World Rowing Cup II - Day One
Time trial test for World Rowing Cup II heats
World Rowing Cup II at Linz-Ottensheim in Austria began with heats in a time trial format. This is used as a test in case weather conditions mean that the whole six racing lanes can’t be used. Boats went away one at a time with the times of each ‘heat’ used to decide who would move on to the next round. It was all about making a fast time.
An obvious tail wind breeze made for ripples on the rowing course and good times as rowers enjoyed a sunny, warm day that then cooled as the wind dropped.
Women’s Pair (W2-) – Heats
Sorted into three heats, each grouping had the goal of being in the top three for a direct path to the semifinals. In the first heat the World Champions, New Zealand made their 2018 season debut. Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler of New Zealand had a burner of a start which gave them a handy margin as they raced the clock to the finish line. At the half way point Gowler and Prendergast had a seven second advantage with Italy’s Patelli and Bertolasi following in second. Towards the end of the race, the water started to get rougher and, despite their fast first 1000m, Gowler and Prendergast were not able to break the World Best Time. But they did record the fastest qualifying time.
Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) – Heats
Heat Two had the World Champions, Brooke Donoghue and Olivia Loe of New Zealand leading the time trial. This is their debut international race for 2018 and they made the best of it by crossing the line easily with the fastest time and also the fastest time overall – 6:48.72.
Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – Heats
This boat class had been divided into three heats with the top three boats in each heat getting to go directly to the semifinals on Saturday. The World Champion boat of John Storey and Christopher Harris of New Zealand was the first to get away in Heat One. But it was the third boat to leave, Italy One that had a really good start. By the 1000m mark though, Storey and Harris had got the speed lead. Italy One of Romano Battisti and Simone Venier held onto the New Zealanders pace, but Harris and Story had the faster time with Battisti and Venier coming in second.
Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) – Repechage
Missing out on qualifying from their heat race, New Zealand's Matthew Dunham and Ben van Dalen qualified first in their repechage with a time of 6:22.12 and move forward to the semi-final.
Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – Heats
This field was divided into three heats and the goal here was to be in a top three position. New Zealand’s Hannah Osborne placed second in her heat with a time of 7:35.65 with a direct path to tomorrow’s semi-finals.
Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) – Heats and Quarter Finals
As the wind calmed down and the water flattened out, the six heats of the men’s single got going. The goal here was to be in a top four position to get to go to the quarterfinals.
At the start of Heat Three, Robbie Manson of New Zealand had the fastest starting time. Manson is the World Best Time holder in this boat class, earned in 2017. France’s Thibaut Verhoeven pulled into second but the speed of Manson moved him further into the lead. At the finish Manson had recorded 6:50.90 – the fastest overall qualifying time.
Heat Four featured the return to international racing by Olympic Champion Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand. Drysdale took a year off after recording his Olympic win and he has been training hard with competition facing him locally by Robbie Manson. Sweden’s Anders Backeus had the fastest start and managed to maintain a lead through the middle of the race. But then Drysdale showed his skill in the second half of the race and finished first.
In a narrow race, Manson won his quarter-final in a time of 6:56.08 and moves forward to the semi-final. Drysdale placed third in his quarter-final with a time of 7:01.65 and also progresses to the semi-final.
Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – Heats
This boat class had three heats and the winner of World Rowing Cup I, the Netherlands left first to be part of Heat One. The goal here was to be in a top two position for a direct path to the semifinals.
Italy had the quickest start in Heat Two with Poland making up a close second. Then by the half way point Zoe McBride and Jackie Kiddle of New Zealand had moved into the lead with Italy and Poland battling it out for second. Poland’s Weronika Deresz and Katarzyna Welna went to a 39 stroke rate sprint and grabbed second. Kiddle and McBride had recorded the fastest qualifying time overall.
Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x) – Heats
Three heats made up this boat class with the top three boats in each heat going directly to Saturday’s semifinals. The second heat had Jonathan Rommelmann of Germany Two in the lead. He raced at World Rowing Cup I at the start of the month and finished first. Pulling through into second was China’s Zhiyuan Zhang with James Lassche of New Zealand chasing hard. Lassche raced at the Rio Olympics as a lightweight, then moved to New Zealand’s men’s eight for 2017 and he’s now back racing lightweight. Lassche then overtook Zhang as did Brazil’s Uncas Batista with Rommelmann remaining in first.
Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x) – Heats
Heat Two was incredibly tight with just 0.16 of a second separating the entire field at the first 500m mark. Then the winners from World Rowing Cup I, Great Britain, got a slight advantage and moved into the lead. But the margins remained tight and at the 1000m mark just one second separated the field. Great Britain then managed to break away a little and the field spread out as Russia seemed to run out of steam. At the line The British were first with New Zealand in second and the United States in third. Great Britain had recorded the fastest qualifying time overall.
Men’s Eight (M8+) – Repechage
The New Zealand Men’s Eight crew race tonight in a repechage to secure a lane in the final.
Women’s Eight (W8+) – Test Race
The New Zealand Women's Eight crew achieved the fastest time in their test race with 06:08.98, moving forward to the final.
Race times, full results, live commentary & live race trackers are available here.