Three more Australian crews have qualified for A Finals on an excellent day of rowing for Australia at the 2009 World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland.
In the most favourable conditions so far during the regatta there was only the very slightest of head winds blowing down the course as a large group of Australian supporters watched the men’s four, women’s double and women’s pair progress. They join the adaptive men’s single scull, adaptive mixed coxed four and women’s four in the A Final on Saturday.
The Australian men’s four underlined themselves as a medal favourite by blitzing their semi-final.
The silver medal crew from Beijing featuring Francis Hegerty (NSW), Cameron McKenzie-McHarg (VIC), James Marburg (VIC) and Matt Ryan (NSW) had put two lengths on the field by the 1000m mark and brought the boat home in a time of 6:00.94, a clear boat ahead of Belarus and the Czech Republic.
Bow seat of the men’s four, Matt Ryan, said the race went according to plan.
“The plan was to take it out pretty hard today,” Ryan said. “We had a rough start in the semi in Beijing so didn’t want that to happen again.”
They will face Great Britain in the final, who achieved a similarly comfortable victory in the first semi-final.
“It should be a great race against Great Britain again in the final. If we can get a good start again over the first 1000m and bring it home well it should be a good spectacle.”
Sarah Cook (ACT) and Kim Crow (VIC) rowed a strong semi-final to finish second and progress to the final of the women’s pair.
Cook and Crow, who finished fourth in the same event at the 2007 World Championships, required a top three finish which was never in doubt after a steady start had them in second through 1000m. They kicked with the USA crew in the third 500m and crossed the line in 7:21.82, a length behind the United States.
After the race Cook said they were happy with the improved performance from the heat.
“We wanted to put together a really solid piece today and we did that and can now look forward to the final,” Cook said.
“We are looking to improve on every row we have together and we’re really happy.”
Pippa Savage (QLD) and Sally Kehoe (QLD) finished second in the women’s double scull semi-final to also move through to the final.
The Toowoomba pair was in third place at the halfway mark of the race behind the Czech Republic and Great Britain, but produced a customary strong final 750 metres to pass the Czech crew and finish half a length down on Great Britain in a time of 6:56.09.
National High Performance Manager Andrew Matheson said he was pleased with their race.
“The girls raced to a good plan today and did what they needed to do to make the final,” Matheson said. “The British crew is one of the favourites for the event and it was nice to get a run at them before the final.
“Pippa and Sally have shown they have a great finish on them and stood up today when they needed to and can now have a crack in the final.”
The men’s lightweight four recorded a win in the C/D semi-final to secure a berth in the C Final on Friday.
Angus Tyers (VIC), Ross Brown (WA), Tom Bertrand (VIC) and Darryn Purcell (QLD) crossed the line in a time of 6:21.44 to finish two boat lengths of New Zealand, while Chile was third.
Australia will contest two further semi-finals on Friday, with the women’s lightweight double scull and men’s quad scull aiming to gain places in the A Final.
