Brandenburg, Germany
Race reports
Day IV: Sunday 20 July
Cottam shines for Australia on finals day
Tasmanian Carly Cottam won gold for Australia on the final day of the Under 23 World Rowing Championships in Brandenburg, Germany.
The diminutive sculler had shown impressive form all week in the Women’s Lightweight Single Scull and won the final in a time of 8:03.12. The win will be a massive confidence boost for Cottam who can now concentrate on senior team selection in 2009.
Emily Rose and Libby Alderman won the silver medal in the final of the Women’s Pair after a strong showing against pre–race favourites, Romania. Alderman and Rose led through the 1500 metre mark of the race but could not hold off the Romanian charge on the line to finish just over two seconds behind in a time of 7:21.66.
Australia’s Women’s Quad Scull won the third medal of the day after finishing in third place. Lisa Szatsznajder, Emma McCarthy, Laura Osti and Kim Brown led through the halfway point in the race but were overtaken by Romania and Germany over the last 750 metres and completed the race in a time of 6:54.47.
The Men’s Four of Bryn Coudraye, Rhys Grant, Cameron Brewer and Ned Kinnear finished in fourth place in the final after being edged out of a medal position by Croatia by four tenths of a second, while both the Women’s Four and Men’s Quad Scull crews finished fifth in their respective finals.
The Men’s Eight made up for missing the A Final by winning the B Final in fine fashion in a time of 5.59.59, while the Women’s Lightweight Double Scull of Maja Fiddler and Jacky Peile claimed second place in their B Final. James Gatti and Kieren Kobelke were unable to put together their best race and finished sixth in the B Final of the Men’s Double Scull.
Germany was the standout performer at the regatta and walked away with five gold medals.
Australian crews' results.
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Day III: Saturday 19 July
Six Australian crews have qualified for the A Final at the Under 23 World Rowing Championships in Brandenburg, Germany after another exciting night of racing.
Carly Cottam was in sparkling form as she won her semi final of the Women’s Lightweight Single Scull to snare a middle lane in the final on Sunday. Cottam led from start to finish in her race to cross the line in a time of 9:02.55.
The Men’s Four crew of Bryn Coudraye, Ned Kinnear, Cameron Brewer and Rhys Grant also booked their place in the main final after finishing second behind Germany. The Australian crew were not able to hold onto the Germans over the closing stages and finished one and a half seconds behind the hosts in a time of 6:42.00.
The Men’s Quad Scull of Tom Swann, Jarred Bidwell, Blair Brown and Matt Bolt finished third in their semi final which was also enough to move them through to the next stage of racing. Their time of 6:29.01 saw them cross the line behind Germany and Ukraine.
The other three crews to feature in the A Final tonight will be the Women’s Four, Women’s Pair and Women’s Quad Scull, with all these crews having secured qualification earlier in the regatta.
The Men’s Eight finished fourth in their semi final to narrowly miss out on making the A Final. They led through the first 500m but were unable to hold their position over the closing stages of the race. The Women’s Lightweight Double Scull also finished in fourth place to move through to the B Final, and they will be joined by the Men’s Double Scull.
The Men’s Lightweight Quad Scull came second in their B Final on Saturday evening to finish their regatta in a positive manner, while the Women’s Double Scull of Renee Kirby and Charlotte Walters won the C Final in a time of 8:15.22.
Finals will begin tonight at 9.30am German time.
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Day II: Friday 18 July
Four Australian crews were in action on day 2 of the Under 23 World Rowing Championships in Brandenburg, Germany.
The Mens Double Scull crew of James Gatti and Kieren Kobelke led all the way in their repechage to win in a time of 6:43.70. This combination has improved with every row and will now contest the semi finals of the event on Saturday.
The Womens Four, Sascha Lahey, Sarah Eke, Alison Crowe and Sophia Robson gained qualification into the final after finishing second behind the strong USA crew in a time of 7:04.70. They will now have a rest tomorrow and be ready to contest the final on Sunday.
The Mens Lightweight Quad Scull and the Womens Double Scull both finished fourth in their repechages and will move into the lower finals of their respective events.
For full race results please visit www.worldrowing.com
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Day I: Thursday 17 July
Australia show strength in numbers
Australia’s crews have had a strong start on the first day of the Under 23 World Rowing Championships in Brandenburg, Germany.
The Women’s Pair of Libby Alderman and Emily Rose progressed straight to the final after an exceptional row in their heat. Their boat was in superb condition after boatman Urs Graf worked overtime to fix damage from a collision with a Romanian boat the previous day.
The girls led from start to finish winning their heat in a time of 7:37.16, and they can now focus on their race plan for Sunday.
Carly Cottam was another outstanding performer, with the plucky Tasmanian leading from the blocks to win her heat of the Women’s Lightweight Single Scull in a time of 8:26.16 and by over eight seconds. Cottam will now enter the semi finals with a middle lane draw.
The Men’s Four crew of Bryn Coudraye, Ned Kinnear, Cameron Brewer and Rhys Grant went bow ball to bow ball with the Italians all the way down the course to be pipped on the line by only four hundredths of a second. They crossed the line in a time of 6:25.43 and progressed safely to the semi final.
The Women’s Lightweight Double Scull of Maya Fiddler and Jacky Peile also moved smoothly to the semi final after grabbing second place in their heat in a time of 7:51.60.
Other crews to make it through to the semi finals included the Men’s Eight and Men’s Quad Scull, who both finished third in their very strong heats. They were never in danger of missing out on a berth in the semi finals, however, and will have a day to go over their race plans before combating the semi finals on Saturday.
Four Australian crews will be required to row in repechages to progress further in the regatta, with the Women’s Four, Men’s Lightweight Quad Scull and Women’s and Men’s Double Sculls all due to race again on Friday evening.
For full race results please visit www.worldrowing.com
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Preview of Australian crews
The U23 World Rowing Championships get underway tonight as Australia’s 11 crews battle it out against the best Under 23 rowers from across the globe in Brandenburg, Germany.
Over 700 rowers will converge on the German course in a regatta that will feature many future Olympians.
All of Australia’s crews will begin their campaigns on Thursday night Australian time as racing gets underway at 5.30pm AEST.
Australia will be led by a number of crews who gained valuable experience out of last year’s World Championships. A number of the Men’s Eight crew will make their second appearance after walking away with the Bronze medal last year. Coached by the experienced Bill Tait, expect this crew to be in the reckoning on the final day.
The Men’s Four has been guided well by West Australian Jason Lane with Bryn Coudraye, Ned Kinnear, Cameron Brewer and Rhys Grant looking to overcome a couple of hiccups they have experienced during their preparations.
Jared Bidwell starred during the Australian Rowing Championships this year and will stroke the very experienced Men’s Quad Scull. Although Bidwell is featuring on his first Australian team he will combine well with Tom Swann, Blair Brown and Matt Bolt as they push for a medal.
The very experienced James Gatti, who has represented Australia at senior level, will lead the Men’s Double Scull to the start line with Kieren Kobelke sitting behind him in bow seat. Tom Bertrand meanwhile was a late replacement for Harry Bryan in the Men’s Lightweight Quad Scull and the crew will need to adapt to this change.
Libby Alderman and Emily Rose will look to overcome an accident on the day before the start of the regatta when they had a collision with the Romanian Men’s Double Scull boat which has forced boatman Urs Graf to work overtime in repairing the damage. The very talented West Australian pair will be one of the favoured crews heading into the heats this evening.
Sascha Lahey will stroke the Women’s Four a year after she helped them medal in the same event, while Lisa Szatsznajder and Emma McCarthy also return to the Women’s Quad Scull after both appearing in the event last year.
Charlotte Walters and Renee Kirby will race in the Women’s Double Scull, while Maja Fiddler and Jacky Peile will race in the very difficult Women’s Lightweight Double Scull. Light framed Carly Cottam, despite giving away a couple of kilograms to most of her opponents, will always give 100 per cent as she combats the other competitors in the Women’s Lightweight Double Scull.
A race report on Thursday action will be available on Friday morning on the Rowing Australia website. For live racing please visit www.worldrowing.com
Download the race schedule (pdf).
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