2004 World Under 23 Regatta— Poznan Poland
This was a large and highly successful Australian team. The ream returned home with 1 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals from 12 crews and scullers.
It was an excellent return on the investment of the sport.
A limited number of images from crew members can be found on the Australian Rowing Images website.
Bronze medal winning Quad Scull
From the left: Nicholas Hudson, Sam Renton, Patrick Stormon, Nick Phelps
Silver medal winning Women's Four
Results—Men
Men's Single Scull
FA: 1st LAT 7:24.00 (Kristaps Bokums), 2nd GBR 7:24.98 (Colin Smith), 3rd NED 7:25.36 (Sjoerd Hamburger), 4th AUS 7:28.82, 5th LTU 7:37.12, 6th GER 7:42.95
FB: 1st BEL, 2nd EST, 3rd SLO, 4th RUS, 5th SCG, 6th DEN
FC: 1st NOR, 2nd SVK, 3rd HKG, 4th FRA, 5th SWE, 6th ITA
FD: 1st BUL, 2nd HUN, 3rd MLD, 4th PER, 5th CYP, 6th POR
The British and Australian scullers led early by the half way mark the Dutch sculler joined the party with nothing much between these three scullers. With 700 metres to go, the eventual winner from Latvia joined the fight and nothing separated these four scullers. In a photo finish Bokums from Latvia won from Smith of Great Britain with the Dutch and Australian scullers not far behind.
Men's Double Scull
FA: 1st GER 7:10.07, 2nd BLR 7:13.85, 3rd RUS 7:17.36, 4th EST 7:22.25, 5th LAT 7:26.69, 6th UKR 7:28.14
FB: 1st POL 6:57.58, 2nd GRE 6:59.61, 3rd LTU 7:00.28, 4th AUS 7:00.97, 5th POR 7:01.66, 6th SLO 7:10.13
FC: 1st CZE, 2nd ARG, 3rd MLD
The times indicate that both the A and B finals were hotly contested. Australia finished fourth in the semi-final but there was a material gap to third place.
Men's Quad Scull
FA: 1st GER 6:25.64 (Steffen Blaettermann, Simon Gawlik, Karsten Brodowski and Stefan Massanz), 2nd POL 6:26.64, 3rd
AUS 6:29.52, 4th UKR 6:33.03, 5th LAT 6:35.88, 6th ITA 6:39.71
FB: 1st RUS, 2nd FRA, 3rd ROM, 4th LTU, 5th GBR
The Germans led from start to finish. The Australians had a fight with the Polish crew but the Poles broke away from them in the last 500 metres.
Men's Coxless Four
FA: 1st CRO 6:17.55 (Frane Niseteo, Hrvoje, Mario Vekic, Petar Lovic), 2nd AUS 6:18.06, 3rd ESP 6:20.31, 4th ROM 6:20.64, 5th GER 6:22.74, 6th GBR 6:30.84
FB: 1st ITA, 2nd RUS, 3rd NED, 4th POL, 5th UKR
This was a tight race which came down to a sprint to the line which was won by Croatia by about 0.51 second.
Men's Coxed Four
FA: 1st AUS 6:33.00, 2nd GBR 6:33.19, 3rd GER 6:33.83, 4th ROM 6:37.11, 5th RUS 6:42.28, 6th POL 6:42.35
Very tight racing throughout which ended up in a sprint to the line. In a photo finish between the first three crews, Australia prevailed.
Men's Lightweight Double Scull
FA: 1st HUN 7:10.78, 2nd POR 7:12.41, 3rd CAN 7:16.22, 4th POL 7:17.89, 5th SLO 7:20.50, 6th HKG 7:31.31
FB: 1st GRE, 2nd FRA, 3rd AUT, 4th GBR, 5th ESP, 6th JPN
FC: 1st BEL, 2nd FIN, 3rd AUS, 4th GER, 5th ITA, 6th CZE
Men's Lightweight Four
FA: 1st GER 6:39.61, 2nd ITA 6:43.82, 3rd CAN 6:44,24, 4th DEN 6:47.84, 5th FRA 6:53.33, 6th NED 6:59.97
FB: 1st RUS, 2nd CZE, 3rd IRL, 4th AUS, 5th AUT, 6th GRE
FC: 1st MLD, 2nd SUI
Australian Team
Men's Single Scull - Fourth
Mitchell Punch (ACT)
Coach: Gordon Marcks (ACT)
Men's Double Scull - Tenth
Bow: Gareth Salkield (QLD)
Str: Ross Macleod-Carey (QLD)
Cch: Bill Caldwell (QLD)
Men's Quadruple Scull - Bronze
Bow: Nick Phelps (VIC)
2: Sam Renton (QLD)
3: Pat Stormon (NSW)
Str: Nick Hudson (NSW)
Cch: John Bowes (NSW)
Men's Coxless Four - Silver
Bow: Peter Winkle (QLD)
2: Sebastian Harper (QLD)
3: Craig Dorrstein (QLD)
Str: David Galley (QLD)
Cch: Joe Rodrigues (QLD)
Men's Coxed Four - Gold
Bow: Ian Allsop (NSW)
2: Fergus Pragnall (NSW)
3: Michael Valli (NSW)
Str: Matt Ryan (NSW)
Cox: Robert Williams (NSW)
Cch: Andrew Randell (NSW)
Men's Lightweight Double Scull - Fifteenth
Bow: Howard Sharpe (VIC)
Str: Chris Ritchie (ACT)
Cch: Gordon Marcks (ACT)
Men's Lightweight Coxless Four - Tenth
Bow: Alistair Carter (VIC)
2: Josh Fahey (VIC)
3: John Polinelli (WA)
Str: Todd Skipworth (WA)
Cch: John Cumper (VIC)
Women's Single Scull - Silver
Sally Kehoe (QLD)
Coach: Phil Bourgoinon (QLD)
Women's Double Scull - Bronze
Bow: Susanne Brown (QLD)
Str: Tara Kelly (QLD)
Cch: Peter Howard (QLD)
Women's Coxless Pair - Fifth
Bow: Kate Hutchinson (VIC)
Str: Sarah Heard (VIC)
Cch: John Acton (VIC)
Women's Coxless Four - Silver
Bow: Emma Wawn (VIC)
2: Sarah Cook (ACT)
3: Tara Huntly (ACT)
Str: Felicity Willis (WA)
Cch: Liz Harley (ACT)
Women's Lightweight Single Scull - Bronze
Mollie Hill (TAS)
Cchs: Adrian David (SA) (Australia) & John Acton (VIC) (Europe)
Manager: Michael Smith (NSW)
Doctor: Dr Ian Beltz (TAS)
Australian on Jury: Brian Nash (WA)
Results—Women
Women's Single Scull
FA: 1st GER 8:40.34 (Magdalena Schmude), 2nd AUS 8:46.12, 3rd SVK 8:46.25 (Iva Obradovic), 4th POL 8:49.54 (Julia Michalska), 5th HUN 8:59.54 (Lidia Veroci), 6th SLO 9:02.30 (Majda Jerman)
FB: 1st GBR, 2nd FRA, 3rd CRO, 4th LAT, 5th AUT, 6th GRE
FC: 1st ESP, 2nd DEN, 3rd RUS
The highlight in the final was the tight race between the Australian and Slovakian scullers with only 0.14 second separating them at the finish.
Women's Double Scull
FA: 1st CZE 8:00.67 (Libuse Bruncvikova Jr and Irene Neffeova), 2nd GER 8:03.10 (Anne-Katrin Kochan and Annekatrin Thiele), 3rd AUS 8:03.65, 4th LAT 8:04.31, 5th NOR 8:06.28, 6th HUN 8:23.57
FB: 1st ROM, 2nd POL, 3rd SUI, 4th RUS, 5th LTU, 6th AUT
FC: 1st ITA
The highlight of the final was the great battle between the medallists and specifically the German and Australian doubles. Australia led the field through the first 500m before the Czecks and Germans came back on level terms at the half way mark. The Czechs had a blistering third 500m with Germany also gained a slight lead in the third 500m over the Australians with Australia fighting back in the final quarter. A superb race.
Women's Pair
FA: 1st GER 8:23.15 (Johanna Roenfeldt and Christina Hennings), 2nd ROM 8:31.55 (Alina Poncisei and Ana Maria Ogulturk), 3rd GBR 8:31.80 (Jo Cook and Annabel Vernon), 4th ITA 8:32.67 (Simona Roccarina and Samanta Molina), 5th AUS 8:32.70, 6th POL (Katarzyna Pawlowska and Paulina Stupkiewicz) 9:04.70
FB: 1st LAT, 2nd CZE
The margin between 2nd and 5th was just over a second showing the tightness of the race.
Women's Four
FA: 1st GBR 7:21.89, 2nd AUS 7:25.02, 3rd CAN 7:26.22, 4th UKR 7:33.38, 5th BLR 7:36.89, 6th FRA 7:43.56
FB: 1st ROM, 2nd RUS, 3rd GER, 4th POL, 5th ITA
The British crew lead from the start and had clear water by the half way mark. The interest in this race was in the battle for the silver medal between Australia and Canada. These crews were level at 1500 metre mark and it took a photo finish to separate them at the end of the race.
Women's Lightweight Single Scull
FA: 1st CZE 8:40.91 (Daniela Nachazelova), 2nd RUS 8:44.73 (Ksenia Potapova), 3rd AUS 8:50.64, 4th TUN 8:54.36, 5th ITA 9:03.92, 6th ESP 9:14.91
FB: 1st GRE, 2nd DEN, 3rd BLR, 4th NED, 5th GER, 6th LTU
FC: 1st MEX, 2nd HUN, 3rd MLD, 4th SUI, 5th SLO
FD: 1st ALB, 2nd HKG
As usual, this was a deep and competitive field.