New Zealand's 2015 international campaign has kicked off at the World Rowing Cup in Varese, Italy (Friday 19 June). The competitors enjoyed perfect rowing conditions and New Zealand's lightweight rowers were the highlight of the day with the men's lightweight four, women's lightweight double, men's lightweight double and both women's lightweight single scullers gaining semi-final progression.
Six New Zealand crews directly qualified from semi-finals through the heats and one crew advanced to semi-finals through the repechage round, while Mahe Drysdale moved through to the semi-final from the men's single scull quarter-finals.
The first New Zealand crew competing was the women's pair of Kerri Gowler and Grace Prendergast. Aiming for a top three placing to take the direct path to the semi-finals, Gowler and Prendergast led the charge taking an early lead, but the USA crew of Felice Mueller and Eleanor Logan were putting the pressure on. USA snuck to the front of the field with six hundred metres to go. USA won the heat in 7:01.41 while New Zealand finished one length back in 7:02.58. Neither crew wanted to give an inch and smashed out the quickest heat time. Poland took the third semi-final spot. In the first heat Helen Glover and Heather Stanning from Great Britain took an easy win in 7:13.67 with France and Italy also progressing to the semi-finals. In the third and final heat USA's second crew, Denmark and China also progressed to the semi-finals.
The new women's double scull combination of Zoe Stevenson and Eve Macfarlane were slow to pick up speed in their heat, going through the first quarter marker in fourth position; however they weren't to be discounted by the competition. Stevenson and Macfarlane pulled themselves into contention at the halfway point taking the second semi-final qualifying position. USA won the heat in 6:50.32, New Zealand were two lengths back in 6:54.73. From the two earlier heats Poland, Germany, Australia and Great Britain advanced to the semi-final round.
The reigning world champions and New Zealand lightweight women's double sculls crew of Julia Edward and Sophie MacKenzie needed to cross the finishing line in first position to get a direct path to the semi-finals. Edward and MacKenzie showed their class by setting a dominating pace in their heat finishing in first ahead of Great Britain's second crew, winning in a time of 6:54.69. Germany, Great Britain 1 and China 1 also booked their semi-final positions from their particular heats.
The first task for the men's lightweight four made of crew members Curtis Rapley, James Lassche, Alistair Bond and James Hunter was to be one of the top two crews in their heat to progress straight to the semi-finals. They were up against crews from Argentina, Australia, Japan and China. New Zealand bolted out of the starting zone taking an early lead and holding their boat speed throughout the 2000m race. New Zealand won in a time of 5:54.46 holding off the fast finishing crews from China and Australia. New Zealand joins France, Great Britain, Switzerland and two crews from China in the semi-finals with other crews confirmed from the repechages.
Zoe McBride was safely through to the semi-final of the women's lightweight single scull after leading her heat from start to finish. McBride won the race in 7:35.04 with a decent margin between her and the second placed Runge Holmegaard of Denmark and third placed Shuai Guo from China. The top three crews in this event head straight to the semi-final. McBride's under-23 crewmate in the women's lightweight double scull Jackie Kiddle also claimed her semi-final qualifying position by finishing second in her heat of the women's lightweight single scull, behind the Brazilian sculler but ahead of the Chinese sculler.
Peter Taylor and Hayden Cohen needed to win their heat in order to close in on a semi-final spot. They were not successful after the British duo of Richard Chambers and William Fletcher took charge of the race winning in 6:16.48. Taylor and Cohen finished third, behind the crew from USA and were forced to the repechage. Improving with each outing Taylor and Cohen looked confident in their repechage getting out in front of the field from start, the duo went onto win the race in 6:24.28 with a battle happening behind them between Poland and Denmark. Poland managed to take the second semi-final berth.
In the men's single sculls heat Mahe Drysdale held a comfortable stroke rate and claimed a commanding lead to win in 6:53.44 and confirming a quarter-final start in the process. New Zealand's sculling reserve Giacomo Thomas had a tough heat with the 2014 world champion Czech Ondrej Synek leading out in front of the field. Thomas was racing the scullers from China, Germany and Finland. Thomas snuck into the quarter-finals ahead of the Chinese sculler by holding onto the fourth and final qualifying spot. A quick recovery was needed by the New Zealand scullers to prepare for the quarter-finals in the afternoon session. Drysdale again took charge in the quarter-finals finishing first in a slightly quicker time of 6:41.64; and securing his spot in the semi-finals. Giacomo Thomas was up against it in the quarter-finals facing Synek for the second time in one day and finished in sixth outside of the qualifying requirement; he will compete in the D Final on Saturday.
The men's quad had a tough progression through the heats with only the top crew allowed directly to the A Final, with all other crews required to face a repechage. The New Zealand crew of Karl
Manson, George Bridgewater, John Storey and Jade Uru moved up the field as the race wore on. They were in fifth through the first five hundred metres, at the halfway marker they had inched themselves into fourth. The kiwis attacked into the final sprint but couldn't make a significant gain on the leading crews. Germany took the win in 5:45.25, with Australia in second and Poland in third. In the second the heat Great Britain surged ahead to A final spot in 5:44.02. The men's quad repechage will be raced on Saturday.
Anthony Allen, Alex Bardoul, Bobby Kells and Finn Howard in the New Zealand men's four required a top finish to claim an A final spot, however they were unable to keep up with the crew from the USA who won in 5:49.33. New Zealand was placed fourth throughout the race, but a solid sprint from Belarus, Cuba and Great Britain saw them finish in fifth. The men's four repechage will be raced on Saturday.
The New Zealand women's quad crew of Erin-Monique O'Brien, Lucy Spoors, Georgia Perry and Sarah Gray faced some tight racing in the heats, with only the top two crews from each heat claiming an A final berth. In their heat Germany - the world champions won, with Poland edging in behind them. New Zealand completed the race in third nearly 13 seconds behind the race leaders and will now compete in the repechage on Saturday.
The New Zealand women's eight lined up in the starting blocks alongside the current Olympic and world champions USA, Great Britain and Australia in the heats. The winner of the women's eight heats gained a direct route to the A final, Great Britain led through the first three quarters of the race but the experience of the USA crew shone through when they took the lead into the final sprint. USA finished in first in 5:55.54, just a canvas in front of Great Britain, Australia were in third ahead of New Zealand. The New Zealand women's eight will be in action again in the repechage on Saturday.
The men's eight was unable to edge into the top two placings to progress directly to the A final, but they certainly made a good attempt. The kiwis led out slightly from the starting blocks, Germany then nudged in front of the New Zealanders through the half way point before USA overtook New Zealand with five hundred metres left to run. Germany won in 5:23.32, USA was second in 5:24.75 and New Zealand was third in 5:26.58. The men's eight repechage will be raced on Saturday.
In the women's single sculls Fiona Bourke and Olivia Loe needed a top placing in their respective heats to confirm a semi-final start. In Loe's heat Australia Kim Crow took control of the race, winning in dominating style and claiming the lone semi-final berth. Loe was heading to the repechage after finishing her heat in sixth. In the last women's single scull heat Bourke finished in second behind Austria's Magdalena Lobnig who won in 7:35.10. Bourke was also required to contest the repechage. In the repechage Loe and Bourke needed to finish either first or second to obtain a semi-final opportunity. Loe put in a strong starting performance in the repechage going through the first five hundred metre marker in second behind Denmark's Fie Adby Erichsen, however she dropped to third at the halfway point when the Polish sculler Julia Michaelska got in front, and continued to lack the pace and finished in fourth. Bourke also missed out after the sculler from Sweden Anna Svennung challenged relentlessly into the final sprint to pull up alongside Bourke before pushing past to claim the guaranteed semi-final start with the first place getter from Germany Julia Richter.
Men's sweep reserves Paddy McInnes and Axel Dickinson were off the mark in the third men's pair heat finishing fourth in a time of 6:54.83. They then faced a repechage to keep their world cup regatta alive. In the repechage round a top three placing was what was required of McInnes and Dickinson to make the semi-finals, however they were unable to stake their claim on those qualifying spots finishing in sixth – they will compete in the C final.
Adam Ling couldn't push himself into a qualifying position, holding onto the third place throughout the heat of the men's lightweight single scull behind the race leaders from Italy and Germany. The world champion from Italy, Marcello Miani won, with Germany's Max Roeger taking the second spot. Ling then went onto fight for his right in the semi-final via the repechage. In the repechage Ling couldn't manage to overhaul Francesco Pegoraro from Italy and Konstantin Steinhuebel of Germany and finished in third overall which only enough for the C final.
The men's double scull of Robbie Manson and Chris Harris are sitting out this world cup event as they are returning from injury. The duo will compete at the Lucerne World Cup event.
Day two of the second world cup regatta will include semi-finals, repechages and minor finals. The men's quad, women's quad, women's eight, men's eight and men's four will get a final chance to advance further in the regatta through the repechage.
There are more than 750 international athletes from 42 countries racing in Varese, Italy for the World Cup regatta. New Zealand entered 15 boat classes at this second of three world cup events. The third and final world cup of 2015 will be held in Lucerne, Switzerland next month, with the world championships to be hosted in Aiguebelette, France from August 30 for seven days of. The world championships also double as the major qualifying regatta for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
-Ends-
Results are available on World Rowing – http://www.worldrowing.com/events/2015-world-rowing-cup-ii/
Regatta Photos are available from PhotoSport thanks to Igor Meijer. www.photosport.co.nz
Photos attached of Women's Pair, Men's Single Scull and Women's Lightweight Double Scull – Credit Igor Meijer.
Live coverage will be available on Sky TV NZ – World Rowing Cup II - Live - Sun, 21 June 2015 21:35pm SKY Sport 3
World Rowing Cup II - Replay - Mon, 22 June 2015 06:00am SKY Sport 1
World Rowing Cup II - Highlights - Mon, 22 June 2015 16:30pm SKY Sport 4
World Rowing Cup II - Highlights - Mon, 22 June 2015 21:30pm SKY Sport 3
World Rowing Cup II - Highlights - Tues, 23 June 2015 5:30am SKY Sport 1
World Rowing Cup II - Highlights - Tues, 23 June 2015 10:00am SKY Sport 3
World Rowing Cup II - Highlights - Thurs, 25 June 2015 09:00am SKY Sport 4
World Rowing Cup II - Highlights - Fri, 26 June 2015 09:30am SKY Sport 4
World Rowing Cup II - Highlights - Sat, 27 June 2015 2:00am SKY Sport 3
For more information contact:
Margaret Timms
Marketing & Communications Manager – Rowing New Zealand
021 875 209
Or
Jan Taylor
Team Manager (to set up athlete phone interviews)
021 808 132
NEW ZEALAND ROWING TEAM 2015
Women's Single Scull
Fiona Bourke (Otago University RC, Southern RPC)
Dick Tonks (Coach)
Women's Single Scull
Olivia Loe (Avon RC, Southern RPC)
Marion Horwell (Coach)
Women's Double Scull
Zoe Stevenson (Tauranga RC, Waikato RPC)
Eve Macfarlane (Canterbury RC, Southern RPC)
Dick Tonks (coach)
Women's Coxless Pair
Kerri Gowler (Aramoho-Wanganui RC, Central RPC)
Grace Prendergast (Avon RC, Southern RPC)
Dave Thompson (Coach)
Women's Quad
Erin-Monique O'Brien (Petone RC, Central RPC)
Lucy Spoors (Canterbury RC, Southern RPC)
Georgia Perry (Cambridge RC, Waikato RPC)
Sarah Gray (Waikato RC, Waikato RPC)
Mike Rodger (Coach)
Women's Lightweight Double Scull
Julia Edward (Rotorua RC, Waikato RPC)
Sophie MacKenzie (Wairau RC, Central RPC)
Gary Hay (Coach)
Women's Lightweight Scull
Zoe McBride (Nelson RC, Central RPC)
Gary Hay (Coach)
Women's Lightweight Scull
Jackie Kiddle (Star BC, Central RPC)
Gary Hay (Coach)
Women's Eight
Rebecca Scown (Union Wanganui RC, Central RPC)
Genevieve Behrent (Waihopai RC, Southern RPC)
Kristen Froude (Waihopai RC, Southern RPC)
Ashlee Rowe (North Shore RC, Auckland RPC)
Kelsey Bevan (Counties-Manukau RC, Auckland RPC)
Ruby Tew (Star BC, Central RPC)
Emma Dyke (Timaru RC, Southern RPC)
Kayla Pratt (Auckland RC, Auckland RPC)
Cox – Francie Turner (Canterbury RC, Southern RPC)
Dave Thompson (Coach)
Men's Single Scull
Mahe Drysdale (West End RC, Auckland RPC)
Dick Tonks (Coach)
Men's Single Scull
Giacomo Thomas (Hawkes Bay RC, Auckland RPC)
Men's Coxless Pair
Patrick McInnes (Waikato RC, Waikato RPC)
Axel Dickinson (Wairau RC)
Marion Horwell (Coach)
Men's Quad
John Storey (Avon RC, Southern RPC)
George Bridgewater (Avon RC, Southern RPC)
Jade Uru (Waihopai RC, Southern RPC)
Karl Manson (Blenheim RC, Central RPC)
Mike Rodger (Coach)
Men's Lightweight Coxless Four
Curtis Rapley (Tauranga RC, Waikato RPC)
Alistair Bond (Otago University RC, Southern RPC)
James Lassche (Avon RC, Southern RPC)
James Hunter (Wellington RC, Central RPC)
Dave Thompson (Coach)
Men's Lightweight Double Scull
Peter Taylor (Auckland RC, Auckland RPC)
Hayden Cohen (Canterbury RC, Southern RPC)
Calvin Ferguson (Coach)
Men's Lightweight Single Scull
Adam Ling (Tauranga RC, Waikato RPC)
Gary Hay (Coach)
Men's Coxless Four
Anthony Allen (Waikato RC, Waikato RPC)
Alex Bardoul (Waikato RC, Waikato RPC)
Bobby Kells (North Shore RC, Auckland RPC)
Finn Howard (North Shore RC, Auckland RPC)
Marion Horwell (Coach)
Men's Eight
Stephen Jones (West End RC, Auckland RPC)
Brook Robertson (Nelson RC, Central RPC)
Alex Kennedy (Te Awamutu RC, Waikato RPC)
Joe Wright (Wellington RC, Central RPC)
Isaac Grainger (Auckland RC, Auckland RPC)
Shaun Kirkham (Waikato RC, Waikato RPC)
Michael Brake (North Shore RC, Auckland RPC)
Tom Murray (Blenheim RC, Central RPC)
Cox Caleb Shepherd (Waikato RC, Waikato RPC)
Noel Donaldson (Coach)
Team Managers
Jan Taylor and Andrea Harper
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