Cover image: World Rowing / Benedict Tufnell
Reigning champions: Grace Prendergast and Kerri Williams (New Zealand)
Entries: 22
Olympic qualifying places: 11
New Zealand are the reigning champions in this event but for 2023 have an entirely new combination, Alana Sherman and Kate Haines. They’ve not raced together as a pair this season. Sherman raced with Kirsty Goodger in Lucerne, finishing 12th, and Haines raced as NZL2 in the W2X in Lucerne, placing 16th with Laura Glen. As a W2- they may have their work cut out for a top 11 placing.
One of the favourites for gold coming into Belgrade will be the Australian pairing of Annabelle McIntyre and Jessica Morrison. They have been racing together for a few seasons and were world silver medalists back in 2019. They were both in the W4- that won gold in Tokyo and also doubled-up in the pair that won the B-Final. This season they have won both the Varese and Lucerne World Cups and will be the crew to beat in Belgrade.
Romania also has a strong medal-contending crew, Ioana Vrinceanu and Roxana Anghel. They were runners-up to the Australians in Lucerne and won gold at the Europeans in both the pair and the W8. It’s quite common for the Romanians to double-up in the pair and the Eight and Vrinceanu and Anghel are doing so in Belgrade. They both raced at the Tokyo Olympics, with Vrinceanu taking sixth in the W8 and Anghel ninth in the W4-.
Another crew who are doubling-up in the W8 is the British pairing of Esme Booth and Emily Ford. In Lucerne they concentrated on the W8 and came away with gold, but they did double up in Varese and the Europeans, taking silver in the eight and fifth in the pair on both occasions. In 2022 they won silver at the Europeans and ended the season with fifth at the World Championships. The British probably have better medal chances in the W8, but the pair’s job will be to qualify the boat for Tokyo, and I’d be very surprised if they don’t do that comfortably with a fifth or sixth place in the A-Final.
One crew that will be expecting to make the podium is The Netherlands, Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester. They were silver medallists behind the Kiwis at the 2022 World Championships and also have silver medals from the W4- from both the 2019 World Championships and the Tokyo Olympics. This season they have only raced once, taking silver behind the Romanians at the European Championships.
Another crew with medal expectations are the USA. They have the highly experienced Meghan Musnicki partnered by Alison Rusher. At the age of 40 Musnicki is the oldest competitor in the event, but she’s also the most decorated with five World Championship and two Olympic eight golds to her credit. She also raced in the W8 at the Tokyo Olympics that just missed the podium. By comparison Rusher is a relative newcomer. She was U23 bronze medallist in 2018 and made her senior debut at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing tenth in the W4X. As a pair Musnicki and Rusher have raced once, taking silver behind the Australians at the Varese World Cup.
Another very experienced crew is Fie Udby Erichsen and Hedvig Rasmussen of Denmark. Udby Erichsen made her senior debut in 2005 and the high-point of her career so far was silver in the W1X at the London Olympics. She also raced the single in Rio and in Tokyo she and Rasmussen raced the pair, finishing eighth overall. This year Udby Erichsen spent the first half of the season back in the single finishing seventh at the Europeans and 13th in Varese. However, for Lucerne, Rasmussen was back and the two of them raced the pair, finishing in a strong fourth place.
As is quite common with the Greek women’s team they have a young, and extremely talented combination racing in this event (22-year-old Christina Ioanna Bourmpou and 21-year-old Evangelia Anastasiadou). What makes this pair a little unusual is that Anastasiadou seems to be able to switch from lightweight sculling to open-weight sweep without any issues. As a W2- they won bronze at the Varese World Cup and Anastasiadou also won the BLW2X World Championships this season as well as the LW1X European Championships. In 2022 Bourmpou was U23 World Champion in the BW2- and Anastasiadou World Champion in the BLW2X. Bourmpou also raced the pair at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing fifth. A remarkable set of results for such a young combination.
The W2- has been one of Spain’s strongest boats for a number of years. The duo of Aina Cid and Anna Boada Peiro finished sixth at the Rio Olympics and went on to win Spain’s first ever World Championship W2- in 2018, taking the bronze. In 2019 Cid swapped partners to Virgina Diaz Rivas, winning the Europeans which they followed up with silver the following year. In Tokyo this pair reached the A-Final. This season Cid has a new partner, Esther Briz Zamorano. She made her senior debut this season and she and Cid opened their account with a win in a three-boat final at the Zagreb World Cup. They followed that with bronze at the Europeans and in Varese and then closed their World Cup campaign with fifth in Lucerne.
Ireland has a new combination racing in the pair, Fiona Murtagh and Aifric Keogh. These two are very used to rowing together but it’s mainly been in the W4-. They were both in the W4- that won bronze in Tokyo and ended 2022 with an A-Final finish. This season they continued in the W4- finishing fifth at the Europeans and sixth in Lucerne. However, in Belgrade, they have been replaced in the W4- by Sanita Puspure and Natalie Long.
Canada has a mix of youth and experience, Caileigh Filmer and Maya Meschkuleit. Filmer partnered Hilary Janssens to World Championship gold in 2018 and bronze in 2019. In Tokyo the Canadians also won bronze. Meschkuleit was fourth in the BW2- at the U23 World Championships in 2022 and this season placed fifth in the BW4- at the U23 Worlds.
The Chilean twins, Melita and Antonia Abraham, are one of the best ever women’s crews to come out of South America. They were U23 World Champions back in 2017 and on the senior circuit they have World Cup silver from Zagreb this season and in Varese they teamed up with Magdalena Rojas and Victoria Wells to win Chile’s first ever World Cup gold, winning the W4-. They finished their World Cup series with a win in the B-Final at Lucerne. Qualification for Tokyo will be a major achievement for Chile.
Another pair of twins in this event are the Croatians, Ivana and Josipa Jurkovic. They were U23 World Champions in 2021 and took sixth at the senior World Championships last year. This season they were third in a three-boat final in Zagreb but had a stronger European Championship, finishing one place off the podium. In Lucerne they finished tenth and, like the Chileans, will be focusing on making the top 11 in Belgrade to qualify for Tokyo.
Other pairs to mention are Czechia, Radka Novotnikova and Pavlina Flamikova, winners of the B-Final last year and silver medalists in Zagreb this season. Lithuania has a new combination of Kamile Kralikaite and Ieva Adomaviciute. Kralikaite is the reigning U23 World Champion in the pair and Adomaviciute was World Champion in the W2X back in 2018 and has been racing in the single this season. The final crew to mention is Poland, Martyna Jankowska and Barbara Jechorek. Both were members of the U23 BW4- that won the World Championships earlier this season.
Predictions: Australia are the crew to beat this season and I think they’ll take the gold (which would be their first W2- World title since 1995). The USA in silver and Romania in bronze
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