Photo Credit: World Rowing / Benedict Tufnell
M1X
21 entries
The World Cup series saw three different winners at the three regattas for the first time since2008 (when Alan Campbell, Ondrej Synek and Mahe Drysdale won). The European Championships in Munich sees all three of this year’s winners (Ollie Zeidler, Melvin Twellaar and Graeme Thomas) racing, throw in a wildcard in the shape of the Olympic champion and this is shaping up to be an epic contest.
Ollie Zeidler of Germany is the defending champion and will be the home favourite heading into these championships, especially if the weather is kind. Zeidler has an Achilles-heel (perceived or otherwise) of not being able to cope with difficult conditions, typified by his disappointing performance in windy conditions in Tokyo, but with the weather looking excellent for racing he will be fancying his chances. He won in Belgrade, the only time this season he’s raced Twellaar and Thomas, and he also won the Diamonds at Henley. A cold forced him to sit out Lucerne, but he will be the favourite to retain his title on home water.
Melvin Twellaar of the Netherlands finished second to Zeidler in Belgrade and in the German’s absence in Poznan took the gold. This is Twellaar’s first season racing the single having raced the Tokyo Olympiad in the M2X, culminating in a silver medal in Tokyo. His win in the single in Poznan was the first by a Dutch M1x since Dirk Uitenbogaard in Sydney in 2014 (in fact his silver behind Zeidler in Belgrade was the first medal for a Dutch M1x since that win in 2014). The 25-year-old looks very at home in the single, and also looks to have a particularly good sprint finish, so if he’s within a length of Zeidler with 500m to go there could be some fireworks.
Great Britain’s Graeme Thomas is another athlete who’s moved from a crew sculling boat into the single. Prior to the 2022 season he last raced the single at a Championship regatta back in 2012 taking fourth at the Europeans. He’s spent the intervening years racing the quad and the double. Last minute injury meant he missed out on Rio and then in Tokyo he and partner, John Collins, finished just off the podium in fourth place in the M2X. This season he won the GB Trials and has made an instant impact in the single; bronze in Belgrade was followed by an excellent gold in Lucerne. That win was the first World Cup victory for a British M1x since Banyoles in 2009 and it was also the first time a British M1x had won on the Rotsee. His 6:40 was the fastest time set in Lucerne since 1995 and the fourth fastest by a British M1X.
The wildcard in this event is the first appearance since the Tokyo final of the Olympic Champion, Stefanos Ntsoukos of Greece. The Greek’s win in Tokyo was the biggest shock of the regatta, in fact it was the first medal Ntsoukos has won in his senior career. His previous best was a fourth place at the 2021 Europeans, and he had to qualify for the Olympics via the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta. But, Munich will be the Ntsoukos’s first appearance of the season so what form he is in is a total unknown. It’s also going to be interesting to see if his performance in Tokyo was a “one-hit wonder”.
Another top sculler making his first major appearance of the season is Kjetil Borch of Norway. The 2018 World Champion had knee surgery following his silver medal performance at the Tokyo Olympics and has missed the majority of the season. He did make an appearance at the Holland Beker but missed out on the A-Final. I would assume that Borch wouldn’t have entered if he didn’t feel he would be competitive, so he’s another name to add to the mix for the medals.
Whilst I think the medals will come from among these five scullers there are plenty of other scullers to watch for. Silver medallist in Lucerne was Kristian Vasilev of Bulgaria. He’s had a strong season so far this year; fifth in Belgrade was followed by seventh in the M2x in Poznan and then silver in Lucerne, the first medal of his career, and the best performance by a Bulgarian M1X since 2013.
Another sculler who has produced another best for his country is Jordi Jofre Senciales of Spain. 12th at last year’s Europeans, he was ninth in Belgrade and in Lucerne he made the A-Final finishing fifth, the best ever performance by a Spanish M1X (in fact the first time a Spanish M1X has made the A-Final of a FISA regatta).
Munich also sees the first appearance of the year for Ireland’s Dr Philip Doyle. The 2019 M2X world championship silver medallist last raced in the singe back in 2018. He and partner Ronan Byrne finished seventh in the M2X at the 2021 Europeans and then took silver at the second World Cup but had a disappointing Olympics, ending up tenth. In such a strong field he’ll do well to make the A-Final in Munich.
Lithuania’s Mindaugus Griskonis is one of the most experienced and most successful athletes in the field. He’s been racing as a senior international since 2006, he’s raced at four Olympics (winning silver in the M2X in Rio) and has won the European M1X title no fewer than three times (2009, 2011 & 2012). He also has three European M1X silver medals and one bronze. He raced in the single in Tokyo, reaching the A-Final. However, his 2022 season has been very poor by his standards. He did race in Lucerne although was clearly not race fit and ended up 20th. If he’s fully race fit, then he should be an A-Finalist at the very least.
Denmark won this event in 2020 thanks to Sverri Nielsen but this year are represented by Bastian Secher. The 22-year-old made his senior debut in 2019 racing in the M2- before moving to the single in 2021 winning a bronze medal at the U23 World Championships. He’s made a strong start to 2022 winning the B-Final in Belgrade and finishing fourth in Poznan. In such a strong field he may struggle to make the A-Final, but a top finish in the B-Final will be a good result for the young Dane.
Other scullers to watch include the young Italian, Gennaro di Mauro – eighth at the Tokyo Olympics and sixth at the 2022 U23 World Championships – Quentin Antognelli of Monaco – fifth in Tokyo and his fifth in Poznan was the best ever result for a Monegasque rower – Wiktor Chabel of Poland – fourth in the quad in Tokyo and ninth in Poznan and Kaspar Taimsoo of Estonia – a four-time Olympian and three-time European champion (although Munich will be his first international race in the single).
Predictions: if the weather is kind, which it’s looking like it will be, then I can’t see anyone beating Zeidler for the gold. But it’s going to be a battle royale for the silver and bronze; I’m going for Thomas in silver with Twellaar in bronze (I’m not certain either Borch or Ntsoukos are quite “race-ready” to make the podium just yet).
M2X
15 entries
Compared to the other events in Munich this is a relatively weak entry, with the 2019 World Champions from France not entered nor are there entries from The Netherlands, Germany or Great Britain. The overwhelming favourites will be Martin and Valent Sinkovic from Croatia. They have only ever lost one race in the double (the heat of the first World Cup in 2014 but they went on to win the gold anyway). They are also the only M2x to ever break 6 minutes for 2K. After spending the Tokyo Olympiad in the pair (and winning Olympic gold in that boat) they returned to their preferred M2x for 2022, and whilst they haven’t quite looked as good as they did in 2016, they have still gotten the better of all their competition and have golds from all three World Cups. I predict they will win the European title by clear water.
Leading the charge for silver and bronze is likely to be Spain. They have been one of the crews of the season so far. Aleix Garcia Pujolar and Rodrigo Conde Romero were fifth in this event at the 2021 Europeans, but this season they have really stepped up winning bronze medals at both the Belgrade and Lucerne World Cups, the best ever performance by a Spanish M2X.
Italy has a new double for Munich, Simone Venier and Davide Mumolo. This duo are two of the most experienced in the field. Venier has raced at five Olympic Games (winning a silver in the M4X in Beijing). He raced in the M4x in Tokyo finishing fifth and was also a member of the M4x that won the European title in 2021. Mumolo has mostly been racing in the M8 for the last few years and won a silver medal in that boat class at the Sabaudia World Cup last year. He last raced the M2X back in 2015.
Fourth in Poznan were Lithuania, Armandas Kelmelis and Dovydas Nemeravicius. They were both members of the M4X that finished tenth in Tokyo. They also raced at the Belgrade World Cup finishing tenth.
Ireland won a spectacular silver medal at the 2019 World Championships and followed that with tenth in Tokyo with the pairing of Ronan Byrne and Philip Doyle. But with Doyle racing in the single for Munich, Byrne is joined by Ross Corrigan. Corrigan made his senior debut at the second World Cup of 2021 finishing ninth in the M4-. He went on to race at the U23 World Championships taking a silver medal in the BM4-.
Poland has a mix of youth and experience in their double with Szymon Posnik and Piotr Plominski. Posnik was a member of the M4X that finished fourth in Tokyo and won World Championship silver in 2019. 21-year-old Plominski made his senior debut in 2021 racing the M1X at the first and third World Cups and then went on to win a silver medal in the BM1X in 2021. This season both Posnik and Plominski have raced in the M4X at the first and second World Cups, winning bronze in Poznan, before moving to the M2X for Lucerne where they finished fifth.
The Czech Republic’s Jan Cincibuch and Jakub Podrazil raced at the Tokyo Olympics but didn’t progress beyond the reps. This season they raced at both the Belgrade and Lucerne World Cups taking eighth on both occasions.
Also racing are Serbia (Aleksandar Bedik and Aleksandar Filipovic – sixth in Lucerne), Finland (Juho-Pekka Petaejaeniemi and Jukka-Pekka Kauppi – seventh in Lucerne), Greece (Ioannis Kalandaridis and Athanasios Palaiopanos – 11th in Belgrade), Hungary (Mate Backsai and Marton Szabo – 13th in Belgrade), Norway (Martin Heseth and Erling Oeyasaeter), Romania (Andrei-Sebastian Conea and Cristian-Ionut Cojocaru), Slovakia (Ondrej Kovacovic and Jakub Herhonek – second in this event in 2021), and Sweden (Dennis Gustavsson and Eri Broete).
Predictions: as mentioned above, this should be a comfortable win for the Croatians, but behind them it’s a good contest for the silver and bronze. The form guide would suggest Spain taking the silver and then most likely the Lithuanians in bronze.
M2-
17 entries
As with the M2X the depth of the field for Munich isn’t huge, with only three crews racing who have won medals during the World Cup series. Overwhelming favourites will be Great Britain, Ollie Wynne-Griffith and Tom George. They were both members of the Great Britain M8 that won bronze in Tokyo and also raced in the losing Cambridge Blue Boat crew this year. They finished second at the GB trials and were one of three GB M2- that raced in Belgrade for the first World Cup. Gold in that event saw them remain in the M2- for Lucerne where they won another gold medal. GB haven’t won this event since 2015 but with Wynne-Griffith and George they have a pair that is capable of dominating in Europe and being probable favourites to win GB’s first M2- World Championship gold for 20 years.
The main challenge to the British will be from Serbia, Martin Mackovic and Milos Vasic. They won bronze in this event in 2021 and also made the A-Final at the Tokyo Olympics. This season they have picked up two bronze medals behind GB at the first and third World Cups.
Spain will also be serious contenders for a medal. Jaime Canalejo Pazos and Javier Garcia Ordonez were sixth in Tokyo and this season they took silver behind the British in Belgrade and were sixth in Lucerne. They were World Championship A-Finalists in 2018 and 2019 and won European bronze in 2019.
A new combination for Munich is the Netherlands, Bjorn van Den Ende and Nelson Ritsema. They were both members of the Dutch Olympic team for Tokyo, Ritsema finishing sixth in the M4- and van Den Ende fifth in the M8. Van den Ende also raced in the M8 that won silver at the 2019 World Championships and bronze at both the 2020 and 2021 Europeans. This season they were fighting for seats in the M4- and placed fourth in Belgrade and fifth in Poznan.
Italy were European champions in 2017 and runners-up in 2021, but for 2022 they have a new combination, Giovanni Abagnale and Alfonso Scalzone. Abagnale won bronze in the M2- at the Rio Olympics and was a member of the M4- that won the Europeans in 2017 and then took silver in 2020 and bronze in 2021. He went on to race in the M2- in Tokyo with Vincenzo Abbagnale finishing 11th. Scalzone is a former lightweight world and European champion and switched to the heavyweights in 2020 racing in the M8 at the 2020 and 2021 Europeans. This pair made their season debut in Lucerne finishing eighth.
Romania has two Tokyo Olympians in their boat, Marius Cozmiuc and Sergiu Bejan. Cozmiuc raced in the M2- with Ciprian Tudosa winning a silver medal (Romania’s first men’s Olympic medal since 1992). Cozmiuc and Tudosa also won the European Championships in 2020 and have European and World medals from 2018. Bejan has raced in the M8 since 2018 winning medals at the 2018,2020 and 2021 European Championships. He also raced in the M8 in Tokyo finishing seventh. As a pair this duo have only raced once, finishing seventh in Lucerne.
One of the most established crews in this event (or indeed any event) are the Hungarians, Bela Simon and Adrian Juhasz. They have been racing together as a pair since 2009 when they won U23 silver. They raced at the London and Rio Olympics and the height of their careers was probably winning the European Championships in 2016 and the M2+ World Championships in 2017. This season they placed fourth in Belgrade and ninth in Lucene.
Winners of the B-Final in Belgrade were Slovenia, Jaka Cas and Nik Krebs. They also raced the pair at the 2021 Europeans finishing 11th. They also raced at the Final Olympic Qualifying regatta but missed out on a spot in Tokyo after finishing fourth.
Switzerland has raced at all three World Cups with their crew of Maurin Lange and Jan Jonah Plock. Their best placing was fifth in Poznan (which was the best result by a Swiss M2- since 2008).
Predictions: This “should” be a fairly comfortable gold for Great Britain with Serbia in silver and the Spanish and Italians scrapping it out for bronze.
M4-
15 entries
Great Britain are the reigning champions in this event and although they have none of the 2021 crew racing in this event in Munich, they will start as favourites to retain their title. Their crew for Munich is Will Stewart, Sam Nunn, Matt Aldridge and Freddie Davidson. All four are former U23 medallists and Nunn, Aldridge and Davidson made their senior debuts at the final World Cup of 2021 winning a silver medal behind the Italian Olympic four. Stewart made the step up to the senior team this season. The British M4- made an immediate impact, winning gold at the Belgrade World Cup (with a line-up of Davidson, Stewart, Morgan Bolding and Lenny Jenkins). Aldridge and Nunn joined the crew for Henley where they narrowly lost to Australia in the final of the Stewards. The British got their revenge a week later in Lucerne where they overpowered the Australians to win by over three seconds. This crew has a very smooth, relaxed style and typically underrate their opposition by 2-3 strokes per minute the whole way down the course.
The main challengers to the British are likely to be the Netherlands and Romania. The Dutch have been trying a number of different combinations this season; in Belgrade they had four crews racing, three of which reached the A-Final. For Poznan they had narrowed this down to two and their top boat – Ralf Rienks, Ruben Knab, Sander de Graaf & Rik Rienks – were runners-up to Australia. The Dutch didn’t race in Lucerne so it should be an intriguing contest to face the British.
Romania finished runners-up to the British at the 2021 Europeans and went on to claim a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics. They have three of that medal-winning crew racing in 2022; Mihaita Tiganescu, Mugurel Semciuc and Stefan Berariu. The fourth member of the crew is 2019 U23 World Champion Florin Lehaci. He was a member of the M8 that won silver at the 2021 Europeans and placed seventh in Tokyo. This season the Romanians have only raced the M4- at one World Cup, taking the bronze medal just one-tenth behind Australia.
Switzerland has a new line-up for Munich with a crew that includes three Tokyo Olympians. Joel Schuerch and Andrin Gulich were member of the M4- that finished ninth and Roman Roeoesli finished fifth in the M2X. Roeoesli has spent the last academic year at Oxford and was a member of the victorious Blue Boat at this year’s University Boat Race. With his Doubles and Blue Boat partner Barnabe Delarze swapping oars for sails to race the Americas Cup, Roeoesli will race in a crew boat without his erstwhile partner for the first-time since 2016. The fourth member of the crew is Tim Roth. The 20-year-old made his senior debut at the 2021 Europeans finishing ninth in the M1X (having won a junior single bronze medal earlier in the season). He won U23 bronze in the BM2x last year and Munich will be his first appearance of the season. This is an undoubtedly talented crew, and they should reach the A-Final, but unlikely to be in the mix with the British, Dutch and Romanians for the medals.
Italy has selected a young crew, three of whom raced at the U23 World Championships last year. Paolo Covini and Giovanni Codato were in the fourth place U23 BM8 and Nunzio di Colandrea won gold in the U23 BM4+. The fourth member of the crew is Salvatore Monfrecola. He raced at the U23’s in 2019 and then raced in the senior M8 at the 2020 and 2021 Europeans. This season the Italians raced two fours at the Lucerne World Cup and the crew for Munich is a combination of those two boats which finished fifth and sixth.
Another young crew hails from Ireland. They are all making their senior debuts in Munich and are all recent U23 medallists. Andrew Sheehan, Adam Murphy and John Kearney won silver in the BM4+ in 2021 and then took bronze in the BM4- this season. The fourth member of the crew is Jack Dorney – he won silver in the BM4- in 2021. It’ll be interesting to see how this crew gets on and how they develop throughout the Paris Olympiad and beyond. An A-Final finish in Munich would be a major achievement for the young crew.
Germany hasn’t won a medal in this event since 2019 and whilst I don’t think their crew for Munich will change that they have shown signs of good speed this season and an A-Final placing would be their minimum expectation. The crew is Theis Hagermeister, Malte Grossmann, Max John and Marc Kammann. Grossmann is the most experienced of the crew having been a member of the senior team since 2015 and in 2017 he won a world Championship bronze medal in the M2+. This season the Germans raced at the second and third World Cups winning the B-Final in Poznan and taking fourth in Lucerne.
Lithuania finished 11th in this event last year and their crew remains the same for 2022. It’s a boat that contains three brothers, twins Domantas and Dovydas Stankunas and their older brother Povilas. The twins won silver in the BM2- at this year’s U23 World Championships to follow the silver they won in 2021. They also raced at the first World Cup this season finishing eighth. Povilas raced in the pair with the fourth member of the crew, Mantas Juskevicius, at the first and third World Cups placing 13th at each.
Poland has a very experienced crew, with Mateausz Wilangowski, Mikolaj Burda, Piotr Juszczak and Lukasz Posylajka. Wilangowski and Burda were members of the crew that won gold at the 2019 World Championships and ended the Tokyo Olympiad with a win in the B-Final. Juszczak was a member of the M8 at both the London and Rio Olympics but missed out on Tokyo. Posylajka is the relative newbie in this crew of veterans – he made his senior debut in 2018 and raced in the M4- at the 2021 Europeans. This season the Poles have raced at all three World Cups finishing in the A-Final in Belgrade and Poznan and winning the B-Final in Lucerne.
Predictions: Should be a good scrap for the medals. If GB row like they did in Lucerne they will be very difficult to beat. I’m going for GB in gold with Romania in silver and the Netherlands in bronze.
M4X
14 entries.
Poland will be the crew to watch in this event. Their line-up of Dominik Czaja, Mateusz Biskup, Miroslaw Zietarski and Fabian Baranski won in Lucerne. Zietarski and Baranski raced in the double for the first two World Cups taking silver behind the Croatians both times. It would appear the Poles think the quad is more likely to deliver gold than the M2X. Baranski is the sole remaining crew member from the boat that took fourth in Tokyo with Zietarski also an Olympian having finished sixth in the M2X.
Silver medallists in Lucerne were Italy, Nicolo’ Carucci, Andrea Panizza, Luca Chiumento and Giacoma Gentili. They have a strong track record in this event; they are the reigning champions and have not finished lower than second at the last four European Championships. Panizza and Gentili were both in the winning 2021 crew and also raced in Tokyo where the Italians finished fifth. Carucci is the least experienced of the crew; the 21-year-old won silver in the BM2X at the 2021 U23 World Championships, and he and Chiumento raced the double at the 2021 Europeans, placing eighth.
The M4X is a bit of a “problem child” for Great Britain. On paper they have the athletes to be contending for the major medals, but their results this season have been nothing short of dreadful. Seventh in Belgrade was followed by 13th (and last) in Lucerne. The crew includes two members of the Olympic silver medal winning boat, Harry Leask and Tom Barras. For Munich the British coaches have moved George Bourne and Matt Haywood into the boat from the M2X where they’d been having a solid season (fourth in Belgrade and fifth in Lucerne). Both Bourne and Haywood were members of the U23 gold-medal winning boat in 2019. It remains to be seen if this latest iteration of the GB M4X can deliver to their potential.
The Netherlands will also be expecting to be challenging for the medals. They were European champions in 2019 and 2020 and runners-up to the Italians in 2021. The crew for 2022 is Finn Florijn, Jan van Der Bij, Simon Van Dorp and Stefan Broenink. Florijn and Der Bij were in the quad for the first and second World Cups, taking silver in Belgrade and then fourth in Poznan. Both Van Dorp and Broenink raced in Tokyo – van Dorp in the M8 and Broenink in thee M2x (winning a silver medal). It’ll be interesting to see how this combination gets on, especially as it will be the first international race for Van Dorp in a sculling boat. His international career, from a junior in 2014 through to the Tokyo Olympics, has been in the M8.
Romania have three Tokyo Olympians on-board; Ioan Prundeanu and Marian Enache from the ninth place M2X, and Ciprian Tudosa from the silver medal M2-. The fourth member of the crew is Mihai Chiruta who raced the M1x at the 2020 and 2021 Europeans. Prundeanu and Enache were European bronze medallists in the M2x in 2019 and then took fifth in 2020. Tudosa was European Champion in the M2- in 2020 and has European medals from 2017, 2018 and 2019. This season they have raced once as a quad, winning the bronze medal in Lucerne.
Estonia has a long tradition in this boat class, and they were European Champions in 2008, 2012 and 2016. They also took bronze in 2021 and went on to finish sixth at the Tokyo Olympics. Their crew for Munich includes two of that Tokyo boat, Allar Raja and Tonu Endrekson. Joining the crew for 2022 are Mikhail Kushteyn and Johann Poolak. They raced in the M2x in 2021 but missed qualification for Tokyo at the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta. This season their quad has raced at the Poznan and Lucerne World Cups winning a silver in Poznan and then seventh in Lucerne.
Lithuania has had a rollercoaster ride in this boat class over the last 24 months. Disappointment at the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta turned to joy when they were awarded a last-minute slot at Tokyo following the disqualification of Russia. Unsurprisingly they didn’t perform to their true abilities and came last of the ten quads racing. Like Estonia they have a good record in the European Championships; they were champions in 2017, silver medallists in 2018 and bronze medallists in 2020. This season their crew is Zygimantas Galisanskis, Dominykas Jancionis, Giedrius Bieliauskas and Aurimas Adomavicius. Jancionis was part of the Tokyo quad and Adamovicius raced in the M2x at the Olympics finishing 12th. This season the quad raced at both the first and third World Cups. They took bronze in Belgrade and then eighth in Lucerne.
Ukraine has had a good start to the 2022 season placing fourth at both the first and third World Cups. The crew, Mykola Kalashynk, Pavlo Yurchenko, Olexandr Nadtoka and Ivan Dovgodko have been racing together for a number of years – they were seventh at the 2020 Europeans and eighth in 2021.
Predictions: should be a good contest but I’m going for Poland to win their first European title in the M4x since 2010, with Romania in silver and Italy in bronze.
M8
5 entries
The third year in a row where the European M8 will be a five-boat field. European M8 races always tend to come down to GB v Germany with the likes of Romania and the Netherlands playing supporting roles. Great Britain are the reigning champions and their win in 2021 brought to an end a run of eight consecutive wins for Germany.
Great Britain will start as favourites to retain their title. They have looked unstoppable so far this season, winning the first World Cup by a record ten seconds and then followed that up with a four second win in Lucerne (setting a very fast time of 5:24 in their heat).
Germany has acknowledged that this year will be tough as they rebuild following a host of retirements after Tokyo. They have three of the silver medal crew from Tokyo back this season and have a number of former U23 athletes who made their senior debuts this season. They opened their account for 2022 at the Poznan World Cup and took gold ahead of Australia. They raced GB for the first time in Lucerne and were beaten for the silver by Australia and were over five seconds behind GB.
Romania were runners-up at the Europeans in both 2020 and 2021 and then at the Tokyo Olympics the crew finished seventh. For Munich they have five of that Olympic boat back. This season they have raced at one World Cup, finishing fourth in Lucerne.
Italy were fifth in Lucerne, and they have an extremely experienced line-up based around their bronze medal Olympic M4- from Tokyo.
The Netherlands finished second to the British in Belgrade but have made significant changes to that crew with only two of that boat racing in Munich. They have chosen to bring in a number of their scullers to the boat, including Olympic M4x champion Abe Wiersma. Guillaume Krommenhoek, Jacob van der Kerkhof and Guus Mollee have all been racing in sculling boats at the World Cups and so it’ll be interesting to see how the switch to sweep impacts on the speed of the boat.
Predictions: Great Britain should win this comfortably and they will be hoping to lay down a marker with a clear-water win. The interesting question will be who will take silver and bronze; the other four boats in this event look pretty evenly matched so it could be a real battle for the minor places. I’m going to go for The Netherlands to grab the silver just ahead of the Germans.
