Image: World Rowing
Now for a look at the women’s entries for the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta – the “Regatta of Death”…..
W1X
Eleven scullers
Diana Dymchenko of Ukraine finished in a qualifying place at the European Olympic Qualification Regatta, but due to the rules of the continental qualification regattas, only one boat from each nation can qualify, so she had to sacrifice her spot. But, she will be in a solid position to secure a place again in Lucerne. She won a bronze medal in the single at the 2018 European’s, and in 2019, she finished 12th in the World. This season, as well as finishing 2nd at the European Qualification regatta, she placed 6th at the European Championships.
Another serious contender will be Tatsiana Klimovich of Belarus. She made her senior debut at the 2014 World Championships as a 19-year-old finishing 22nd. In 2017 she became U23 BW2X World Champion. In 2019 and 2020, she continued in the W2X, finishing 7th at the 2020 Europeans. She moved to the single in 2021 and raced to an excellent 4th place in Varese.
There are several exciting young scullers in this event from Germany, Greece and Romania. Germany has Alexandra Foester. The 19-year-old was JW1X World Champion in 2019 and made her senior debut at the European Championships this year, finishing in a solid 7th place. Greece has 22-year-old Anneta Kyridou. She was U23 World Champion in 2019 before switching to the single in 2020. She had a great race at the 2020 European’s taking the bronze medal, and so far in 2021, she’s raced to 6th place at the European Qualification Regatta and 9th at the European’s
Romania also has a 19-year-old representing them with Cristina Druga. She’s making her senior international debut in Lucerne, having last raced to 4th place in the JW4- at the 2019 Junior World Championships.
Other scullers racing are Finland’s Eeva Karppinen, 5th at the European Olympic Qualifying Regatta, Kitti Bertus of Hungary (13th at the 2021 Europeans), Moldova’s Iulia Narivoncic (8th at the Zagreb World Cup), Norway’s Jenny Rorvik (making her senior debut following a 15th at the U23’s in 2018) and Kuwait’s Alia Qali (making her first international appearance since finishing 23rd in the LW1X in 2012).
My picks: Diana Dymchenko and Tatsiana Klimovich
W2X
Seven crews
This looks like a straight contest between Great Britain and Germany for the top two places.
Holly Nixon and Saskia Budgett represent GB. Budgett (daughter of 1984 Olympic champion Richard) made her senior debut in 2021 after a very successful U23 career that saw her win gold in 2018 and bronze in 2019. Nixon started her international career racing for Ireland at the 2011 Junior World Championships. She switched to GB for the 2014 U23’s and won bronze in the U23 BW8 in 2015. She made her senior debut in 2016, winning gold in the W4- at the World Championships. She raced in the W4X in 2017, winning a bronze medal. She formed a double with Budgett at the start of the 2021 season and had a great debut winning bronze at the European Championships (GB’s first medal in this event since Grainger and Thornley won silver in Rio).
Germany calls upon the highly experienced Annekatrin Thiele and Leonie Menzel. Thiele aims to qualify for her 4th Olympic Games and has won medals at the previous three, including gold in the W4X in Rio and silver in the double in London. She spent most of the Tokyo Olympiad racing in the single with a best finish of 6th in 2018. Menzel won silver at the U23’s in 2018 and then formed a double with Carlotta Nwadjie that won the 2019 European Championships. She and Thiele formed their partnership in 2020 and took 5th at the 2020 Europeans; they repeated this placing at the 2021 champs 3.5 seconds behind the British.
Behind these two crews, the chase will probably be led by Belarus. Dzina Haluts and Krystsina Staraselets. This duo was 8th at the Europeans this season (out of 9 entries). Staraselets was U23 World Champion in 2017 and then finished 12th in the double with Klimovich in 2019. Haluts made her senior debut in 2020, finishing 8th in the W2- at the Europeans.
Other crews racing are Hungary (Vivien Preil and Zoltana Gadanyi – 20th in 2019 and 9th at the 2021 Europeans), Ukraine (Natalia Mykhailova and Anastasiia Kozhenkova – 6th in the W4X this season), Russia (Ekaterina Pitirimova and Ekaterina Kurochinka – 10th in the quad in Varese) and Glory Semidara and Joy Mathew of Nigeria.
My picks: Great Britain in first with Germany 2nd.
W2-
Eight crews
This has the makings of a tight contest with any one of the eight crews capable of grabbing a qualifying spot.
The most experienced crew in the field are Denmark, Hedvig Rasmussen and Fie Udby Erichsen.
Erichsen was aiming for her 3rd Olympic Games and won Denmark’s first women’s Olympic medal since 1996 when she took a superb silver in the W1X in London. She followed that up with a 9th place in Rio and then narrowly missed direct qualification for the single in 2019 when she finished 10th. She continued in the single in 2020, taking 4th at the Europeans and then 8th in 2021. She returns to the boat class that she started her senior international career back in 2006. She’s joined in the pair by Rio bronze medallist Rasmussen. As well as Olympic bronze in the pair, Rasmussen also won bronze at the 2017 World Championships before switching to the W4- taking 4th in 2018 and then bronze in 2019. Rasmussen remained in the W4- for the 2020 and 2021 European Championships, with Erichsen racing in the single. They are a very experienced and exciting pair, and hopefully, they will have had enough time since Varese to create a boat capable of qualification.
Chile will also be going into Lucerne with high hopes of gaining a qualification spot. They are represented by Melita and Antonia Abraham (two of the Abraham quadruplets, all of whom row for Chile). They were U23 World Champions in 2017 and followed that up with U23 bronze in 2018. At the 2019 World Championships, they finished 12th.
Croatia is another nation represented by twin sisters Ivana and Jospina Jurkovic. They were junior world champions back in 2017 and raced at the U23 World Championship in 2018. They made their senior debuts in 2019, taking 14th in the W4- at the World Championships. So far this season, they have raced at both the European Championships and the 1st World Cup finishing 5th in Varese and taking gold (in a three-boat final) in Zagreb.
The Czech Republic (Anna Santruckova and Pavlina Flamikova) were runners-up to the Czechs in Zagreb and took 8th in Varese.
Germany has a new pairing for Lucerne, Sophie Oksche and Anna Haertl. They were both members of the W8 that won silver at the 2020 European Championships and then placed 5th at this year’s Championships. Okarche was on the German U23 team from 2014-18, winning a bronze in the BW8 in her first year and was in the old W4- that finished 12th at the 2018 World Championships. Haertl made her international debut at the 2nd World Cup of 2018, finishing 12th in the pair. She moved in the W8 for the 2019 season and was in the crew that finished 10th.
The Netherlands finished 7th in this boat class at the 2021 Europeans with Jose van Veen and Ilse Kolkman, but they have replaced Kolkman with Eve Stewart for Lucerne. Stewart makes her senior international debut in Lucerne, having raced on the U23 team in 2018 and 2019 (winning silver in the BW8 in 2018). Van Veen is much more experienced, having been a member of the W8 that finished 6th in Rio. She won European silver in the W8 in 2017 and bronze the following year. 2020 saw her race in the W1X at the European Championships, finishing 12th.
Also racing are Russia, with Vasilisa Stepanova and Elena Oriabinskaia, both members of the 2017 European bronze medal W8, and Norway (Marianne Madsen and Hanna Inntjore – 21st in the W1X and 24th in the W2- respectively in 2019).
My picks: Denmark and Chile
W4-
Eight crews
Six of the eight crews entered for Lucerne raced each other at the European Championships earlier this season, so will be pretty familiar with what the competition looks like.
Ireland will be the favourite to secure one of the two qualification spots. Their crew of Aifric Keogh, Eimear Lambe, Fiona Murtagh and Emily Hegarty were the best performers of the field at the European’s this season, winning silver just 4/10th behind the World Silver medallists from the Netherlands. They narrowly missed out on automatic qualification in 2019, finishing 9th (with Tara Hanlon at the bow). Keogh and Hegarty raced as the W2- at the 2018 World’s, finishing an excellent 6th (Ireland’s best ever result in the W2- at a World Championships). Murtagh made her senior debut at the 2020 European’s, winning a bronze medal in the W4- with Keogh and Lambe. Both Hegarty and Lambe also raced in the U23 BW4- that won silver in 2019.
The next highest finishers at the European’s this year were Russia in 5th. They’ve made one change to that crew with Anna Karpova moving across from the W8. She joins Kira Yuvchenko, Ekaterina Sevostianova and Valentina Plaskina. Yuvchenko is the only survivor from the W4- that finished 13th at the 2019 World Championships; Karpova and Sevostianova were both in the W8 that finished 8th in 2019.
Italy finished 6th in Varese in April. Their crew of Alessandra Patelli, Chiara Ondoli, Kiri Tontodonati and Aisha Rocek won silver in this boat class at the 2020 Europeans. Patelli and Ondoli raced in the W2- in 2019, reaching the A-Final and qualifying the boat for Tokyo. Tontodonati raced in the pair at the Rio Olympics and then took 4th in the pair in 2018.
One place behind the Italians in Varese was Ukraine. Two-time Olympian Olena Buryak strokes them, the former world 2K record holder raced in the W2- in 2019, placing 19th before moving back to the quad in 2020 and then the W4- for 2021. She’s joined by Oksana Golub (Buryak’s pairs partner from 2019),
Daryna Verkogliad and Yevheniia Dovhodko (the W2X from 2019 that finished 16th at the World Championships).
The Spanish were 11th in this boat class at both the 2020 and 2021 European Championships. They are a young crew, and all four (Aitzpea Gonzalez, Julia Ros Martinez, Nuria Puig Aguillo and Iria Jarama Diaz) were the U23 BW4- that finished 5th in 2019.
The last of the European Championship crews racing in Lucerne is Germany. They are another young crew with Sina Keuhne and Katja Furhmann having made their senior international debuts in Varese. Janka Kirstein also raced at the U23 championships in 2019 and was part of the senior W4- that finished 12th at last year’s Europeans. The final member of the crew is also the most experienced; Isabelle Huebener is the sole remaining member of the W4- from 2018 and 2019.
The Czech Republic didn’t race at the European’s in either 2021 or 2020. They have a young crew with three members of the 2018-19 U23 squad. Zuzana Necasova was 16th in the BLW2X in 2018 and Marketa Nedelova was 8th in the BW4X the same year. Marie Jurkova raced in the 2019 U23 BW4X, which also finished 9th. The crew’s stroke is Anne Zabova; she raced in the W2- at the 2019 World Championships, which placed 6th in the C-Final.
The final crew racing, and the only non-European entry, are China. They have one returner from the crew that finished 9th in 2019, Fei Wang. The other three members of the crew (Miaomiao Qin, Shiyu Lu & Ximyu Lin) were all members of the senior squad at the 2019 World Championships racing in the W8, W2X and W2- respectively.
My picks: Ireland and Italy
W4X
Six crews
This is an event with no clear favourite. Norway perhaps has the edge among the European crews. Their crew of Siri Kristiansen, Inger Kavlie, Thea Helseth and Maia Lund finished 4th at the European Championships this year, just 1.3 seconds off the podium. This was Norway’s best-ever finish in the W4X. Both Kristiansen and Lund are former lightweights, with Kristiansen taking 11th in the LW2X at the 2018 Europeans and Lund finished 4th in the LW1X at the 2020 Europeans. Kavlie was a U23 silver medallist back in 2014, and Helseth raced in this boat back in 2018, finishing 15th.
Ukraine has the most experienced line-up in the field. Their crew includes London 2012 Olympic champions Natalyia Dovgodko and Anastasiia Kozhenkova. Kozhenkova also raced in the quad at the Rio Olympics, finishing 4th. They are joined by Natalia Mykhailova and Kateryna Dudchenko, who, along with Dovgodko, were in the W4- that finished 15th at the 2019 World Championships. As a quad, this crew finished 4th at the 2020 European Championships (with Buryak in place of Dovgodko) and then at this year’s European’s (with Dovgodko in the team) placed 6th.
Australia has selected a crew, all of whom have won medals at the U23 level. Rowena Meredith, Caitlin Cronin and Harriet Hudson were all members of the BW4X that won U23 silver in 2017. Meredith and Cronin also raced the quad at the Senior Worlds in 2017 and 2018, finishing 6th and 7th, respectively. The 4th member of the crew is Ria Thompson, the reigning U23 BW1X World Champion.
France finished 2nd in a three-boat final at the Zagreb World Cup, and two crew members (Violaine Aernoudts and Emma Lunatti) finished 8th at the Europeans. Also in the crew is Margaux Bailleul, who finished 6th in the W2X in Varese and Marie Jacquet, the French W1X at the 2019 World Championships ending 14th.
Also racing are Switzerland (9th at the European Championships) and a new crew from Romania with a crew that includes 2019 W8 European champions Cristina-Georgiana Popescu and Roxana-Iuliana Anghel, and 2019 junior world bronze medallist Andrada-Maria Morosanu.
My picks: Norway and Australia
W8
Five crews
As with the men’s 8, there look to be two crews ahead of the rest of the pack. Clear favourites are Romania. They just missed out on automatic qualification in 2019, finishing 6th at the World Championships. But since then, they have dominated the European field with gold medals at both the 2020 and 2021 European Championships.
Runners-up to the Romanians in Varese were the Netherlands. They have four of the crew that finished a disappointing 9th at the World Championships and seven of the boat that took bronze in 2020.
Behind these two crews, it should be a good battle between Germany and Russia. The Germans won their first medal in this event since the 1st World Cup of 2015 when they took silver at the 2020 European Championships. At this year’s championships, they 5th. For Lucerne, the Germans have made two changes to their crew from Varese, with Michaela Staehlberg and Pia Grieten joining the crew. Staehlberg raced in the quad in 2019 that finished 4th, and Grieten raced the single at the 2020 Europeans.
Russia won bronze at the Europeans this season and made a couple of changes for Lucerne, with Marina Rubtsova coming in at bow and Ekaterina Glazkova at stroke.
The final crew in the event are China. They have an experienced staff of three Rio Olympians (Yuwei Wang – 6th in the W4X, Tian Miao and Min Zhang – 7th in the W2-).
My picks: Romania and the Netherlands
LW2X
Fifteen crews
One of the biggest stories of 2021 was the announcement that New Zealand’s World Champion Zoe McBride was retiring with immediate effect. This left rowing New Zealand the unenviable task of trying to find a new partner for Jackie Kiddle. Sadly they couldn’t find a combination that would be competitive enough in the time available. As a consequence of this, they surrendered their Olympic place. This resulted in Canada (who finished one place off direct qualification in 2019) being offered their spot. The net impact of this is that there is now a 3rd qualifying place available in Lucerne. This may be just as well as this event promises to be one of the most closely fought contests in the whole regatta.
Australia has the same pairing that finished 9th at the 2019 World Championships, Sarah Pound and Georgia Nesbitt. Pound won World Championship silver in the LW4X back in 2014 and then took 4th the year after. Nesbitt also won a World Championship medal in the LW4X in the 2017 crew; she also won medals in the LW1X at the 2nd and 3rd World Cups of 2018. From a 2019 World Championships perspective, they are the highest-ranked crew in the field.
In terms of performances so far this season, it’s the Irish who have the best record. Aoife Casey and Margaret Cremen finished in an excellent 5th place in Varese (the best finish by an Irish LW2X since the 3rd World Cup of 2016, where Claire Lambe and Sinead Lynch finished 4th). They are an exciting young crew; Cremen raced at the U23 World Championships in 2018, and Casey finished 4th in the BLW2X at the 2019 U23’s.
Switzerland’s Patricia Merz and Frederique Rol are another strong European contender. They won bronze at both the 2018 and 2019 European Championships and were 4th in the World in 2018. In 2019 they slipped back to 11th at the World Championships, and at the European Championships in 2020, they were 7th. This will be their 2nd Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta, having finished 5th back in 2016.
Weronika Deresz of Poland raced in this event at the Rio Olympics, where she finished 7th with Martyna Radosz. This pairing won the European championships in 2017, and Deresz went on to win European silver in 2018 with Joanna Dorociak. For the 2020 European Championships, she formed a new partnership with Jaclyn Stelmaszyk and finished 6th. That was Stelmaszyk’s first international race since 2013, and for the 2021 Euros, she raced the double with Wiktoria Kalinowska and finished 7th. Now back in their 2020 line-up, the Poles will be one of the crews to watch.
As well as Australia, there are several other significant contenders from outside of Europe in this event. China has the very experienced Dandan Pan partnered with 20-year-old debutant Huiru Li. Pan made her senior international debut back in 2011 at the age of 15 and won a World Championship silver medal in the LW4X. She followed that with World Championship bronze in the LW2X in 2014 and gold in the LW4X in 2018. They will have been very disappointed not to have qualified directly in 2019 as they performed very strongly throughout the World Cups, taking medals at both the 1st and 2nd and then 4th in the 3rd. But in Poznan, they slipped back to finish 13th.
South Africa are another crew with significant Olympic experience. Kirsten McCann raced in this boat class at both the Beijing and Rio Olympics, finishing 5th in 2016. She also became LW1X World Champion in 2017. Her partner is Nicole van Wyk. She was a U23 BLW1X bronze medallist in 2017 and moved into the double with McCann in 2018, taking 8th. In 2019 McCann raced the double with her Olympic partner, Ursula Grobler, but for this season, she’s back with van Wyk (who raced the LW1X in 2019 to 4th place).
The United States have high hopes that their double of Molly Reckford and Michelle Sechser will qualify. Sechser won bronze at the 2017 World Championships and was 4th in the World in the LW1X in 2018. She raced at the 2019 World Championships, with Christine Cavallo finishing 10th. Reckford made her international debut in 2019 and was a member of the LW4X that finished 4th in Poznan.
Germany also has a crew with Olympic experience. Marie-Louise Draeger was in the LW2X that finished 11th in Rio and was LW1X World Champion in 2019. Katrin Volk joins her. Volk is a two-time U23 silver medallist from 2018 and 2019 and in 2020 raced in the LW4X at the European Championships, taking the silver medal (albeit in a two-boat final). They came together as a double for the 2021 European’s and finished 10th.
Other crews to note are Denmark (Marie Morch-Pedersen and Mathilde Persson – 9th in Varese this year), Greece (Zou Fitsiou & Evangelia Anastasiadou – 8th at the Europeans) and Turkey (Merve Uslu and Eli Ozbay – who won Turkey’s first-ever Olympic class medal with a bronze at the Zagreb World Cup). It’s also worth noting that a strong boat from Japan (Chiaki Tomita and Ayami Oishi – 12th at the Rio Olympics) is listed among the entries. Still, they have already qualified via the Asian Olympic Qualifying Regatta, so they won’t be racing the FOQR.
My picks: tricky this one….but I’m picking Poland, Switzerland & Australia (the Americans aren’t going to like me for that!)
So that’s it! This weekend will see the Olympic dream continue for some but crushed for others. It is going to be brutal!
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