Head wind sees slower times in World Rowing Cup II semifinals and first A-Finals

Lucerne’s Rotsee regatta course went into Day Two of racing at World Rowing Cup II with semifinals. A consistent cross head wind meant that ratings were lower and times slower, as rowers raced to move onto Sunday’s finals.

Lightweight Women’s Single (LW1x) – Semifinals
Three boats went out hard in Semifinal One, with Italy 2 of Federica Cesarini and Netherlands 1 of Martine Veldhuis going stroke for stroke. Then China’s Huiru Li came storming through to take the lead. Li recorded the fastest qualifying time in yesterday’s heats and she must have been feeling confident. Veldhuis then looked as though the pace was a bit much with Li moving away from the field. Cesarini tried to hold on to China. France and Netherlands 2 remained in striking distance of a qualifying spot as the boats went into the final sprint. And what a sprint it was. Li held on to first with Netherlands 2, Femke van de Vliet, coming through in second, and Cesarini holding on to third.

Semifinal Two looked to be just as close as they left the start with four boats very, very close. Then Italy’s Paola Piazzolla managed to get a bit of a lead with Ireland’s Lydia Heaphy being the closest challenger. Rating 32, Heaphy then tried to close on Piazzolla. Two Swiss crews, meanwhile, were fighting it out for third. Heaphy then did another push. Piazzolla reacted back as the sprint for the finish got under way. Heaphy got the better of Piazzolla at the line with Eline Rol winning the Swiss battle.

Qualifiers: CHN, NED2, ITA2, IRL, ITA1, SUI2

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x) – Semifinals
Dominating Semifinal One was Pierre Houin of France 1. Houin is the Olympic Champion from Rio in the Men’s Lightweight Double, but this year he did not make the French double and instead is racing in the single. By the middle of the race, Houin had an open water lead using 35 strokes per minute with Ireland, Chile and France 2 in a virtual line behind him. Houin kept the speed going. At the line Houin had recorded 7:35.46 with Ireland’s Gary O’Donovan sprinting through to second and Chile’s Felipe Cardenas Morales taking third.

Italy 2 of Martino Goretti was first off the line in Semifinal Two. Goretti’s closest challenger was Italy 1 of Niels Torre. Torre is 14 years younger than Goretti, 35, who is the reigning World Champion in this boat class. Germany 1 of Joachim Agne followed in third, just ahead of Sid Ali Boudina of Algeria 2. Goretti is hoping to race in the single at this year’s World Rowing Championships and this regatta would help his cause as he led the way home ahead of Torre. Agne held on to third.

Qualifiers: FRA1, IRL, CHI, ITA2, ITA1, GER1

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – Semifinals
This was the first time seeing the French and Chinese going up against each other this season and they did it in Semifinal One. The French (Hugo Boucheron and Mattthieu Androdias) are the reigning European Rowing Champions while China (Zhiyu Liu and Liang Zhang) are the reigning World Rowing Champions. These two crews were neck and neck at the start before China got a small lead at the half way point. France tried to come back, and there was nothing in it. In the final sprint China went to 40 strokes per minute to win by a small margin. This race could have been an A-Final lineup. China had recorded the fastest qualifying time with a 6:26.64.

Germany jumped out early in Semifinal Two. But there wasn’t much in it in this talented field. Germany’s Weber and Krueger then got a slight lead over Great Britain 1 of Collins and Thomas. The Netherlands 1 (Broenink and Twellaar) were right on the pace in third. Then Broenink and Twellaar overtook Great Britain and closed on the Germans. The Dutch usually move in the third quarter of the race and they did exactly that today. Germany held on. Ireland was now moving at a very fast pace. Byrne and Doyle were following the Irish tradition of impressive finishing sprints and they crossed the line in first, with Great Britain taking second, and the Dutch in third.

Qualifiers: CHN, FRA, SUI1, IRL, GBR1, NED1

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – Semifinals
The World Champion, Sanita Puspure of Ireland lined up in Semifinal One and raced against, for the first time since 2019, world bronze medallist Kara Kohler of the United States. This is Kohler’s first time racing internationally since 2019 and it was Kohler who had a very small lead at the start over Puspure. Kohler and Puspure remained neck and neck through the middle of the race with Victoria Thornley of Great Britain very much on the pace of the leading two boats. The top three boats then moved clean away from the rest of the field. Thornley did a push that gave her the lead going into the final sprint. As the three boats were now clearly in front, none of them decided to sprint.

Fastest qualifier from the heats, Hanna Prakhatsen of Russia was sitting in lane 4 of Semifinal Two. Prakhatsen was the quickest out at the start with the fast-starting Magdalena Lobnig of Austria going with her. Prakhatsen is the reigning European Rowing Champion, and by the middle of the race she had a clear water lead. Now the real race was going on for third with China, Switzerland 1, and Belarus neck-and-neck. Russia and Austria took the top two spots and they watched the charge for third. Jeanine Gmelin of Switzerland had done it. She goes to Sunday’s A-Final.

Qualifiers: GBR, IRL, USA, RUS, AUT, SUI

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) – Semifinals
Greece’s Stefanos Ntouskos shot out at the start of Semifinal One. This sculler has been going from strength to strength ever since qualifying for the Olympics at the European Qualification Regatta earlier this year. He was leading 2018 World Rowing Champion, Kjetil Borch of Norway. Then the two Lithuanian boats fought it out for third. Borch made a move and pushed ahead of Ntouskos, as Griskonis (Lithuania 2) moved ahead of Ritter (Lithuania 1). Ntouskos may have gone out too hard as the Lithuanians overtook him pushing Ntouskos into fourth.

Semifinal Two had a false start so left the blocks a bit late in attempt number two. Sverri Nielsen of Denmark led the way at the start. The Faroe Islands sculler was watching Italy 2 of Gennaro di Mauro who went out at 50 strokes per minute. World  Rowing Champion Oliver Zeidler of Germany was also very much on the pace and keeping an eye on Nielsen who is the 2019 world silver medallist. Zeidler, 24, and Nielsen were now neck-and-neck and they stuck with each other through the middle of the race. Zeidler is used to dominating so it must have been a change for him to have Nielsen challenging him so hard. Zeidler then got into the lead coming through to the final 500 and he kept his speed up. Meanwhile Japan and Ireland were racing each other out in lane five and six. This tussle paid off as Ireland’s Daire Lynch overtook Italy to grab third.

Qualifiers: NOR1, LTU2, LTU1, GER1, DEN, IRL

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) – Semifinals
Italy’s Pietro Ruta and Stefano Oppo had the best start in Semifinal One with Germany’s Osborne and Rommelmann in hot pursuit. These two boats moved away from the rest of the field leaving the rest of the field to have a huge battle to try and get the third qualifying spot. Italy remained just ahead of Germany as they went into the final 500 with Belgium 2 and Switzerland now the main contenders for third.  Then Germany did a closing sprint to grab first with Italy holding on the second and Belgium 2 taking third.

Semifinal Two saw a fast start by the Irish crew of McCarthy and O’Donovan and Norway’s Strandli and Brun. Ireland and Norway were second and third respectively at the Rio Olympics with Norway retaining the same crew as they head to Tokyo. Ireland then got a slight margin over Norway with Belgium 1 now moving up on Norway and into third. McCarthy and O’Donovan continued to hold their speed, rating 37, and they now had nearly an open water lead as Belgium overtook Norway. Brys and van Zandweghe of Belgium 1 held off Norway to the line to take second with Ireland clearly in first.

Qualifiers: GER, ITA, BEL2, IRL, BEL1, NOR1

A-Finals for Olympic Boat Classes start on Sunday, 23 May, at 10:15am CET.

 

Lightweight women’s single sculls (LW1x) – Final

 The wind on the Rotsee was swirling around but generally a head wind, which meant it wasn’t fast conditions for these scullers. China’s Huiru Li established the early lead but Federica Cesarini, Italy’s second sculler, was keeping the pressure on. At 1000m, things were really starting to heat up between China and Italy2 with a fight for bronze behind between Ireland, Italy1 and the Netherlands. Li eventually opened up clear water and started to move away to a comfortable lead. Meanwhile, Lydia Heaphy of Ireland got the better of Cesarini and moved into second position. Heaphy had the fastest final quarter of all of the scullers and crossed the line to take the silver medal, leaving Cesarini to take the bronze.

Results: CHN, IRL, ITA2, NED2, SUI2, ITA1

 Huiru Li, China, Gold :

“It was a good race, I did what I did in training. Winning gold in my 1st World Rowing event means a lot to me, it is the best gift for my 20-year old birthday. Thanks to my coach and teammates.”

Lydia Heaphy, Ireland, Silver :

“It was a hard race with tough conditions, but I stuck to my race plan. The Irish team has had a great regatta so far so I took a lot of confidence from that and I’m really pleased with my result.”

Federica Cesarini, Italy, Bronze :

“I am happy but not satisfied. Obviously I would have liked to have rowed in the LW2x with my partner at the event, but we have some injuries to work through right now.”

 

Lightweight men’s single sculls (LM1x) – Final

Hot on the heels of the women’s race, the men’s race seemed to be an all-Italian affair at the front. Niels Torre went out first and led team-mate Martino Goretti to every timing point. Ireland’s Gary O’Donovan moved through from fifth place in the first half of the race into third position at 1500m. It was clear that Goretti had work to do to try and close the gap on the younger Italian sculler and despite Goretti increasing his stroke rate, Torre could not be caught. Meanwhile, Chile’s Felipe Andres Cardenas Morales moved through from sixth position at 1500m to cross the line just 0.22 seconds ahead of Gary O’Donovan to steal the bronze.

Results: ITA1, ITA2, CHI, IRL, GER1, FRA1

 Niels Torre, Italy 1, Gold :

“It was a great race, I started very quickly and I pushed hard all the time. I am very happy as it is my 1st gold medal in the elite category.”

Martino Goretti, Italy 2, Silver :

“My race was good. I am very happy with the results. We have trials for the world championships in August and that is my goal. Slowly I am getting back. I am in the phase of my career where I want to have fun, and so far it is working.

Felipe Andres Cardenas Morales, Chile, Bronze :

“I am so happy, this is incredible! This is my first medal in the senior category in the single sculls, I can’t describe how emotional I am right now.”