7:11.06
6. Georgi Bozhilov (Bulgaria) 7:15.56
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FORWARD DIARY DATES
July
12-13
World Cup III, Lucerne, Switzerland
17 – NOTE NEW DATE
Announcement of GB Rowing Team crews for the World Championships – venue Caversham.
23-27
World U23 Championships, Varese, Italy
August
6-10
World Junior Championships, Hamburg, Germany
16-28
World Youth Olympic Games, Nanjing, China
24 – 31
World Championships, Amsterdam
September
13-14
World University Championships, Gravelines, France (U23s only)
October
19-20
British Championships – GB Rowing Team participation
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