Published byOWING Rowing Ink www.rowingservice.com/voice 1: 3 September4d 2007 The Voice in Munich: oice RRegular results, fore- V cast, tips, news and views. Rowing Voice reported live from the world championships starting on Monday 27 August, for 4 issues. RowingVoice is pub- lished by Rowing Ink. Editors Rachel Quarrell and Christopher Dodd © RowingVoice™ All rights reserved. Material may not be reproduced in any media without written permis- sion of RowingVoice This time the tears are for joy. Annie Vernon, Debbie Flood, Fran Houghton and Kath- erine Grainger, world champions. Photograph: Peter Spurrier/Intersport Images Contact: voice@ rowingservice.com tel 07710-538114 Quad and four win in Munich fax 0870-164-1650 Race by race: what happened in the Swindell (NZL) Published irregularly. medal finals and where the GB crews GB Crew — Elise Laverick/Anna Bebington finished, by Christopher Dodd and This was a very cool British race — or maybe a total panic, but it looked like the former. Laverick Our grateful thanks to Rachel Quarrell. and Bebington were third at 500 and then did the Peter Spurrier/ slowest time for the second quarter and almost Intersport Images for Women’s quadruple sculls the slowest for the third quarter before switching the many fine photo- World champions 2006 — Flood/Winckless/ on the lightning to bring them back through the Houghton/Grainger (GBR) graphic contributions to Romanians whom they had led at the start. Then, GB Crew — Annie Vernon/Debbie Flood/Fran having been four seconds down on the Evers- this issue. Houghton/Katherine Grainger Swindells (who never got in front of or really The quad, with Grainger back in the stroke seat threatened the Chinese Qin Li and Liang Tian), after she rowed at bow in the heat, were awe- they attacked the Kiwis and missed the silver by some. They were a canvas up before 250 metres, MUNICH MEDALS a fiftieth of a second. A great finish. GB’s first almost a length in front of China at 500. as soon W2x medal since Laverick and Winckless at the 1st Great Britain as they passed this mark they put clear water be- Olympics. (3 gold, 2 silver, and tween themselves and the Chinese, and from here GB result — bronze medal 7 bronze) on in in was the Germans who gave chase. The Qualified for Olympics 2008 — yes Germans began to reduce the clear water gap after 2nd Australia 1000 metres, and made up some ground. But this Legs/trunk/arms mixed coxed (3 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze) one had a union flag on it from the first stroke, and put a difficult 12 months behind a deserving fours 3rd New Zealand crew. World champion 2006 — GBR (3 gold, 2 silver, 0 bronze) GB result — gold GB Crew — Vicky Hansford/Alan Crowther/ 4th USA (3 gold, 1 silver, 1 Qualified for Olympics 2008 — yes Alistair McKean/Naomi Riches/cox Alan bronze (Woody) Sherman Women’s double sculls Germany beat GB in the heat before being wrist- 5th Italy (2 gold, 3 silver, 2 World champions 2006 — Kell/Pratley (AUS) slapped for an underweight boat, but came back bronze) Olympic champions — Evers-Swindell/Evers- fighting. All six boats overlapping for the first four minutes is new for these crews, and the More worlds thrills, spills and medals pages 2-7 » 3 September 2007 OWING page 2 USA made it harderR with a fly-and-dieV strategyoice (BLR) supplement Who’s going which saw GB third at 500m gone. GB came GB Crew — none The final tally: who is go- through, but couldn’t quite squeeze past the How much class can one woman show? ing to Beijing so far: very strong Germans despite slightly better Karsten rode out the storm as both Mirka bladework. A world title gone, and a salutory Knapkova (CZE) and Michelle Guerette (USA) W1x: Belarus, Bulgaria, USA, lesson that the adaptive events have moved on tried to take her on. Karsten’s developed a Czech Republic, China, New miles. No more easy wins from now on. shorten-and-sprint this year which she used Zealand, France, Poland, GB result — silver medal to devastating effect, coming through Knap- Sweden. Qualified for Paralympics 2008 — yes kova just before the grandstand. Meanwhile M1x: New Zealand, Czech Knapkova was rumbled by Guerette and then Republic, Norway, Great Britain, Lightweight mens’ fours Rumyana Neykova, who blasted through into Germany, Sweden, Belgium, World champions 2006 — CHN second. Was Karsten bluffing with the small Argentina, Switzerland, Nether- Olympic champions — DEN margin of victory, or really pushed to the limit? lands, Australia. GB Crew — Richard Chambers/James Don’t bet against her just yet. W2-: Belarus, Germany, Rou- Lindsay-Fynn/Paul Mattick/James Clarke If GB wants to send a single sculler to Beijing mania, Australia, New Zealand, Last lightweight fours gold 1992. Last LM4- she will have to qualify in Lucerne next June. China, USA, Canada. medal the same year. Nothing since. Could the Lucerne World Cup win be duplicated? Brit- Lightweight women’s singles M2-: Australia, New Zealand, ain’s bows cross first, coach Robin Williams is World champion 2006 — Marit van Eupen Great Britain, France, South Africa, Serbia, Poland, USA, speechless with delight, result all round. Light (NED) Germany, Croatia, Denmark. fours is an event with a lot of emotional ties GB Crew — Andrea Dennis for Britain, yet the doldrums of the last dozen Van Eupen versus former Brit Jen Goldsack W2x: China, New Zealand, years have been so low that taking GB back to was always going to be the story. Goldsack Great Britain, Roumania, Czech the top seemed an impossible dream. Over- tried her usual trick of a fast start, but the Republic, Germany, Italy, USA night we have lightweight heroes again, who canny champion wasn’t having any, and ripped M2x: Slovenia, France, Estonia, proved themselves the greatest with the classi- through her at 750m gone, irretrievably. Game, Great Britain, Belarus, New Zea- est of rows. One of three GB crews to replicate set and match to the Dutchwoman. Dennis, land, Croatia, Australia, USA, a storming mid-week performance in the final, invigorated by joining former clubmate Gold- Germany, Belgium. they had to keep their cool and use their fitness sack in the A-final, battled away for a dignified M4-: New Zealand, Italy, Neth- and strength to slide past leaders Italy then fifth, much better than her earlier season’s form erlands, Great Britain, Slovenia, hold on. Champions. National anthem already might have suggested. France, Czech Republic, USA, playing as the GB women’s quad land, briefly GB result — fifth in final Germany, Ireland, Belarus. surprising them into thinking they’ve missed Number to Olympics — none their medal ceremony.... Two top-class golds LW2x: Australia, Finland, Ger- many, Denmark, Greece, China, in a row: magic. Men’s coxed fours Canada, Great Britain. GB result — gold World champions 2006 — GER Number to Olympics — 11 GB Crew — James Orme/Marcus Bateman/ LM2x: Denmark, Greece, Great Tom Wilkinson/Oliver Moore/cox Phelan Hill Britain, Australia, Italy, Japan, Women’s singles While the Americans led off only to be chal- Hungary, Germany, China, World champion 2006 — Ekaterina Karsten lenged and overtaken by the Serbs during the France, Austria. (BLR) second quarter, GB languished in fifth for more LM4-: Great Britain, France, Olympic champion — Ekaterina Karsten than half the course before raising their act and Italy, Canada, China, Denmark, Australia, Poland, Egypt, Neth- erlands, USA. W4x: Great Britain, Germany, China, Ukraine, Canada, USA, Austria. M4x: Poland, France, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Russia, Estonia, USA, Australia, Cuba. W8+: USA, Roumania, Great Britain, Australia, Germany. M8+: Canada, Germany, Great Britain, USA, Russia, Poland, China. At the final qualifying regatta, three singles places, one each for the women’s quads and eights, and two for every other Britain’s men’s coxless four wins the world title.... ...for the first time in 15 years. event are available. Photograph: Peter Spurrier/Intersport Images Aggar does it for the adaptives page 4 » 3 September 2007 page 3 ROWING Voice supplement What they said “They’ve put the rest of us to shame” — Alan Camp- bel, GBR M1x, watching the GBR LM4- victory “It was a big test for me to come in as a two-time champion and make it three. There are so many quality guys in this field” — Mahe Drysdale, M1x “I enjoyed the race. We decided Mahe is the man to beat. We thought Hacker would be the other person to show through. Tufte gave it away when I spoke Novice Aggar leads two-times champion Monypenny over the line. Photo Peter Spurrier to him last night. He said moving to third by 1500. while the Ameri- Raynsford. While Brazil’s one-legged Claudia ‘Don’t go too quick off the cans re-took the Serbs, the Germans re-took Santos tussled Belarussian Lludmila Vauchok start’. Now I can see why the Brits for the last ever bronze medal to be up the front, Helene struggled to maintain he said that. He did a really awarded in this event. After three straight years speed, and slipped to fifth. The pint-sized hard second 500. Fourth is of straight finals, the coxed fours are out of the Terminator will be back, as long as the event the worst position but I’m rowing worlds programme. doesn’t move on too far beyond her. Brazil’s proud of what I did.” — GB result — fourth in final celebration, with full band and scantily-clad Alan Campbell, GBR 1x Number to Olympics — 0 exotic dancers, beat anthems into a cocked hat. GB result — fifth “I have a good partner.