2021 World Rowing Cup II – Women’s Preview

W1X

Eighteen Scullers

One of the season’s surprises so far was Russia’s Hanna Prakhasten at the European Championships. She qualified for Tokyo via the European Qualification Regatta and then destroyed an experienced field at the Europeans. This was a massive step forward from 2019 and 2020 when she raced in the W4X that finished 9th at the World Championships and 8th at last year’s Europeans. The big question for Lucerne is, was her performance in Varese was a “flash-in-the-pan”, or can she back her performance up with another dominant display?

The biggest name to watch in this event is Sanita Puspure of Ireland. She makes her first appearance of the season but is the top sculler of the last few years and won the World Championships in 2018 and 2019. 2020 saw her take her 2nd European title. You have to go back to the 2017 World Championships to find a race where she finished outside the top 2, and she’s unbeaten in a final since the 3rd World Cup of 2018.

Kara Kohler of the USA won bronze at the 2019 World Championships. She’s one of the most experienced scullers in the field, having won bronze in the W4X at the London Olympics and gold in the W4- in 2011. She was named US Rowing’s Female Rower of The Year in 2019.

Vicky Thornley of Great Britain is another highly experienced sculler; she raced in the W8 at the London Olympics and then won silver in the W2X with Katherine Grainger at the Rio Games. She moved into the single in 2017 and won European gold and World Championship silver. She finished 4th in 2019, and at this Europeans, she took silver behind Prakhasten.

Jeanine Gmelin of Switzerland is another Rio Olympic competitor and was 5th in the W1X final. She won the World Championships in 2017 and silver in 2018. The past couple of years have seen her slip back a little, and at the 2019 World Championships, she finished 5th – and took 5th at the 2020 Europeans. This season she won bronze behind Russia and GB at the Europeans.

Austria’s Magdalena Lobnig won the first World Cup this season. She was 6th at the Rio Olympics and has been a regular feature in A-Finals since she started in the single scull in 2013; since 2013, she’s only missed an A-Final place three times – remarkable consistency.

Another highly experienced athlete is Yan Jiang of China. She started her senior international career in 2010 and was a W4X World Silver medallist in 2014, and went on to finish 6th in the W4X at the Rio Olympics. She switched to the single in 2019, finishing 7th at the World Championships.

Other scullers to watch include Tatsiana Klimovich of Belarus (4th at the Europeans this season), Maria Kyridou of Greece (U23 BW2X gold medallist in 2019 and 9th at the Europeans) and Jovana Arsic of Serbia (3rd at the 1st World Cup).

My picks: Puspure in gold, Kohler in silver and Thornley in bronze.

W2X

Ten crews

Romania has been the stand-out crew in this event so far this season. Nicoleta-Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis are the reigning European Champions, a title they also won in 2020. They were runners-up to New Zealand at the 2019 World Championships and took silver at the 2019 Europeans. They are an inspiring young crew, and both still under 23.

Donata Karaliene and Milda Valciukaite of Lithuania are among the most experienced doubles in the field, winning the world championships back in 2013 and a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics. Karaliene took a break after Rio and Valciukate went on to win a 2nd World title in the W2X with Ieva Adomaviciute in 2018. They struggled to repeat this form in 2019 and slipped back to 9th. Karaliene returned for the 2021 season, and together they won silver at the European Championships and gold at the first World Cup.

Bronze medallists in 2019 were the Netherlands, Roos de Jong and Lisa Scheenaard. They have been racing together as a double since 2018 and won silver at the 2021 European Championships before narrowly missing the podium at the Europeans by less than 1/600th of a second.

One of the most exciting crews to watch will be the new USA crew of Gevvie Stone and Kristina Wagner. Stone is more known as a single sculler on the international circuit and already has two Olympic appearances to her name, including a silver medal from Rio. She took time away from rowing after the Rio Olympics to complete her medical studies but returned in 2019 to finish 5th at the World Championships. Her partner, Wagner, made her senior international debut in 2019, finishing 6th in the W4X at the 3rd World Cup.

Another crew with Olympic experience under their belts are the French, Helene Lefebvre and Elodie Ravera-Scaramozzino. They were 5th in Rio, and 2017 saw them take 6th at the World Championships. In 2018 they had a mixed season, winning the European Championships but then slipping back to 12th place at the World Championships but returned to the A-Final, and an Olympic qualifying spot, in 2019. Bronze at the 2020 Europeans This season, they picked up a silver medal in a three-boat final at the 1st World Cup.

10th at the Rio Olympics were the Czech Republic, Lenka Antosova and Kristyna Fleissnerova. They have been near the front-end of the B-Final at each of the last three World Championships but have had much better performances at the European level, winning gold in 2017 and finishing 4th in 2020. Lucerne marks their first appearance of the 2021 season.

Italy have two boats racing, Stefania Buttignon and Allessandra Montesano in ITA1 and Ludovica Serafini and Carmela Pappalardo in ITA2. Both Buttignon and Montesano were U23 medallists in 2018 (Buttignon in the BLW2X and Montesano in the BW2X). In 2019 Buttignon won European bronze with Stefania Gobbi, with whom she finished 7th at the 2019 Worlds. At this year’s Europeans, she raced with Valentina Iseppi and placed 7th out of 9 entries. Montesano raced in the W4X at the 2020 and 2021 Europeans finishing 5th on both occasions. Serafini and Pappalardo were both members of the W8 that finished 6th at this year’s Europeans, and they were both members of the W4X that finished 12th at the 2018 World Championships.

Also racing are a 2nd Netherlands boat (Tessa Dullemans and Ilse Kolkman, who were members of the U23 BW4X that finished 6th in 2019) and a Chinese double of Jinchao Liu and Shuangmei Shen, both of whom are making their international debuts in Lucerne.

My picks: I’m going with Romania in gold, the Netherlands (1) in silver and the USA in bronze.

W2-

Eleven crews

The stand-out entry in this event is the number GBR1 boat of Helen Glover and Polly Swann. However, British Rowing has just announced that both Glover and Swann and the GBR2 boat of Sam Courty and Annie Withers have withdrawn.

With the British out, the gold battle will most likely come down to a three-way contest between Denmark, Romania, and Spain.

Denmark, Fie Udby Erichsen and Hedvig Rasmussen booked their place in Tokyo with a 2nd place at the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta last week; it remains to be seen if they do race in the World Cup or not. They are a new combination but are two highly experienced athletes. Rasmussen is an Olympic bronze medallist in this boat class from the Rio Olympics, and Erichsen won silver in the W1X at the London Games and was 9th in Rio.

Romania’s Iulian Buhus and Adriana Ailnca were European Champions in 2020 and runners-up to the British at the 2021 Championships. Ailnca was junior world champion in this boat type in 2017 and won European silver in 2019. Buhus won European silver in the W4- in 2018 and raced the 2019 World Cup circuit in the pair with several different partners.

Maria Kyridou and Christina Bourmpu of Greece grabbed the last direct qualification spot at the 2019 World Championships when they took 5th in the B-Final (11th overall). This topped off an exceptional year for the young Greek pair, which saw them reach the A-Final of the European Championships, win U23 gold and qualify the boat for the Olympics. They are both still only 20 and also have Junior and Youth Olympic titles to their credits. They won their first senior medals in 2020, taking bronze at the European Championships and this season, they finished in a solid 4th place, ½ a second off a medal.

Bronze medallists in Varese with the Spanish, Aina Cid and Virginia Diaz Rivas. Cid finished 6th in the pair at the Rio Olympics partnered by Anna Boada Peiro. This duo went on to win World Championship bronze in 2018. With Boada Piero retiring at the end of the 2018 season, Cid formed a new partnership with Diaz Rivas. She had been Spain’s representative in the W1X for the last few years, but her move to the pair has been rewarded with 5th place at the 2019 World Championships and medals at both the 2020 and 2021 European Championships.

Ireland has two boats racing; their number 1 crew of Aileen Crowley and Monika Dukarska qualified the boat for Tokyo by finishing 8th in 2019. The year before, they raced together in the W2X and finished 13th….racing with one rather than two oars seems to suit this duo better! At this year’s Europeans, they produced a solid performance to reach the A-Final and were in medal contention at the halfway mark before slipping back over the 2nd half. The 2nd Irish boat is Claire Feerick and Tara Hanlon. They are a young combination and were both members of the U23 BW4- that won silver at the u23 World Championships in 2019.

Chile’s Melita and Antonia Abraham are entered. Still, as they narrowly missed Olympic qualification at last week’s FOQR, it remains to be seen if they decide to race at the World Cup. They are a talented young pair, U23 world champions in 2017 and bronze medallists in 2018. They finished one place off automatic Olympic qualification in 2019, just 13/100th behind the Greeks.

China has a new pairing of Kaifeng Huang and Xiaoxin Liu. They were both members of the W8 that finished 7th in 2019, and Liu was a U23 bronze medallist in 2018.

The final crew racing is the young Czech pairing of Anna Santruckova and Pavlina Flamikova. Santruckova was junior world champion in the pair in 2019, and so far this season, they have 8th place at the European Championships and a silver medal in a three-boat final at the 1st World Cup. Like the Chileans, they missed the Olympic qualification at the FOQR.

My picks: In the British’s absence, I think it’ll be gold Romania, silver Denmark, and bronze Spain.

W4-

Seven crews

An all-European field, but one which contains 4 of the 6 A-Finalists from the 2019 World Championships.

The Netherlands are the most robust boat on paper; they have won the European Championships for the last two season and were World silver medallists in 2019. They have made one change to the 2019 crew, with Anna Souwer coming in place of Ellen Hogerwerf. She joins Karolien Florijn, Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester. These three were all members of the U23 BW4- that won the World Championships in 2017.

Ireland has had an outstanding season so far this year. Aifric Keogh, Eimear Lambe, Fiona Murtagh and Emily Hegarty won silver at the European Championships and then qualified the boat for Tokyo in some style by winning the FOQR. Whether they can produce a performance of that quality again this week, we will have to wait and see; they may decide to spend this week recovering instead of racing.

Great Britain were bronze medallists at the 2021 Europeans, a result which left them slightly disappointed. GB have very high hopes for this boat, and to finish almost 4 seconds behind the Irish would have given some cause for concern. However, the British will be racing with a substitute as Olympic silver medallist Karen Bennett is unavailable. Caragh McMurtry takes her place.

Romania looks as though they are using the World Cup to seat race for the Tokyo line-up. The crew that finished 4th at the European Championships has been split across two boats. Nicoleta Pascanu and Elena Logofatu race in ROM1 along with Cristina-Georgiana Popescu and Roxana-Iuliana Anghel. Madalina Heghes and Roxanna Parascanu race in ROM2 with Beatrice-Madalina Pascari and Alina-Maria Baletchi. Pascanu and Logofatu have been racing together ever since they were juniors winning silver at the Junior Worlds in 2015 and U23 gold in 2017. Popescu was European Champion in the W4- in 2017 and u23 Silver medallist the same year. She won another European gold with Anghel in the W8 in 2019 and finished 7th in the W2- at the 2019 World Championships. At Varese this season, Popescu and Anghel raced in the W4X that finished 11th. In ROM2, Heghes and Parascanu are both multiple U23 medallists, and Parascanu raced in the senior W8 at the 2019 World Championships. Pascari raced in the quad at this year’s Europeans and in 2019 was also in the W8. Baletchi made her senior debut at the 2020 Europeans having medals at both the junior worlds and Youth Olympics.

Poland has been struggling a little in the last couple of seasons to recapture the form that took them to a World Championship silver medal in 2017 and 4th place in 2019. Joanna Dittman, Olga Michalkiewicz, Monika Chabel and Maria Wierzbowska finished 7th at the 2020 European Championships and 9th this season. But, they are a strong and experienced crew; both Chabel and Wierzbowska raced at the Rio Olympics (with Chabel winning bronze in the W4X).

Denmark is another crew that is looking to recapture the speed they showed before the pandemic. In 2019 they won World Championship bronze. They finished 4th at the 2020 European Championships and then were 8th this season. However, for Lucerne, they have made two changes to their crew from Varese. The W2- from this year’s Europeans, Ida Jacobsen and Trine Dahl Pedersen, move into the 4 (Jacobsen returning to the crew she was in for 2019). They join Frida Sanggaard Nielsen and Christina Johansen, who were both in the 2019 crew.

My picks: The Netherlands for gold, Great Britain in silver and Ireland (if they race) in bronze.

W4X

Five crews

It’s only five crews, but it’s a high-class field containing the top four crews from the 2019 World Championships.

China is the reigning World Champions, and they have the same line-up racing in Lucerne, Yunxia Chen, Ling Zhang, Yang Lyu and Xiaotong Cui. All but Chen raced in the quad in 2018 that finished 4th. Zhang and Lyu both raced at the Rio Olympics.

Silver medallists in 2019 were Poland. They are a well-established crew and kept the same line-up since 2017. Agnes Kobus-Zawojska, Marta Wieliczko, Maria Sajdak & Katarzyn Zillmann were silver medallists in 2017 and world champions in 2018. Sajdak and Kobus-Zawojska were in the crew that won bronze at the Rio Olympics. They had a disappointing regatta at this year’s Europeans when they missed out on the A-Final – the first time a Polish W4X have missed the A-Final since the 2014 World Championships.

The Netherlands successfully retained their European title in Varese this year. The crew of Laila Youssifou, Inge Janssen, Olivia van Rooijen & Nicole Beukers beat the British into silver by just 4/10th of a second in Varese. The crew won bronze at the 2019 World Championships (with Anna Souwer in place of Laila Youssifou). Janssen and Beukers were members of the crew that won silver at the Rio Olympics. The Netherlands were also world champions in 2017 and bronze medallists in 2018.

Germany were Olympic champions in 2016 (their 5th Olympic title since 1992). They formed a new crew after the Rio Olympics, and the core of that crew has remained throughout the Olympiad. Carlotta Nwajide, Frieda Haemmerling and Franziska Kampmann were (along with Marie-Catherine Arnold) were World silver medallists in 2018. In 2019 the crew finished 4th (with Haemmerling, Kampmann, Daniela Schultze and Michalea Staelberg). For 2020 the crew settles on Haemmerling, Kampmann, Nwajide and Schultze) taking silver at the European Championships. So far, in 2021, they have bronze from the Europeans and then took gold in a three-boat final at the 1st World Cup.

The final crew racing is Italy. They have made one change to the crew that finished 5th at the European Championships, with Valentina Iseppa coming into the crew to join Clara Guerra, Veronica Lisi and Stefania Gobbi.

My picks: China in gold ahead of the Netherlands in silver and Germany in bronze.

W8+

Zero crews

When the entries were published, both China and Great Britain had listed. However, China has withdrawn, so there will be no women’s eight event for the second World Cup this season.

LW2X

Ten crews

The Netherlands are the reigning Olympic champions, and they were one of only two crews to have won Olympic gold after also racing the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta. They have one of that crew remaining, Ilse Paulis. In 2017 she formed a new double with U23 World Champion Marieke Keijser. They won the European Championships in 2018 and went on to win bronze at the 2018 Worlds and then silver at the 2019 World Championships. They won another European title in 2020, but in 2021 they were pushed back into bronze by Italy and Great Britain.

Great Britain’s Emily Craig and Imogen Grant came together as a double in 2019 and immediately showed signs they would be serious contenders for medals in Tokyo. Bronze at the World Championships in 2019 was followed by silver at the Europeans this season. Grant is a former U23 World Champion and won bronze in the LW1X at the Senior World Championships in 2018. Craig was world champion in the LW4X back in 2016 and raced in the LW2X throughout 2017 and 2018.

Romania finished one place behind the British in 2019. Ionela-Livia Cozmuic and Gianina-Elena Beleaga were 8th at the Rio Olympics and won back-to-back world titles in 2017 and 2018. In 2020 they won another bronze at the Europeans. At the Varese European Championships, Cozmuic raced with Elena-Iuliana Mihai and finished 4th. Beleaga raced the LW1X taking the silver medal. Reunited in the double for Lucerne, they will be strong contenders for a medal.

Italy’s Valentia Rodini and Federica Cesarini took 7th at both the 2018 and 2019 World Championships. But they’ve shown great form at the 2020 and 2021 European Championships with silver last year and gold in Varese this season. Cesarini was World champion in the LW4X in 2017, and Rodini raced the double at the Rio Olympics, where she finished 13th.

5th at the World Championships in 2019 were Laura Tarantola and Claire Bove of France. Tarantola was LW1X World Champion in 2018 and, together with Bove, won European silver in 2019. Bove raced the LW1X at the European Championships this season, taking another medal. The two of them were back in the double for the Zagreb World Cup, where they won gold.

Ireland produced one of the performances of the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta when they overhauled China to grab the 3rd and final Olympic spot last week. Aoife Casey and Margaret Cremen also have a 5th place finish at the Europeans this season. As with several crews who raced at the FOQR, there is a question over whether they will choose to race or rest this week.

Another crew who suffered the disappointment of missing the Olympic qualification last week were South Africa, Kirsten McCann and Nicole van Wyk. A highly experienced pairing, McCann raced in Beijing and Rio and was LW1X World Champion in 2017. Van Wyk was 4th in the LW1X in 2019, and as a double, had 4th place in 2018.

Russia, Anastasia Lebedeva and Mari Botalova finished 6th at the Europeans this season. Lebedeva has been racing the LW1X for the last few seasons, finishing 6th at the 2020 Europeans and 12th at the 2019 Worlds.

Also racing are Japan (Chiaki Tomita and Ayami Oishi – 12th at the Rio Olympics and qualified for their home Games via the Asian Qualifying Regatta) and Belarus (Ina Nikulina and Alena Furman – a new combination – Furman won European gold in the LW1X this season and Nikulina was in the BW4- at the 2017 U23 World Championships).

My picks: The Netherlands in gold, Great Britain in silver and Italy in bronze

LW1X

Fifteen scullers

A brief look at the event that is predominantly used to give racing for the spares for the Olympic boat class. Belarussia’s Tatsiana Hancharova won silver in the LW2X in her international debut at the Zagreb World Cup. Still, it looks as though Belarus are trying different combinations before they settle on their Olympic crew.

China’s Wenyi Huang has entered, although it remains to be seen if she races. She competed in the LW2X at the FOQR and narrowly lost out to the Irish.

Susannah Duncan makes her senior international debut for France, having won the U23 BLW1X in 2019 representing Great Britain.

Great Britain’s Maddie Arlett was the world bronze medallist in 2019 and this season placed 5th at the European Championships.

Katrin Thoma of Germany was in the LW2X that finished 16th in 2019. This season she has finished 8th at the Europeans and then won silver at the Zagreb World Cup in the LW1X

Lydia Heaphy of Ireland is spare for the newly qualified double; as a single sculler, she finished 11th at the 2019 World Championships and then 7th at the 2020 Europeans before going one place better at this season’s Championships.

Paola Piazzolla from Italy finished 12th in the World in 2019 and is a former LW4X World Champion. She raced at the 2020 European Championships, where she won a bronze medal.

Japan’s Natsumi Yamaryo raced in the LW2X in 2018, finishing 10th and then raced at the 1st and 3rd World Cups of 2019 with a best finish of 5th at WC1.

The Netherlands have two scullers racing, Martine Veldhuis and Femke van De Vliet. Veldhuis finished 6th at the 2019 World Championships and then took LW1X gold at the 2020 European Championships. This season she finished just outside of the medals in Varese. De Vliet is making her senior debut in Lucerne, having won U23 BLW2X silver in 2019.

Norway’s Ode Aagesen is another athlete making her senior international debut in Lucerne. She finished 15th in the BLW1x at the 2019 U23 World Championships.

Elena-Iuliana Mihai of Romania finished 10th in the BLW1X at the 2019 U23 World Championships. She raced in the LW2X at the Europeans this season, finishing 4th.

Switzerland also has two scullers entered. Sofia Meakin won the first World Cup in Zagreb and won silver in the LW1X at the 2020 European Championships. Eline Rol partnered Meakin at the 2019 U23 World Championships, where they won gold in the BLW2X. Rol also raced at the 1st World Cup this season but suffered a capsize in the final.

My picks: Veldhuis in gold, Arlett in silver and Huang in bronze.

That’s it for another World Cup. Not long till Tokyo!

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Cover image: World Rowing

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