Rowers taste time trials at World Cup

Rowers taste time trials at World Cup

by www.worldrowing.com on Παρασκευή, 27 Μάιος 2011 στις 6:52 μ.μ.
Time trials. The two buzz words circulating around the rowing course of the Samsung World Rowing Cup in Munich, Germany. The International Rowing federation, FISA, is testing the time trial racing format as a potential contingency plan in times of difficult weather conditions.

The look from the 1972 Olympic grandstand at the Munich course was one of a head race; one boat at a time coming down the course. The following races trialled starting from a fixed start on the 2000m course. The boats then left at 30 second intervals alternating between lane five and six. The finishing times were often quick as the time trial concept meant that crews had to race hard until the end to get a good time to qualify rather than in a normal six-boat-heat situation when the leading boat can potentially do just enough to stay in front or qualify for the next round.

A cold, wintery day greeted the athletes today with rain starting and stopping throughout the morning, but the water was flat with barely a breath of wind.

Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (LW1x) – time trial
The time triallists were divided into three groups with the top two crews to lead being seeded into this position indicating that they would be the crews to beat. The boats that had the first and second fastest times would go directly to the semi-finals with the rest returning for a repechage. The first ‘heat’ had top seed Pamela Weisshaupt of Switzerland showing her continued talent despite missing the World Rowing Championships last year.  Weisshaupt finished in a time of 8 minutes flat easily ahead of the rest of the crews. Eri Wakai of Japan came through in second to also qualify.

Alexandra Tsiavou of Greece led ‘heat’ two by a huge margin. Tsiavou often starts the season......
in the single before moving into the lightweight double where she finished with bronze last year. Tsiavou’s time of 7:46 was the fastest of the time triallists by a healthy five second margin. The five boats that followed Tsiavou included Marie-Ann Frenken, 24, of the Netherlands who’s second fastest time means that she will follow Tsiavou directly to the semi-final.

Fabiana Beltrame of Brazil received a huge cheer as she headed into the final 250m of the 2000m time trial in ‘heat’ three. A group of Brazilian under-23 and junior athletes have been training in Munich for the last month and they came to the course to support their senior team. These athletes are part of a development programme with their sights set on the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The cheering did the trick, Beltrame moves on to the semi-final as the winner of this heat and the second fastest time overall. The next fastest time went to Great Britain’s Katherine Copeland. Copeland was just a second down on Beltrame and with that, she earns a spot in the semi-final.

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x) – time trial

The formula for the three ‘heats’ was for crews to aim for a top two finish if they wanted to go directly to the semi-final. All other boats would return for a repechage.

Sitting first in the starting blocks of the 2000m Munich course was Maxime Goisset of France. Goisset, who finished sixth at last year’s European Championships, had a powerful start and then settled into a steady race pace in ‘heat’ one. It was enough to give him the fastest time of this group of six rowers. Fellow team mate, Barthelemy Agostini of France nearly piped Goisset his time just half a second down on Goisset. This puts two French crews into the semi-final. Disappointment for Nedelcho Vasilev of Bulgaria. Vasilev finished in third, just 3/100 of a second down on Agostini. Vasilev will race the repechage.

Heat’ two had Are Strandli of Norway seeded in the top spot and the seeding was spot-on with Strandli crossing the line in the fastest time of this heat. Strandli qualifies directly for the semi-final. The next fastest time was Milosz Jankowski of Poland who came back from a slow start to do a very fast finishing sprint to take second. John Graves of the United States also put in a massive closing sprint, rating 36 strokes per minute, but it was not powerful enough to get his time into the top two spots.

Italy’s Daniele Gilardoni has returned to international racing after a year off and popped up in ‘heat’ three. His return gave him not only the fastest time in heat three, but also the fastest qualifying time overall. Gilardoni is best known for his multiple World Champion titles in the lightweight men’s quadruple sculls. But, despite having 10 World Champion titles, Gilardoni has never raced at the Olympics. Finishing at a 34 stroke rate, Gilardoni moves on to the semi-final. Peru’s Victor Aspillaga Alayza finished in second and he earns a spot in the semi-final.

Lightweight Men’s Pair (LM2-) – preliminary race

This event had two ‘heats’. The time trial rules state that when there are 12 boats or less entered in an event, all boats from the time trials advance on to a heat. It also means that there are no semi-finals. The fastest boat in ‘heat’ one went to Italy Two made up of Luigi Scala and Pietro Ruta. Their rating coming into the finish was at 30 strokes per minute – relatively low compared to other boats in their event. Coming in second was Switzerland (Zehnder and Edelmann) who rated 38 in the last 150m of the race.

The fastest time trial time was in ‘heat’ two with current World Champions, Fabien Tilliet and Jean-Christophe Bette of France showing the rest of the crews how it’s done. Tilliet and Bette have dominated this event for the last couple of years but the question remains whether they will move into the Olympic class boat, the lightweight men’s four. Meanwhile the Czech Republic will be relegated to slowest time as their boat was weighed at underweight.

Women’s Pair (W2-) – time trial
This event had 17 entries divided into three time trial ‘heats’, which meant the top two boats from each ‘heat’ would move on directly to the semi-final. The rest of the boats would return for the repechage.

The fastest time trial time came in ‘heat’ one with last year’s silver medallists, Great Britain. Helen Glover and Heather Stanning of Great Britain crossed the line in 7.14 with a stroke rate of 35 coming into the final metres of the race. The second fastest time also came in this heat. Chantal Achterberg and Nienke Kingma of the Netherlands got their stroke rate to 36 to cross the line in a time of 7.17. Great Britain and the Netherlands are in the semi-final.

‘Heat’ Two had the very distinctive style of Susan Francia of the United States leading the way. Francia has teamed up this year for the first time with Meghan Musnicki as coach Tom Terhaar uses this regatta to look at different options for the season. Francia and Musnicki used a 37 stroke rate to cross the line in first with Romania’s Lupascu and Albu qualifying from second.

Francia’s 2010 partner, Erin Cafaro raced in ‘heat’ three with Amanda Polk and finished first. As the United States number two crew, Cafaro and Polk recorded an almost identical time as Francia and Musnicki. This race is shaping up to be very interesting for the next round. The Netherlands got a second boat through to the semi-final with Claudia Belderbos and Carline Bouw four seconds down on Cafaro and Polk but still the second fastest boat of the heat.

Men’s Pair (M2-) – time trial
This event had the time trial boats divided into three ‘heats’ with the top two fastest boats in each heat earning a direct path to the semi-finals. All other boats would get a further race and a second chance in the repechage.

The very experienced Lorenzo Carboncini and Niccolo Mornati of Italy came together last year from rowing in a whole swag of different boats and as a combination they clicked, finishing fourth at the 2010 World Rowing Championships in Karapiro. Today they raced in ‘heat’ one earning the fastest qualifying time by a handy six second margin. Poland qualified for the semi-final from second.

In perhaps the first upset of the day, Greece’s accomplished Gkountoulas brothers, finished second to a new Hungarian combination in ‘heat’ two. Bela Simon and Adrian Juhasz of Hungary rated lower than Greece’s aggressive 40 stroke rate sprint, but Simon and Juhasz still managed to record the fastest time of the heat. Both Hungary and Greece earn places in the semi-finals.

The third ‘heat’ featured world silver medallists and top seeds at this regatta, Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge of Great Britain. Reed and Hodge lived up to expectations by winning ‘heat’ three and recording the fastest qualifying time overall of 6.30. The Netherlands, in second and also qualifying, were a full 13 seconds down on the Brits. Reed and Hodge rated a powerful 37 strokes per minute in the close of the race while Nanne Sluis and Rogier Blink of the Netherlands managed 38.

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) – time trial
The women’s double attracted 16 entries divided into three time trial ‘heats’. To qualify for the semi-final from each heat meant finishing in the top three times of each heat. All other boats would have to return for a repechage.

All eyes were on top seed Great Britain racing in ‘heat’ one. But there was an added twist. Current World Champion, Katherine Grainger was with a new partner. Grainger’s usual partner, Anna Watkins is recovering from a back injury and has had to sit out this regatta. Spare, Melanie Wilson has stepped in and, after today’s results, looks to be doing a great job. Grainger and Wilson finished first and also recorded the fastest overall qualifying time of 7.07. The rest of the heat were completely outclassed with Belarus’s second boat finishing 12 seconds back in second. China also qualified for the semi-finals by finishing third. Grainger and Wilson have sent a message to the rest of the field.

In ‘heat’ two the skill of Belarus’s Olympic medallist Yuliya Bichyk in Belarus’s first boat showed through. Teamed up with Tatsiana Kukhta, together they finished first in a very respectable time of 7.11 despite only rate 30 strokes per minute at the end and looking a tad messy. This crew can only get better. Denmark and Ireland followed in second and third respectively earning them positions in the semi-final.

The third ‘heat’ saw the new United States combination of Sarah Trowbridge and Kathleen Bertko lead the way. Trowbridge and Bertko are still going through a selection process for their country with their results from this regatta part of the process. They have made a great start and will go directly to the semi-final. Romania and Lithuania also qualify for the semi-final from second and third time positions.

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – time trials

A full field of 24 boats started in this event divided into four time trial ‘heats’. This meant that the top time only in each ‘heat’ would qualify directly for the semi-final. Estonia’s Allar Raja and Kaspar Taimsoo opened the proceedings being the fastest time in ‘heat’ one and recording a time of 6.28. All other boats will contest the repechage.

The top time in ‘heat’ two – recorded by Andre Vonarburg and Florian Stofer of Switzerland – was almost identical to Estonia’s and spells a fast and tight final. Vonarburg and Stofer also recorded 6.28 to earn a spot in the semi-final.

The third ‘heat’ saw the return of former World Champions (2009), Eric Knittel and Stephan Krueger of Germany coming back to their previous form. Knittel spent some of 2010 fighting injury and the duo finished sixth last year. Today they rated a solid 35 stroke rate coming into the finish and recorded a time of 6.25 to qualify for the semi-finals.
But it took until the final ‘heat’, ‘heat’ four to discover the fastest time overall. Last year’s World Champion silver medallists, Matthew Wells and Marcus Bateman of Great Britain crossed the line in a time of 6.24 with a strong 40 stroke rate. Wells and Bateman move directly to the semi-final and start their 2011 season in a strong position. Surprisingly Italy was at the back of the field choosing not to race to the finish.

Men’s Four (M4-) – time trials

This event was divided into three ‘heats’ with the top two boat times in each heat qualifying directly for the semi-final. In ‘heat’ oneGreece showed that their winter training and adjustment to their 2010 line up has paid off. They easily recorded the fastest time by keeping a steady pace and upping the stroke rate to 42 coming into the final sprint.

Papachristos, Tsilis, Tziallas and Christou (GRE) move directly to the semi-final taking Italy (second fastest) with them.
Great Britain recorded the fastest qualifying time overall and they did this in ‘heat’ two with the crew of Langridge, Egington, James and Gregory. Tom James is the only change from the 2010 crew. They rated a solid 37 stroke rate at the finish. Germany, rating 36, came through in second but down on Great Britain by nearly five seconds.

Reigning World Champions, France (Macquet, Chardin, Despres and Mortelette) lined up in ‘heat’ three and, as expected, were seeded into the top spot. The French did record the fastest time of this ‘heat’ but it was nearly eight seconds down on Great Britain from the previous ‘heat’. Still, France qualifies for the semi-final along with Belarus.

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