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Who to Watch at the Rowing World Cup in Lucerne

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07/07/2010 14:53 CET

Who are the crews to look out for at the third and final stage of the 2010 Rowing World Cup? Lucerne, Switzerland, is making final preparations to host the regatta on the Rotsee from 9 to 11 July. Great Britain is leading the overall points table for the Rowing World Cup so far, with Germany in second position overall and China in third. What is the final day of racing on Sunday 11 July holding in store?
Women’s Pair (W2-)
Rebecca Scown and Juliette Haigh of New Zealand burst onto the scene last month at Rowing World Cup II. Not only did they win, but they absolutely dominated. It will be hard to look past this pair. Watch out though for the two American entries. Coach Tom Terhaar has split up his World Champion pair into two separate boats with Erin Cafaro now teamed with Amanda Polk and Susan Francia joining Meghan Musnicki.
Winners in Bled, the Canadians are back. How will Krista Guloien and Ahsley Brzozowicz fare against the New Zealanders?
The Chinese twins Meng and Tong Li will be racing at their third World Cup of the season. The Lis come to Lucerne with a silver and bronze medal already and the proven ability to have a strong sprint finish.
At last month’s World Cup the Germans, Kerstin Hartmann and Marlene Sinnig, did not row to their potential, finishing fourth. They will be aiming for better results in Lucerne.
Men’s Pair (M2-)
Two crews lead this event and the showdown between them will continue in Lucerne. Hamish Bond and Eric Murray of New Zealand and Great Britain’s Peter Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge have raced against each other at both World Cups this season with Bond and Murray retaining the upper edge both times. But at the last Rowing World Cup, Reed and Hodge had closed the gap on the New Zealanders. Will the British finally overtake at this regatta and break the Kiwis’ winning streak?
Chasing the leading two crews with vigour will be the Greeks, Nikolaos and Apostolos Gkountoulas. The Gkountoulas twins were third at the World Rowing Championships in 2009 and they opened this season by racing to bronze at the first stage of the Rowing World Cup.
It will not be easy for the rest of the field to push into this leading bunch but keep an eye out for Italy’s experienced Niccolo Mornati and Lorenzo Carboncini as well as Serbia's Marko Marjanovic and Nikola Stojic who took a bronze medal in Munich.
Women’s Double Sculls (W2x)
Anna Watkins and Katherine Grainger of Great Britain come to Lucerne as the crew to beat. The duo has not lost a race this season and they wear the World Cup leaders’ jersey. Like at the previous World Cups, Watkins and Grainger will double up, racing in the women’s quadruple sculls event as well.
Closing the gap on the British in Munich, Jitka and Lenka Antosova will be putting the pressure on Watkins and Grainger. When the Antosova sisters race well they are a powerful combination.
But the biggest threat may come from Annekatrin Thiele and Stephanie Schiller of Germany. After Thiele finished third last month in Munich, Schiller has been pulled in to row with Thiele. Schiller stroked....................
the women’s quad to gold at Rowing World Cup II and she will no doubt strengthen the German combination. Watch out too for the new Australian double. Two of their top single scullers Kim Crow and Sally Kehoe join together after racing last month in the A-final of the women’s single.
Men’s Double Sculls (M2x)
All eyes will be on the 2009 World Champions, Eric Knittel and Stephan Krueger of Germany. This is the first time they will race together internationally this season as Knittel was recovering from injury. Current World Cup leaders Matthew Wells and Marcus Bateman of Great Britain will be impatient to see the Germans’ form.
Wells and Bateman have been undefeated this season but rankings may change as the standard steps up in Lucerne. France’s Cedric Berrest and Julien Bahain are dangerous when they put their mind to it and the duo’s second-place finish last month in Munich was not far behind Wells and Bateman.
Also very much on the pace are Glenn Ochal and Warren Anderson of the United States. Anderson is America’s top single sculler but he’s decided racing the double gives more opportunities. Estonia and the Swiss add to the talent pool that will be fighting for a spot on the podium.
Men’s Four (M4-)
This event has predominantly been the domain of Great Britain over the last couple of years, but they were beaten at Rowing World Cup II last month, opening the doors to further attacks.
The United States, who finished ahead of Great Britain, are back in Lucerne. Giuseppe Lanzone, Brett Newlin, Henrik Rummel and Josh Inman have a mixture of Olympic and World Championship experience between them.
The British will also have Australia, the Czech Republic and New Zealand breathing down their neck. All of these countries made the A-final in Munich and both Australia and New Zealand have now had an extra three weeks to truly acclimatise to being in the European summer. Ever since the Czech Republic finished fourth at last year’s World Rowing Championships, they have been building up and it seems it will only be a matter of time before they start taking medals.
Keep an eye out for the Canadians. This is a new line-up after two of the team finished third in Bled. Wilkinson and Berkhout are joined by 2008 Olympic medallists, Dave Calder and Kevin Light, who both took a break after Beijing.
Women’s Lightweight Double Sculls (LW2x)
Can Great Britain do two in a row? Hester Goodsell and Sophie Hosking won in Munich last month and won handily. They will again meet China’s Jing Liu and Wenyi Huang and Anja Noske and Daniela Reimer of Germany who chased them in Munich.
Look out for the Canadians. This new combination of Katya Herman and Tracy Cameron may be at their first international competition together but it is a match-up to watch. Olympic bronze medallist Cameron is back after a post-Olympic break and 37–year-old Herman made her first Canadian team last year.
The new Australian combination of Hannah Every-Hall and Alice McNamara rowed in the open double at Munich but at this regatta they will go lightweight in their chosen event. Every-Hall comes back to rowing after retiring eight years ago to start a family. The duo will be fast contenders in this event. The Greek bronze medallists in Bled will again be aiming for a medal.
Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls (LM2x)
Winners from the first stage of the Rowing World Cup in Bled are back: Douglas Vandor and Cameron Sylvester from Canada were not in Munich and will now be facing the top lightweight double crews who raced at the second stage of the Rowing World Cup, Great Britain and New Zealand.
A close duel between Great Britain and New Zealand in Munich ended in 2008 Olympic Champions Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter (GBR) finishing ahead. 2009 World Champions from New Zealand, Storm Uru and Peter Taylor, will want revenge. Germany’s Linus Lichtschlag and Lars Hartig hung on to these two leading boats in Munich, although they could not keep up in the final sprint. But the young Germans row without fear and will be back to challenge again.
The United States crew are coming along nicely. Jonathan Winter and Brian De Regt have known each other since rowing together at the under-23 level and in Munich they finished a credible fourth, after finishing seventh in Bled. Over time they will only improve.
Men’s Lightweight Four (LM4-)
Denmark and Great Britain seem to be taking turns at winning this season. They go to Lucerne with one win each and as both crews only accept first as success, this will be an aggressive final. But the field has swelled with 26 crews lining up including all of the best lightweight rowing nations.
Fast improving are Serbia and the Czech Republic. Serbia have been together since finishing third at the 2009 European Championships and their fourth place in Munich last month shows the progress that they have been making. The Czechs are also in their second year together with a bronze from Munich indicating that they could be knocking on the door of the British- Danish lead.
Watch out too for Italy who regularly put together a fast lightweight four. Their crew for Lucerne finished with bronze at Rowing World Cup I and they will be aiming to do better in this competitive environment.
Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x)
Last month in Munich, Germany overhauled the winners of the first Rowing World Cup, Great Britain, and quite convincingly. In Lucerne the Germans have changed their stroke with Julia Richter moving from the double into this event. Meanwhile, the confident British have retained their same line-up and coach Paul Thompson has entered all four members in the double as well. Can the British hold up?
China and Ukraine are back again. China are the reigning Olympic Champions and Ukraine the reigning World Champions, but both boats have had crew changes and neither has struck gold yet this season. China inched Ukraine out of the bronze medal spot last month and the two will meet again in Lucerne.
Keep an eye out also for the United States. They are known to arrive with brand new combinations that take everyone by surprise. At Lucerne their line-up includes two members of last year’s world silver medal crew.
Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x)
The Croatians are becoming the new dominating crew on the block, a position held by Poland for nearly half a decade. All still under-23 rowers, David Sain, Damir Martin as well as Valent and Martin Sinkovic of Croatia come to Lucerne unbeaten this season while Poland look to be off the pace.
Germany finished with silver last month at the Rowing World Cup, but with Stephan Krueger replaced by Hans Gruhne, who returns from injury, the question will be: what is the German boat speed? Pushing into the medals will be Great Britain and Australia who are both strong contenders.
Watch out for the Italians. This crew of Stefanini, Sartori, Venier and Raineri may be just the combination to bring Italy back to the Olympic Champion glory days of Sydney 2000.
Women’s Eight (W8+)
The United States are the reigning World Champions and they race for the first time this season in Lucerne. But the crew has changed from last year by more than half and four of the crew will also race in the women’s pair. This makes them an unknown factor that will only be revealed after the crew races in the heats.
The gauge for this season is the British crew. They have raced at both World Cups and from the two have earned a silver and gold medal. Poland and China also go to Lucerne as their third World Cup of the season, but China has been playing with its line-up and thus creates an element of newness.
The Dutch regularly make it through to the medals. They finished with silver at Rowing World Cup I this year and, with just a couple of changes to the crew, are back for Lucerne. Watch out too for the Canadians and the Germans. Both of these nations regularly put together strong eights, with the Germans having won bronze in Munich.
Women’s Single Sculls (W1x)
It will be hard to find another single rower who has so completely dominated an event. Ekaterina Karsten-Khodotovitch of Belarus is number one on the current list of Top 10 female rowers. She owns the last four World Championship titles and since 1996 has always made it to the Olympic medals podium in her single. Other single scullers must wonder what it will take to overturn this phenomenal record.
The Czech Republic’s Mirka Knapkova always gives it a good go but has never been able to match Karsten in the last quarter of the race. Knapkova will try again in Lucerne. Emma Twigg of New Zealand has managed to lead Karsten in early sections of races but has never made it to gold. A hiccup in Munich kept her out of the A-final. There is little doubt Twigg will come back Coming up through the ranks is Jingli Duan of China with the experienced Julia Levina of Russia regularly pushing into the medals. Apart from the leading position, this event could see some new individuals coming through.
Men’s Single Sculls (M1x)
This could be the season of Ondrej Synek (CZE). Synek comes to Lucerne unbeaten and on the back of a bonus win at the Dutch Koninklijke Holland Beker regatta. But this may all change for Synek with the last World Cup of the season. World Champion Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand comes back from injury to show his form for the first time this year at Lucerne. Also, the double Olympic Champion Olaf Tufte of Norway always improves as the season progresses.
The depth of talent trying just to push into the final six that make the A-final includes the return of Tim Maeyens from Belgium. Maeyens has spent the early part of the season rowing in the quad, but as this crew’s results have not been too exciting Maeyens has returned to the single and already has a second place finish from the Holland Beker regatta.
Also very much in the running is Great Britain’s Alan Campbell who is dangerous when injury free, and Lassi Karonen of Sweden, as well as the ever-improving Malcolm Howard of Canada who is making waves in his first season in the single. Marcel Hacker of Germany will not race in Lucerne.
Men’s Eight (M8+)
The 12 countries entered represent a cross-section of the nations that not only love competing in the men’s eight, but have a strong passion to win. The current World Champions Germany are back and after winning at Rowing World Cup II last month look to be the team to beat. The two crews closest to knocking Germany off their perch were China and Great Britain. These two crews will not give up without a fight and Germany needs to play smart to stay in front.
Then joining in the fun for the first time this season are perennial rivals the USA and Canada. They are both boating new crews from their 2009 line-ups and will be open to surprise. Then there are the Australians. Sitting in this crew are the four men that won the men’s four at Munich.
Do not discount Poland. They are driving towards having a top crew for the 2012 Olympic Games and their drive looks to be heading in the right direction. Then there are the Dutch who finished second in Bled and often manage to pull off something special.