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Coxless Pairs, Men

Date9 – 16 August 2008
StatusOlympic
LocationShunyi Aolinpike Shuishang Gongyuan, Mapo, Shunyi
Participants29 from 14 countries

Picking a favorite for the men’s coxless pairs event at the 2008 Summer Olympics may not have been easy, but it was probably a safe bet to predict that the winner would come from the Anglophone world. Australia’s Drew Ginn and Duncan Free, the 2006 and 2007 World Champions, probably had a slight advantage, as Ginn was also one of the defending Olympic champions. Also in contention were New Zealand’s Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater, the 2005 World Champions and 2006 and 2007 runners-up, and South Africa’s Shaun Keeling and Ramon di Clemente, the 2008 winners of the Silver Goblets & Nickalls’ Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta. Di Clemente had, with Donnie Cech, also been the 2002 and 2005 World runner-up, the 2001 and 2003 bronze medalist, the 2004 Olympic bronze medalist, and the 2004, 2005, and 2007 winner of the Silver Goblets & Nickalls’ Challenge Cup. Great Britain had won the 2006 Silver Goblets & Nickalls’ Challenge Cup and a bronze medal at the 2007 World Championships, and sent Robin Bourne-Taylor and Tom Solesbury to the 2008 Games. Finally, Canada was the reigning Pan American champion and the 2006 World bronze medalist, and was represented in Beijing by Dave Calder and Scott Frandsen. The only exception to the recent English-speaking dominance of this event was Croatia, whose brothers Siniša and Nikša Skelin were the reigning Olympic silver medalists.

The Australians posted the fastest time in the opening round, but were only half a second ahead of New Zealand, another heat winner. Meanwhile, both the French duo of Erwan Peron and Laurent Cadot and the Italian pair of Giuseppe De Vita and Raffaello Leonardo bested the Canadians in their heat. With different lineups, Italy had been the 2005 World and 2007 European bronze medalists. Canada turned the tables in the semi-finals, however, by recording the fastest time of the round, while the Australians won their heat only 0.27 seconds slower. France, Croatia, and Italy were all eliminated in this round and joined Great Britain, who had failed to advance in the repêchage. The qualification of the American Winklevoss twins, Tyler and Cameron (who helped found ConnectU, the forerunner of Facebook), meant that only one non-English speaking crew, the Germans Tom Lehmann and Felix Drahotta, would compete in the medal round. The final, however, was somewhat anti-climactic, and Australia, Canada, and New Zealand finished in that order with room to breathe.

PosPairNOC
1Drew Ginn / Duncan FreeAUSGold
2Dave Calder / Scott FrandsenCANSilver
3Nathan Twaddle / George BridgewaterNZLBronze
4Tom Lehmann / Felix DrahottaGER
5Shaun Keeling / Ramon di ClementeRSA
6Tyler Winklevoss / Cameron WinklevossUSA
7Goran Jagar / Nikola StojićSRB
8Jakub Makovička / Václav Chalupa, Jr.CZE
9Erwan Perón / Laurent CadotFRA
10Morten Nielsen / Thomas LarsenDEN
11Dario Dentale / Raffaello Leonardo / Giuseppe De VitaITA
12Siniša Skelin / Nikša SkelinCRO
13Robin Bourne-Taylor / Tom SolesburyGBR
14Piotr Hojka / Jarosław GodekPOL

Round One

Date9 August 2008
FormatTop three in each heat advanced to semi-final; all others to repêchage.

Heat #1

Time16:10
PosLanePairNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
12Erwan Perón / Laurent CadotFRA6:46.571:37.81 (2)3:19.75 (2)5:03.49 (2)1:41.94 (3)1:43.74 (1)1:43.08 (1)Q
21Giuseppe De Vita / Raffaello LeonardoITA6:51.011:38.54 (4)3:20.31 (3)5:04.48 (3)1:41.77 (2)1:44.17 (2)1:46.53 (2)Q
33Dave Calder / Scott FrandsenCAN6:54.881:37.55 (1)3:18.75 (1)5:03.13 (1)1:41.20 (1)1:44.38 (3)1:51.75 (4)Q
45Piotr Hojka / Jarosław GodekPOL7:01.901:38.26 (3)3:23.31 (4)5:10.25 (4)1:45.05 (4)1:46.94 (4)1:51.65 (3)
54Tyler Winklevoss / Cameron WinklevossUSA7:13.641:41.58 (5)3:27.99 (5)5:15.21 (5)1:46.41 (5)1:47.22 (5)1:58.43 (5)

Heat #2

Time16:20
PosLanePairNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
12Drew Ginn / Duncan FreeAUS6:41.151:35.19 (2)3:14.68 (1)4:56.50 (1)1:39.49 (1)1:41.82 (1)1:44.65 (2)Q
21Shaun Keeling / Ramon di ClementeRSA6:45.261:34.95 (1)3:16.57 (2)5:00.58 (2)1:41.62 (2)1:44.01 (2)1:44.68 (3)Q
33Tom Lehmann / Felix DrahottaGER6:48.601:38.01 (3)3:20.99 (3)5:07.17 (3)1:42.98 (3)1:46.18 (4)1:41.43 (1)Q
44Robin Bourne-Taylor / Tom SolesburyGBR6:59.481:38.50 (4)3:22.06 (4)5:07.50 (4)1:43.56 (4)1:45.44 (3)1:51.98 (4)
55Morten Nielsen / Thomas LarsenDEN7:17.431:39.72 (5)3:25.56 (5)5:19.16 (5)1:45.84 (5)1:53.60 (5)1:58.27 (5)

Heat #3

Time16:30
PosLanePairNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
12Nathan Twaddle / George BridgewaterNZL6:41.651:37.96 (2)3:18.13 (1)4:57.93 (1)1:40.17 (1)1:39.80 (1)1:43.72 (1)Q
21Goran Jagar / Nikola StojićSRB6:46.711:37.72 (1)3:18.98 (2)5:00.74 (2)1:41.26 (2)1:41.76 (2)1:45.97 (2)Q
34Jakub Makovička / Václav Chalupa, Jr.CZE6:52.501:38.25 (3)3:19.81 (3)5:04.19 (3)1:41.56 (3)1:44.38 (3)1:48.31 (3)Q
43Siniša Skelin / Nikša SkelinCRO7:16.351:39.99 (4)3:25.82 (4)5:19.49 (4)1:45.83 (4)1:53.67 (4)1:56.86 (4)

Round One Repêchage

Date11 August 2008
FormatTop three to semi-finals A/B.

Heat #1

Time16:50
PosLanePairNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
11Tyler Winklevoss / Cameron WinklevossUSA6:36.871:36.86 (5)3:18.13 (3)4:58.27 (3)1:41.27 (1)1:40.14 (1)1:38.60 (1)Q
22Siniša Skelin / Nikša SkelinCRO6:38.301:35.06 (1)3:16.56 (1)4:57.71 (2)1:41.50 (2)1:41.15 (3)1:40.59 (2)Q
35Morten Nielsen / Thomas LarsenDEN6:38.331:35.38 (2)3:17.22 (2)4:57.46 (1)1:41.84 (3)1:40.24 (2)1:40.87 (3)Q
43Robin Bourne-Taylor / Tom SolesburyGBR6:41.431:35.71 (3)3:18.70 (5)5:00.25 (4)1:42.99 (5)1:41.55 (4)1:41.18 (4)
54Piotr Hojka / Jarosław GodekPOL6:44.191:36.05 (4)3:18.39 (4)5:00.54 (5)1:42.34 (4)1:42.15 (5)1:43.65 (5)

Semi-Finals A/B

Date13 August 2008
FormatTop three in each heat to A Final.

Heat #1

Time16:10
PosLanePairNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
16Dave Calder / Scott FrandsenCAN6:34.021:34.54 (1)3:12.39 (1)4:52.37 (1)1:37.85 (1)1:39.98 (4)1:41.65 (4)Q
24Nathan Twaddle / George BridgewaterNZL6:36.051:36.90 (4)3:18.12 (3)4:57.29 (3)1:41.22 (3)1:39.17 (1)1:38.76 (1)Q
35Shaun Keeling / Ramon di ClementeRSA6:37.181:37.14 (5)3:18.55 (4)4:57.99 (4)1:41.41 (4)1:39.44 (2)1:39.19 (2)Q
42Jakub Makovička / Václav Chalupa, Jr.CZE6:37.881:36.54 (2)3:17.09 (2)4:57.02 (2)1:40.55 (2)1:39.93 (3)1:40.86 (3)
53Erwan Perón / Laurent CadotFRA6:44.291:36.69 (3)3:18.82 (5)5:00.64 (5)1:42.13 (5)1:41.82 (5)1:43.65 (5)
61Siniša Skelin / Nikša SkelinCRO7:14.501:38.54 (6)3:21.32 (6)5:11.72 (6)1:42.78 (6)1:50.40 (6)2:02.78 (6)

Heat #2

Time16:20
PosLanePairNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
13Drew Ginn / Duncan FreeAUS6:34.291:34.15 (1)3:13.12 (1)4:52.94 (1)1:38.97 (1)1:39.82 (1)1:41.35 (4)Q
21Tyler Winklevoss / Cameron WinklevossUSA6:36.651:38.22 (5)3:20.56 (5)5:02.31 (5)1:42.34 (4)1:41.75 (4)1:34.34 (1)Q
35Tom Lehmann / Felix DrahottaGER6:37.261:36.05 (2)3:18.94 (4)5:00.63 (4)1:42.89 (5)1:41.69 (3)1:36.63 (2)Q
44Goran Jagar / Nikola StojićSRB6:38.961:36.30 (3)3:16.29 (2)4:58.55 (2)1:39.99 (2)1:42.26 (5)1:40.41 (3)
52Giuseppe De Vita / Raffaello LeonardoITA6:47.301:37.03 (4)3:18.70 (3)4:58.92 (3)1:41.67 (3)1:40.22 (2)1:48.38 (6)
66Morten Nielsen / Thomas LarsenDEN6:48.651:38.63 (6)3:22.55 (6)5:07.00 (6)1:43.92 (6)1:44.45 (6)1:41.65 (5)

Final Round

Date13 – 16 August 2008

Final A

Time16 August 2008 — 16:30
PosLanePairNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
14Drew Ginn / Duncan FreeAUS6:37.441:35.52 (2)3:16.02 (2)4:56.43 (1)1:40.50 (1)1:40.41 (1)1:41.01 (3)
23Dave Calder / Scott FrandsenCAN6:39.551:35.03 (1)3:15.80 (1)4:58.04 (2)1:40.77 (2)1:42.24 (3)1:41.51 (5)
32Nathan Twaddle / George BridgewaterNZL6:44.191:38.04 (3)3:21.71 (3)5:03.13 (3)1:43.67 (3)1:41.42 (2)1:41.06 (4)
46Tom Lehmann / Felix DrahottaGER6:47.401:39.58 (4)3:24.81 (5)5:09.71 (5)1:45.23 (5)1:44.90 (4)1:37.69 (1)
51Shaun Keeling / Ramon di ClementeRSA6:47.831:39.83 (5)3:23.71 (4)5:08.71 (4)1:43.88 (4)1:45.00 (5)1:39.12 (2)
65Tyler Winklevoss / Cameron WinklevossUSA7:05.581:42.30 (6)3:29.20 (6)5:17.83 (6)1:46.90 (6)1:48.63 (6)1:47.75 (6)

Final B

Time15 August 2008 — 17:20
PosLanePairNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
14Goran Jagar / Nikola StojićSRB6:49.121:39.74 (3)3:22.46 (1)5:06.36 (1)1:42.72 (1)1:43.90 (1)1:42.76 (2)
23Jakub Makovička / Václav Chalupa, Jr.CZE6:52.571:39.51 (2)3:23.21 (2)5:08.14 (2)1:43.70 (2)1:44.93 (2)1:44.43 (4)
35Erwan Perón / Laurent CadotFRA6:54.401:39.26 (1)3:24.84 (3)5:10.67 (3)1:45.58 (4)1:45.83 (3)1:43.73 (3)
46Morten Nielsen / Thomas LarsenDEN6:55.371:40.84 (4)3:26.48 (4)5:12.72 (4)1:45.64 (5)1:46.24 (4)1:42.65 (1)
52Dario Dentale / Raffaello LeonardoITA7:04.911:41.92 (6)3:27.17 (5)5:14.79 (5)1:45.25 (3)1:47.62 (5)1:50.12 (5)
61Siniša Skelin / Nikša SkelinCRO7:11.191:41.66 (5)3:27.88 (6)5:15.96 (6)1:46.22 (6)1:48.08 (6)1:55.23 (6)

Final C

Time13 August 2008 — 17:20
PosLanePairNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
12Robin Bourne-Taylor / Tom SolesburyGBR6:46.831:34.79 (1)3:15.93 (1)5:00.43 (1)1:41.14 (1)1:44.50 (1)1:46.40 (2)
21Piotr Hojka / Jarosław GodekPOL6:53.681:35.02 (2)3:19.67 (2)5:07.49 (2)1:44.65 (2)1:47.82 (2)1:46.19 (1)