Day IV: Wednesday 29 August
Quotes and interviews from Day IV
Ben Cureton talks about the lightweight men's four quarter final win
Western Australia’s Ben Cureton sits in the three of the Australian men’s lightweight four.
A silver medalist from Athens in 2004, Cureton spoke to RA after today’s quarterfinal.
RA: Ben, when you drew the curtains back at your hotel this morning and you saw that it was pouring with rain, what did you think?
BC: I thought, “Good, it won’t be as hot as it was in the heats”. We had good water today so it didn’t bother me at all. One of the guys in our crew is reading a book on the psychology of racing and it says you have to think that when you get up in the morning that any day is your day. You can’t afford to let things like that get to you.
RA: You also had the coach go lame on you in the boat park.
BC: There definitely won’t be any soccer this week.
RA: What was the plan for today?
BC: We really wanted to have a strong first thousand and stay away from others over the last 500. So we really put the foot down, established a lead and then just watched as the others came home over the last 1000.
RA: Antonio mentioned that you were racing a point higher than the heats. How do you feel that worked?
BC: We went out with the aim to do that and we’ll have a good look at the ratings when we get them from Tony Rice the team physiologist. The first thousand was definitely quicker than the other day. We moved out in the first 500 ahead of the Danes, and they’re generally pretty quick, so yeah I think it was a positive step. We just have to wind up the second 1000.
RA: How do you make that happen?
BC: We were pretty conservative in the last 750 metres so it’s just a matter of stepping it up for the big races. There’s a few more points left in the last 500 metres and I’m sure we will see them in the next few days.
RA: It’s a very high quality field, who would you nominate as your key competition?
BC: Over the last two years the competition has really ramped up and there’s probably ten crews that can make the finals. When I was racing in 2004, there were probably only four crews that were vying for medals. Even the crews that were leading last year are now struggling to get out in front this year. China are always unpredictable but I think we’d be looking at Great Britain and Canada who are the standouts.
RA: And I’m sure it goes without saying that you and the rest of the athletes are enjoying the World Championships?.
BC: You enjoy it every time. It’s great fun. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
Big Tony talks
Australia’s two lightweight men’s crews are through to the semi finals in two of the most competitive categories at the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Munich.
Coach of both crews is Antonio Maurogiovanni.
His day started badly when his knee buckled while preparing the boat and he was forced to watch his crews perform from the media centre.
After the races he spoke to RA.
RA: Antonio, Firstly, what happened to your leg?
AM: I was helping to prepare the boats and bent down to get underneath and my knee gave way. I twisted it badly and now I think it is broken.
RA: How big a disruption will this be for the preparation of the crews?
AM: It won’t be so bad. It’s a little unusual but I’m trying not to make a big deal out of it. The boys all have plenty of other things to worry about so I won’t be making too much of an issue of it. I will get a scan done this afternoon and take it from there.
RA: Okay, to the racing today, what was your assessment of the performance of the men’s lightweight double who finished third this morning in their quarter final?.
AM: The positive thing is that we got through and we’re now in the first 12 places. Our first goal for the World Championships was to make Olympic qualification so today was a good step forward to that goal. I think we can do better. I didn’t like the second half of the race and we have some issues we need to fix in a hurry. The semi final will be very very tough.
RA: What are the problems that need to be fixed?
AM: Our drive is too heavy, our rhythm wasn’t as good as it needs to be and subsequently the velocity of the boat is not what it needs to be to challenge for the title. I’m sure that we can do better particularly our reactions during the race. We’re just not reacting well enough on the water.
RA: But you would agree that it is a case of so far, so good?
AM: We can improve and we have to because this is one of the deepest fields at the Championships.
RA: Which competitor do you fear the most?
AM: The Danish, the Italians who are now back on track, Greece have improved since last year. England and France are good crews and so is Hungary. The competition is very hot and we are going to need to be at our best to challenge for the medals.
RA: The men’s lightweight four won their quarter final, were you pleased with the quality of their performance?
AM: They did perform well but like the double they can take another step forward in the semi final. They didn’t perform at 100% which is good from my point of view but we need to learn to get that consistency in our effort. If we don’t row at 100% in the semi final, we won’t be in the final.
RA: What was the race plan for today?
AM: The plan was to race a point higher than the heats and we really didn’t put that together today. We wanted to be on top of the race and use the middle 1000, which is our main strength, to assert ourselves. We raced well but we are missing something to be excellent and we need to be excellent.
RA: How do you discover that excellence in the next day or so before the semi finals?
AM: The guys realise that the competition is fierce. I think that will help them to turn on for the semi final and they will use all their potential to race at their best for the semi final.
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Race reports Day IV
Race 137 Quarter Final 3 Men’s Lwt 2x
The Australian crew, fourth in the 2006 Championships, has trained well in Europe and Sam Beltz in bow and Tom Gibson in stroke took on a strong field in Quarter Final 3 with the first three place getters to go straight to the semi finals to be rowed on Friday.
The boys jumped out well but Italy and Hungary also got away well and lead through 500 metres. By 1,000 metres Australia had moved into second place over Hungary but Italy had almost 1.5 seconds lead. At 1,500 metres the order was again Italy, Hungary, Australia.
They were unable to haul in Italy and Hungary in the second half of the race and finished third behind those two boats and now the three crews all advance to the semi finals.
The other quarter finals were won by France, Great Britain and World Champions from 2006, Denmark.
Race 140 Quarter Final Lightweight Men’s 4-
The Australian crew of Rod Chisholm, Anthony Edwards, Ben Cureton and Todd Skipworth had advanced directly to the quarter final by winning their heat on Monday and had to finish top there to go through to the semi finals.
The crew went straight to the lead out of the blocks and established an early lead over traditional lightweight powerhouses Denmark with Russia in third and Austria fourth. The boys led the field for the full trip and scored a good win at the line over the improving Danish crew with the USA getting in to third place and the A/B Semi Finals.
Australia won in the quickest time however the quarter final winners were all within a second of Australia.
The other quarter finals were won by Italy, France and Canada.
Race 144 Repechage 2 Men’s Quad Scull
This young crew faced quad scull powerhouses Russia and Italy in their heat finishing third and were forced in to the repechage although they had rowed the sixth fastest time in the heat racing.
With three members still eligible for Under 23s in stroke David Kelly, three James McRae and two James Gatti with the only man of the boat at twenty four years in the bow, Chris Morgan this is a very young group with a big future and their task was clear.
The Cubans went to the lead in the first 500 metres over Australia with Great Britain in third place ahead of a bunched rest of the field. Cuba led from Australia through the middle 1,000 metres with the British still in touch.
In the last 500 metres Australia was being challenged by the British for second which inspired our boys to greater heights and they were able to haul in the Cubans in the last 5 strokes to win the repechage and go to the semi finals to be rowed on Friday.
The other repechage was won by Belarus.
Race 154 Semi Final C/D Women’s single scull
Zoë Uphill in her first Australian Team tackled the C and D semis with a determination to finish as high as she can in the rankings and started really well to establish a clear lead after 500 metres.
After feeling the disappointment of not making the A and B semis Zoe raced particularly well to move further clear by one thousand metres and went into the second half of the race with clear water between herself and the rest of the field headed by Portugal and the Norway.
At the line it was a three length's margin for Uphill who will now take on the C Final for places 13 to 18 in the World.
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Day III: Tuesday 28 August
Quotes and interviews from Day III
Rhythm Kings in sync
Australia’s double scull of David Crawshay and Scott Brennan has won through to the semi finals. After a disappointing opening on the first day, the experienced double recovered to row a very controlled and effective race today in finishing second to Great Britain in the quarterfinal.
As they prepared to dive into team physiologist Tony Rice’s torture chamber (the ice bath) outside the team’s boat shed, they spoke to RA.
RA: Scott, you must be pleased to have put that race together today in the quarterfinal.
SB: It’s fair to say that we showed a bit of anxiety in our opening race on Sunday. We just didn’t find the rhythm we had earlier in the season in Linz and Amsterdam. So since then we’ve just worked on rediscovering our rhythm. Working on the things we know we need to do to make the boat go fast.
RA: So what are some of those things you need to locate to make that happen?
SB: It’s all about finding the pace that you can sustain through the middle of the race. On Sunday we tried to get out a little too fast, burned a lot of energy and had nowhere to go so today we just toned it down, work better though the guts of the race and made sure we just moved in a more controlled and effective way.
RA: In terms of the disappointment from the opening day, how did you and Crawshay deal with it and the associated expectations?
SB. A bit of perspective helped. It was only a heat, we still got through, we had the fourth-fastest time overall so it was a long way from a disaster and we just said we’ve had a bad row, we know how to fix it so let’s just go and do it.
RA: Technically, what are those things that you needed to work on?
SB: Basically just giving it a bit more time around the front turn. Rather than rushing it and trying to grab it too quickly we said right, let’s just relax, and let it roll out and try and get good distance per stroke which is so important in this class of racing.
RA: So Crawshay would you agree with Scotty’s assessment of today’s race?
DC: Look I think Scotty is right about the anxiety thing. It’s just a bad habit of ours that we need to work on.
RA: Happily, today you were able to put any anxiety in the past and get out and make it happen?
DC: That’s right. Today really had a semi final feel about it. It’s the first time I’ve ever rowed these quarterfinals and I have to say that they really put the pressure on you. When you think about it we could have gone into a repechage which would have been a do or die thing, but in the quarterfinals you’re racing the best guys rather than the guys who didn’t quite make it and it has a real cut throat feel about it.
RA: Can you give us an insight into your preparation in the lead in to the semi final on Thursday?
DC: Well we’ve been hitting some good paddling and focusing on things like the recovery. Remembering during the race that you’re spending more time on the recovery than you are on the stroke so it’s really key to make sure that you give it enough time and that you do recover on the recovery. Each race is 240 strokes so you don’t really want to be belting up and belting down all the way through the race. Scotty has a saying that “Rhythm is King” and it’s so true. It’s what it’s all about.
RA: It’s been another good day for Australia with only one crew not going through to the next stage of racing, you must be pleased about that?
SB: Of course it is nice to see that everyone is doing well but really the hard stuff hasn’t started yet. It’s still very early days. Coming into the semi finals and finals, that’s where things get really tough. Semi finals can often be the toughest races you have in a regatta so we really need to keep our heads on and build on what has been a promising start for the team.
Peter Hardcastle has taken another step to his goal of qualifying the single scull for the Beijing Olympics with a strong performance in the quarterfinal
He spoke to RA after his warm down.
RA: Peter, there was a pump of the fist as you crossed the line, was that from satisfaction or relief?
PH: A bit of both really. Words can’t really explain how satisfying it is when you achieve a good result at these big events when your competing against the best in the world. I went into the race knowing that I had to look after myself and think about myself but at the same time I knew I had to cover the Cypriot rower Valentinos Sofokleous. To make it through to the semi finals is a great achievement but I still have plenty to do to make the B Final and finish in the top 11.
RA: Were you concerned in coming up against Alan Campbell (GB) and Mahe Drysdale (NZ)?
PH: Not really. They are genuine world class scullers and you have to keep things in perspective. I wasn’t worried about them. I’m not in their league. I was thinking about myself, staying in my boat and concentrating on making every stroke count.
RA: Take us through the race?
PH: It was pretty simple really. It was about getting away cleanly and then just making every stroke count. Finding the rhythm and making sure that the length and catch were clean and that I was finishing off every stroke. It was about focusing on the process and keeping my head in the boat and not getting too distracted by anything else that was going on. I did have a covering brief on the Cypriot because we all knew he was the one I had to beat.
RA: Coming to the World Championships, was Olympic qualification of the boat your main priority?
PH: It was and it still is. I have to finish in the top 11 so I know what I have to do. I now race in the semi final on Thursday. Realistically the B Final is my aim at this stage so I will make sure I prepare well, focus on what is in front of me, work with Rhett Ayliffe (coach) and work hard to make it happen.
Ends
Shift in seating adds spring to the men’s coxed pair
The Australian men’s coxed pair of Fergus Pragnell (bow) and Jason Heard (stroke) coxed by Marty Rabjohns has won through to the A final on Saturday.
After the race in which the Australian’s finished second to the Italians, RA spoke to cox Marty Rabjohns.
RA: Marty, a much better performance following the disappointment of the first day.
MR: No question. It was a much better race from us and we’re now well placed to get one of the centre lanes for the A Final on Saturday. We changed a few things around by shifting Heardy into the stroke and Fergus into the bow and adjusting our setup which gave us a better combination and a lot more spring in the boat.
RA: What was the plan?
MR: It was about working hard and evenly throughout the race and see where we were at the 1500-metre mark. We did that quite well and by that point we were sitting just behind the Italians. From there we just wanted to cover our position, which is what we did and we can now look forward to the final.
RA: What are your expectations for the final on Saturday?
MR: We’ve come here to win a medal and we won’t be happy if we don’t win one. We have the potential to carry it off and we’re looking forward to a few days break before the race.
RA: It was a good recovery after what was a disappointing row on the opening day?
MR: That’s true. The first day was a bit of a shock to the system. We don’t do a lot of racing with coxes in Australia and we probably weren’t ready for it. But the boys kept their heads on, turned it around today and made it happen. It was a good effort.
Interview with John Cumper, coach of the Australian women’s four, which this morning raced for lanes in the final on Saturday
The Australian Women’s four is Vicky Roberts (stroke), Emily Martin, Katelyn Gray, Phoebe Stanley.
John Cumper: It was great for us to have our first hit out of the regatta today. We’ve learnt a lot from this race and we’re now looking forward to racing for medals on Saturday.
RA: John what was the plan for the race and how well did the crew carry out the plan?
John Cumper: The plan was to get away with the field and we did get a fair sort of a start. We took the lead at the first 500 and held through to about 1000. The Americans then headed us around the 1250 mark and went on with it. Taking a look at the splits we can see where we didn’t respond to their move and where we didn’t quite have the speed we needed. It was a strong performance by our girls but they know what they need to work on between now and the final.
RA: Has it been difficult to wait until the third day to have your first race?
John Cumper: What’s been more difficult has been the preparation, which has been disrupted fairly heavily by injury and illness. We’ve rotated the girls through a number of positions in the boat to find the right combination and everyone has responded to that positively. Everyone has had a great attitude to their work. We’re now in the final and race for medals on Saturday. It’s an exciting prospect. We have a strong chance.
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Race reports Day III
Race 88 Race for lanes Women’s 4-
This crew, which needed to be changed due to a minor injury to one of the original members, started brightly behind the stroke Vicky Roberts and led through the first 500 metres.
Emily Martin, new member Katelyn Gray and bow Phoebe Stanley new this was the only chance they had for a hit out prior to Saturday’s A Final and worked well to the thousand-metre mark still leading narrowly from the USA and Germany.
In the second half of the race the USA moved away to win by about a length from Australia and Germany was in third place. The girls raced well in the first go as a combination in competition and now look forward to the A Final and the race for medals on Saturday.
Race 89 Repechage 1 Men’s 2+
After a bright start the young Australian crew of Jason Heard stroke, Fergus Pragnell bow and Marty Rabjohns cox settled in second place behind Italy after 500 metres knowing that the first two only would advance to the A final of this non-Olympic event.
The crew held that position well through the middle thousand of the race with the Czech Republic attempting to challenge the Aussies for the all important place in the A Final. After a tight last 500 metres where the Czechs really challenged, the Australians were able to hold second behind Italy and now go to the A Final to be rowed on Saturday morning.
The second repechage was won by Canada.
Race 101 Quarter Final 2 Women’s 1x
Zoe Uphill is representing Australia in this event through her role as reserve for the women’s sculling squad under the coaching of Adrian David and did a great job on Sunday to make the quarter final stage.
Zoe settled in to fourth place behind Bulgaria’s very experienced Rumyana Neykova, the Russian Julia Levina and the Swedish sculler Frida Svensson and by the 1,000 metres mark Zoe was beginning to pressure the three leaders however the first three placings were settled with 500 metres to row and all three now advance to the A and B Semi Finals to be rowed on Thursday. Zoe now goes to the C and D Semi Finals.
Race 106 Quarter Final 3 Men’s 1x
Peter Hardcastle represents Australia in this event and drew New Zealand World Champion Mahe Drysdale and Great Britain’s Alan Campbell in his quarter final. Drysdale went straight to the lead from Campbell with Cyprus just in front of Peter in fourth place.
With the first three to qualify straight to the semi finals Peter needed to hold his form and worked really well through the middle stages of the race and had moved into third with less than 500 metres to go.
While outgunned by Kiwi dual World Champion Dryslade and Campbell, Peter Hardcastle did a terrific job to advance directly to the A and B Semi Finals and will race on Thursday for a spot in the A Final.
This Olympic-category event has plenty of depth but Peter is in good form and can go further in the days ahead and Olympic qualification is not beyond him.
Other quarter final winners were Sweden’s Lassi Karonen, Olaf Tufte of Norway and local hero Marcel Hacker.
Race 114 Repechage 2 1 Women’s 2x
With Australia as the defending Champions from Eton in 2006 the Australian crew of Kerry Hore and Amber Bradley took on the women’s double scull second repechage after a disappointing heat row.
With the first three crews to advance to the semi finals the Australian girls settled into second place after 500 metres, behind the USA with Belarus in third place.
At 1,000 metres Hore and Bradley had moved to within less than a second of the USA and were putting pressure on the leaders.
Australia moved to the lead in the third 500 metres over the USA and Korea and continued to move away in the drive to the line to win by two lengths on the line in a time of 7.44.83.
The girls now take on the semi finals on Thursday.
The other repechage was won by the Czech Republic.
Race 115 Quarter Final 1 Men’s 2x
Scott Brennan and David Crawshay, both members of the quad scull in Athens, have raced well in the World Cup regattas they undertook and were looking forward to getting on the water on this first day of racing after a relatively disappointing row in their heat.
With four quarter finals, all that was required was to finish in the first three and this proved no problem to the boys despite a slow start, which saw them in fifth place through the first 500 metres after Great Britain took the early lead.
By 1,000 metres they had moved into third place by rowing the fastest second 500 metres of the six boats and then built on that effort to move into second spot at the 1,500 metres marker.
In the last 500 metres they pegged back the leading British crew and after giving them 3.57 seconds in the first 500 they crossed in second place just 0.62 behind.
The others quarter finals were won by the USA, Slovenia and France.
Race 121 Repechage3 Men’s 4-
The Australian crew of Nick Baxter, Francis Hegerty, Sam Loch and James Chapman, coached by Andrew Randell, took on a field of five in this race with the objective of finishing in the first two to make the A and B Semi Finals and give then the chance of qualifying the boat for Beijing.
The French crew took the lead early and established about a length's lead over Australia with Greece in third and Spain fourth.
The Aussie boys continued to race well in the middle stages of the race. In the last 500 metres the boys continued their very good second half of the race and finished second behind the French crew.
France and Australia go to the semi finals to be rowed on Thursday.
The other repechages were won by Germany, Slovenia and the USA.
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