Cover image: World Rowing / Benedict Tufnell
As the men’s eights careered towards the finish line and the curtain came down on another world cup series, the lake of the Gods shimmered blue and the narratives leading into the 2023 World Rowing Championships began their first of many oscillations approaching September. In the season before the Olympics, all eyes turn towards Belgrade and the chance to secure a berth at next year’s Parisian games. With all of this added emphasis on our season-ending competition, the world cup series served up an enticing entree and left more than enough in the balance to whet the appetite ahead of a two-month hiatus for crews to fine-tune their speed.
Men’s Single
That sprint from Zeidler was something else. The big German found his lead encroached upon by the determined Dane, Sverri Nielsen, in the final 500m but jettisoned the after-burners to win by several lengths. On his day, in his conditions, Zeidler is basically unbeatable. Tom Mackintosh’s foray into sculling looks promising, after he secured fourth behind Zeidler, Nielsen and Olympic champion Ntouskos.
Women’s Single
Karolien Florijn is unbeaten since Tokyo in this boat class and underlined her dominance by winning comfortably ahead of a field including Tara Rigney of Australia and Olympic champion, Emma Twigg. This will be an ongoing trope for the foreseeable future but the remarkable strength of the Dutch sculling team is truly something to behold. They won four of the six available open-weight categories in Lucerne and their iconic smooth style dappled the Rotsee orange.
Men’s Pair
Ollie Wynne-Griffith and Tom George are arguably two of the most powerful athletes on the international circuit at the moment and realising their full potential has been something of an attritional process. However, they seem to be hitting their stride at just the right time, wrapping up a quickfire succession of three wins on the bounce at Varese, Henley and Lucerne. The Romanians and Swiss – who were a few seconds back – will come again in Belgrade whilst we expect competitive entries from New Zealand, Holland, Australia and the USA.
Women’s Pair
From the outset, this was all about Jessica Morrison and Annabelle Mcintyre. Olympic champions in the coxless four at Tokyo, the two have taken to the pair like the proverbial duck to water in 2023, wrapping up wins at two of the three world cups. That distinctive and aggressive Aussie style is paying dividends as the program continues to blossom into the Paris Olympiad. They were five seconds clear of Romania and will take some stopping.
Men’s Doubles
These pesky Dutch rascals. Upsetting the apple cart seems to be their speciality and the duo of Stefan Broenink and world single scull silver medalist Melvin Twellaar looked unbeatable in spite of the stacked field behind them. The Sinkovics – who are probably the closest thing rowing has to ‘living’ royalty – were forced into a disappointing second place, having already secured the first world cup and the European crown in May. The Irish burst through in the closing stages to overtake a Spanish pairing who were fresh off their win at Henley Royal Regatta.
Women’s Doubles
The Romanians are just mental, aren’t they? They strike so high and never seem to feel the strain of out-rating, out-pacing and out-doing their opponents. Antuca Bodnar and Simona Radis are Olympic, world and European champions and have not lost a race since the 2019 world championships. How you stop them claiming their second Olympic gold is a conundrum I am glad I do not have to solve.
Men’s Fours
Try as they might, the Aussies just don’t seem able to find the combination to outwit a sensational British four. They’ve tried front-loading, out-rating, sprinting but nothing seems to unsettle the foursome of Freddie Davidson, Matt Aldridge, Dave Ambler and Ollie Wilkes. With that sweet St Paul’s flow, backed up by some serious Brookes muscle, this boat – or variations thereupon – are unbeaten since the beginning of the 2022 season. Bearing in mind that they’re regularly out-doing the Australian Olympic champions, that should highlight the magnitude of their success. Don’t rule out an insurgent Kiwi outfit, featuring two US-collegiate boat-movers, or GB2, who surged through to finish half a second outside of the medals.
Women’s Fours
Romania sitting pretty once again in women’s rowing. Pound for pound, they’re the best rowing nation on the planet, consistently punching above their weight and knocking out opponents who bring more financial and physical firepower to the ring. Australia will come back stronger in September and the British four, containing two-times Olympic champion Helen Glover, don’t look like they’ve quite found their match-winning rhythm yet. Keep an eye on this category.
Men’s Quads
Yeh, that Dutch quad are naughty. With all due respect to the absent Polish world champions – who have been struggling with illness since Henley Royal Regatta – this outfit from the Netherlands caused an implosion of the hyperbolic canon on the Rotsee. Current Olympic champions in this boat class with two returners from that crew, the boys in orange have been bolstered by the return of European champion Lennart Van Lierop. GB did well to secure a silver ahead of Romania and Australia, with Germany and Estonia out in fifth and sixth. With Poland and Italy to come back in ahead of the world championships, we should be set for a spectacular season finale.
Women’s Quads
China being relegated out of the medals was arguably the shock of the regatta. Olympic and world champions, this Chinese crew were the form boat arriving in Lucerne and to have not even secured a minor medal will have sent shock-waves through their system. The superlative Dutch were victors in front of a resurgent British boat and home favourites from Switzerland. I would expect China to come back with a vengeance in September but the garden around them grows everyday.
Men’s Eights
Australia turning over the Brits in a potentially season-defining clash? Oh, go on then. Even as a natural-born Englishman, it’s hard not to applaud that Aussie boat, who got their noses in front around the 1000m mark and never relinquished. GB, who are the current European and world champions in this boat class, suffered their first defeat since the Tokyo Olympics and will be hungry to right that wrong in a couple of months’ time. Expect the Netherlands, Germany, Romania + an entry from the USA to shake up this field.
Women’s Eights
A brave and brilliant victory from the British, who overturned their loss to Canada just seven days prior at Henley Royal Regatta. Their second-half surge was the decisive moment in a race dictated by move after counter-move from the four-boat field. Last at 500m gone, third at 1000m gone, second with 500m to go and first across the line tells the tale of a race perfectly judged by their group of women. With the USA to come back into the frame here, I am very excited to see what GB can produce in the face of oncoming pressure from the rest of the world.
Lightweight Events
The race of the day was probably served up by the men’s lightweight double field, with France and Ireland finishing within 0.1 seconds of each other. The Irish Olympic champions were racing for the first time since winning the world championships last year and will have plenty of fuel in the fire for September’s re-match. The Irish-French duopoly in this category is no surprise to onlookers – the two locked horns throughout the Rio Olympiad and will surely renew acquaintances in Paris in front of a partisan crowd.
Imogen Grant and Emily Craig reaffirmed their status as arguably the outstanding crew in world rowing at the moment. Despite being led in the opening stages, they never looked flustered and simply rowed away from the field to claim a victory that sustains a nigh-on two-year winning streak. It’s amazing what fourth at the Olympic Games can do for your motivation.
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