Race reports
Day IV: Wednesday 18 June
Women’s Single Scull: Final A
Toowoomba-born Pippa Savage entered the final after winning her heat in commanding fashion on Monday. Her main threats in the final were expected to arise from the athletes from Serbia and Italy, but with three to progress Savage was considered a strong chance of realising her Olympic dream.
The first 250 metres unfolded well for Savage as she got off to her trademark fast start. She sat clear of the field by one second through the first quarter of the race.
The Serbian rower, however, made a move after the 500m mark and took the lead from Savage, who was content to settle in behind. The Italian lurked just further back while the remaining three finalists were slowly falling back.
Through 1500m Savage made her move and started to chase down the Serbian. She lifted her rate to move through into first place and cross the line in a time of 7:58.33. The Italian rower finished in second place while the Serbian also qualified for Beijing with a third-place finish.
“The whole morning has been exciting, especially seeing the boys win despite having a reserve in the boat”, Savage said. “I had a good start but the Serbian girl really put the pressure on and led most of the way.”
“The last 500 metres I was going for it pretty hard but didn’t feel as though I was moving anywhere. I think it is now more relief than anything.”
Women’s Double Scull: Final A
Catriona Sens and Sonia Mills were one of the last Australian crews chosen in April and had enjoyed a strong two-month build up to their day of reckoning.
Mills and Sens had finished 7th at World Cup 2 and had won their heat on Monday to set themselves up in the middle lane for the final.
France came out of the blocks extremely quickly and took the race to Australia and the Ukraine. Through the first 500m France held a one-second lead over the Ukraine in second place and Australia in third.
Mills and Sens pushed in the middle half of the race and really looked to set up their race with a stroke rate pushing 36 or 37 strokes a minute. France could not cope with the Australian surge, while Ukraine hung a boat length behind Sens and Mills with just over 500 metres remaining.
The two crews had build a substantial margin over Poland, while France had fallen off the pace. Ukraine kicked in the final 500m and overtook the tiring Australians who had done enough in the middle of the race to secure their Beijing ticket.
Ukraine crossed the line in a time of 7:18.98, with Mills and Sens recording 7:22.03 to finish two and a half seconds clear of Poland.
Sens says it was an amazing feeling.
"I don't think it has quite sunk in yet, everyone is buzzing", Sens said. “It is just great being part of such an exciting regatta and I am so happy to be in a boat with Sonia."
"We now have about 50 days to go before Beijing and it is nice to know we can go there to win something. We had everything to lose here but have come through."
Mills meanwhile said the last 500m was nerve wracking.
“The last 500 metres was so tough and I was hurting”, Mills said. “We had worked so hard during the middle 1000m and set ourselves up for a good finish.”
“Even though we didn’t win, we qualified the boat and that is what we came here to do.”
Men's Four: Final A
Terrence Alfred came into the men’s four and looked assured in the warm up as the four looked to be the 14th Australian crew to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.
The change in the crew did not appear to affect Francis Hegerty, Cameron McKenzie–McHarg and James Marburg as they combined with Alfred to set up a boat-length lead after the first 500m. The rhythm of the Australian boat was noticeable from the river bank as China and Canada battled it out for the final Olympic spot.
Called on by stroke Francis Hegerty, the crew rested on a rate of 39 strokes a minute as they held their margin over the middle portion of the race, as Beijing edged ever closer.
In the final 500 metres it was evident that Australia was heading to Beijing as they cruised to the line in a time of 6:05.85 to finish two seconds clear of China. Both crews will now head to the Olympics.
Francis Hegerty said that the late withdrawal of Matt Ryan was a tough challenge to overcome.
“It was a bit unsettling this morning when we knew Matt was out but we are lucky to have such a great replacement in T (Terrence Alfred)”, Hegerty said. “We still were aware of the job we had come to do and we put our mark on the race in the first 500m and never looked back.”
back to top
Day III: Tuesday 17 June
No Australian crews racing
back to top
Day II: Monday 16 June
Day two of the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta got underway in eerie conditions as the three Australian crews embarked on the final stage of Olympic qualifying in Poznan, Poland.
A slight holding wind and misty rain greeted the athletes at the venue for next year’s World Rowing Championships. As always there was a feeling of anxiousness amongst all athletes, with their Olympic dreams hanging by a thread.
Women’s Single Scull: heat
Pippa Savage was the first of the Australian crews to take to the crystal clear waters of Poznan. Savage, fresh from making the A Final at her first international regatta two weeks ago, entered Heat 2 of the Women’s Single Scull with confidence.
Savage’s race plan was clear from the start as she came out of the starting pontoon with a number of clean strokes to put a good 3-second margin on the field through the first 500m.
With dirty water prevalent in the middle half of the race Savage had set herself in good position as she moved a further two seconds clear of the Belgium paddler at the halfway mark.
The win was never in doubt for Savage as she entered the final quarter of the race ahead of the rowers from Belgium and Great Britain. She crossed the line in a time of 7:48.84 to move through as the sole qualifier for the A Final. The Great Britain sculler was a further nine seconds back.
With an Italian paddler winning the first heat in a similar time, Savage is now well placed to realise her Olympic dream. Three scullers will progress to the Olympics from the A Final.
After the race Savage was excited at the opportunity to race in the final on Wednesday.
“My plan was to get out in front early and sit in front of the field”, Savage said. “I was a bit uncertain about some of the rowers ahead of the race, particularly the Russian, as I had not seen them compete before. They were in the same position though so the importance of the start was obvious.”
“I will be trying to relax a bit over the next two days but am really looking forward to the final.”
Women’s Double Scull: heat
The Women’s Double Scull crew of Sonia Mills and Catriona Sens were faced with the same incentive as Savage with a win taking them straight through to the final.
Sens and Mills were smooth through the first stages of the race and sat half a second clear of the French combination at 500m, before pushing out to a two-second lead at the halfway mark of the race.
Mills was driving a good race from the stroke seat and Sens followed in unison as the experienced pair held firm through the middle portion of the race to set up a comfortable five-second lead.
With a place in the final assured, the Australian duo eased off the throttle and cruised to the finish line in a time of 7:25.13.
Sonia Mills was in good spirit after the race but noted there was still a lot of work to do before the final
"We got on the water and had to adjust to the cross head wind that had started to blow which made the race a bit more difficult", Mills said. "We knew the French would be the crew to beat and tried to get out of the blocks quickly to dominate the race."
"We had built up a good lead with 500m to go so I dropped the rating slightly. It is good to know that we could still win whilst not having our best race and we know that we will need to row well on Wednesday. It should come down to four crews — France, Ukraine, Belarus and us."
The Ukraine won the first heat in a time two seconds slower than Mills and Sens, but they were pushed to the line by the crew from Belarus.
Mills and Sens now require a top two finish in the final on Wednesday to book their ticket to Beijing.
Men's Four: heat
Francis Hegerty, Cameron McKenzie–McHarg, James Marburg and Matt Ryan entered their heat of the Men’s Four as strong favourites after their gold medal at World Cup 2 in Lucerne.
They had put in a lot of extra work in the two weeks since and looked in good shape on the way to the start line.
The result of the race was never really in doubt as the in-form Australians broke to a two-second lead after the first 40 strokes. From there it was a matter of how much the Australian’s would win the race by as they continually added seconds onto the margin.
Their blade speed through the water was impressive and they crossed the line in a time of 6:08.34 to win from Egypt and Croatia by over nine seconds.
With a top two place finish required on Wednesday to qualify for Beijing, McKenzie–McHarg said the crew was happy with their row.
“There are always a few nerves ahead of big races like these, but we are not the only crew to feel them”, McKenzie–McHarg said. “The race re affirmed the hard work we have been doing and hopefully we will have a new goal after the race on Wednesday.”
“There are a lot of crews who we have not seen compete before but we have had a better look now and will be well prepared on Wednesday to focus on the things we need to do to make the boat go fast.”
back to top
Day I: Sunday 15 June
Racing commenced on Sunday morning with the heats for the events with 13 starters or more. The winds have been frequent over the Lake Malta course in Poznan (Poland) in recent days but this morning’s races were in mild conditions and 23 degrees. The Australian women’s single sculler Pip Savage was to have raced but a scratching before the draw saw her field reduced to 12 starters and hence she will now join the other two Australian crews in their heats tomorrow morning (Monday). The spirit is good in the Australian camp and the lightweights preparing for the World Cup are also working alongside their yet to qualify teammates offering plenty of inspiration.
Daily updates will follow the progress of the three crews aiming to give Australia a full field of 14 crews for Beijing.
back to top
