Nine Boats in A finals in Munich

Nine Boats in A finals in Munich
 
New Zealand is in good shape for the climax of the Munich World Cup regatta this evening with nine crews lining up for A finals - including two in one event.
 
In last night's semi-final and repechage races, the Kiwi team put two women's double sculling boats in the A final (Reymer and Paterson and a second crew of Genevieve Armstrong and Zoe Stevenson) while Storm Uru and Peter Taylor emerged as possible favourites for Munich gold after a second straight win in the semi to take one of the favoured middle lanes in the final of the men's lightweight double scull. Alongside them in the other favoured lane will be the British Olympic and world champions, who they defeated comprehensively in the heats.
 
Lightweight women Louise Ayling and Julie Edward won their repechage to secure a place in the main final while single sculler Emma Twigg took second in her semi-final behind Azerbaijan’s Nataliya Mustafayeva to also go to tonight's main event.
 
Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan are gradually returning to the form that took them to two world championship titles and start their first A final of 2012. They finished third in the semi-final and were much closer to the pace of the race winning crew from France of Julien Bahain and Cederic Berrest - definite medal contenders in London. The start still seems to be their Achilles heel though, with the Kiwis having to work hard to come back into the race from fifth place at the first 500 metre mark.
 
The potential of the women's heavyweight sculling group was clear for all to see with New Zealand's two reserves Genevieve Armstrong and Zoe Stevenson chasing home selected women's double scull Anna Reymer and Fi Paterson to make it two Kiwi boats in the A final. Armstrong and Stevenson rowed in the women's quad in Lucerne where it raced in the A final but with that boat now back to full strength, the two were given the chance to race in Munich in the double. An A final start for the two in their first World Cup regatta together is an excellent result.
 
For the second race in succession, the Men's Quad and the Men's Four have been forced into the B finals, both having to cope with late changes in the boat due to injury and illness.
 
Elsewhere in the regatta, the big guns in the men's four - Great Britain and Australia - once again went head-to-head, but this time in a gripping semi-final. The Aussies showed their mid-race pace is a major force to be reckoned with, even by the Brits, who now hold the world best time in coxless fours. It was enough to get the Aussies home in front and set up a huge A final.
 
Mahé Drysdale also took his first steps back into training yesterday after his cycling accident on Thursday, the heavily bandaged five time world champion enjoying a brief paddle out in his boat before going back to the grandstand to lead the cheers for his Kiwi team mates.  
 
ENDS

© Scoop Media