Brive-la-Gaillarde, France
Race Reports
Day IV: Saturday 8 August
Men's Quad Scull
The junior men's quad scull has finished third in the B final to round out their regatta.
Louis Snelson, Cameron Smith, Benjamin Morley and David Prosser only missed out on the A Final by nine hundredths of a second last night in one of the strongest fields the junior world championships has ever witnessed.
In the B Final Australia held third place through all 500m splits to complete the race in a time of 6:06.71. This left them four seconds adrift of the Italian crew, with the Netherlands finishing second.
Women’s Four
Anna Kaszycki, Hannah Vermeersch, Peta White and Jessica Molsher-Jones have won the gold medal in the women's four after a commanding row in the final.
They were the quickest quaifiers for the final from their heat on the opening day and always looked in control of the final, leading from start to finish.
The girls broke out to over a second lead after the first 500m over Great Britain and extended this during the middle part of the race.
The Australian girls, cheered on by their support crew, powered to the line to win in a time of 6:48.18, three seconds clear of Great Britain with China claiming the bronze medal.
Stroke of the women’s four crew, Jessica Molsher-Jones, was ecstatic with the performance after the race.
“We have been training really hard for this and we were able to pull off a great race on the day,” she said. “We didn’t expect to have such a good lead through the first 500m but were able to build on it and had over a boat length over Great Britain at the line. It is a great feeling.”
Men’s Coxed Four
The men’s coxed four of Angus Moore, Joshua Hicks, Samuel Collins and Thomas Amies, coxed by Nicholas Allen-Ducat, won silver to continue the strong Australian results on finals day.
Germany was in control of the race, building to a three quarter boat length lead through 1000m, while Australia and Italy had a tussle all the way down the course, racing bow ball to bow ball over the closing stages.
Australia held a canvas lead over Italy with 300 metres and fought bravely to hold off the notoriously fast finishing Italian crew on the line by just under half a second in a time of 6:22.44.
Men's Four
The Australian junior men’s four won a bronze medal behind Great Britain and Romania.
Daniel Brighthope (VIC), Michael Poulter (VIC), Thomas Chapman (TAS) and Tom Gatti (WA) were in second place through the 1000m mark but were overtaken by the Romanians in the third quarter of the race. Australia crossed the line in a time of 6:08.29.
Women's Quad Scull
The Australian women’s quad scull also claimed a silver medal after leading the field through the first 1000m.
Jessica Hall (QLD), Maddie Edmunds (QLD), Amy Fowler (ACT) and Alexandra Hagan (WA) were unable to hold off the fast finishing Chinese crew who led through the last 500m and recorded a 1.5 second victory.
Australia crossed the line in a time of 6:37.52, with New Zealand only 0.15 seconds behind in bronze position.
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Day III: Friday 7 August
Men's Four
The men's four of Daniel Brighthope, Michael Poulter, Tom Chapman and Tom Gatti booked their place in the final after a second-placed finish in their semi-final.
With three crews winning through from each semi-final the Australian crew placed themselves in a strong position from the start of the race when they led through the first 500m before settling back into second place behind Great Britain at the halfway mark.
The British and Australian crews were not challenged over the closing stages, with Great Britain crossing the line two and a half seconds clear of Australia, who recorded a time of 6:07.23.
Women's Quad Scull
The Australian women's quad scull scorched through to the final and cement themselves as one of the favoured crews for the final.
Jessica Hill, Maddie Edmunds, Amy Fowler and Alexandra Hagan were behind France for the first half of the race before kicking into top gear over the second 1000m.
Australia crossed the line in a time of 6:39.79, over two seconds clear of France, while New Zealand also progressed to the final.
Men's Quad Scull
Louis Snelson, Cameron Smith, Benjamin Morley and David Prosser narrowly missed out on qualifying for the final of the men's quad scull after finishing fourth in the semi-final.
Despite never being able to break into the top three throughout the race the Australian crew was never out of contention. They were a second behind Poland with 500m to row and pulled to within 9 hundredths of a second on the line.
Their time of 6:01.10 was four seconds behind the winning crew from Ukraine, while New Zealand also qualified for the final.
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Day II: Thursday 6 August
Men’s Coxed Four
The men’s coxed four charged into the A Final with an excellent row in their repechage. Angus Moore (ACT), Joshua Hicks (WA), Samuel Collins (WA) and Thomas Amies (QLD), coxed by Nicholas Allen-Ducat (QLD) had finished second in their heat on the opening day of competition but were always confident of rowing through their repechage.
Through the first 500m they sat in second place, only 0.18 second behind the Italian crew, with this margin only doubling as the two crews reached the halfway mark of the race.
By this time it was clear that these two crews would vie for the victory and Australia assumed the lead in the third quarter of the race and held on in a time of 6:32.47, half a second clear of Italy. South Africa and New Zealand also qualified for the final.
Men’s Quad Scull
Louis Snelson (NSW), Cameron Smith (QLD), Benjamin Morley (QLD) and David Prosser (WA) entered the quarter final of the men’s quad scull requiring a top-three finish to qualify for the next stage of racing.
They were matched against Germany again, favourites to win the gold medal, and they emphasised their strength by breaking to a four-second lead through 500m. Australia was in fourth place, but all crews outside Germany were tightly grouped.
With Germany assured of a place in the semi-final, the race was on for second and third, and Australia moved into third at the halfway mark, just over a second behind France. Croatia was still in contention however, and once again assumed third place from the Australian crew with only 500m to row.
Australia, to the delight of their support crew, kicked home over the closing stages and pushed through both France and Croatia to finish second in a time of 6:10.03.
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Day I: Wednesday 5 August
Women’s Four
The Australia women’s four gave the Australian Junior Team the perfect start to the 2009 World Junior Rowing Championships.
Under scorching French skies at Brive le Gaillarde in France, Anna Kaszycki, Hannah Vermeersch, Peta White and Jessica Molsher-Jones led from start to finish, qualifying directly for the final on Saturday night.
The Australian girls proved they were a class above the rest of the field as they lept out in front of the field and won the race by a considerable margin of 14 seconds. Their time of 6:55.99 will give the crew confidence heading into the final.
Men’s Coxed Four
Angus Moore, Joshua Hicks, Samuel Collins and Thomas Amies, coxed by Nicholas Allen-Ducat, required a win in their heat of the men’s coxed four to gain direct qualification for the final.
After the first 500m of their race they were sitting in third place before they pushed into second at the 1000m mark. Germany had a stranglehold on the race however and were not challenged heading into the finish line as Australia secured second place behind them.
Their time of 6:25.50 left them six seconds behind Germany and they will row in the repechage in a bid to make the final.
Men’s Four
Daniel Brighthope, Michael Poulter, Thomas Chapman and Tom Gatti were the next Australians in action as they took part in the heats of the men’s four.
The first two crews would be granted a berth in the semi finals and Australia’s fine start to the race ensured they would have no problems progressing through to the next stage of the regatta.
They led through the first 1500m of the race and despite being overtaken in the closing stages of the race by Slovenia, they qualified in a time of 6:26.53.
Women’s Quad Scull
Jessica Hall, Maddie Edmunds, Amy Fowler and Alexandra Hagan entered the regatta in top form and showed their class in their heat of the women’s quad scull.
With a semi-final spot up for grabs for the winning crew, the Australians were aware they needed a strong start to their race. Their lead of four seconds through the first 500m asserted their dominance on the field from the early stages.
The Australian girls moved this margin out to seven seconds at the halfway mark of the race and were able to ease off in the closing stages of the race to win in a time of 6:49.78, four seconds clear of the Croatian crew.
Men’s Quad Scull
Louis Snelson, Cameron Smith, Benjamin Morley and David Prosser were the final crew in action as they contested the heats of the men’s quad scull.
Due to the large number of entries in this field, the first three crews across the line would only make progress to the quarter finals, making for a large program of racing.
Australia led through the first 500m and then moved back into second at the halfway mark of the race behind the Italian crew.
Italy proved too strong over the final half of the race to win in a time of 6:10.82, while Poland rowed through Australia in the final 500m to claim second. Australia however still progressed in a time of 6:15.50 and will row in the quarter finals on Thursday evening.
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