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Who to watch: Rowing World Cup I (Banyoles, ESP)
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Women’s Single Sculls (W1x)
Finishing third at the Olympics was not what Ekaterina Karsten-Khodotovitch of Belarus had in mind. The two-time Olympic gold medallist has made a career out of being a single sculler and at the first Rowing World Cup of the 2009 season, Karsten is kick-starting her next four-year cycle towards the 2012 Olympics. Karsten will be able to test herself against Frida Svensson of Sweden who always puts up a good fight.
Unknown to the international scene for her single sculling, Katherine Grainger of Great Britain is very well-known for her team boat prowess that has made her the most medalled female British rower. Grainger is going solo after proving herself as the fastest single sculler at recent British trials. Keep an eye out also for Nuria Dominguez of Spain. As Spain’s top woman sculler, Dominguez will have a lot to prove in front of her home crowd.
Men’s Single Sculls (M1x)
The men’s single never fails to impress and despite this being the first international race of the season a fine field is lining up in Banyoles. Tim Maeyens (BEL), Ondrej Synek (CZE), Alan Campbell (GBR), Olaf Tufte (NOR), Iztok Cop (SLO) and Lassi Karonen (SWE) are very likely to make up the A Final. Earlier this year they raced together (minus an injured Karonen) in an eight made up of the best single scullers in the world. Competing in the British Head of the River race, the “Great8” won the event against some of Britain’s top sweep rowers.
As individuals, all six are used to being in the thick of the leading bunch in sculling races. Maeyens and Campbell are known for their fast starts and grim determination. Synek has become more and more consistent and harder to beat in the last two years. Tufte is the Olympic champion but always starts the season off slowly. Cop has regularly raced in the single but is best known for his accomplishments in the double. And Karonen, who sometimes trains with Tufte, has pulled out excellent results throughout his six-year international career. It is likely to come down to the man that has the best race on the day. Watch out Banyoles!
Women’s Pair (W2-)
The field is small, the names are fresh and Great Britain, with two entries, look to be the country that will lead the way. In the British number one boat is Louisa Reeve who was selected for both the eight and pair at last year’s Olympic Games. Reeve’s current partner, Olivia Whitlam was in the pair with Reeve and together they finished sixth.
Part of the small Russian contingent at Banyoles, Mayya Zhuchkova and Alevtina Podvyazkina will be strong contenders in this event. Both have international experience at the under-23 level and Podvyazkina has also raced in senior international events. Italy and France will complete the line-up.
Men’s Pair (M2-)
Great Britain’s head men’s coach Juergen Grobler is moving his energy back to the men’s pair putting his top two rowers into this event. Peter Reed has shown his speed in the pair in recent British trials and he will partner with Andy Triggs Hodge who has been trialling, very successfully, in the single. Both of these rowers are from the Beijing Olympic Champion four and both have stated their intention to continue on to the 2012 London Olympics.
Now that Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic is firmly entrenched in the single, Vaclav Chalupa, 41, has settled for the pair with Jakub Makovicka. The duo raced to an eighth-place finish at the Olympics in Beijing after earning a late qualification spot. Also at Beijing were Shaun Keeling and Ramon Di Clemente of South Africa who hold the lone mantel for their country at Banyoles. Nikola Stojic and Goran Jagar of Serbia continue their pair path together and, although inconsistent, when they do well, they are medal contenders.
Women’s Double Sculls (W2x)
Annie Vernon and Anna Bebington of Great Britain both medalled at the Beijing Olympics, but in different boats. Vernon earned silver in the quad while Bebington was part of the extremely close finish at Beijing in the women’s double. Together they are likely to be the boat to beat. But watch out for Laura Schiavone and Elisabetta Sancassani of Italy. The duo have been plugging away together since 2005 and competed last year at Beijing. Schiavone and Sancassani are part of a large Italian team competing at Banyoles and it is highly likely that they will have benefited from Italy’s recent coaching restructure.
Men’s Double Sculls (M2x)
France is well-represented in this event. Three boats are entered and the names are nothing to be sniffed at. Former world champions Adrien Hardy and Jean-Baptiste Macquet lead the bunch. Hardy won gold at the 2004 Olympics and, with new partner Macquet they took gold at the 2006 World Rowing Championships. But Hardy and Macquet will be up against Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham of Great Britain. While Hardy and Macquet have been inconsistent over the last couple of years, Wells and Rowbotham look to be going from strength to strength.
The British duo won bronze last year at Beijing and remain together as their country’s top double.
Keep an eye out also for Italy and Switzerland. Italian rowing stalwart Simone Raineri is back in the double and Switzerland’s top single sculler Andre Vonarburg has teamed up with Florian Stofer.
Men’s Four (M4-)
There is no doubting Great Britain’s love of this boat. But this year the top two sweep rowers are in the pair leaving a new four to prove themselves. They are Alex Partridge, Richard Egington, Alex Gregory and Matthew Langridge and there is no doubting their experience.
This leaves the French to take on Britain. France won bronze in the four at the Beijing Olympics and have two crews competing at Banyoles made up of a mixture of the Olympic four and France’s top pair. If France’s coach is using this Rowing World Cup as a selection race, both crews will be racing hard and will definitely be a threat to the British.
Keep an eye out also for Croatia who will be willing to give the British a run for their money, but they may find themselves evenly matched by the Czech Republic.
Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x)
Germany’s small contingent includes lightweight Marie-Louise Draeger. There is no denying her rowing pedigree. She has medals as an under-23 rower and has been rowing at the senior level since 2001 when she was 20 years old. Draeger just missed out on a medal in this event at Beijing and she has teamed up with Anja Noske, 22, to get the ball rolling into the next Olympic cycle. Going up against the Germans will be Andrea Dennis and Sophie Hosking of Great Britain. Dennis has been working her way up the British lightweight ranks with international competition that goes back to 2007.
Germany and Great Britain will be the crews to beat. But keep an eye out for Canada’s Lindsay Jennerich and Sheryl Preston. Jennerich is a seasoned racer and will be giving it her best. The Danes are there as well and with two boats entered, their crews will be out to prove their worth.
Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x)
This event could be viewed as an open slate with new combinations and a mix of younger athletes coming up through the ranks. But holding steady is Italy’s combination of Elia Luini and Marcello Miani. Luini and Miani have been rowing in the double together since 2006 and finished in the agonising fourth place at Beijing. Along with the Italians, Canada have kept their Olympic boat intact. Douglas Vandor and Cameron Sylvester are back for their country and will be hoping to move on the Italians to test their progress.
Watch out for the Greeks. They have medalled at the last two Olympics and have chosen this boat as their key to success. For this first Rowing World Cup of 2009, Greece has teamed up Ilias Pappas and Dimitrios Mougios. Mougios was half of the silver medal Olympic boat while Pappas medalled last year at the World Rowing Championships in the lightweight men’s single. There is no doubting the Danish strength in lightweight rowing and at Banyoles they have two entries, showing the continued development of their younger squad. Take note especially of Steffen Jensen and Sophus Johannesen.
Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-)
Denmark may have won last year’s Olympics but this year they have retained just one athlete from the 2008 line-up. Morten Joergensen returns to stroke the boat. France, who finished fourth in Beijing, have kept Franck Solforosi and Guillaume Raineau in the boat. At Banyoles, France will reveal a squad that contains huge depth amongst the lightweight rowers and with that in mind they must surely be counting on fine results from this four.
Is Germany setting up a new model for selecting boats? Brothers Matthias and Jost Schoemann-Finck make up the bow pair and twins Jochen and Martin Kuehner are in the stroke pair of their four. Eyes will definitely be on how this combination operates.
The two entries that have been made by Italy are both full of top names in lightweight rowing. There is no doubt that both of these boats will be chasing for the medals.
Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x)
The most experienced boat in this event is Great Britain. Despite the crew of Katie Greves, Beth Rodford, Anna Bebington and Annie Vernon doubling up in two events (they are also racing in the double), it is unlikely that their competition from Italy and the Netherlands will be strong enough to beat the Brits. This will be an event to gain racing experience for these three crews.
Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x)
It is hard to look past Poland. World and Olympic champions, Konrad Wasielewski, Marek Kolbowicz, Michal Jelinski and Adam Korol have made it through the post-Olympic retirement period intact and start their mission towards this year’s World Rowing Championships in their own country. And thus it begs the question, does this crew plan to go through to the 2012 Olympics? Kolbowicz, at 37, is the oldest member of the crew and shows no signs of slowing down.
Facing Poland will be new line-ups from Canada, Great Britain and Russia. It will take a mighty effort for Poland to be beaten.
Women’s Eight (W8+)
Poland and Great Britain will go head to head in this two boat race and odds are that the British will prevail. They have retained four rowers plus coxswain Caroline O’Connor, from their fifth-placed 2008 Olympic boat. The Poles are made up predominantly of their entry from last year’s European Championships where they finished fifth.
Men’s Eight (M8+)
There’s a Mornati, a Leonardo, a De Vita and several other top names inside Italy’s eight. This bodes well for the boys in azure blue. The Netherlands have also tucked into their boat a few of their big boys. The country’s top single sculler Sjoerd Hamburger is there in the middle of the eight, along with four members of their fourth-placed Olympic eight. With Olympic coxswain Peter Wiersum leading the calls, the Dutch will surely give Italy a run for their money.
Great Britain has put together a group of young up-and-comers. Some of them raced at last year’s European Championships while six seat Tom Solesbury was in the pair at the Beijing Olympics.
There was no denying Poland’s absolute joy when they qualified a spot for the eight at last year’s Olympic Games. The Polish are continuing to support their eight as they build on their fifth-place Olympic finish.
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