July 2007 — Part II
Monday 30 July
World Under 23 Championships (Strathclyde): DAY 4 (Finals) racing report
Finals day started with some blue skies but with the familiar cross tail wind. Overnight the semi final performances were evaluated and plans put in place for creating the best race plans for the finals.
The first Australian crew to race was Blair Brown in the Men’s Single Scull C Final. In an unusual circumstance the C Final was a battle between lanes 1 and 6, normally the least ranked qualifiers. Fortunately Blair was one of these and he raced his best race for the regatta and possibly of his sculling career. He was more patient out of the start and then a good push to the lead. Although challenged in the third 500m he maintained good form to finish in a comfortable 2nd position and 14th overall.
The remaining B Finals were rowed and Australia was in the lightweight Women’s Double Scull. After struggling in the semi final today’s race was another chance to see what they could do. Like Blair they had their best race of the regatta. Settling to the new seating and rowing with more length and composure they were better placed early and with much less fade finished in 4th position to be 10th overall.
Next away in the B Final was the lightweight Men’s Four who narrowly missed the final due to their slow starting. The B Final had plenty of similarity in race structure and again the boys had to work their way back through the field with some very good middle distance race pace. Not able to make up all the leeway they finished in 3rd position to be 9th overall. No doubt a great development year for this crew.
Then the A Finals began.
First up the Women's Coxless Four. In what was a great race to watch in regards the tactics and performance of the leading three crews it was Australia who took a very narrow lead through the third 500m. The Aussies were able to gradually work away from GBR the other heat winners but when the Italians made a big move through the last 500m the race was really on for gold and silver. To the Italians' credit they won the sprint and the Aussies had to be content with second. Rowing with good length and rhythm should give these girls a springboard to future success. Well done to Quinny and the girls.
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Silver to the Women's Coxless Four |
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Coach Michael Quinn |
The lightweight Men’s Quad Scull who earned their final position after winning the repechage could not match the early speed of Italy and France but locked themselves into a battle with the other three crews DEN, GBR, GER. It was evident at the half way stage that only a bronze medal was possible. A sound third 500m where they lost minimal ground to the 3rd placed DEN enabled a big challenge in the last 500m. Not unlike last year they continued the big sprint and unfortunately with 50m to go they lost an oar from the hand, spoiling any chance of a late charge for bronze and finished in 4th place.
An hour later the Men’s Coxless Four went out to battle with a very steady wind continuing to blow down the Strathclyde Loch. The boys started well and held 3rd position to the 750m mark when they began to struggle. Gradually they were passed and it was evident with 500m to go they were out of medal contention and they finished in 6th position. This undoubtedly hurt if you saw the look on their faces after the race.
The Women’s Quad had an opportunity to do some homework on their race plan after qualifying for the final on Friday. They realized they could not play as much catch up and prepared to be closer to the action in the final. This plan worked and by mid way through the second 500m they were in a bunch of crews trying to row back to the Romanians. With 500m to go there were many scenarios that could have unfolded with what seemed like the top 4 crews but GBR wanted to make that 5 crews. Under pressure Romania folded to a crab leaving the USA and Australia to fight it out for first while Germany and Great Britain duelled only inches behind for the bronze. In the end it was USA, Australia and GBR who got the medals in that order. Tremendous excitement filled the Australian camp with two more crews to compete.
The Men’s Quad had not put a foot wrong all regatta and were the pace setters for the team leading into the competition. Germany had made themselves favourites with Australia not far behind. But it was the French from lane 1 who decided that it was better to fly than die and fly they did leading the race for all but the last part. The Germans were able to be closer to the French and this enabled them to eventually lead while the Aussies kept making up ground but they were unable to catch the French on the line for silver and settled for a well-earned bronze medal. Jason Lane received praise from his crew after the race and having also assisted Michael Quinn to develop the women’s four to silver he can be a proud man tonight.
It had been a while since the Aussies had won an eights medal and in a field that comprised 6 crews all with genuine chances for a medal it was going to be tight in the final race of the day. Having told a few home truths overnight in a quest to determine the most effective race plan the Aussies rowed to that plan and barely flinched when under extreme pressure in the last ¼ of the race. Coxswain Toby Lister called the effort up after 900 metres and this gave a little breathing space except for the excited Estonians who had led from the early part of the race. The race commentator, the supporters and coaches on the bike path all kept wondering who was in what position as the final pushes came and went from everywhere, but the Australians held firm and earned a fantastic bronze medal. Well done to Phil, Mark and the crew.
The big boats certainly carried the day but in the end there were 21 athletes of a team of 38 who won one of the four medals collected by the team. With the LM4x in 4th place it was a sound return and continues to show how important the national development program is on the world stage.
Thank you to the coaches and team staff lead by Michael Smith (Manager) and John Driessen (Head Coach). Great work by Oli, Krys and Urs. They all have the job of keeping the team under control at the regatta party. Thanks to all the parents and friends who travelled far and wide and who were a big part in the fundraising requirements of the team.
Noel Donaldson
High Performance Director
Rowing Australia
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Sunday 29 July
World Under 23 Championships (Strathclyde): DAY 3 (Semifinals and Small Finals) racing report
Saturday’s racing brought similar on water conditions to Friday with a strong cross tail blowing from early in the day. A few “white caps” towards the finish but some sun and no rain.
The Men’s Sculler Blair Brown was first to race in the Semi C/D. He was again away well and today took the race further than the heat and rep. Leading for all but the last few strokes when a dual attack from SLO and AUT overtook Blair. With the second semi similarly close we look forward to an exciting C Final and if Blair can manage the last part of the race he is a definite chance.
The lightweight Men’s Pair of Michael Egan and Nick Baker responded with great character in comfortably winning the B Final having led from the first stroke. This is the character that will help other crews realize the value of maintaining determination right to the end.
Australian Under 23 selector and FISA Youth Commissioner Barb Fenner called in to the tent at the lunch break and said “it is pleasing to see a record number of entries in the men’s events whilst there is some disappointment that there are fewer women’s entries. The Scottish Organising Committee led by Iain Sommerside have been wonderful and responded to all requests to make the event as good as possible for the athletes.”
The afternoon racing saw some very exciting semi finals, always some of the best races of any international regatta as crews desperately try to qualify for the A Final. The Australian results returned 3 of 5 crews qualifying for the A Final, stories full of agony and ecstasy.
The Zoltan Shepherd coached Men’s Four of Matt Bolt, Nick Andrew, Bryn Coudraye and Ned Kinnear started well and held a solid second position throughout. The German four got away in the middle of the race and the Aussies staved off the late challenge from ROM and ITA vying for the all important 3rd position. With their heat winners Serbia winning the other semi final the Aussie boys have a chance for a medal.
The lightweight Women’s Double Scull, realizing their backs were to the wall to qualify, changed the seating and Carlie Cottam moved to the stroke seat with Ingrid Fenger behind her. A promising start soon turned to disappointment and the Aussie girls could not find any new form and will need to re assess for the B Final. “Nothing ventured – nothing gained!”
Giving away a reasonable margin through the 500m mark the lightweight Men’s Four of Jono Hookway, Cam Girdlestone, Max Sondermeyer and Tommy Bertrand continued to work through the field in the last 1500m but could not catch ITA (2nd) and FRA (3rd), missing out from qualifying by 0.49 and only 0.66 from 2nd. Head Coach and crew coach John Driessen stood in bewilderment for a few moments reflecting what could have been. Considering the majority of this crew are a year out of Junior and most sculled domestically they have made great progress.
The Men’s Quad continued their winning ways with an all the way win in their semi final. Coached by Jason Lane and stroked by Steve Fletcher, supported by Danjels Reedman, Sam Renton and Tom Swann the quad will need to be on their game against the Germans who won as comfortably the other semi final but to this point they have performed with great aplomb.
The final Australian crew was the Men’s Eight in the first heat. A small margin went Australia’s way early but the Germans powered away in the third 500. Several shipwrecks in the Aussie boat in the rough tail conditions did not help the cause but with sufficient leeway they could comfortably hold off the Polish and Italian charge to finish in 2nd position.
Of the ten entries 6 crews will race in the A Finals.
The A Finals will commence at 11:18 am but the rest of the program is brought forward to avoid the predicted rough conditions later in the afternoon.
The spirits remain high but with great realism of the task at hand.
Noel Donaldson
High Performance Director
Rowing Australia
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Saturday 28 July
World Under 23 Championships (Strathclyde): DAY 2 (Repechage) racing report
The expected inclement weather continued and the hard working coaches morning began by over tarping the team tent. Solid cross tail conditions prevailed all morning with greater consistency than Day 1 of racing.
Although a much better row than the heat the lightweight Men’s Pair still struggled to put the race structures together, yesterday slow out of the blocks, today off like “cut cats” but then lacking in rhythm. The good was that they never gave up keeping the rate. They have the potential to win the B Final.
The lightweight Men’s Quad Scull took a good step in their campaign by comfortably winning their repechage, although for much of the race they sat alongside GBR. From lane 2 or 5 in the final they will need to not give any leeway to their opposition in order to gain a medal.
Blair Brown in the single was in a good position early but could not keep the rate and the pace of the more experienced scullers in the second half of the race. He will now race in Semi Finals C/D for positions 13 onwards. His team contribution continues to be invaluable.
The girls lightweight double and heavyweight quad were the last two crews to race and they gave the supporters plenty to both cheer and worry about. The lightweights were much improved from the heat, more speed out and more consistency throughout. For a while there were 4 crews locked together for the 3 qualifying places with Australia in 4th when the Japanese crabbed almost ensuring Australia of a qualifying position. With a well-timed sprint they overtook the Swedes to finish in 2nd place behind the Swiss. They need to continue to show improvement to make the A Final but as reported yesterday they have the ability.
The quad have now featured in two of the closest races of the regatta. Knowing they had the slightly harder repechage the nail biting started at the 1000m mark when the leading three crews were pushing for 2 qualifying positions and Australia were 3rd. The gaps between the Dutch and French kept inching together the longer the race was rowed. David Palfreyman reported from the New Wave tent 100m from the finish that all three bows were changing their positions each stroke but with the momentum Australia’s way they were able to get over the line 1st. The unlucky French finished 0.14 out of qualifying.
A formidable sight was anguish and joy on coach Brenton Terrell’s face. Looking at the scoreboard he saw Australia’s name in 3rd position just as the race finished but when reminded that it still had the 1500m times up. A moment later it turned to joy when the finish results went up. Close behind in joy was the team doctor whose daughter stroked the boat!!
Three crews are now in the A Finals (WB4-, WB4x, MLB4x) and five crews will race semi finals tomorrow (MB8+, MB4-, MB4x, LMB4-, WLB2x). Racing starts at 9:30am Scotland time (6:30pm EST, 4:30pm Perth) and concludes with the eights semi’s at 3:00pm
The team will have a gathering tonight to set the plans in place for continuing the finals assault. Again the regatta standard is high with no easy races.
Noel Donaldson
High Performance Director
Rowing Australia
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Friday 27 July
World Under 23 Championships (Strathclyde): DAY 1 (Heats) racing report
Although overcast with intermittent showers the rowing conditions had little effect on today’s races. The wind direction and speed varied constantly and with random heat draws the time comparison’s between races will have had less relevance. The racing was very reflective of a heats day with some crews performing well and others definitely needing the hit out.
Australia started the day well with a good win to the Women’s Coxless Four. After an even start they moved away through the middle of the course to record an easy win. They progress as the first Australian crew through to the A Final.
Next away were the lightweight Men’s Pair of Michael Egan and Nick Baker. They started slowly and had their own race for the third place but an excellent finish by the Hungarians saw Australia finish in 4th position. They will go to the repechage tomorrow morning.
The lightweight Men’s Quad Scull with one change from the bronze medal crew from 2006 found that each year brings a new competition. They were slow out of the start and into a solid headwind misjudged their rhythm. They will learn from this and remain confident of progressing positively throughout the competition.
Super sub Blair Brown raced both the single and the eight today due to the illness to Mitchell Estens from the eight. He has been in great form in the training camp starting his races but he toned it down a bit today and paid a price leaving a mid race stoush against the GBR sculler for 3rd and 4th position. He will progress to the repechage tomorrow.
The all South Australian Men’s Coxless Four lead early but finished a length astern of the Serbians to comfortably qualify direct to the semi final. From the results the semi’s will be great races and if our crew continue to show the improvement since arrival in Strathclyde they have a good chance of qualifying for the A Final.
The lightweight Women’s Double Scull of Ingrid Fenger and Carlie Cottam raced in bursts and although not in poor form they finished last in their heat. They will need to push harder and for longer bursts if they are to progress through the reps to the Semi A/B round. They have the ability to do this.
Giving away plenty of clear water to the Swiss the lightweight Men’s Coxless Four missed out winning their heat by half a second. They showed great composure to first row through the French then head out after the Swiss. They can be very encouraged by this first race and they progress direct to the semi final.
The Women’s Quad Scull were in perhaps the best race of the day with four crews overlapping the entire way. First it was the French leading then Germany moving up with Australia and Romania having a side by side battle. The French dropping to 4th in the run to the line, Germany winning and Australia in 3rd place. The repechages will be very hard fought affairs.
The last two crews to race were the Men’s Quad Scull and Men’s Eight. Both crews recorded wins in their heat mostly doing it by being well set and in front early in the race. The push by the quad at the 1000m was very effective and this is a continuation of the form they showed on the Varese training camp. The eight minus Estens and with Brown rowing the single two hours earlier led almost from the first stroke. The GB crew had a real go to pass our crew in the last 750m but the Aussies were able to hold on by a second. They move directly to the semi final.
3 wins, 2 seconds, 2 thirds, 2 fourths and a fifth was the return for the day.
Writing this report there is very steady rain that will make the attractive surroundings wet under foot.
Noel Donaldson
High Performance Director
Rowing Australia
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Heat winner Sam 'Wild Man' Renton |
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Heat winners W4- |
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LM4x on pontoon |
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Home base |
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Wednesday 25 July
RA media release
Injury a Savage blow
Australian rower Pippa Savage (QLD) was today forced to withdraw from the 2007 FISA World Rowing Championships after failing to recover from injury.
Savage, who injured her hip during training ten weeks ago, had been hoping to recover in time to compete in the event to be held in Munich from 26 August – 2 September.
However, after consulting an orthopaedic surgeon in Brisbane on Monday evening, the decision was taken to operate on Savage’s hip to repair the tear in her cartilage.
Rowing Australia High Performance Director, Noel Donaldson, said that Savage’s withdrawal was disappointing given the proximity of the World Championships.
“Pip proved herself as the number one sculler in the country after winning all her events at the nationals and selections trials and was a key member of the sculling group”, Donaldson said.
“While the withdrawal is very unfortunate for Pip, being her first National Team, we can look forward to the return of Pip and Liz Kell (NSW) in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.”
Kell was World Champion in 2006 in the Double Scull and having undergone back surgery in April is well on the way to a full recovery.
Savage’s place in the Women’s Scull squad will be taken by Sonia Mills (ACT), a silver medallist in the Quadruple Sculls at the 2006 World Championships in Eton, England.
The entire Australian squad will convene for a final training camp on 12 August in Varese, Italy.
They will then travel to the World Championships in Munich which serves as a qualification regatta for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
For more information please call David Polglase on (02) 6273 0232 or 0401 453 041
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Sunday 15 July
RA media release
Oarsome Foursome continues to make waves
Former Australian rower Mike McKay has been presented with the prestigious Thomas Keller medal during World Cup 3 at Lucerne, Switzerland.
The award, named after the late president of FISA, Thomas Keller, is the highest distinction in rowing and has been awarded each year since 1990 to recognise an exceptional rowing career and exemplary sportsmanship.
The medal can only be awarded to a rower who has retired from the sport and ‘who has had a long and successful rowing career and who has made an outstanding contribution to rowing as a competitor and as a sports personality’.
McKay won the award ahead of Jean – Christophe Rolland (FRA), Constantina Burcica (ROM), Rob Waddell (NZ) and Katrin Rutschow – Stomporowski (GER).
McKay, who was part of Australia’s Oarsome Foursome during the 1990’s, represented his country at five Olympic Games, winning gold in the Men’s Coxless Four in 1992 and 1996. He also competed as part of the Men’s Eight in 2000 and 2004, picking up a silver and bronze medal respectively.
McKay, who retired after the Athens Olympic Games at the age of 40, says that he is honoured to be held in such high regard by the rowing community.
“It is the highlight of my rowing career to win the Thomas Keller medal”, McKay said. “Thomas Keller was a great man and he was an integral part of rowing. The calibre of rowers who have won this award is quite amazing and I am privileged to be held in the same regard as them.”
Previous winners of the Thomas Keller medal have included British legend Steve Redgrave, fellow Brit Matthew Pinsent and Australia’s Peter Antoine.
For more information please call David Polglase on (02) 6273 0232 or 0401 453 041
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Mike McKay at the Rotsee with the Thomas Keller medal |
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Mike Mckay, Dominic Keller and Denny Oswald |
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Sunday 15 July
World Cup III Lucerne, Switzerland — Day III report
Five Australian crews competed in the finals at the famous Rotsee course in Lucerne. On a magnificent summers day and excellent water the first Australian crew to race was the men’s pair of Duncan Free and Drew Ginn. The current world champions kept improving throughout the regatta and rowed a commanding race to win this event from the fast finishing Kiwis. A pleasing result after missing the Henley Royal Regatta last weekend.
The same level of success did not follow but the men’s lightweights can go to the training camp in Italy knowing they are around the pace. The lightweight double were in 3rd place through 1500 but could not hold off the Great Britain crew and finished a very close 4th. The lightweight four had an up and down race; after being 6th through 500m and 3rd at the 1000m they paid a fair price for this great 500 and fell back marginally to finish 5th. These crews will go to Varese in northern Italy for a training camp until the Munich championships.
The women’s quad finished in 4th place but were not strong contenders for medals behind Great Britain, Germany and Romania. Considering the interrupted preparation they can now look to take the steps at the altitude training camp to move forward in this event.
The men’s eight who have struggled to show the form of 2006 had a better regatta and finished 6th in the final. They will return to Australia tomorrow and set themselves for the Munich championships.
This completes the lead-up regattas and there is no doubting that the international standards are very high and Olympic qualifying positions will be treasured greatly. With some interruptions to many crews' preparations through illness and injury, the next six weeks will need all athletes to stay as fit and healthy as possible to train hard for Munich.
Noel Donaldson
High Performance Director
Rowing Australia
Links
Australian Team results — click here —
Images — click here —
Day II report — click here —
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Sunday 15 July
World Cup III Lucerne, Switzerland — Day II report
Australia’s mixed fortunes continued but we were not alone in this regard. No one could blame the conditions as it was the second perfect day in a row.
The men’s pair (Free/Ginn) continued their winning ways by accounting for the French pair in their semi final. This row was a step up on the heat row and great optimism must follow their fortunes for the final. The number two crew (Pragnell/Heard) completed their campaign with a well fought 14th place after a very close tussle in the C final.
The men’s four (Chapman/Loch/Hegerty/Baxter) found the going tough and were 3 seconds off qualifying. They will go into the B final with a seating change and we hope they perform similarly in the small final as they did in the equivalent race at the Amsterdam World Cup three weeks ago.
The lightweight women’s double (Halliday/Houston) struggled and will not start in the final. With an important training camp following the illness to Amber Halliday needs to be put in check very early. We are sure they will again have the bit between the teeth in defending their silver medal.
The men’s lightweights found this round of racing a little tougher than their heats and they had to fight all the way to the line. After being off the plane for only a few days the results are excellent. Both the double (Gibson/Beltz) and the four (Skipworth/Cureton/Edwards/Chisholm) qualified for the final with third place finishes. With China the only notable absentee these crews have done well. The pair (McBryde/Brown) finished fourth in the A final after a 4-way tussle. They are very competitive in this event.
The women’s quad scull (Sens/Hore/Bradley/Ives) only had to finish in the top four of five crews in their repechage to make the A final. This was easily accomplished with a comfortable second to the Romanians. They should look forward to racing Romania again as they take on the heat winners (Great Britain/Germany) in a quest for a medal.
The men’s eight (Rabjohns [cox]/Stevenson/Tomkins/Forsterling/McKenzie-McHarg/Conrad/Laurich/Marburg/Ryan) raced more soundly through the middle and with a good sprint to overtake Poland they finished 3rd to qualify for the A final. Giving a few too many seconds away early they will need to cover this off and continue the mid race improvement to get near the medals.
6 out of 9 crews will race the A finals in what is again expected to be excellent day with warm conditions.
Noel Donaldson
High Performance Director
Rowing Australia
Links
Australian Team results — click here —
Images — click here —
Day I report — click here —
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Saturday 14 July
World Cup III Lucerne, Switzerland — Day I report
The Lucerne World Cup started in sensational weather after such a poor last few weeks in central Europe.
Two touring Australian’s have been unable to start. Brooke Pratley and Pippa Savage from the women’s sculling group have health issues that have prevented them from racing but the remainder of the team had their first hit outs today.
Michael McBryde and Ross Brown led the team away in the men’s lightweight pair finishing second in their heat to the Paul Reedy-coached crew from Great Britain. Later in the day, in fact the last race of the day, they won the repechage in fine style to be the first Australian crew to reach a final at this regatta. The race was delayed two hours due to the German pair falling in before the 100m flag due to a rigging fault.
Defending World Champions Duncan Free and Drew Ginn easily won their heat of the men’s pair whilst the number two crew of Fergus Pragnell and Jason Heard were 4th in their heat. Free and Ginn go directly to the semi final while Pragnell and Heard were eliminated later in the day after not qualifying through the repechage. This was still their best race for the tour and will set them up at a real tilt at the coxed pair at the World Championships. It was good to see Duncan Free almost over an earlier back complaint that held him out of the Henley Regatta.
The men’s coxless four field is deep and our crew were 5th in their heat. This put them in a tough repechage but a more aggressive approach saw them challenge hard and they qualified for the semi finals leaving the talented Germans to row in the C Final.
Then followed the lightweights. The women’s lightweight double scull of Amber Halliday and Marguerite Houston had a very slow heat but a more invigorated repechage saw them in 2nd place behind the Greeks to easily qualify for the semi finals. The men’s equivalent boat of Tom Gibson and Sam Beltz had their nose in front in the 3rd 500 but surrendered to a solid push by the French crew who beat them narrowly at the 2006 World Championships. They go direct to the semi final. An Australian highlight of the day was the easy win by the lightweight men’s coxless four. The crew stroked by Todd Skipworth, 3 Ben Cureton, 2 Anthony Edwards, Bow Rod Chisholm led all the way in their heat. Although 6th in the world in 2006 with two crew changes, FISA saw fit not to seed them and they outperformed their rivals from the washy lane 1. Rod Chisholm, the newly naturalized Aussie (former Pom), now has the most enviable record of a 100% success rate representing his new country. There will be no kidding about this when they race the semi final.
The women’s quad field will only need to eliminate one boat through the heats and rep to be rowed on Saturday. Drawn against the newly formed German quad our girls were out a little slow and when racing the Germans in this boat it is damn hard to get it back. They need the racing and the repechage will be a good chance to show they can adapt to the levels required.
The last Aussie boat to race the heats was the men’s eight. With three qualifying from each heat a solid row would get them through to the semis. This they did; racing more aggressively was the key. They know they now need to lengthen out and row their best for the season to reach the final. The atmosphere is certainly positive.
A “mixed bag” has been the cliché used but apart from the number two pair, all crews have advanced to race in the next round of progressions on Saturday.
Noel Donaldson
High Performance Director
Rowing Australia
Links
Australian Team results — click here —
Images — click here —
