Media release from Rowing Australia The Australian Rowing Team performed strongly on day three of the World Rowing Championships in Chungju, South Korea with all but two crews remaining in medal contention following a day of repechages and races for lanes. Racing was conducted under cloudy skies with a slight cross breeze that did little to provide relief from the humidity as the Lightweight Women’s Double and Trunk and Arms Mixed Double Scull produced the highlight performances of a good day for the Australian crews. The Lightweight Women’s Double Scull recovered from early difficulties to produce a blistering middle thousand metres and chase down the field to secure a place in the semi-finals, while the Trunk and Arms Mixed Double Scull led from start to finish to defeat the reigning Paralympic champions by a length in qualifying for their A Final. An overview of the performances of each crew in action on Day 3 follows: Women’s Four As there were only six entries for this non-Olympic event a race for lanes was conducted, with Australia represented by the recently crowned Under 23 World Champions in this boat class Hannah Vermeersch, Alex Hagan, Charlotte Sutherland and Lucy Stephan. The Australian crew produced a strong start to establish an early lead but by the 1000m mark of the race the USA, Canada and Germany all showed their senior international experience in moving past the Australian crew. The young Australians, who are all doubling up in the women’s eight, raced within themselves from that point to conserve energy for the two A Finals that they will contest later in the regatta. The Australian crew crossed the line in fourth place and will chase a podium finish from either lane 2 or 5 in the final of this event.. Lightweight Women’s Single Scull Repechage Australia’s Ella Flecker, who started the Australian campaign on Monday, took to the water in her repechage of the Lightweight Women’s Single Scull needing to finish either first or second to advance to the semi-finals. Lightweight sculling traditionally produces some close racing and this heat was no different with Canada and Korea establishing an early lead but being hotly pursued by Flecker and the Irish sculler. By the half way mark Flecker had moved into second place behind Canada, with Ireland not far behind. From that point on it was stroke for stroke between those two crews for the all-important second place which would secure qualification for the Semi Finals. In a tight finish Flecker maintain her composure under heavy pressure from the Irish sculler to finish second behind Canada and advance to the semi finals in an impressive display from the young Tasmanian. Lightweight Men’s Eight With limited entries in this boat class at the World Championships the Lightweight Men’s Eight of Jack Price, Tim Widdicombe, Tim McDonnell, Ali Foot, Blair Tunevitsch, Darryn Purcell, Nick Silcox, Simon Nola and cox Tim Webster rowed within themselves to cross the line in third place and secure either lane 3 or 5 for the A Final. Foot, Tunevitsch, Purcell and Silcox, who are all doubling up in the Lightweight Men’s Four, will be pleased to have conserved some energy and will look to produce a strong performance in the repechage of that event. Women’s Pair Tess Gerrand was replaced in the crew due to illness, with Bec Daniher joining Katrina Bateman to race the repechage of this event seeking a top-three finish to advance to the semi finals. Daniher, who also replaced Gerrand in the Women’s Eight yesterday as Gerrand recovers from illness, has performed exceptionally given difficult circumstances and again combined well with Bateman in this crew. The Australians started well to lead the race at the half way mark at which point they began to conserve energy for later races safe in the knowledge that third place would secure progression. At the line it was Russia from Italy with Australia close behind in third and already looking ahead to Thursday’s semi final. Men’s Pair James McRae and Bryn Coudraye faced a tough task in an unfamiliar boat as they contested repechage two alongside a full field which also included strong crews from Poland and Great Britain, and needing a top two finish in order to progress to the A/B semi finals. The Australian crew put themselves in contention early and continued to fight throughout the race, however the pressure from an experienced Polish crew eventually broke the field open with Great Britain moving into second place and despite a great finishing burst from the Australian crew, they were unable to move beyond third and will now contest the C/D semi finals on Thursday. Lightweight Women’s Double Scull The Australian combination of Maia Simmonds and Alice McNamara raced repechage one of this event with the first three crews earning the right to progress to the semi-finals from the five boat field. The Australian crew experienced some difficulty early when they caught a massive crab in the start area and lost many lengths to the other crews as the race settled with Sweden in front from Denmark, Korea and Vietnam. The new Australian combination bravely commenced their pursuit of the field and produced the fastest middle 1000m of the race to pass the crews from Korea and Vietnam with 500m to go. Knowing that a top three finish would book them a spot in the semi-finals the Australian crew elected not to pursue the Swedish and Danish crews, opting instead to conserve energy for the next round of racing. Having learned from their early error and produced a blistering middle thousand metres, the Australian crew will be confident of a strong performance in the semi final of this boat class. Women’s Quad Scull With two repechages to be raced in this event the Women’s Quad Scull required a top two finish to advance to the A Final. The young Australian crew of Rebekah Hooper, Jessica Hall, Madeline Edmunds and Olympia Aldersey, Under 23 World Champions in this boat class in 2012, had a tough job in front of them against very experienced opponents. The Australian crew threw down the gauntlet to the field, establishing the early pace and attempting to hold off their vastly experienced opponents for the full race. The major threat came from the crews from Italy and the Netherlands with the last 1000 metres a thrilling contest which saw the three crews battling stroke for stroke to the finish line with Italy winning narrowly, 0.01 seconds ahead of the Netherlands who just beat out the brave Australian crew. The young Australians will now contest the B Final as they continue to gain international experience and development on the road to Rio 2016. Trunk and Arms Mixed Double Scull The Australian crew of Kath Ross and Gavin Bellis, London 2012 Paralympic finalists in this event, tackled the repechage having narrowly missed out on automatic progression to the A Final after producing a terrific performance in yesterday’s heat. The Australians were determined to showcase their improvement in 2013, and with Paralympic Champions Ukraine alongside them, Ross and Bellis produced an impressive performance to lead from start to finish, eventually crossing the line a length ahead of the Ukraine and Netherlands. The Australian crew have now set their sights on the A Final with Ross, 2008 Paralympic Silver medallist in this boat class, looking to return to the international podium.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 11:31:47 +0000
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