Competition heats up on first day of Olympic Qualification Regatta

(BEIJING, June 15) -- The pressure of the Final Olympic Qualifications Regatta was felt even in early heats on June 15 in Poznan, Poland, as rowers began their last attempts at qualifying for the Summer Games. Top two or three finishes in the heats meant that rowers could skip the repechages and move directly to the semifinals.

Mindaugas Griskonis of Lithuania set the fastest qualifying time in the men's single, beating Croatia's Damir Martin in heat two. Ioannis Christou from Greece took the third spot in a tight sprint against rowers from Latvia and Poland and will join the top two in the semifinals.

Also moving to the semifinals in the men's single are the top three from heat one -- reigning junior champion Aleksandar Aleksandrov of Bulgaria, Maxim Zhemaldinov of Russia and Austria's Ralph Kreibich - and the top three from heat three - Andrei Jaemsae (Estonia), Ken Jurkowski (USA) and Andraz Krek (Slovenia).

In the men's pair, teams from Switzerland, Czech Republic and Portugal qualify for the semis by finishing in the top three of heat one; Italy, China and Spain move on from heat two; and Canada, Ireland and Hungary qualify from heat three.

Three Olympic spots are up for grabs in the lightweight men's double sculls. Spain and Slovakia move on to the semifinals after overcome early leaders from Slovenia in heat one. Jan and Ondrej Vetesnik from the Czech Republic, on the other hand, did not relinquish their early lead in heat two; they will be joined in the semis by the Coakley brothers of Ireland, who finished second. Storm Uru and Peter Taylor from New Zealand led start to finish in the third heat and move on to the semis with second place finishers Ahmet Yumrukaya and Cem Yilmaz from Turkey.