2022 World Cup II – Women’s Events Preview

Photo Credit: World Rowing / Benedict Tufnell

The second World Cup of 2022 takes place in Poznan this weekend, and it sees the first appearance of the year for the teams from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. But one nation notable for its absence is the winners of World Cup 1, Great Britain. But, notwithstanding their absence, there should be some fascinating and highly competitive racing in Poland.

So, as always, here’s my rundown on who to watch in each event, starting with the women.

Women’s Single

Fourteen Entries

Winner World Cup 1: Karolien Florijn (NED)

Winner in Belgrade, Karolien Florijn of The Netherlands, will be looking to continue her fine run of form. Most of her recent experience has been in sweep boats (she won silver in the W4- in Tokyo), but she does have a world championship bronze medal to her name from the 2018 W4X. If her performance in Belgrade is anything to go by, she could become one of the dominant contenders in the single for the Paris Olympiad.

As at Belgrade, the Netherlands have two scullers racing in Poznan. Tokyo W2X bronze medallist Lisa Scheenaard will be hoping to improve on her 7th place last time out.

One of the main challengers to Florijn in Poznan will be Jeanine Gmelin of Switzerland. This will be Gmelin’s first race since the Tokyo Olympics, where she finished 5th. Gmelin is Switzerland’s most successful female rower and has only missed the A-Final once since 2015. She’ll be looking to kick off her Olympiad in style in Poznan.

China is launching a two-pronged attack on the W1X in Poznan. Racing as CHN1 is Shiyu Lu. She finished 2nd in Belgrade and was a member of the W4- that finished 5th in Tokyo. CHN2 is Ling Zhang, probably the stronger of the two Chinese scullers; she won Olympic gold in the W4X and was also World Champion in 2019.

An exciting young sculler to watch is Alexandra Foester of Germany. The reigning U23 world Champion narrowly missed out on Olympic Qualification at the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta. She won the B-Final at the 2021 European Championship on her senior debut. Still, only 20 of the Germans have high hopes for Foester, particularly in the LA Olympiad.

Australia’s representative in the single in Poznan is Tara Rigney. She was in the W2X in Tokyo (her senior debut), finishing 7th. She won the Australian National Championships in the single in 2021 and is currently studying at Sydney University.

Another Tokyo Olympian racing is Lenka Antasova of the Czech Republic. She finished 5th at the 1st world Cup and raced in the double at both the Rio and Tokyo Olympics.

Charlotte Spence is racing for New Zealand in this boat class in Poznan. She’s the reserve for the W4X and will be making her senior debut at the World Cup. Olympic Champion, Emma Twigg, was officially selected for the single but was unavailable to this weekend.

Racing for the USA is Maggie Fellows. A member of SoCal Scullers, Poznan, marks her debut at a World Cup. She previously raced at both the 2018 and 2019 Pan Ams.

11th in Belgrade was Bulgaria’s, Desislava Angelova. She missed qualifying for Tokyo at the FOQR and was 19th at the 2019 World Championships.

Also racing are Audrey Feutrie of France (5th at the u23 Worlds last year) and Siri Eva Kristiansen of Norway (5th in the W4X in Belgrade).

Predictions: 

Very tough to call Florijn looked superb in winning in Belgrade, but Gmelin and Zhang are world-class scullers, and Foester is an exciting prospect. I’m going to plump for Gmelin to win with Florijn in silver and Zhang bronze.

Women’s Double 

Seventeen Entries

Winner World Cup 1: The Netherlands (Roos de Jong & Laila Youssifou)

The Netherlands won all three open-weight sculling events in Belgrade, and Roos de Jong and Laila Youssifou return to Poznan to go for their 2nd win of the season. As well as winning the w2X in Belgrade, they also doubled up in the W8, winning another gold. Both raced in Tokyo, with de Jong winning bronze in the double and Youssifou finishing 6th in the W4X.

Racing as NED2 is Karien Robbers and Minke Holleboom. They both raced at the 1st World Cup, with Robbers finishing 14th in the W1X and Holleboom 10th in the W2X.

Australia has two of the W4X that won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, Harriet Hudson and Rowena Meredith. Hudson is a former U23 silver medallist in this boat class, and Meredith has U23 and World Cup medals in the quad, but Poznan will be her first international race in the smaller boat.

One of the most interesting entries is from Ireland, Sanita Puspure and Zoe Hyde. Puspure is the reigning World Champion in the W1X but had her Olympic hopes spoiled by illness during the regatta. The 40-year-old will race in the double for the first time since 2011. Hyde, a member of Killorglin Rowing Club, makes her World Cup debut in Poznan. She made her international debut earlier this season, winning a bronze medal in the W2- at Piediluco Regatta.

Another interesting entry from the USA is Sophia Vitas and Kara Kohler. Kohler won bronze at the 2019 World Championships in the W1X and finished 9th in Tokyo. She’s been racing in the single since 2018, and Poznan will be her first international appearance in the W2X. Vitas was a member of the W4X that finished 7th in 2019 and also raced in the W8 at the 2017 World Championships.

The US has a 2nd boat racing, the U23 combination of Emily Dellemann and Emily Kallfelz. Dellemann finished 7th in the BW2X at the 2021 U23 Worlds, and Kallfelz is a two-time U23 silver medallist in the BW1X.

Switzerland has an exciting young combination racing in Poznan. Nina Wettstein and Lisa Loetscher were both in the U23 BW4X that won the World Championships in 2021. Poznan will be Wettstein’s senior debut, and Loetscher raced in the W1X in Belgrade, finishing 16th.

Germany has two crews racing. GER1 is Frauke Hunderling and Pia Greiten. They were both in the W8 that missed qualification for Tokyo after finishing3rd at the FOQR. Greiten went on to race in the singe at the final World Cup of 2021, just missing out on the podium. GER2 is Sophia Krause and Sophie Leupold. Krause is a former U23 lightweight silver medallist and raced in the LW2X at the 2019 World Championships, finishing 16th. Leupold makes her senior debut in Poznan, having raced in the u23 team in 2018.

China has made a change to the line-up from Belgrade. Yingying Xu (who made her debut in Belgrade) is now joined by the more experienced Shuangmei Shen, who was in the silver medal W4X in Belgrade and raced in the W2x at the FOQR.

Canada is represented by Shannon Kennedy and Marilou Duvernay Tardif. Kennedy, from London Western Rowing Club, raced in the W2x at the 2019 Pan Ams finishing 6th. Duvernay Tardif makes her senior debut in Poznan, having raced on the U23 team in 2018 and 2019.

Japan has two boats racing with JPN1 including Ayami Oishi who finished 10th in the LW2X in Tokyo and Shiho Yonekawa who was 3rd in the W1X at the FOQR. JPN2 is Haruna Sakakibara and Kana Nishihara

Also racing are Hungary, Vivian Preil and Eszter Kramer, who finished 7th in Belgrade, Poland (Olga Michalkiewicz and Katarzyna Boruch – 9th at the 1st World Cup)., Norway (Thea Helseth and Jenny Rorvik – who both raced unsuccessfully at the FOQR) and Thailand (Matinee Raruen and Parisa Chaempudsa).

Predictions: 

I’m picking The Netherlands to continue their World Cup success, with Australia in silver and the USA in bronze.

Women’s Pair

Fifteen Entries

World Cup 1 winner: Great Britain (Emily Ford & Esme Booth)

With none of the medallists from Belgrade competing in Poznan, it’s going to be interesting to see how this event plays out.

Grace Prendergast and Kerri Williams of New Zealand are the reigning Olympic champions in this event and will be starting the defence of their title later in the season. For Poznan, the Kiwis have selected Kirstyn Goodger and Jackie Gowler. They are part of the W4- squad and will be fighting for seats in that boat as the season progresses. Gowler raced in the W8 that won the 2019 world Championships and then silver in Tokyo. Goodger raced in the W4- at the 217 World Championships and then switched between sweep and sculling throughout 2018 and 2019, ending up as part of the 5th placed W4X at the 2019 World Championships.

Ireland comes into Belgrade on the back of a strong performance at the Piediluco Regatta in April. W2- Tara Hanlon and Fiona Murtagh came away with a gold and silver medal from the two days. They were both members of the W4- which won Ireland’s first-ever women’s Olympic medal with a bronze in Tokyo.

China has two boats in the event, both of whom raced in fours at the first World Cup. Racing as CHN1 is Hairong Zhang and Yihui Wu.  Wu, who made her international debut in Belgrade, finished 3rd in the W4- and Zhang was in the crew that came 5th.

CHN2 is Xinyu Lin and Xiaoxin Liu. They were both in the 3rd place W4- in Belgrade. They both also raced in Tokyo, with Lin placing 5th in the W4- and Liu going out in the repechage in the W2X.

The Netherlands finished 3rd in Belgrade but has two different line-ups in Poznan. Racing as NED1 is Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester. They raced in the W2X in Belgrade, finishing 4th. They raced in the W4- that won three European titles from 2019-2021and a World Championship silver in 2019. They went on to take silver at the Tokyo Olympics in that boat class as well.

NED2 is Dieuwertje den Besten and Maartje Damen; they raced as NED2 in Belgrade, reaching the A-Final (and then doubled up in the W8 that took gold). They were both members of the 2019 U23 World Championship gold medal BW8.

The USA also have two very experienced pairs. USA1 is Maddy Wanamaker and Claire Collins. They were both in the W4- in Tokyo that finished 4th. Wanamaker was also in the W4- that won gold at the 2018 World Championships. Collins made her international debut in Tokyo and had previously raced on the U23 team taking silver in the BW8 in both 2017 and 2018.

USA2 is Regina Salmons and Allyson Baker. Baker, from Ohio State University, made her senior debut at the 2nd World Cup in 2019, taking 7th in the W2- and 4th in the W4-. Salmons also made her senior debut in 2019 and went on to race in the W8 at the Tokyo Olympics, which finished 4th.

Canada is another nation with two boats entered. CAN1 is Kirsten Edwards and Alexis Cronk. Both were making their senior debuts and raced together in the BW2- at the 2021 U23 World Championships, finishing 4th. CAN2 is Cassidy Deane and Morgan Rosts. Deane, from Kingston rowing Club, makes her international debut, and Rosts made her senior debut at the final World Cup of 2019, having won gold in the U23 BW8 in both 2017 and 2018. Both these boats are doubling up in the W4-.

Both the Czech Republic and Denmark have the same line-ups that raced in Belgrade. For the Czechs, that’s Radka Novotinkova and Pavlina Flamikova, who won the B-Final, and for the Danes, it’s Sofie Vikkelsoe and Nikoline Laidlaw, who came 9th.

Also racing in Germany with Alyssa Meyer and Melanie Goeldner. They were European silver medallists in 2019 and then raced in the W8 in 2021, finished 5th at the Europeans and 3rd at the FOQ.

France has a young U23 pair of Josephine Cornut-Danjou and Agathe Oudet. Cornut-Danjou was 5th in the BW2- at last year’s U23, and Oudet took silver in the JW4- at the Junior World Championships.

Australia also has a young U23 pair racing. Both Eliza Gaffney from Melbourne University and her partner, Genevieve Hart from Freemantle, are making their international debuts in Poznan.

Predictions:

Another event that could be very close. Despite not being the selected pair, the Kiwis could well get amongst the medals. Ireland has a strong pair, as do the USA and The Netherlands. Any one of these four boats could take the gold….but I’m going to plump for NZL in gold with NED in silver and USA in bronze (sorry, Ireland!)

Women’s Quad

Nine Entries 

World Cup 1 winner: The Netherlands

The Netherlands is unchanged from the line-up that won in Belgrade (Nika Vos, Tessa Dullemans, Ilse Kolkman & Bente Paulis). However, they were pushed to the wire by China, who were just 2/10th of a second behind them at the line. 

China has made one change to their line-up from Belgrade, with Yunxia Chen replacing Shuangmei Shen. Chen raced in the single in Belgrade, finishing 4th. She re-joins the W4X, having been a member of the crew that won gold at the Tokyo Olympics. The crew for Poznan now contains 3 of that gold medal boat (Chen, Yang Lyu and Xiaotong Cui). The only member of the crew who didn’t race in Tokyo is Fengijao Sun, who made her senior debut in Belgrade, having raced on the U23 team in 2019.

Australia has 2 of the crew that raced to a bronze medal in Tokyo, Rowena Meredith and Harriet Hudson. These two are doubling up in the W2X. They are joined in the quad by Georgie Gleeson and Kathryn Rowan. Both of these athletes are from the Sydney University club, Gleeson is making her international debut, whilst Rowan has raced in the Australian U23 team finishing 6th in the BW8 in 2018.

Germany has always been a powerhouse in this event. However, the crew for Poznan is their U23 boat rather than the senior crew. It contains two members of their silver medal U23 crew from last year, Tabea Kuhnert and Sarah Wibbernz. Another U23 silver medallist, Judith Guhse, is at the bow (she won silver in the BW2X in 2021), and the 4th member of the crew is U23 international Nora Peuser (who was 4th in the BW2X in 2019).

New Zealand has a mixture of youth and experience in their boat. The experience comes in the shape of Georgia Nugent-O’Leary. She was in the quad at the Olympics that finished 8th. Kristen Froude from Invercargill is a former U23 athlete, having raced in the BW8 back in 2016 and also raced for the senior team during the World Cup series of 2015. The rest of the crew are all making their senior international debuts in Poznan. Kate Haines, from Waikato, raced in the U23 BW4- in 2019, finishing 5th. The final member of the crew is Stella Clayton-Greene. She hailed from Hauraki Plains Rowing Club and was a member of the New Zealand Junior team in 2018, winning a bronze medal in the JW2X.

France has the same line-up that finished 9th at the Tokyo Olympics, Marie Jacquet, Margaux Bailleul, Violane Aernoudts and Emma Lunatti. Poznan will be their first appearance on the World Cup circuit this season, although they did take the gold medal at the Huegel Regatta in Essen in May.

Switzerland finished 5th at the first World Cup and kept the same line-up for Poznan (Fabienne Schweizer, Salome Ulrich, Celia Dupre and Pascale Walker). Ulrich and Dupre were both members of the U23 BW4x that won gold at the 2021 U23 World Championships. Schweizer and Walker both raced in the quad that finished 9th at the 2021 Europeans.

Poland has made one change to the crew that finished 6th in Belgrade. 21-year-old Paulina Chrzanowska comes in to replace Katarzyna Boruch. Chrzanowska raced in the double in Belgrade, placing 9th. She joins Marta Wielczko and Katarzyna Zillmann, who were both in the quad in Tokyo that won silver, and the 4th member of the crew is Tokyo Olympian Joanna Dittmann.

The final entry is from the Czech Republic. This is another U23 boat with Barbora Podrazilova, Alzbeta Zavadilova, Eliska Podrazilova and Simona Paskova. All four are making their senior debuts, Barbora Podrazilova raced on the junior team in 2018, and the other three were all members of the Czech U23 team that raced at the U23 World Championships in 2021.

Predictions: 

It should be another tight battle between the Chinese and the Netherlands. I’m going to pick China to get the better of the Dutch with Switzerland in bronze.

Women’s Four

Fourteen Entries

World Cup 1 winner: Great Britain

Australia come into Poznan as the reigning Olympic Champions, and they have half of that gold medal crew back in 2022, Stephan Lucy and Annabelle McIntyre. They are joined by Katrina Werry and Bronwyn Cox. Werry and Cox were both members of the W8 that raced in Tokyo that finished 5th. Werry rowed in the W4- from 2017-to 19, winning the World Championship in ’17 and ’19. Cox raced in the W8 in 2019 that won silver at the World Championships.

Canada comes to Poznan with two boats. CAN1 also contains two Tokyo Gold medallists, Sydney Payne and Avalon Wastneys raced in the gold medal W8. They are joined by two fellow Tokyo Olympians, Jessica Sevick and Gabrielle Smith finished 6th in the W2X.

CAN2 are all doubling up in the W2- (Cassidy Deane, Morgan Rosts, Kirsten Edwards & Alexis Cronk). So to learn about these athletes, read the W2- section.

Ireland were bronze medallists in Tokyo and had all four of that crew racing in Poznan, although only two of them were in the W4- (Emily Hegarty and Fiona Murtagh are racing in the W2-). The crew for Poznan has Aifric Keogh from University College, Cork and Eimear Lambe from Old Collegians Boat Club, who were both in the Tokyo boat. The new members of the crew are Natalie Long from Lee Valley in Cork and Tara Hanlon, also from University College, Cork. Long is making her debut in Poznan, and Hanlon raced in this boat in 2019 that finished 10thand also won silver in U23 BW4- that year.

The USA are another crew packed with Tokyo Olympians. Jessica Thoennes, a graduate of the University of Washington, and Charlotte Buck, From Columbia University, were both members of the 4th place W8. Kristi Wagner (a Yale graduate) raced in the W2x at the Olympics that came 5th. The final member of the crew is Kelsey Reelick (older sister of senior international Erin) makes her senior debut, having competed on the US junior team back in 2008.

New Zealand has two of the crew that finished 11th in 2019, Davina Waddy and Phoebe Spoors, both from Canterbury Rowing Club. Beth Ross, from Petone Rowing club, was in the W8 that won gold at the 2019 World Championships and silver in Tokyo. The final member of the crew is Catherine Layburn from North Shore; she makes her senior debut in Poznan, having raced on the U23 team in 2018 and 2019.

China has two boats racing, all of whom raced in various combinations in Belgrade. CHN1 is Yan Zhang, Yuxia Zhou, Peixin Zhang and Xingye Xu. All but Xu raced in the W4- that finished 5th in Belgrade. For their part, Xu raced in the W8, which was 3rd out of 3 boats in Belgrade. CHN2 is Shuxian Zhang, Keke Xia, Mengyao Dai and Yixin Yang. Xia and Dai finished 8th in the W2- in Belgrade, and Zhang was in the 3rd place W4-. Yang is the 4th member of the crew and is the one member who has moved across from the CHN1 boat from Belgrade.

Denmark finished in silver medal position in Belgrade and have kept the same line-up for Poznan, Julie Poulsen, Marie Johannesen, Frida Nielsen and Astrid Steenburg. Nielsen raced in this boat class in Tokyo, finishing 8th.

The Netherlands didn’t race in this boat class in Belgrade, preferring to race in pairs. But, for Poznan, they combine their top two pairs into the W4-. Hermine Drenth and Tinka Offereins took bronze (as NED3), and Marloes Oldenburg and Benthe Boonstra finished one place behind (racing as NED1). Oldenburg, Drenth and Offereins were all members of the w8 that finished 2nd at the European Championships last year. Boonstra made her senior debut in Belgrade and is a former u23 world Champion.

Poland finished 4th in Belgrade and have three of the crew in Poznan (Barbara Jechorek, Zuzanna Lesner and Weronika Kazmierczak0 along with former U23 international Barabara Streng.

Germany has a crew led by Rio Olympian Marie-Catherine Arnold, a world silver medallist in the W4X in 2018. She’s joined by the u23 bronze medallist pair of Lena Sarassa and Hannah Rief, along with former U23 international Lena Osterkamp.

Also, racing is crews from France and the Czech Republic.

Predictions: With multiple Olympic gold medallists racing, this could be an excellent battle between Australia and Canada, with Ireland and the USA scrapping it out for the medals as well. I’m picking the Aussies in gold with Canada in silver and the USA pipping the Irish for the bronze.

Women’s Eight

Five Entries

World Cup 1 winner: The Netherlands

The Dutch have made three changes from the crew that won in Belgrade, with Hermine Drenth, Tinka Offereins and cox Dieuwke Fetter replacing Dieuwertje den Besten, Maartje Damen (who race in the W2-) and cox Aniek van Veenan. The rest of the crew, Benthe Boonstra, Laila Youssifou, Marloes Oldenburg, Roos de Jong, Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester all doubling-up in other events in Poznan.

Denmark is also doubling up with the majority of its crew. The W4- of Julie Poulsen, Marie Johannesen, Frida Nielsen and Astrid Steenburg, join the W2- of Sofie Vikkelsloe and Nikoline Laidlaw. The two members of the crew who aren’t racing in other events are both making their senior international debuts; Mathilde Kilgaard and Christine Cardel were both members of the JW4- which finished 8th at the 2019 Junior World Championships.

Australia has a boat of two halves, with the bow five all making their international debuts and the stern 3 being experienced Olympians and World Championship medallists. In the stroke seat is Emma Fessey; she won bronze in the W8 at the 2018 World Championships. Sitting behind her are two members of the Tokyo Olympic W8, Georgina Rowe and Giorgia Patten. The rest of the boat is all debutants, with bow and Cox Eleanor Price and Talia Barnet-Hepples from Sydney University, Jean Mitchell from Melbourne Uni at 2, Paige Barr from Mercantile in the three seats, Jacqueline Swick from the Swan River Club in Perth at 4 (shout out to Swan River’s Head Coach Mark Beer) and Emma Bramwell from Adelaide Rowing Club at 5.

Germany has a very young crew in Poznan, with an average age of just 21. The crew contains four of the boat that won a bronze medal at the U23 World Championships last year (Paula Hartmann, Anna Kracklauer, Annika Weber and Katja Furhmann). Luisa Schade also raced at the u23 last year, placing 5th in the BW4-. Christin Stoehner is the only athlete in the crew with senior racing experience, having raced to 12th place in the W4—at the 2020 European Championships. The final two members of the crew are former junior international Katarina Tkachenko and international debutant Paula Rossen.

The final crew in the event is India. It’s fantastic to see an Indian W8 racing (for the first time ever at a World Cup). Their crew are all very young, averaging just 20 and with four of the crew still in their teens. Three of the crew, Sonali Swain, Deepika Xess and Ritu Kaudi, raced in the JW4- at the 2019 Junior World Championships, where they finished 9th. The rest of the crew, Rose Joshi, Varsha Kattathara Baiju, Khushpreet Kaur, Avinash Kaur, and Rose Alphonse Raj, are all making their international debuts.

Predictions: This should be a 2nd win for the Netherlands, but the Aussies should push them hard, and Denmark take the bronze.

Lightweight Women’s Double

Seventeen Entries

World Cup 1 winner: Great Britain

With the winners from the 1st World Cup absent, the favourites for Poznan may well be the USA; Molly Reckford and Michelle Sechser made the A-Final at the Tokyo Olympics. 29-year-old Reckford didn’t make her senior debut until 2019, taking 4th in the LW4X. Her partner, Sechser, is more experienced. The 35-year-old started her career in 2012, finishing 4th in the LW4X at the world championships. She won her first medal during the 2015 World Cup series and went on to win a World Championship bronze in 2017.

New Zealand were World Champions in 2019 and had one of that crew, Jackie Kiddle, returning for 2021. She’s joined by Rachael Kennedy from Waikato Rowing Club. The 31-year-old is making her international debut in Poznan. It’ll be interesting to see what this new combination is like, but New Zealand seldom produces slow lightweight doubles.

Runners-up at the Belgrade World Cup was China. They have the same line-up in Poznan, Jiaqi Zou and Xiuping Qiu. That silver medal came in their senior debuts; Qiu raced in the U23 team in 2016, and Zou was in the junior team in 2018.

Poland finished 3rd and 4th in Belgrade, and they have the same four athletes racing in Poznan; although the combinations have been changed, clearly, the Poles are using the World Cups to seat race the different combinations. In Belgrade, Zuzanna Jasinska raced with Katarzyna Welna to the bronze, and Jessika Sobocinska raced with Wiktoria Kalinowska finishing 1.5 seconds behind their teammates. In Poznan Jasinksa is partnered by Sobocinska as POL1 and Welna races with Kalinowska as POL2.

Switzerland sees the return of their Tokyo Olympic pairing of Patricia Merz and Frederique Rol. This duo won the B-Final at the Olympics for 7th overall (the best result in the event for the Swiss since 2000). Merz and Rol have been racing together as a double since 2015 and won bronze at the European Championships in 2018 and finished that year in 4th at the World Championships (which was Switzerland’s best result at World Championships for the LW2X).

Ireland has made one change to the crew that finished 8th at the Tokyo Olympics. Lydia Heaphy comes in to join Margaret Cremen. Heaphy (another Skibereen native) raced the LW1Xat the 2019 World Championships finishing 11th. In 2020 she won gold in the BLW2X at the European U23 Championships. Cremen, from Rochestown, County Cork, made her senior debut in 2018, reaching the A-Final of the 2020 European Championships before qualifying for the LW2xfor Tokyo with Aoife Casey at the FOQR.

As mentioned above, The Netherlands is doubling-up in the LW2X with Martine Veldhuis and Phaedra van Der Molen. They look to be a crew with a lot of potentials, and an A-Final finish will be a good step.

France is represented by Auriele Morizot and Susannah Duncan. They raced together at the final World Cup in 2021, finishing 4th. Duncan is the 2019 u23 BLW1X world Champion (when she represented Great Britain) and Morizot finished 7th in the BLW1X at the 2021 U23 World championships. As with the young Dutch crew, the French will be looking to make the A-Final.

Also racing is a young Australian double, Anneka Reardon and Lucy Coleman, both of whom are making their international debuts. Austria (Valentina Cavallar & Lara Tiefenhaler – 11th in Belgrade). The Czech Republic, Veronika Cinkova and Kristyna Neuhortova (6th in Belgrade). Denmark is represented by Marie Morch-Pederson and Mathilde Persson (8th in Belgrade). Japan has two crews racing, Chiaki Tomita and Emil Hirouchi as JPN1 and Sahoko Kinota and Kaho Onishi as JPN2 – only one of these athletes, Tomita, has raced internationally before (placing 10th at her home Olympics).

The final crew is racing in Germany. Romy Dreher is a U23 silver medallist from the 2021 BLW4X, and Katrin Volk finished 4th at the 2021 European Championships.

Predictions: 

The USA in gold, New Zealand in silver and China in bronze.

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