Cover image: World Rowing / Benedict Tufnell
2022 Champions: Will Stewart, Sam Nunn, Dave Ambler, Freddie Davidson (Great Britain)
Entries: 17
Olympic qualifying places: 7
Australia and Great Britain seem to have been going toe-to-toe in this event for decades (with the occasional cameo from the likes of Italy, New Zealand and Poland)! This season is no different. Australia are the reigning Olympic Champions and they have all four of their Olympic gold medal crew racing this season; Alex Hill, Jack Hargreaves, Spencer Turrin and Alex Purnell. But, since their Olympic win, they have had to play second fiddle to the British. They finished runners-up in 2022 and have also come second to the British both times they’ve raced this season. To my eyes the Australians looked very rushed and “agricultural” when they raced in Varese, their rate barely dropping below 40spm. In Lucerne they calmed things down a bit, looking a lot smoother and rating 36-38spm. However, despite looking smoother, they still couldn’t get the better of the British. They are the most experienced crew in the field however and when push comes to shove Australia v Great Britain always brings out the best in both crews.
For their part, Great Britain come into the World Championships unbeaten in the M4- since the Tokyo Olympics (albeit with a completely changed line-up of Freddie Davidson, Dave Ambler, Ollie Wilkes and Matt Aldridge). Such is the strength in depth of the GB men’s sweep team that 2022 World Champions, Sam Nunn and Will Stewart are “only” spares for Belgrade. Freddie Davidson is (currently) unbeaten in the M4- and this season the British have won the Europeans and both the second and third World Cups. One of the remarkable things about this crew is just how smooth they row – they typically underrate their opposition by 2-3spm and they have a devastating third 500m. It’s going to be fantastic (as it always is) to watch GB and AUS go head-to-head again.
But this event isn’t just about GB and Australia, if those two crews aren’t careful there could be one or two crews that could catch them napping. Principal amongst these is New Zealand (Ollie Fitzroy Maclean, Logan Ullrich, Matt Macdonald and Tom Murray). This is a new line-up who arrived in Europe shortly before the Lucerne World Cup, where they finished with a bronze medal in their first international race as a crew. MacDonald and Murray were in the NZ M8 that won gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Fitzroy MacLean and Ullrich both made their senior debuts in Lucerne, having raced on the U23 team. Ullrich (a University Of Washington graduate) won silver in the BM4- last year and Fitzroy Maclean is a Grad student at Cal Berkeley and won silver in the BM2X back in 2019. Whilst all the focus will be on GB and Australia the Kiwis are my dark horses for this event.
Another crew with serious medal expectations is The Netherlands, comprising Ruben Knab, Rik Rienks, Ralf Rienks and Nikki Van Sprang. Both Van Sprang and Knab raced in Tokyo (Knab in the M8 and Van Sprang the M2-). Three of the crew were in the boat that won bronze in 2022 (Sander de Graaf in place of Van Sprang – who was in the silver medal M8). This season all four started in the M8 and won bronze at the Europeans before moving into the M4- for Lucerne where they finished fifth (beaten by two GB boats, Australia and New Zealand). They certainly have the capability to make the podium and challenge for the bronze.
Switzerland were winners of the Zagreb World Cup (albeit in a very depleted field), delivering a first Swiss medal in this event since 1982! Their crew is Kai Schaetzle, Joel Schuerch, Tim Roth and Patrick Brunner. They followed up that historic gold with solid performances at the Europeans (sixth) and Varese (seventh). Schaetzle was not able to race in Lucerne so the other three raced in different events – Schuerch and Brunner in the M2- and Roth in the M1X.
The USA last won this event in 1986 and last won a World Championship medal in 2014. They come into Belgrade with a very experienced crew that will have high hopes of making the podium. Nick Mead, Justin Best, Mike Grady and Liam Corrigan all raced at the Tokyo Olympics (Mead, Best and Corrigan in the M8 and Grady in the M4-). Last season Best and Grady were the USA’s M2-, winning the B-Final at the World Championships, Corrigan was in the fourth-placed M8 and Mead is the sole remaining member of the 2022 M4- that finished tenth. This season they’ve raced once, at the Varese World Cup (with Chris Carlson racing in place of Best) and they won bronze behind GB and Australia. For my money they will be in a battle with the Netherlands and New Zealand for the bronze medal.
Poland is another nation that come to Belgrade with significant Olympic experience in their crew. Three of the boat, Mateusz Wilangowski, Michal Szpakowski and Mikolaj Burda, finished seventh in the M4- in Tokyo. Those three were also in the M4- in 2019 that delivered an unexpected win at the World Championships (Poland’s first M4- World title). Their results since then haven’t quite met the same standards. They finished ninth in 2022 and this season they have been trying different combinations, taking fifth at the Europeans and tenth in Varese before settling on their final combination which sees Lukasz Posylajka from the 2022 crew return to the boat. This quartet raced in Lucerne where they finished ninth. Their main challenge will be to make the A-Final or take the win in the B-Final to secure Olympic qualification.
Bronze medallists at the Europeans this season was France (Thibaud Turlan, Guillaume Turlan, Benoit Brunet and Teo Rayet). The Turlan twins raced in the pair in Tokyo and with Rayet (and Louis Chamorand) finished 12th last season. Brunet was in the quad last season and finished eighth. This season, as well as winning bronze, this quartet made the A-Final at both the Varese and Lucerne World Cups.
South Africa took silver behind Switzerland at the opening World Cup and their crew includes Tokyo Olympians Luc Daffarn and Sandro Torrente (who races for the first time since Tokyo). They are joined by Henry Torr and James Mitchell. The raced in the pair last season, placing 11th. Torr and Mitchell raced with Jake Green and Chris Baxter in Zagreb, but the line-up racing in Belgrade hasn’t raced yet in Europe so it remains to be seen if they can challenge for the Olympic qualification spots.
Romania has two of the crew that finished fourth at the World Championships last year, Mihaita Tiganescu and Florin Lehaci. They are joined by two U23 athletes, Andrei Lungu (who finished sixth in the BM8 last year) and 19-year-old Iliuta-Leontin Nutescu who was fourth in the BM4- at this year’s U23s. This has the look of a development crew so a top-seven finish would be a major achievement
Other crews to mention include a young Ireland crew, with two members of the U23 BM4- bronze medal-winning boat (Adam Murphy and John Kearney) along with 2021 U23 silver medalist Jack Dorney. The final member of the crew is Fionnan Mc Quillan-Tolan, who last raced at a World Championships back in 2017, finishing 16th in the M2-.
Predictions: It’s perhaps no surprise that I’m going for Great Britain in gold and Australia in silver. But, the battle for bronze is going to be really interesting….I’m going to plump for the Americans to just get their bows ahead of the Kiwis and Dutch.
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