Yet again, the prospect of Olympic qualifying--and the specter of missing the mark--made from some very intense semis and B finals today. In the pre-Olympic year, these are definitely the most fraught races on the program, and serve up some of the best racing. On to the report from the racing in Saturday's semis and B Finals.
LTAMix4 semis
If any event should go to 2k among the adaptive races, this is the proof of it; the level of rowing is such that the crews look quite good, and the times aren't bad, either; 3:26 to the 1000 in a mixed coxed four is fine speed. The racing is both semis was good and pretty darn tight as well, and the 2k distance could really play well in this event.
The US four has had a good run this week, winning their semi yesterday, and booked a place in the A final as well as the 2012 Games with a third place finish today. "That was pretty awesome," said Englert. "I always wanted to go to the Paralympics, not that I'm going to go, necessarily, but it was great to qualify. I thought the race went pretty well. I was a little worried; I never really hear the beep, so when I found out, I was pretty excited. It's great."
TAMix2x B final
The US double, which is new to rowing by any standards, couldn't quite bag the top two/top eight overall position to qualify the boat for the Games next year; Israel and Poland put enough distance behind them that it was never really in doubt down the track.
Men's Quad B Final
With five 2012 spots on the line, this race was tight all the way down the course, with never more than a length separating all six crews. At the finish line it was 2.4 seconds from first to the very disappointed sixth position; that's quad racing, whew. The US crew raced in the thick of things for the first 1000 before pouring it on in the second, pacing to the second fastest third 500, and the fastest final 500 to nab second/eighth overall; the only non-qualifying position fell to Cuba.
Interview with the US men's quad (watch on video)
Here we go with the men's quad, just qualified the boat for the Games.
Sam Stitt: Hey, prost.
And of course most importantly, first beer of the year.
Stitt: I don't know about that . . .
Warren Anderson: Tastes like happy.
Question: A little bit disappointing not to get into the A final, but you had a little bit different job today; how did you turn it around in a day's time and then get it done out here?
Stitt: I think our goal coming into this was just to qualify the boat, and making it to the A final would have been like the icing on the cake. So, yeah, it would have been nice, but we got our job done, and as an Olympian will tell you, it's just great qualifying a boat. It's the first step to the Olympics, and it feels really good. I think these guys appreciate it, and I definitely know it's a big step.
Question: The quad was just coming together kind of late in the summer, with some changes, and then seemed to get some good momentum here; how has the last month been?
Will Miller: we shifted a couple things around, tweaking it to try to adjust things, even here at the regatta, just trying to get better and better, and I think each race was a little bit better than the previous one. We're just trying to keep that good momentum going.
Are you guys planning to row tomorrow morning?
(All four laugh) Glenn Ochal: no, I don't think so. I'll take a day off.
Question: Any thoughts about the event? It's fast, intense.
Various: it's tight, it's a tough event.
Anderson: it's closer than we were expecting.
Glenn Ochal: Quads are generally a fast boat, and you can't shift speed; once you're at speed, you're just kind of going. The event has a couple priority boats for different countries; Poland, it's the number one boat; Croatia, it's the number one boat; Russia, it's the number one boat; so there's a lot of talent, but it makes for fun racing, I'll tell you that much.
Sam Stitt: There's a lot of people with experience out there, so you've just got to try to overcome that.
Question: Warren, you said it was tighter than you expected; how so, was there anything in particular?
Anderson (holds up the results sheet): Two and a half seconds first to last (laughs). It's definitely different that you think, coming from racing the small boats, you think 'oh, it would be so great to have a lot of backup,' but once you're in a boat with some really good men, to get into those top spots, you're playing a game where that one spot is separated by a fraction of a second in a five-six minute race. There's not a lot of room for error, and it's a different kind of nerves and intensity, and a different kind of thought process. So it was good to come out on the right side.
Anybody want to take us through this race?
Stitt: it was a tough race, it's the only thing you can say about the quad race. It's quick, it's fast; it's the fastest sculling boat. It's a quick race. You know, one second you're there, and another second someone is either up on you or you're up on them. One little mistake, and all of a sudden someone is a seat up on you and you have to make it back. It's definitely a tough boat.
Question: Any point when you felt you had the spot locked up?
Miller: No.
Stitt: Yeah, when the horn sounded, that's about it! (all laugh)
Men's Pair B Final
This was another event in which the top 11 are awarded spots for 2012, five from the B final. The US pair of Justin Stangel and Tom Peszek raced in sixth for the first 500, but anyone who has watched them race this year knew they tend to come back through the field late, and today was no exception. In fact, they produced the fastest last 500 to place third in the race, ninth overall -- a huge advance from their 16th place finish in Lucerne just a month ago.
Interview with Justin Stangel and Tom Peszek of the US men's pair (watch on video)
They just came third in the B Final, and nabbed a spot in the Games. Maybe disappointed not to be in the A final despite a pretty good go yesterday, but today, a different job. How did you turn around from that, and get this done.
Tom P: we kind of forgot about it, to be honest. We had a mission to accomplish right from the start, and that was to get 11th or better, so of course we wanted to be in the A and lock it up yesterday, but we had a very clear mission and we never lost sight of that. That's all that's been on our minds, and it was no problem to move on from there.
Question: in this race, you kind of hung back, as you guys have been inclined to do, and then went; was it just your normal thing?
Tom P: I'd like to think it was more the other guys had a great start on us more than anything. We stuck to our guns, we didn't have too bad of a first 500, so we knew if we just hung in there, we could claw our way back at them, and that's what we ended up doing.
Question: was there any point where you felt like you had it, and after that, how did you go about things?
Justin S: The confidence really built coming through the thousand, we could see that we were closing in on the field again. In the middle of that race you just have to have confidence in your ability to make that push, when everyone else is hurting, and you're hurting, and you make that one percent call, you make that little shift, and you start clawing back in. Definitely when we got that qualifying spot, got ahead of the French crew, that was a good feeling, and once you have that you just build on it, and go and try to mow down as many as you can.
Question: Did you guys talk at all after this race as you came across about having done it?
Justin: Yes, we were both extremely pleased, that's the goal this year, we have to get the boats qualified. We did hard work to get to this point; in Lucerne we were sixteenth, so finishing ninth is a big improvement for us. We built some speed thanks to coach Bryan and Tim over the last couple weeks, so it's been good.
Question: what is your impression of the event? You guys are young, first year in the boat, and it's an intense crowd.
Tom P: we were both in New Zealand last year, so it's not completely foreign to us
Question: but not in the pair?
Tom: not in in the pair, no. But even last year, we spent a lot of time in the pair together, and we've logged a lot of miles in this boat, so we firmly believe in each other. The event is different, the surroundings are different, but to us it's still the same, same old grinding it out in the pair.
Justin: all in all a tough event, tho, and the A level finalists are in the A final because they deserve to be there. I think we're finding speed, but have a couple more gears to go.
Women's Double B Final
The US double of Sarah Trowbridge and Kate Bertko gave this one a courageous shot, but couldn't match the second 1000 of the Chinese double, which had the fastest split times in each of the last two 500s. The US missed the top eight spots for 2012 by one-third length behind Germany and China.
Men's Single B final
With 11 spots for 2012, the race came down to avoiding placing sixth to some extent, and when the Bulgarian sculler folded up his tent nearing the line, it was over. Ken Jurkowski, known for his intensity and focus, let out a smile over the line as he joined Lithuania, Cuba, Azerbajian, and China in booking spots for 2012.
Men's four semis
If lacking the star power of previous GB crews, the current GB four sure is competent and fast; there were almost five second ahead of everyone with 500 to go, and weren't even going that hard. The US put in a very solid and promising row to take second, repelling a somewhat notorious Belorussian sprint with aplomb; this locks up the 2012 qualifying spot for the men's four for the US. They had a very competent row, with very little dropoff in speed, and even lowered the rating for a bit it looked like, so there may be some juice left in the crew (sorry for the pun).
In the other semi, the Greek crew that has been shaking up the ranks of the men's four for the past year lived up to their growing rep, winning the semi followed by Australia (Drew Ginn's crew) and Germany in the other two advancing position. The AUS crew isn't quite an Oarsome Foursome yet, but they are looking considerably improved from earlier in the summer in Henley, so may be just getting going.
Ioannis Christou (GRE)
"Very happy to qualify for the Olympics. A big load came off of our shoulders today and we will give our best tomorrow."
Joshua Dunkley-Smith (AUS)
"We are pretty happy for coming through, it was a good race. We got plenty of inspiration today and we are looking forward to tomorrow."
Sebastian Schmidt (GER)
"Olympic qualification and making it into the final was our minimum goal. We are actually not too happy with how we rowed. We still need to improve for the final. But it was tough race and nobody gave in. We knew Greece would be strong, but at least the gap from Lucerne is smaller now. We also knew that the Australian performance in Lucerne was not what they would be capable off and that they would be a strong crew to contend with. Final next."
Richard Egington (GBR)
"Our main goal was to qualify for the finals, so we didn't think about the Olympics too much."
Charles Cole (USA)
"It was a very difficult race."
Ruben Knab (NED)
"After such a start, it couldn't go wrong! Towards the end it was less comfortable, but we have a lot of strength on board and we could hold our qualifying position with our sprint."
Light women's double
The second semi was an extremely tight affair going into the last 500 meters, where it still looked like almost anybody's race -- then it looked like someone called 'full power' to the three English-speaking crews in the race. The Australians, Canadians, and Americans burst away from the field, finishing a patch of open water ahead of everyone else, and making what was a real burner of a semi for 1600 meters look like a blowout by the line.
With the exception of the British double (which just barely held off a surging Chinese crew by 0.04 seconds), the times for all crews were within a couple seconds of one another; this is going to be a great final.
Julie Nichols, USA
"That's the way lightweight racing goes. It's all the boats across, all the time. You can't expect to get out on anyone, and it's competitive all the way to the line. We're really excited to have hit the qualifying mark for the Olympics and we're looking forward to the medals tomorrow."
Alexandra Giazitzidou (GRE)
"This is an emotional moment for us, our goal was to qualify here. Now there is only one race left. One race, for fun. "
Lucy Strack (NZL)
"We are really happy. We give all that we can and we ended second. We are trained to give our best. So tomorrow we will give the best of us and will see what happens."
Sophie Hosking (GBR)
"We qualified, that was our primary goal. Tomorrow is another day. For now it is job done, get a rest ."
Hannah Every-Hall (AUS)
"This was bloody exciting!"
Alice McNamara (AUS)
"This was great. Olympic qualification -- honestly, it's great but it was only in the very back of our mind. One step at a time and we had to keep it simple for each race, otherwise the pressure just gets too high. This was great hard work and a fantastic team effort. It was amazing."
Patricia Obee (CAN)
"Good race, it's good to qualify. We're looking forward to do our best."
Light men's double
Today's race appeared a very, very measured effort from the GB crew; when the field came after them with 300 to go, they lifted to start a sprint, but then dropped down again briefly; then the field came again, they put on a burst, then backed off again, and were definitely not at full intensity the last couple strokes of the race. Most everyone else was really going hard to advance, even including the Danes, so--on this evidence--the GB crew is back on track.
In the other semi, the NZ crew seemed to be sending a message by posting the fastest 500 across both semis in all but one of the 500 meter stretches; they were pretty relentless. This should be another great final.
Storm Uru (NZL)
"It was a fast and hard race, all crews out there deserved to be in the final really. Our race went really well."
Linus Lichtschlag (GER)
"Unbelievable. At 500 we were not in the top three. I called a push then and Lars just pulled so hard it was amazing and the last metres were just so much fun. It was our goal to make the final. We got that, so we can now enjoy tomorrow and have fun in the final."
Lars Hartig (GER)
"This was a great race. Everything was so close and the level of this event is just great and very competitive. It was fun racing."
Lorenzo Bertini (ITA)
"We are very happy because except for Norway, this was an A final. The pressure at the start was very high because of the qualification for the Olympics. Now we are happy it is done. Tomorrow we will give all the last power and we hope for a podium."
Women's Single Semis
Once advancing to the A final was very unlikely, Gevvie Stone clearly shut down in her semi, probably saving her legs to make a full bid for one of the top three qualifying positions in tomorrow's B final.
Mirka Knapkova's first success of the summer was way back in early May at the Dad Vail, of all places, but she sure seems to have consolidated her speed over the subsequent months on the evidence of her row today in early September.
This event is packed with veterans; both Xiuyan Zhang and Ekaterina Karsten were in the 1996 Olympics!
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