2005 Concept2 Euro Open Report
The third Concept 2 European Open took place in wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen on the 3rd of December. With rowers from 10 different countries, the day was a well-run and incredibly friendly competition, which saw some excellent performances to match the occasion.
Denmark is the land of the lightweights. If you're one of those unfortunate souls for whom double- dipped chocolate doughnuts are the enemy in the run up to a race and your best friend afterwards, then this was the event for you, being probably the only competition where Lightweights race on the front row and Heavyweights are relegated to Rows C and beyond. It was no surprise then that the race of the day came in the Men's Open Lwt event. At the gun, France's Frederic Dufour established the early lead, covering the first 500 metres in a blistering 1:29.2. He was chased the entire way by Denmark's own Mads Rasmussen. With 200 metres to go, Rasmussen upped his stroke rate to 45+ a minute and, with the Frenchman paying a heavy and painful looking price for his start, just managed to catch him on the line, to tumultuous applause and a time of 6:10.8. Behind him, Dufour took silver in 6:11.4 and Denmark's Mads Andersen won the bronze in 6:21.3.
In the Men's Open Hwt, Phil Turnham (left) won Britain's first ever Open European title, dominating the
race from start to finish with a time of 5:54.6, half a second faster than his time in Birmingham
and a new PB. Phil's only just taken up rowing, coming from a swimming background, and at the
age of 24 looks well-set to be a star of the future. Denmark's Peter Sylvest and Anders
Moustgaard were involved in a fierce tussle for silver and bronze, Sylvest coming out top in
5:59.0 versus 6:00.1.
The Women's Open Hwt race was Pavlina Zizkova's from the gun. In an under-represented field, the Czech Republic rower, last year's bronze medallist, won in a time of 6:51.2. The Women's Open Lwt race also contained few surprises. Juliane Elander, who won silver in the first two Concept 2 Euro Opens, finally managed to get her hands on a gold, winning in 7:07.3, well ahead of Kirsten Kirk Jepsen and Norway's Lizzie Schjott in second and third place.
Two of the most outstanding performances of the day came in the Men's Junior 18 Lwt and Hwt events. In the Lwt category, Henrik Stephansen was just two-tenths of a second outside the world record of 6:15.2 he set at the British IRC last month. In the Hwt division, the US's Roman Shor won comfortably in 5:58.2. With both men aged 17, it'll be interesting to see what times they can do come the World IRC in February.
It was in the veteran categories, however, that the record-breaking performances emerged.
Holland's Mies Bernelot Moens absolutely demolished the Women's 60-64 Hwt record, rowing an
almighty 7:33.1, over 11 seconds quicker than the previous best. Perhaps even more impressive,
meanwhile, was Ingrid Petersen in the Women's 60-69 Lwt, who set a new world record of 7:48.6,
17.8 seconds quicker than the old record. By a narrower but no less impressive margin, Denis
Hastings set a new world record for the 55-59 Lwt class in 6:40.8.
From a British point of view, the championship was a successful one, with six gold, four silver and seven bronze medals being won. As well as well as Phil Turnham's in the Men's Open Hwt, Roger Prowse (60-69 Lwt), Tracey Axten (40-49 Hwt), Dan Staite (30-39 Lwt), Beth Jackson (30- 39 Hwt) and Geoffrey Knight (70-79 Hwt) all won golds.
Perhaps the performance of the day from a British perspective was Andrew Sangster's in the Men's 40-49 Hwt. In one of the most tightly contested races of the day, Andrew set a new Personal Best of 6:10.4 to win silver, just edging out former triple crown winner Antti Niskanen from Finland. Also involved in a titanic struggle was Bedford's Duncan Paterson, who took bronze in a time of 6:33.2 in a great 30-39 Lwt race.
