2002 British IRC Report
Race Twenty-Six - 5:00 pm (Men's 30-34 Lwt, Men's 35-39 Lwt)
The Men's 30-34 Lwt race was a nip and tuck contest all the way between Tim Donovan and Richard Young, with Tim just coming out on top in a time of 6:24.1 against Richard's 6:32.1. The bronze medal went to Geoffrey Klingsporn of the US, with a time of 6:32.1. Mike Simpson of Marlow RC actually pulled a 6:17.6, just outside the British record and a new championship record, but was disqualified when he failed to make the weight.
The Men's 35-39 event was convincingly won by the Italian Stallion Fabio Calvelli, who with his extravagantly styled beard is one of the more recognisable faces on the race circuit. Fabio in fact was the fastest in the race overall, exluding Mike Simpson, with a time of 6:18.6, well inside Karl Yost's old championship record. Just behind him, Neil Staite and Duncan Paterson were engaged in a terrific battle for the silver medal, which went in the end to Neil, with a time of 6:25.3, with Duncan a length behind in 6:26.8.
Race Twenty-Five - 4:45 pm (Men's 30-34 Hwt)
One of the most eagerly anticipated races, this contains two of the 30-39 Hwt world indoor rowing champions in the shape of Nik Fleming and Tony Larkman, double Olympian Eric Mueller from the US and Chris Brett, another member of the Royce's Gym team and, about whom the rumours go, is in with more than a shout for a medal this year.
As they go off, it's Brett that hits the lead first, pulling down in the low 1:20s and keeps up a fairly ferocious pace for the first couple of hundred. Behind him sat Mueller, Larkman and Fleming, with Phil Rogers just behind. Mueller ooks eceptionally good at this stage, very unworried and pulling some powerful strokes. After 500 metres he settles into the lead, hitting consistent 1:30s and occasionally dipping under, slowly drawing away from Chris Brett, with Fleming and Larkman just a couple of metres off. Mueller is still looking strong, though colour commentator Martin Cross notes that his action uses a lot of arm power and this might lead him to struggle later.
With half the race gone, Nik 'Big Bird' Fleming really starts to fly, and he goes past Larkman as the two make a move for the title. Fleming drops his splits to 1:28, seeking to reduce the distance onMueller, who sees the move and covers it, maintaining his distance. By now, both Larkman and Fleming have gone past Brett.
In previous races, Tony Larkman has shown he's got a mighty sprint finish and he tries to use it now, pouring on all the power he can muster. He's finishing the fastest out of the lot but Mueller is still holding on. Larkman's hitting 1:25s, 1:26s, and the pressure finally starts to tell on the previously implacable Mueller, who goes out to 1:32s for the first time in the race. There's only a handful of metres to go, however, and not enough time for Larkman to overtake him. Mueller wins in 5:55.6, Larkman second in 5:57.1, Fleming third in 5:57.7 and Brett fourth in 6:02.0.
Race Twenty-Four - 4:30 pm (Men's 35-39 Hwt)
Another clash of the titans saw Julian Tompkinson power to his first British IRC gold medal in a time of 6:07.0. Behind him a whole pack opf athletes battled it our for second and third place, with Marek Hebda just holding off Ronnie Fraser to win the silver in a time of 6:14.6 against Ronnie's 6:15.7.
Race Twenty-Two - 3:45 pm (Women's 30-34 Hwt, Women's 30-34 Lwt, Women's 35-39 Hwt, Women's 35-39 Lwt)
A lot happening in this race. Kate Hewiit wins the 30-34 Hwt fairly easily in 6:59.3, ahead of Rachel Scott in 7:10.5 and Nicky Blethell in 7:15.2. The 35-59 Hwt is won even more convincingly by Tracy Axten, who fires down a 7:02.9, a long way ahead of Eeva Nurminen who takes silver in 7:19.1. In the 30-34 Lwt, Naomi Ashcroft defended her title succesfully, winning in 7:14.9, Melanie Moore the silver medallist in 7:20.7 and Sharon Colley bronze in 7:26.1. The 35-39 Lwt meanwhile, is another great win for Christina Nugent, who pulls an impressive 7:17.2 to beat Michelle Parsons who takes the silver in 7:24.5. The bronze medallist is Tracey Haseldine with 7:33.6
Race Twenty-One - 3:30 pm (Men's U23 Hwt)
As well as both Boat Race squads, this race also contains Steve Rowbotham, who was a member of the Royce's Gym team which broke the 100,000 metre world record recently, and Matt Langridge, Britiain's leading single sculler.In the end, Steve Rowbotham hit the front from the start and was able to protect his lead with relative ease, if pulling 5:58.2 can ever be described as easy. Behind him, Alex Partridge of Oxford Brookes took silver with six minutes dead, while Alex McGarel-Groves finished third with 6:02.7.
Race Nineteen - 3:00 pm (Men's U23 Lwt)
With a field of many of Britian's finest university rowers, this was always going to be a close race and one impossible to predict. In the end Tom Hanna got his nose in front after 1500 metres and was able to hold on for home, with Lawrence Taylor just unable to catch him. Aron Beekman from Holland comes through right at the end to take the bronze.Race Eighteen - 2:40 pm (Women's U23 Hwt)
Just like the Women's U23 Lwt, last year's wnner, this time in the form of Rebecca Romero, was able to return and retain her crown. She had a bit more of a battle on her hands than Jo Hammond, however, with the international Dutch sculler Marlies Smulders keeping tabs on her from the start. With 800 metres to go the two girls were and neck with Annie Vernon starting to sneak up on the front two. With 300 to go, Romero kicked for home and Smulders was unable to go with her, the two finishing in 6:53.1 and 6:57.6. From off the front row Rebecca Rowe, who only started on the machine a month back, managed an incredible performance and despite the presence of a large number of top university rowers she managed to snag the bronze in a time of 6:58.3.
Race Seventeen - 2:30 pm (Women's U23 Lwt)
This race was dominated by last year' winner Jo Hammond, who finished over 15 seconds ahead of second place. She won in a time of 7:07.4, almost ten seconds faster than she went 12 months ago. Behind her Sally Orr and Sarah Mee burst from the pack with a couple of hundred metres to go to take sliver and bronze in 7:24.8 and 7:25.5 respectively.
Race Sixteen - 2:00 pm (Men's Open Lwt)
The sheer level of quality in this race made a good final unavoidable and in th end it turned out to be one of the all time greats. At the start, world record holder and former Olympic champion Eskild Ebbessen got off to his customary frantic start. Rating an incredible 56 he was pulling 1:21s for the first ten strokes. He couldn't shake off Spain's Juan Zunzunegui, however, who led the race after 200 metres and it was clear Ebbessen wasn't going to hav things his own way. The race quickly settled into a fascinating battle, with Britain's Tom Kay up there as well as Fillipo Manucci, Stever Warner, Stefan Steiner and Steve Warner. Lying back in the pack was Gabe Winkler and Stephan Molevig. The pack's position ebbed backwards and forwards, with Zunzunegui consistently holding a lead of a couple of metres from everybody else. The question now was whether the Spaniard could hold on for long enough, with Ebbesen especially expected to be able to put in a huge charge at the end. With 1400 metres gone, however, it became clear that the threat was going to come from the two American's with Winkler having snuck up from the back and Warner pushing for the front. Ebbesen, who lloked so assured earlier on was obviously not going to be able to come back and Britain's Tom Kay was still up there and for a while it looked like he might be able to take gold. The Americans were just too strong, however, and Warner won the championship in 6:10.0, Winkler silver with 6:11.9 while Ebbesen dug in deep to hold of Kay for bronze with a 6:13.0, just four tenths ahead of Kay..
Race Fifteen - 1:40 pm (Men's Open Hwt)
This morning brought the news that James Cracknell would be unable to compete having come down with a cold two days and instead he had to take his place in the commentary box. Amongst the favourites were the two American's Jamie Schroeder and Dave Simon. Although Simon is the US record holder, the word from the US team was that Schroeder was the favourite out of those two.
The start saw Rick Egington hit the front first, and really flying. Although his name had really featured beforehand, he looked strong and smooth in his action and as a winner ofthe Thames' Cup at Henley this year couldn't be discounted. After 500 metres the front runners were Egington, Simon, Schroeder and Tone Endreksson from Estonia with Italy's Mario Palmisano just behind.
By 700 metres Simon and Schroeder, despite sounding like authors of 1940s musicals, had hit the front, with Simon just having the edge. The two are a study in contrasting styles; where Schroeder has a 'classic' on-water action, Simon's is more rowing machine orientated, pulling the chain for longer and higher. At the 1200 metre stage Palmisano had moved to third with Endreksson just behind him. Schroeder made his move at the 1300 metre mark and upped the rate to take the lead. Behind him, Palmisano looked laboured with a shortnened stroke and looked like he'd struggle to hang in there. Then all of a sudden Palmisano really started to motor with about three hundred to go, coming up fast on Simon who looked like he'd shot his bolt a bit. With 150 to go Palmisano was still coming, dropping down his splits to under 1:24 and now it was a case of Schroeder desperately trying to hold on. Endreksson was also charging, though not quite as quick, and he passed Simon with 50 metres to go. The line came a bit too quickly for Palmisano, however, and Schroeder was able to hold on, winning in 5:47.6, just a tenth of a second behind what Matthew Pinsent won in last year. Palmisano finished an agonising four tenths of second behind in 5:48 dead, while Endrekkson's bronze came in 5:49.6, ahead of Simon in 5:50.4
Race Thirteen - 1:00 pm (Women's Open Lwt)
With last year's winner Helen Casey unable to return to defend her title, Lisa Schlenker of the United States was the favourite for this race and she justified this with an emphatic victory. By 500 metres she was ten metres ahead of the rest of the field. Rowing at 32 strokes per minute, she looked smooth and untroubled and it became clear that the rest of the field were racing for second place.
Behind her Chryssi Biskitzi, Judith Van Os and Teresa Mas de Xaxars all jockeyed for position with the lead changing hand every couple fo metres. At the 1500 metre mark Julia Warren came through strongly and charged up the field, finishing with sub 1:45 splits and bagging herself a silver medal in the process. Biskitzi of Greece fell away a bit in the last 500 metres and Spain's Mas De Xaxars and the UK's Michelle Dollimore dead heated to take the bronze.
Race Twelve - 12:45 am (Women's Open Hwt)
In the absence of both last year's champion Hurnet Dekkers and reigning world champion Georgina Evers-Swindell, there was no clear favourite for the Women's Open Hwt title. Sarah Lauritzen, the 1997 World IRC probably attracted most of the pre-race betting alongside Carli Halpenny of Canada, who although only relatively new to rowing was rumoured to be capable of pulling a big score out of the bag. The top British rower was Debbie Flood, a winner here two years ago.Lauritzen was first out of the blocks, hitting 1:33s before she settled. Just behind her was Halpenny and behind her Flood. Debbie likes to go off fast, and she settled into a 1:41 rhythm and looked strong.
At 400 metres, those three looked like they were starting to pull away from the pack but there was a push from Claire Cordory, Christina Rindom and Romina Stefanic to keep themselves in contention. At 700 metres Halpenny made her move on Lauritzen and opened up some space between herself and Flood for the first time and by 800 metres Lauritzen and her were neck and neck and both pulling 1:42s.
At the halfway stage Debbie started to push at the leaders a bit, lowering her splits to 1:40. Halpenny at this stage had a five metre lead and looked nice and settled, rating slightly lower than the other two. Behind these, Rindom had moved ahead of Stefanic to sit in fourth.
At 1500 metres Debbie threw everything into it to try and move up the field, droppingher splits by a couple of pips. Lauritzen saw the move and countered it well and in turn made up some ground on Halpenny. With 150 metres to go Debbie's gamble didn't pay of and she blew up, coming home in the high 1:50s as Rindom sneaked ahead of her for bronze. Halpenny took th gold in 6:41.3 while Laurtizen finished in 6:44.6, just unable to find enough gas in the final 300 metres.
Race Eleven - 12:15 am (Men's J18 Hwt and J18 Lwt)
The favourite for the J18 Hwt, Karsten Brodowski, wasn't able to make it today, having been involved in a car crash a couple of days ago. Czech Miroslav Holecek, who was beaten by Karsten at the World IRC, took full advantage of his absence and dominated the race from start to finish, winning in a time of 6:08.3. Behind John Foster from Durham University looked strong in second place, holding off Cambridge's Tom James with 6:14.8 against 6:15.3.
In the J18 Lwt Jonah Todd-Geddes of the United States repeated his performance at the World IRC in winning the event, his time of 6:22.3 a second faster than what he did in Boston. Behind him Ryan Morris of Canada was overhauled by Cambridge's Doug Perrin with 100 metres to go before finding enough reserves to reovertake Perrin just on the line, finishing in 6:38.3 against the light blue's time of 6:38.5.
Race Ten - 12:00 am (Women's J18 Hwt and J18 Lwt)
In the J16 event, Emily Little, who was highly successful in last year's Grand Prix series maintained her form to win in 7:26.2, while in the J18 Lwt Lucy Clarke improved on her silver from last year when she won the event in 7:34.6, nearly nine seconds faster than what she did last year and a new championship record to boot. In the J18 Hwt race, Jessica Eddie was just to strong for Natasha Page, winning in 7:06.6. Page held off a late charge from Jo Cook to claim the ilver medal in 7:11.9 while Cook finished up with 7:17.5.Race Nine - 11:45 am (J14 and J15 Men)
The J15 race was yet another wide open affair. Alex Esselmont and Ben Smissen hit the lead at the start with Rob Francis and Dan Jones snapping at their heels. With 500 metres to go Esselmont is the lead and although Francis and Jones are dropping their splits there's a bit too much for them to do. With 200 metres to go Ben Smissen puts in a big spurt to hit the lead and the effort of keeping up with him was just too much for Esselmont, who gets forced out of the silver medal position by Francis about 50 metres away from the line.
In the J14 race, James Ellison shot away at the start, with the trailing pack being led by Robert Manton. With 700 metres to go Ellison started to fall away and he was passed first by Manton and then Ben Tufnell before falling out of the medal position when Ben Duggan passed him.
Race Eight - 11:30 am (J13 and J16 Men)
In the Men's Junior 16, Jonathan Brownley takes full advantage of the absence of Andrew Walker, who beat him into second place last year. He hit the front early on and never really looked like losing the lead, winning in a time of 6.27.6. Behind him Josh Davidson caught up with Joylon Simpson at the 500 metre and held on to win the silver in 6:34.0, Joylon finishing in 6:36.4.
The J13 race saw Daniel Bream set a new championship record with a time of 7:04.4. Behind him Alex Walker finished second in 7:15.7 and Michas Barry third with 7:30.8.
Race Seven - 11:15 am (J13, J14 and J15 Women)
The Women's J15 race is is won by Harriet Rawlings in a time of 7:33.2. The real batle is for second place and it's as close as it gets with Lydia Barstow jsut pipping Franki Jus-Burke right on the line, finishing just a tenth of the second ahead in 7:37.8 against 7:38.9.
The J13 race is also a classic with Jenny Cogger just pipping Louise Entwhistle by four tenths of a second, winning in 7:51.0. Imogen Baylis takes bronze a couple of seconds behind in 7:54.3. In the J14 race, Zoe Johnson wins from the second row with Alice Leeke and Shelley Lineham taking second and third place respectively.
Race Six - 10:50 am (Men's 40-44 Hwt)
With some of the favourites missing, including British record holder John Dixon, this race looked to be wide open. Tony Edwards hit the front at the 1000 metre stage and looked to be running away with the race. With 500 metres to go Russel Lloyd, the bronze medallist from last year come through really strongly, hitting low 1:30 splits to take the lead. Just behind Tony, Andrew Sangster and Marcus Harvey were both neck and neck and charging for the line. With 200 metres to go they caught up with Tony and both went through him. With Russel having finished strongly and ending up with 6:10.1, Andrew and Marcus were both bursting a blood vessel to try and get silver. In the end, and fittingly given their huge efforts, they both thundered past the line together in 6:15.3 for the day's first dead heat.
Race Five - 10:30 am (Men's 50-54 Hwt)
The Men's 50-54 Hwt features some big hitters from the Grand Prix series in the shape of Chris Hetherington and Martyn Low, while competing in his first ever British championship is Peter Dreissigacker, who along with his brother invented the Indoor Rower. All three of these go off strong, alongside David Aldridge. With 700 metres to go Martyn is holding a lead of a couple of metres over Peter, both of whom are hitting 1:36s. With 500 metres to go Martyn drops the split to 1:33 and although Peter tries to go with him, he's just unable to find the extra power needed. In third place, Alex Brown makes a charge with 200 metres to go to come through Chris and just pip him for bronze. Martyn finishes in 6:25.6, Peter in 6:28.1 and Alex in 6:36.4.Race Four - 10:15 am (Men's 45-49 Hwt)/p>
There are three members of Team USA competing here, Steve Krum, Jim McGoldrick and Paul Flack, all of whom will be looking to around about the 6:20 mark, so it looks set to be close. The early leader is Ian McNuff of Walbrook RC who hits the front early before settling into a 1:35 pace. The expected US charge comes with about 500 metres to go as Steve Krum drops to about 1:31 and Ian fades slightly. Ian managed to dig deep enough, hoever, and picks up the pace again with 100 metres to go to win in 6:13.4 from Krum's 6:16.3. The fight for the bronze sees last year's winner Flack just hold off his countryman McGoldrick, crossing the line in 6:26.5.
Race Three - 10:00 am (Men's 40-44 Lwt, Men's 50-54 Lwt)
The big battles here were between Graham Price and Mike Caviston in the 40-44 Lwt, a rerun of this year's World IRC when Graham broke his own British record only to see Mike break the world record, and the 50-54 Lwt race when world champion Dennis Hastings took on world record holder Jean-Paul Tardieu.After five hundred metres, both races were pretty much as you'd expect: neck and neck. At the halfway stage although the two Americans both started to show the lead. Mike Caviston rows an incredibly powerful stroke and slowly but surely he drew away from Graham Price, with John Brooks pushing Graham hard in the latter stages of the race for second place.
In the 50-54 Lwt race, Jean-Paul's back, which has troubled him since he slipped a disk in Boston, once again caused him to pull him up short. Dennis won in 6:35.4 with Chris Bertram from Windsor just holding off John Booth for second place, 6:44.0 against 6:44.5.
