Day three of the 2015 World Rowing Championships proved to be a damp one with intermittent rain throughout the day for the three Australian crews scheduled to race today (Tuesday) in Aiguebelette, France.
Only three crews were on the schedule for today, Georgia Nesbitt in the Lightweight Women's Single, Molly Goodman and Genevieve Horton in the Women's Pair and the Legs, Trunk and Arms Mixed Coxed Four. All three raced in their respective repechages in bids to make semi-finals later this week.
First up was Georgia Nesbitt, coached by Ellen Randell, in the Lightweight Women' s Single Scull. Earlier in the week the young Tasmanian had a fantastic race against former World Champion Fabiana Beltrame and the Huon sculler continued her good form today winning her repechage to book a place in the semi-finals.
Nesbitt won battled throughout with Austria's Stefanie Borzacchini but it was the Australian who came out the victor in a time of 7:55:45 in the drizzling conditions. Nesbitt will now go onto race on Thursday morning in France.
Following Nesbitt, the young Women's Pair of Molly Goodman and Genevieve Horton took to the water in a bid to book a place in the semi-finals of their boat class. The crew, coached by Bill Tait, were up against an inform Canada and Poland as well as Croatia in a repechage that required a top two finish to make the semi-finals.
Goodman and Horton were third at the start but by the halfway mark were edging on the Polish with Canada in the lead. However, the Canadians and Polish proved too strong for the crew and snapped up the two spots in the A/B semi-final, while Goodman and Horton will contest the C/D semi-final later this week.
The final race of the day was the LTA Mixed Coxed Four of Kate Murdoch, Jeremy McGrath, Alistair Chong, Sara Waitzer and coxswain Jo Burnand. The crew needed a top three finish to make the semi-finals.
Drawn in Lane 2, Gordon Marcks' crew faced off to China, Ukraine, Israel and Austria in chilly conditions as the clouds and rain rolled in over the mountains surrounding the lake.
As the rain poured down the Ukrainians took the lead but Australia were in hot pursuit followed by Israel and China who were challenging for one of the three semi-final places up for grabs. Burnand kept her crew on the task at hand and nipped at the heels of the Ukrainians to keep the pressure on for the repechage.
As the crew surged into the final 250 metres it was Ukraine in the lead but Australia were giving it one last push and took second place in a time of 3:53:92, just 1.67 seconds behind victors Ukraine, and in doing so booked a semi-final place for the crew.
A number of Australian crews will be racing at the 2015 World Rowing Championships on Wednesday, the details are below:
Lightweight Men's Single Scull - Tim McDonnell (coached by Brett Crow). Quarter-Final, Lane 6. 19:05 AEST (11:05 Local Time). 1-3 to Semi-Final A/B, 4… to Semi-Final C/D.
Lightweight Men's Quadruple Scull - Jonothon Hookway, Tom Perry, Edward de Carvalho and James Wilson (coached by David England). Repechage, Lane 5. 19:20 AEST (11:20 Local Time). 1-2 to A-Final, 3… to B-Final
Men's Pair - Jack Hargreaves and Nick Wheatley (coached by Mark Prater). Quarter-Final, Lane 4. 19:35 AEST (11:35 Local Time). 1-3 to Semi-Final A/B; 4… to Semi-Final C/D
Lightweight Women's Double Scull - Alice McNamara and Ella Flecker (coached by Mark Fangen-Hall). Quarter-Final, Lane 3. 20:10 AEST (12:10 Local Time). 1-3 to Semi-Final A/B; 4… to Semi-Final C/D
Women's Double Scull - Sally Kehoe and Olympia Aldersey (coached by Jason Lane). Repechage, Lane 3. 20:50 AEST (12:50 Local Time). 1-2 to Semi-Final A/B; 3… to Semi-Final C/D
Women's Eight - Lucy Stephan, Hannah Vermeersch, Georgie Howe, Rosie Popa, Meaghan Volker, Katrina Bateman, Alexandra Hagan, Charlotte Sutherland and Sarah Banting © (coached by Andrew Randell). Repechage, Lane 2. 21:20 AEST (13:20 Local Time). 1-2 to A-Final; 3… B-Final.
Women's Single Scull - Kim Crow (coached by Lyall McCarthy). Quarter-Final, Lane 4. 21:50 AEST (13:50 Local Time). 1-3 Semi-Final A/B; Semi-Final C/D.
Men's Eight - Christopher Cunningham-Reid, James Chapman, Sam Hookway, Scott Laidler, Fergus Pragnell, Nick Purnell, Matt Ryan, Joshua Booth and David Webster © (coach Tim McLaren). Repechage, Lane 5. 1-2 to A-Final; 3… B-Final.
Arms and Shoulders Men’s Single Scull – Erik Horrie (coached by Jason Baker). Semi-Final, Lane 3. 1-3 to A-Final, 4.. to B Final
LTA Mixed Coxed Four – Sara Waitzer, Alistair Chong, Jeremy McGrath, Kate Murdoch and Jo Burnand © (coached by Gordon Marcks). Semi-Final, Lane 6. 1-3 into A-Final, 4… B-Final.