In Wednesday’s middle distance qualification race in Änggårdsbergen, Bridget Anderson was Australia’s only A-final qualifier, to finish in 9th place in the heat won by the 2007 JWOC champion, Jenny Lönnkvist, although Laurina Neumann was less than a minute off qualifying. In the other heats, the Australian women were close to qualifying, with Aislinn Prendergast just over a minute behind the final qualifier in her heat. In heat A, Norway’s JWOC2007 long distance champion Siri Ulvestad made amends for missing the 2007 middle distance final with a fast 23:57, and looks to be the one who could challenge Lönnkvist. In the same heat, the new sprint world champion Emma Klingenberg just missed out on qualifying, finishing in 22nd place, andNew Zealand’s Lizzie Ingham and Kate Morrison qualified in 8th and 19th places respectively.

In the men’s races, Oliver Mitchell was the closest to qualifying, at 10:20 in the heat won by Timo Sild, who had the fastest qualification time ahead of Sören Bobach (Denmark) and ToreBjørseth Berdal (Norway).

Men qualification race A

1. Sören Bobach, Denmark, 27.04
2. Erik Sagvolden, Norway, 28.10
3. Olli-Markus Taivainen, Finland, 28.19
20. Denis Danchenkov, Russia, 32.17
47. Geoff Stacey, Australia, 42.24
48. Oscar Phillips, Australia, 43.12

Men qualification race B

1. Timo Sild, Estonia, 25.55
2. Leo Laakkonen, Finland, 26.06
3. Matthias Kyburz, Switzerland, 26.33
20. Paul Lützkendorf, Germany, 31.29
36. Oliver Mitchell, Australia, 36.15
52. Leon Keely, Australia, 48.17

Men qualification race C

1.Tore Bjørseth Berdal, Norway, 27.50
2. Adam Chromy, Czech Republic, 27.57
3. Severin Howald, Switzerland, 28.17
20. Rafal Podzinski, Poland, 32.06
47. Lachlan Dow, Australia, 42.20
52. Nick Andrewartha, Australia, 49.59

Women qualification race A

1. Siri Ulvestad, Norway, 23.57
2. Venla Niemi, Finland, 24.19
3. Mariann Ulvestad, Norway, 25.16
8. Lizzie Ingham, New Zealand, 27.03
19. Kate Morrison, New Zealand, 30.29
20. Carla Guillen Escribá, Spain, 30.31
27. Krystal Neumann, Australia, 34.03
Belinda Lawford, Australia mp

Women qualification race B

1. Signe Klinting, Denmark, 26.53
2. Gabija Razaityte, Lithuania, 27.44
3. Judith Wyder, Switzerland ,27.53
20. Ona Rafols Perramon, Spain, 34.20
25. Aislinn Prendergast, Australia, 35.18
33. Rachel Effeney, Australia, 38.16

Women qualification race C

1. Jenny Lönnkvist, Sweden, 23.27
2. Ida Marie Næss Bjørgul, Norway, 24.58
3. Karine D’Harreville, France, 26.03
9. Bridget Anderson, Australia, 28.19
20. Julia Blomquist, Great Britain, 30.19
22. Laurina Neumann, Australia, 30.45