2004 World IRC Report
The day started in record-breaking fashion. Joan Van Blom romped under her own 50-59 Lightweight record by an impressive 4.6 seconds, winning in 7:25.1, streets ahead of the rest of the field. Britain's Sue Little was narrowly edged out of the medal places, finishing fourth in a time of 7:48.0. The Women's 60-69 Lwt race also saw another world record as Luanne Mills won a very tight race in 8:05.4, a second ahead of Denmark's Lis Bay; Rosemary Armstrong won Britain's first bronze of the day with 8:20.9. A second followed shortly afterwards when Bernadette Frain came home in 9:11.0 in the 70-79 Hwt event. Yet another world best was set in the 60-69 Hwt race, as the US's Barbara Pike narrowly edged out her fellow countrywoman Sara Sargent with a 7:47.1. The first race of the day also saw the end of Anna Bailey's unbeaten streak, which stretched back to the 2000 World IRC. Carie Graves, rowing an extremely muscular stroke, hung on Anna's shoulder all the way before finally coming through her with 400 metres left. Graves won in 7:10.9 with Anna second in 7:17.9.
In the last couple of years Britain's done very well in the veteran men's events, and this year proved to be no exception. Denis Melody rowed an excellent race to take the Men's 80-89 Lwt race in 8:54.4. He was pushed all the way by the US's Stephen Richardson but dug in to outsprint Richardson, who took the silver in 8:59.0. For the first time, John Hodgson faced some competition in the 90-99 Lwt event. With team captain Sir Steven Redgrave urging him, John came home in 9:49.4, ahead of George Braceland who rowed an 11:01.9. The day's third world record also went in this race as Paul Hendershott roared home to win the Men's 60-69 Hwt race in 6:23.7.
The 70-79 Hwt race saw another British gold as Nottingham's Bill Payne easily held off the rest of the field with a smooth 7:16.2, setting a new British record in the process. Bert Leah, a perennial medallist in Boston, added a bronze to his medal cabinet, rowing 7:38.4 in a 70-79 Lwt race won by the US's Dean Smith in 7:25.3.
The Men's 50-59 Hwt race saw a collection of big hard men ranged against each other in a wide open race. The pre-race favourite was the Norwegian giant Tore Foss who set off at a hard pace. With 300 metres gone, Foss paused for a second and took one hand off the handle, slowing right down for a number of strokes. Although he swiftly restarted, he was never back in the race, leaving the field wide open. With Foss gone, Dick Cashin seized the race by the scruff of the neck and made it his own, winning in 6:12.3. The British trio of Tom Hinsby, Martyn Low and Roger Utley finished 8th, 10th and 12th, a handful of seconds outside the medals.
Tracy Axten added the Women's 40-49 Hwt world title to the European and British ones she'd won earlier in the season, winning easily in 6:58.2, a season's best. She was joined by the flying Finn Anti Niskannen, another triple crown winner, who took the Men's 40-49 Hwt in 6:03.0. Unlike Tracy, however, he was pushed hard all the way by Brian Burke of the United States. Burke took an early lead in the race before Niskanen hit the front at the halfway stage. With 100 metres to go, Burke recaught up with Niskanen, before the Finn's final surge saw him clear by nine-tenths of a second. Another great race was in the Men's 40-49 Lwt where reigning champion and world record holder Michael Caviston was remorselessly rowed down by Robert Meenk, who won in 6:22.8.
There was almost a British clean sweep of the Men's 30-39 events, with five of the six medals heading back over the Atlantic. In the 30-39 Lwt race, Richard Wilder overtook Canadian team member Gavin Hassert at the halfway stage of the race and never looked back, winning in 6:17.1. Gordon Aitken, who rowed heavyweight at the British IRC, took advantage of dropping down to lightweight by taking a well-deserved bronze in a tough race.
In the heavyweight edition, Graham Benton won the major title he deserves; hitting an incredible 1:07 stroke as part of his start, he thundered home in 5:51.4. Behind him, old rivals Tony Larkman and Nik Fleming battled it out for second and third place. In an absorbing contest, Tony came from behind to pip Nik at the last in a time of 5:57.9, nine-tenths ahead of Nik.
Britain's final gold medal of the day also came in the 30-39 category, this time in the Women's 30-39 Lwt race. Melanie Moore put in an incredibly gutsy performance to take the title in 7:20.1. Although she led all the way, she was pushed extremely hard in the final stages by Jennifer Sacheck on the machine next to her. With a couple of hundred metres to go, it was clear that Melanie was all rowed out, but she somehow found the determination to dig deep and cling on to the lead, Sacheck finishing less than a second behind her with 7:21.0.
The Women's Open Lwt race was dominated from the start by Germany's Nina Gassler. Gassler rowed a world class time of 7:03.3 to win by over ten seconds. Behind her, Italy's Sarah Baran left herself too much to do to catch Elizabeth Urbach from Canada, Urbach winning silver in 7:13.7 while Baran's bronze was in 7:19.0.
Yet another world record fell in the Men's Open Lwt race. The legendary Eskild Ebbesen returned to Boston to try and win back the title he's won twice before. Lined up against him were the American's Steve Warner, Paul Teti and Gabe Winkler, who finished first, second and third respectively last year. Warner and Winkler also defeated Ebbesen the last time they race against each other at the 2002 British IRC. British interest in the race came in the form of Tom Kay, who finished fourth behind those three in Birmingham.
The start saw Ebbesen fly off at his usual rate of knots, hitting 1:13 as his lowest stroke, an incredible amount of power for a guy weighing 75 kgs. None of the Americans were capable of matching that power, and after 350 metres, he had a 15 metre advantage. At their race in Birmingham, both Warner and Winkler negative splitted, rowing quicker and quicker over the course of the 2,000m. The question was whether they'd be able to do the same again; the race commentator noted the old saying that gaining a second at the start can cost you three seconds at the finish. At the halfway stage, Winkler started to cut the gap, now 14 metres back with Teti just behind him, then Warner then Kay. Gradually Winkler started to reel the Dane in, at 1,200m he was 11m back and ever slowly inching forward. Coming into the last 500m Winkler was charging down on 1:31. With 400 left he was just four metres adrift, seconds later three metres. With 250m to go he was just two metres back. Surely he was going to row through Ebbesen for the second time. It was at that point that Ebbesen decided he'd had enough. Utilising that immense power of his, he made his erg shake under the strain. Foot to the floor, he roared past the line, setting a new 30-39 Lwt record of 6:06.9. Behind him Winkler took silver in 6:08.0 and Warner the bronze in 6:09.3.
Before the Men's Open Hwt, the talk was all about whether we'd see a new fastest ever time. The giant Belarusian Pavel Shurmei, described by one (male) member of the British team as a "glorious specimen of a man", was rumoured to fancy beating Matthias Siejkowski's time of 5:37.0, while the American camp were talking up the chances of Jamie Schroeder.
The hall was absolutely packed for the race. Hundreds of Americans were rooting for the homeboy Schroeder, ranged against them were most of the British team who supported their fellow European. Just before the race started, Pavel showed us the back of his hand. Where it was stamped OK by race registration, he'd erased the top of the O to make it UK. Come on Pavel.
At the start it was Schroeder who launched into the lead, hitting 1:16s. Where Shurmei was more circumspect, settling very quickly in 1:25, Schroeder really bombed along. Maybe he was going to shatter the record. After just 300 metres he was a full 19 metres up. Taking a leaf out of Ebbesen's book, he was clearly determined to lead from the front. At this point it's worth remembering that Schroeder has never lost a race before; Pavel, meanwhile, has been in a couple of bust-ups, losing to Siejkowski by three-tenths at the 2001 World IRC.
Just like the lightweight race, Shurmei started to creep back at Schroeder. By 800m the lead was cut to 13 metres, and at the midpoint he was 11 down. The new race system shows you exactly who's behind you and how far they are. Shurmei was now breathing down Schroeder's neck and the American knew it; every 100 metres he was gaining a metre on his rival. With 300 to go, Shurmei came though him, really pounding away now and dropping to 1:22. As soon as they were level, Schroeder's splits went out, and he ended up coming home in 1:40s. Shurmei carried on bashing away and burst through the line to win in 5:39.5, only the third man in history to go under 5:40. His immediate response? To apologise for not breaking the world record. Having just won one of the all-time great races, everybody in the arena could easily forgive him for that.
