"but we had some troubles......"

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Olympic qualification heats show early speed

15/06/2008

It gets dark late and light early in Poznan, Poland. For the rowers competing in the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta, there is no doubt they would have woken early after a restless nights sleep. There are Olympic dreams at stake for these athletes. A relatively sombre mood permeated around the Malta Lake rowing course in Poznan although rowers enjoying mild temperatures, no wind and calm water. Today’s heats had a feel of importance about them and sprint finishes were common. The idea here was to be in either the top two or top three to qualify directly for the semifinal and miss going through the repechages.

Men’s single (M1x)

Heat One
Aleksandar Aleksandrov of Bulgaria (reigning junior champion) broke the waters using his high rating style to push ahead of Maxim Zhemaldinov of Russia. The race soon sorted itself out into three leaders with Austria’s Ralph Kreibich also getting the better of Zhemaldinov who was starting to fade. Kreibich has been racing internationally since 1992 but is yet to make the Olympics. Coming through in second behind Aleksandrov gets Kreibich into the semifinal and one step closer to the Olympics. Zhemaldinov also qualifies.

Heat Two
Mindaugas Griskonis of Lithuania set the standard in heat two from start to finish and in the process secured the fastest qualifying time. Croatia’s Damir Martin did his best to keep up with Griskonis. But in a very tight race, the big fight was going on for the final qualifying spot. There was noting between Greece, Latvia and Poland. All three athletes were rating in the high 30s. The best sprint went to Ioannis Christou, 22, of Greece. Griskonis, Martin and Christou move on to the semifinal.

Heat Three
For years in Estonia Jueri Jaanson owned the single. Now that Jaanson has moved into the double, Andrei Jaemsae has taken over in the single. In this third and final heat Jaemsae found himself behind a very aggressive effort by Andraz Krek of Slovenia. Krek had the lead but he was unable to shake Jaemsae who was unrelenting. Coming through the 1500m Jaemsae successfully challenged Andraz for the lead. As Andraz began to run out of steam, Ken Jurkowski of the United States, who has a World Champion medal from his country’s flagship boat, the eight, comfortably pushed into second. Jaemsae, Jurkowski and Krek make the semifinal.

Damir Martin, CRO
"It was a little faster than I expected. I was in my normal position for the race and the last 200 meter the Greek put the pressure on. I saw him coming the last five strokes.”
On his chanced for Beijing? “Everyone hopes they have a good chance. Yes, a good chance for me.”

Ioannis Christou, GRE
“It was my first race in the single and I’ve only been in it for one week. I was in the double, but we had some troubles. Now I’ll be doing the single and I’ll do my best. Since it was my first race, it was so different from the double, and I have to use the rhythm of the other racers. Now I have to find a new rhythm I know as the single is more power. It’s different for the start and the lower stroke rating and more power I’m not used to.”