The Australian men’s four has won silver at the 2009 FISA World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland
In the cooler, tail wind conditions at the Malta Regatta Course, Francis Hegerty (NSW), Cameron McKenzie-McHarg (VIC), James Marburg (VIC) and Matt Ryan (NSW) added world championship silver to the Olympic silver they won last year.
Great Britain and Australia took the race out quickly as expected and the two crews had opened up a sizeable margin on the rest of the field at the halfway point.
Great Britain moved out to boat length lead by the 1250m mark and despite the best efforts of the Australian crew they were unable to reel in Great Britain who crossed the line in 5:47.28. Australia was three quarters of a length back in 5:49.20.
Hegerty, McKenzie-McHarg, Marburg and Ryan are one of the great success stories of Australian rowing. They missed out on selection in the Australian men’s eight in 2008, the priority sweep boat, and were placed into the four and given the opportunity to qualify for the Olympic Games.
Under the watchful eye of coach Tim Conrad they won World Cup 2, before winning the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta which was also held in Poznan.
At the Olympic Games they almost caused one of the biggest upsets of the regatta when they led the favoured British crew for 1800 metres before finishing in the silver medal position.
Stroke of the crew Francis Hegerty says the silver medal is still a great result.
"It’s great to get the silver, and although gold would have been nice, it shows we are a contender,” Hegerty said.
“Most of the guys in all the crews know each other pretty well and are forming a good rivalry. It’s really good in such a quality field that we are in a position to win medals.
“It was a bit bumpy out there today but you come to Poland expecting tricky conditions like that.”
Pippa Savage (QLD) and Sally Kehoe (QLD) finished fourth in the hotly contested final of the women’s double scull.
In one of the closest finals, which left all crews in with the chance of a medal with 250 metres remaining, Poland delighted the home fans by holding off Great Britain on the line to take the race in 6:47.18.
Bulgaria edged over the Australian crew in the last ten strokes to claim the bronze medal, while Savage and Kehoe recorded a time of 6:52.18.
Savage and Kehoe, who both herald from the non-rowing town of Toowoomba in Queensland, began rowing together for the first time in May of this year and formed a formidable combination.
Kehoe has previously been a dual world junior champion, firstly in the women’s double scull in 2003, and then the following year in the women’s single scull. At senior level Kehoe claimed a bronze in this event in 2005 with West Australian Amber Bradley, while she won a silver medal in the women’s quad scull in 2006.
Savage burst onto the scene in 2007 by winning national titles in the single, double and quad sculls at Nagambie Lakes in Victoria, and followed this up the following year with national titles in the single and double scull, before being selected as the women’s single scull for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games where she finished 10th.
Sarah Cook (ACT) and Kim Crow (VIC) finished fifth in the final of the women’s pair.
Cook and Crow were in fifth place at the halfway mark of the race, but only two seconds separated the entire field, with Romania leading the way in Lane 6. USA came over the Romania crew in the closing 500 metres to win in a time of 7:06.28 in front of Romania and New Zealand. Australia stopped the clock at 7:09.25.
Cook and Crow have been selected as the Australian women’s pair for the last three seasons now, finishing fourth in the 2007 World Championships and 10th at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. They also combined to win World Cup 1 in 2007.
Their improvement during every race in the regatta was noticeable, having finished third in their heat and then securing a second place finish in the semi-final to qualify for the medal race.
Emily Rose (WA), Libby Alderman (WA), Laura Osti (SA) and Sophia Robson (VIC) missed out on a medal by a third of a boat length in the women’s four
Australia was sixth through the first 500m and put in a hard middle 1000m to move into fourth place with a quarter of the race remaining, but were unable to overhaul Canada for the bronze medal.
Netherlands won the race in 6:31.34 ahead of USA and Canada, while Australia crossed the line in 6:37.71.
Rose, Alderman, Osti and Robson all made their senior world championships debut this year and are part of the exciting group of younger rowers coming through the Rowing Australia program.
Rose and Alderman won a silver medal in the women’s pair at the Under 23 World Championships in 2008, while Osti won a bronze medal in the women’s quad scull and Robson finished fifth in the women’s four.
The women’s double scull and men’s four round out Australia’s A Finals in the next hour.
