Linz, Austria
Race reports
Day VI: Sunday 27 July
The Women’s Lightweight Quad Scull retained their World Championship last night with a fantastic win in their final. Bronwen Watson, Miranda Bennett and Alice McNamara were joined in the crew by Tasmanian Ingrid Fenger as they came from a long way back in the field to snatch victory in the last 500 metres of the race. After the first 500 metres the Australian girls sat in fourth place behind Poland, the United States and Great Britain. They lifted their rate in the middle half of the race and moved ahead of the United States and Great Britain and turned their attention to chasing down the Polish crew who held a one and a half second lead at the halfway mark. In the final 500 metres Australia surged past Poland and stormed to the line to take the gold medal in a time of 6:36.41, almost three seconds clear of Poland.
The Men’s Coxed Pair of Fergus Pragnell and Nick Baxter won the bronze medal after they also came from a long way back in the field. Coxed by West Australian Hugh Rawlinson, the pair was in 5th position after the first quarter of the race and could not improve on this over the next 1000 metres. Heading into the final stages of the race Pragnell and Baxter kicked and passed the Italian and Polish crews. Poland had been leading the whole race but fatigued badly to finish 5th. Australia could not catch Canada or France and finished in a time of 7:09.30, roughly a boat and a half behind gold medallists France.
The Men’s Lightweight Eight rowed in the B Final after two disappointing races earlier in the regatta. In the B Final the crew was tucked in behind Austria for the entire race and despite a late push they could not overtake them. They finished in a time of 5:56.61 to be edged out by Austria by 16 hundredths of a second.
back to top
Day V: Saturday 26 July
Maddie Edmunds and Anna Kaszycki were Australia’s first competitors on finals day of the World Junior Championships as they contested the final of the Women’s Double Scull. After a slow start Edmunds and Kaszycki moved from fourth to second by the halfway mark of the race and sat behind the Czech Republic by less than a second. The girls showed their strength over the closing 1000 metres of the race to run over the top of the Czech Republic and win the race in a time of 7:25.69 by over four seconds in a great start to the day for Australia.
Thomas Cox, Jonathan Trovas, Christopher Anderson and Scott Laidler were next to compete in the B Final of the Men’s Quad Scull. The boys rowed well throughout the race but were unable to match the pace of the two leading crews from the Czech Republic and Romania and settled in for a battle with the fast-finishing Hungarian crew. Australia completed the course in a time of 6:15.00 to edge out Hungary for third place by only three hundredths of a second.
The first A Final of the day for Australia came with the Junior Women’s Four. Rachel See, Beatrix Sheldrick, Ashliegh Peppernel and Olivia Heath held with the top four crews over the first 1000 metres of the race but were unable to close the gap over the last 1000 metres as the pace quickened towards the finish line. The girls crossed the line in a time of 7:16.87 to finish in 5th place, which is an impressive result in a quality field. New Zealand won the final ahead of Italy and Great Britain.
Alexandra Hagan made the final of the very difficult Women’s Single Scull and was unable to match the pace of the exceptionally talented rower from Germany who finished a full eight seconds clear of the field. Hagan reached fourth place after the first 500 metres but slipped back to fifth place at the halfway mark of the race and held this position for the rest of the race to finish in a time of 8:08.48.
Taylor Wilczynski won Australia’s first medal of the World Junior Championships with a bronze medal in the Men’s Single Scull. Wilczynski entered the final after some very impressive rows in his earlier races in the regatta. In the final the Bulgarian and German rowers cleared from the field early in the race as expected, which left Wilczynski the task of fending off the other competitors for the final medal on offer. He showed experience beyond his years to construct a great race and finish in a time of 7:21.85 to finish third and over four seconds clear of the fourth-placed sculler from Serbia.
Ryan Edwards and Matthew Dignan, inspired by the effort of Wilczynski followed up with a bronze medal of their own in the Men’s Pair. The New South Wales combination sat mid-field for the majority of the race before four crews became locked in a battle for the medals over the last 500 metres. Greece managed to hold out to win by just over a boat length from Germany in second place, with Australia less than half a second further back. Their time of 6:56.99 was excellent and the boys were wrapped with their medal.
Nicholas Barnier and Sascha Belonogoff won the third bronze medal for Australia in the final of the Men’s Double Scull. Entering the final as the quickest qualifiers, Barnier and Belonogoff were in fourth place through the first 500 metres before moving into third position at the halfway mark. They tried to chase down Germany and Lithuania over the closing stages of the race but could not quite manage to breach the gap and they finished in a time of 6:36.64.
David Watts, Elliot Bannan, Christian Eyres and Harley Mooney were the final Australian crew to compete and they finished in fourth place in the final of the Men’s Four. The boys led through the first 500 metres of the race after a fantastic start but moved back into fourth place after the second 500 metres. In what was a very challenging final half of the race Australia fought valiantly for a medal before narrowly missing out to finish fourth behind Spain, Romania and Germany.
back to top
Day IV: Friday 25 July
The penultimate day of the World Junior and Senior Championships produced another bevy of fine results for the Australian crews with all but two crews winning through to the A Final in Linz, Austria.
Fergus Pragnell and Nick Baxter, coxed by Hugh Rawlinson in the Men's Coxed Pair, improved upon their heat row and won through to the final with a second place finish in their semi final. In what will probably prove one of the closest races at the regatta the Australian duo was in sixth place after the first quarter of the race before beginning to make their way through the field. Going into the last 500 metres of the race Pragnell and Baxter were still in fourth place but locked in a battle with three other crews for the three spots in the final. On the line they moved through in second place, only edging out both Ukraine and the USA by less than half a second. They will now join the Women's Lightweight Quad Scull in the final on Sunday evening.
Alexandra Hagan moved from strength to strength in her semi final of the Women's Single Scull and secured a place in the final with a comfortable second place finish. The German sculler cleared out on the field by 10 seconds but Hagan was safely in second place and crossed the line in a time of 8:05.50.
Taylor Wilzcynski also chalked up a second place in his semi final of the Men's Single Scull and progressed through to the final this eveninig. Wilzcynski pushed the first place Bulgarian athlete all the way to the line and completed the course in a time of 7:23.41.
Ryan Edwards and Matthew Dignan booked their place in the A Final of the Men's Pair after they finished second in their semi final. Their time of 7:01.37 was enough to hold off all other boats apart from Greece who won by a boat length.
Nicholas Barnier and Sasha Belonogoff firmed as one of the crews to watch not only at these championships, but also in future years in senior rowing. The Men's Double Scull won their semi final in a time of 6:37.95 a clear second ahead of the Lithuanian crew and will now take a middle lane in the final. They paced the race to perfection and despite not hitting the lead until the closing stages of the race looked in control at all times.
The Men's Four of David Watts, Elliot Bannan, Christian Eyres and Harley Mooney also won their semi final in convincing fashion. Three crews broke away in middle of the race and Australia went on to lead home Germany and Great Britain in a time of 6:19.31 to also secure a preferential middle lane for the final on Saturday night.
The Men's Quad Scull of Thomas Cox, Jonathan Trovas, Christopher Anderson and Scott Laidler and the Women's Double Scull of Maddie Edmunds and Anna Kaszycki both narrowly missed out on the A Final after finishing fourth in their respective semi finals. They will both race in the B Finals tonight.
back to top
Day III: Thursday 24 July
It was a great day for Australia's junior crews as all participants moved through to the next stage of the competition, either the semi final or the A Final.
Rachel See, Beatrix Sheldrick, Ashliegh Peppernel and Olivia Heath moved straight to the A Final after coming second in their repechage of the Women's Four. They crossed the line in a time of 7:07.16 and finished behind Germany.
Alexandra Hagan then led a number of Australian crews to victories after winning her repechage in the Women's Single Scull. Hagan led for the entire race and won by a considerable 10 seconds in a time of 8:05.76 to move into the semi final.
Taylor Wilzcynski followed suit with another outstanding performace in the Men's Single Scull. He came out of the blocks quickly to establish a two second lead through the first quarter of the race before extending this margin over the course of the race to win by two and a half boat lengths in a time of 7:20.89.
Ryan Edwards and Matthew Dignan won their quarter final of the Men's Pair but were pushed all the way by a very competitive German crew. With three crews progressing to the semi final, Edwards and Dignan still wanted to gain a confidence boost and crossed first in a time of 6:55.48.
Nicholas Barnier and Sasha Belonogoff came out of the fingers slowly and sat in third place in their quarter final of the Men's Double Scull through 500 metres. The boys then kicked into action and had moved into second place at the halfway point before racing home to win by a boat length in a time of 6:32.09.
Thomas Cox, Jonathan Trovas, Christopher Anderson and Scott Laidler safely progressed through to the semi finals of the Men's Quad Scull after finishing second in their repechage. They completed the course in a time of 6:09.90 to be pipped by Latvia by half a second.
back to top
Day II: Wednesday 23 July
The Australian Junior Women's Four finished third in their heat on Wednesday at the World Junior Championships in Linz, Austria. Beatrix Sheldrick, Ashleigh Peppernell, Olivia Heath and Rachel See rowed well and finished in a time of 7:05.63 but could not match the pace of Italy and Great Britain.
Alex Hagan finished second in her heat of the Women's Single Scull after finishing in a time of 7:57.18. Hagan sat behind the German rower for the 2000m course and will move into the repechages with confidence.
Taylor Wilzcynski comfortably progressed to the quarter finals of the Men's Single Scull after finishing second in his heat. With three rowers moving through to the next stage, Wilzcynski was never in trouble as he finished in a time of 7:20.89.
Matt Dignan and Ryan Edwards also recorded a second-place finish in their heat of the Men's Pair. Dignan and Edwards led through the first 500 metres of the race but then sat in behind Germany and completed the race in a time of 7:02.28. They now move to the quarter finals.
Maddie Edmunds and Anna Kaszycki joined the procession of Australian crews into second place after a terrific battle with the Austrian crew in their heat of the Women's Double Scull. The two crews swapped the lead before Austria won by less than a second with the Australians in second with a time of 7:25.56.
Nick Barnier and Sasha Belonogoff were the standout performers of the day as they tore apart the field in their heat of the Men's Double Scull. They won by over 11 seconds in a splendid display of rowing to cross the line in a time of 6:37.92.
This performance was replicated by the Men's Four crew as they won their heat in a time of 6:22.39 to move straight through to the semi finals. Elliot Bannan, Christian Eyres, Harley Mooney and David Watts led for the whole race and can now look forward to their next race.
In the Senior World Championships the Men's Lightweight Eight missed out on qualifying for the final and will have to settle for a place in the B Final later in the week. They sat in second position with only 500 metres left to go but were overtaken by Canada and tipped into third place.
back to top
Day I: Tuesday 22 July
Fergus Pragnell and Nick Baxter started their World Championships in the best possible fashion by winning their heat of the Men's Coxed Pair in Linz, Austria.
Pragnell and Baxter had a steady start to their race and sat in third position through the first 500 metres before progressing up to 2nd place at the halfway mark. They showed their class in the second 1000 metres however and won in a time of 7:03.73, almost a full two seconds clear of Croatia in second place. Serbia rounded out the top three and all these crews will progress to the semi finals later in the week.
Australia's Lightweight Men's Eight took to the water next and were in a very difficult heat. Germany flew out of the blocks and led after the first 500 metres from the United States, with Australia trailing in 5th place. The United States then kicked into gear and raced away from the field to eventually win by seven seconds. Australia remained in fifth position for the duration of the race and will now move through to the repechage.
The Lightweight Women's Quad Scull began in the best possible fashion by winning their heat. Bronwen Watson, Miranda Bennett, Alice McNamara and Ingrid Fenger were in second position after the first 500 metres of the race but came through the field in the middle stages to win in a time of 6:37.80 ahead of the USA and Germany. Australia progress directly to the final.
The Junior Men's Quad Scull got their first international race out of the way with a solid third place in their heat. Thomas Cox, Jonathan Trovas, Chris Anderson and Scott Laidler stayed in third position for the entire race and will now race the repechages after finishing behind Italy and Switzerland.
back to top
Preview of Australian crews
The 2008 World Rowing Championships will begin tonight alongside the World Junior Championships in Linz, Austria.
In the Olympic year the entries for the World Championships are a lot fewer, with none of the 14 boats classes present at the Olympics being offered.
Australia has sent four crews to compete at the World Championships; while a further 8 junior crews will compete at the event.
Australia will enter the Women’s Lightweight Quad Scull as one of the favourites and attempting to retain the title they won last year. Miranda Bennett, Bronwen Watson and Alice McNamara have all held their places in the World Championship crew from last year and will be joined by Tasmanian Ingrid Fenger. Great Britain and Germany are expected to also challenge for the gold medal.
Australia will field a strong crew in the Men’s Lightweight Eight as they aim to continue their strong form in this event at the international level. Five different states will be represented in the boat and the crew has gelled well over the last two months in training. The main crews that will challenge for medals will be from Netherlands, Germany and Italy, while the Australian’s are being watched very carefully.
Nick Baxter and Fergus Pragnell will be coxed in the Men’s Coxed Pair by Hugh Rawlinson. They will face a difficult field that includes the Italian world champions. Andrea Caianiello and Armando Dell’Aquila won the Under 23 World Championships last week for the second successive year and will be looking to repeat the feat in Austria.
Max Sondermeyer will row in the Men’s Lightweight Single Scull after what was a strong showing on the domestic calendar this year. Poland, New Zealand and the Netherlands will be expected to vie for the gold medal this year.
Only one junior crew will begin their campaign tonight, with the Men’s Quad Scull due to race just before nine o’clock Australian time. Tom Cox, Scott Laidler, Chris Anderson and Jon Trovas form an all Queensland crew and will be raring to go tonight.
Australia’s other seven junior crews will begin racing on Wednesday evening.
back to top
