Lightweight Women's Double
If their absence from the European racing circuit caused some folks to forget about them (they were conspicuously absent from the FISA previews for Worlds), the U.S. double of Sarah Garner and Christine Collins wasted no time in jogging people's memory today, winning their heat by over 4.5 seconds, a margin then enjoyed from about the 800 meter mark on. Only the German crew rowed a faster time (in a heat that was a bit faster across the board), but the event doesn't seem so strung out that the medals are a fait accompli. The crew advances directly to the Friday semifinal.
Lightweight men's double
The U.S. double, which had struggled in World Cup racing this summer, surprised everyone, perhaps even themselves, and found some impressive boat speed this morning, leading their heat until well into the third 500. Rowing at a base cadence of 38-39 strokes per minute, an aggressive pace even in the tailwind conditions, the crew was unable to counter the late charge by the French double, and placed second, some 30 seconds ahead of the third place finisher. The U.S. double will row in Wednesday's repechages.
"It was great to get back into form, especially after the problems we had at Lucerne," said bowman Conal Groom. "In the last 500 we slowed down some, but we think we can do some things to work on that."
Lightweight Men's Four
The Danish crew held a bit of a clinic in their heat, starting in the pack and pushing out to the lead position with what appeared to be an even-splitting approach in which they had the second fastest time in each of the first three 500 meter sections, but steady enough speed to gain the lead as other crews raced far less consistently. The Austrian crew looked impressive, with a superb race that was almost perfectly even-split, while the French appear to have explosive speed at the start and finish of the race, and a marginally less dynamic cruising speed.
The U.S. crew never seemed to hit their rhythm, despite a promising, if still not threatening, second 500, and a first 500 that put them less than two seconds from the leading French crew. The crew placed fourth, over 14 seconds out of first; the crew may have shut down late in the race.
Women's Quad
The U.S. quad proved that their Lucerne bronze was no fluke, winning their heat almost convincingly, leading from post-to-post. Advancement was three-to-the-semi, so there's no telling if all crews were racing full-tilt boogie, and the U.S. heat was the slowest of the three, but the crew looks quite good.
Men's Quad
The U.S. quad recovered from a poor start that put them in fourth place to finish second, 1.2 seconds out of first, but with only one to qualify, the crew will race in the Wednesday reps. Winds were shifting at this time of the day, but all the heats were almost identical in speed, so the U.S quad would seem to be in finals striking position, along with several other crews. Both the reps and the semis should be heaters.
The Eights
Both the men's and women's big eights from the United States won their heats to advance directly to the final, but not without terrifying late charges from crews that had looked all but spent earlier in both races.
In the women's eight, the U.S. crew led by as much as 2.5 seconds mid-race, just short of a full length. The crew from the Netherlands, who have an injured crew member for whom the team manager carries the boat, even appeared ready to shut down to save their energy for the repechages. Then, in the final 150 meters, the Dutch crew appeared to close to within a few seats of the Americans, who held on to win by 1.3 seconds. Crew members, however, felt that the outcome was secure throughout, and din't feel that the Dutch ever posed a serious threat in the closing meters.
In the men's eight just 15 minutes later, an identical scenario ensued. The U.S. men's eight enjoyed an open water lead just after the 1000 meter mark, almost three seconds ahead of the Romania eight, and seemed prepared to cruise into the first place spot going into the final 500. Then the Romanian crew began to increase their cadence and power, and initiated a charge that very nearly sent the Americans to the repechage; the margin at the finish line was 0.35 seconds, a mere deck-length. The Italians followed in third, with the world-record holding Netherlands crew in fourth, having trailed for most of the race after an atypically slow start.
"When the crew launched, we had a tailwind, but by the time the race began, the wind had switched around to a headwind," US coach Mike Teti said after the race. "In the tailwind, I wanted them to go hard early, and that might have hurt us when the wind came around. Tactically, it wasn't the best approach, but I'll take the win. Watching all of these other crews out here, I'm just be glad we don't have to row in the repechage."
Olympic Qualifiers
Both heat winners, the Russian and US eights, have earned guaranteed spots in the Olympics. Seven men's eights will qualify for the Olympics this week; all A final crews, and the winner of the B final.
Comments | Log in to comment |
There are no Comments yet
|
row2k's Worlds coverage is brought to you in part by:
row2k's Worlds coverage is brought to you in part by: