Three more New Zealand crews have advanced to the A Finals at World Cup Lucerne after day two of racing on the famous Rotsee course.
The Men’s Double, Pair and Single will join the Women’s Four in the medal races starting tonight at 9.05pm NZT.
New Zealand Rowing’s Athlete Performance Lead Justin Evans has been rapt with the trajectory of Men’s Pair Ben Taylor and Oliver Welch.
They again put down a compelling performance in the first semifinal to lead from start to finish to win in 6.24.38.
They were tracked home by South Africa in 6.26.68 and Sweden in 6.26.97.
The duo’s strengths mirrored the attributes across the squad.
“Physiologically they are no different to the rest of the team,” says Evans. “They’ve been training really consistently but are both supremely driven and have proven again and again they are boat movers, and there’s nothing like the pair to demonstrate that.”
Taylor and Welch go into tonight’s final at 9.48pm (NZT) in a likely head-to-head with reigning European champions Romania, who won semifinal two in 6.20.47.
The Men’s Pair of Ben Taylor (s) and Oliver Welch put down a compelling performance in the first semifinal to lead from start to finish to win in 6.24.38.
Semifinal two of the Men’s Double Sculls turned into a showdown of the best former lightweight rowers on the planet, and it’s not exaggerating to include New Zealand’s Finn Hamill among them.
He’s part of a new combination with Olympic heavyweight sculler Ben Mason. They won bronze at World Cup Varese and are right up there on stats and performance after qualifying for tonight’s A Final (10.37pm NZT).
Mason and Hamill were flanked by two Irish crews with double Olympic lightweight champions Paul O’Donovan in one boat and Fintan McCarthy in the other.
They also had the company of Romania’s Paris Olympic champions Marian Enache and Andrei Cornea.
But Mason and Hamill are proving to be consistently quick through their 500m splits, and finished second in 6.11.71. McCarthy and partner Konan Pazzaia crossed first in 6.11.43, with O’Donovan and Daire Lynch third in 6.14.32.
The Romanians finished last, 16 seconds adrift of the leaders.
Serbia won the other semi in the same time as Mason and Hamill. The final will be close.
The Men’s Double Sculls of Ben Mason (s) and Finn Hamill have qualified for the A Final after finishing second in their semi-final.
Logan Ullrich acknowledged that two weeks ago in Varese, the weight of four races in three days took its toll on the sweeper turned single sculler. He ran out of juice in his semifinal back then, but last night, he was able to go up a gear as others faded around him in the final 250m.
Olympic silver medallist Yauheni Zalaty (AIN) came through with his signature sprint to mow down German leader Mark Weber.
Weber buttoned off over the final metres, but whether he’d cooked himself before that will remain a mystery until tonight’s final at 11.13pm (NZT).
Ullrich is developing his own signature sprint, launching into second in 6.47.05, behind Zalaty (6.44.29).
Evans is stoked with Ullrich’s progress despite a gruelling couple of months.
“He’s been pretty busy,” says Evans. “First, he had Windermere Cup with University of Washington in Seattle at the start of May, then across to New Jersey for the IRAs with the Huskies at the end of the month, then back to Seattle for post-grad exams before hopping on a plane to join the squad for camp in Italy. That’s a lot of air miles, and time out of the single for a guy who’s new to the boat.”
Norway’s Jonas Juel won the opening semi in 6.48.29.
Single Sculler Logan Ullrich was able to go up a gear as others faded around him in the final 250m in his semi-final which sees him through to the A Final.
Stella Clayton-Greene and Kathryn Glen stepped into the cauldron that is the Women’s Double Sculls.
Their semifinal included World Cup Varese winners China, the experienced Olympic duo from France and the Great Britain combination stroked by Olympic gold medallist Lola Anderson.
The middle 1000m of the race proved crucial for Clayton-Greene and Glen, the pair slipping behind the front pack to finish sixth in 6.58.76. China won in 6.47.67, France was second in 6.48.30.
That leaves the New Zealanders lining up in the B Final tonight at 7.40pm NZT.
Stella Clayton-Greene (s) and Kathryn Glen faced some tough competition in the Women’s Double Sculls semi-final. They will line up in the B Final after finishing sixth.
The Men’s Four of Flynn Eliadis-Watson, Campbell Crouch, Zack Rumble and Josh Vodanovich came within a couple of metres of qualifying for tonight’s A Final, just outsprinted by a French crew having to crank up to 45 strokes per minute to hold off the New Zealanders.
Australia won in 5.48.69, New Zealand crossing fourth in 5.51.78.
Evans is encouraged by the new combination’s progress.
“They’re all new to the elite scene and have shown that they can produce fast times in training and we’re starting to see them do this more consistently in racing.”
The Men’s Four of Flynn Eliadis-Watson (s), Campbell Crouch, Zack Rumble and Josh Vodanovich came within a couple of metres of qualifying for tonight’s A Final crossing fourth in 5.51.78.
Sophie Egnot-Johnson and Ella Cossill finished second in the C Final of the Women’s Double Sculls behind Germany.
Andy Hay is a freelance producer, writer and Maadi Cup-winning coach. He was cox of the world champion New Zealand eight of 1982 and ’83. He is NZ Olympian #446.
