2023 World Rowing Under 23 Championships – Women’s Openweight Sculling Preview

Cover image: World Rowing / Benedict Tufnell

Women’s Single

Entries: 24

Current U23 World Champion: Alexandra Foester, Germany

At first glance down the entry list, eyes immediately focus on Switzerland’s Aurelia-Maxima Janzen. For two years in a row, the Swiss sculler has won silver in this event so perhaps this third attempt will be the charm. Time is certainly not running out for Janzen. In 2021 she won the Junior World Championships in this boat class but since she burst onto the international stage she has gone from strength to strength. 2023 has seen her make the leap to the big leagues and she’s gone head-to-head with some of the world’s best scullers and beaten them. A silver medal at World Cup I was backed up with a silver at the European Champs on Lake Bled.

If we are going by the form book then look no further than Ireland’s Alison Bergin. As the Irish rise through the ranks on the senior circuit, Bergin will no doubt play a vital part in the Emerald Isle’s growth in the sport. 2023 will be Bergin’s third U23s. Two years ago she came third in the B Final and last year, left Varese with a bronze medal in this event. The Irish sculler then ploughed on to the senior World Championships where she finished fifth in the C Final of the women’s single.

The third European titan to watch out for is Greece’s Evangelia Fragkou. Since 2019 she’s made Poseidon proud and has made at least one A Final every year (obviously excluding 2020). 2019 saw a sixth-place finish at Junior Worlds in the double and two years later, upgraded this to two bronze medals – one in the junior single and the other in the U23 double. 2022 was a breakthrough year for Fragkou. Her form in the double translated into an A Final appearance at World Cup I before ditching a blade, finding a friend, reaching the final of the European Champs and winning the U23s in the Pair. Now though, Fragkou is back sculling and has returned to the single and earlier in the year finished fourth in the B Final at the European Champs.

Across the pond, Katelin Gildersleeve has been hard at work whilst studying at Stanford. The senior has spent this season in the Cardinal’s Varsity Eight and back in May helped her university take gold in the Varsity Eight and win the NCAAs, having finished runners-up to Texas for the previous two seasons. Gildersleeve has represented the United States on two occasions, both of them in sculling boats. The first of which was at the 2019 Junior Champs where she won bronze in the single. Three years later she transitioned to the quad and the USA came sixth in the A Final.

A country we don’t mention particularly often in the rowing world is Algeria but Nihed Benchadli has a fascinating tale. Her first taste of international rowing came at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games and then she went straight to the 2019 World Cup III before coming eleventh overall at that year’s Junior Champs in the single. Benchadli spent 2022 (U23 and Senior) adjusting to life as a lightweight with a season’s best of sixth coming at World Cup I coming at the beginning of the international calendar. In 2023 the Algerian has made the change back to openweight and came eighteenth overall in the single at World Cup II.

Embracing her second year of U23 eligibility, Germany’s Johanna Debus is switching things up. Her previous two trips to the World Championships saw her win bronze at both the Juniors in 2021 and last year’s U23s in the quad.

Finally, a mention goes to Olivia Hay. Much like Debus, the Kiwi raced last year’s U23s in the quad. While New Zealand didn’t make the A Final, they did the next best thing and finished seventh overall.

Prediction: What a treat this final should be. I expect to see Janzen and Bergin facing off for the gold medal with Gildersleeve and Debus in the mix for the minor medals.

Women’s Double

Entries: 11

Current U23 World Champion: Romania (Andrada-Maria Morosanu, Iulia-Liliana Balauca)

Cue fireworks and start getting excited. Romania are returning to the U23s to defend their title from last year. Andrada-Maria Morosanu and Iulia-Liliana Balauca are the crew to beat in this field and if anyone can topple them it would be an almighty upset. Both scullers have been involved with international racing since they conquered the world. Morosanu finished seventh in the quad at this year’s European Champs while Balauca came eighth in the same boat and same event last year.

If anyone is going to beat the Romanians then it’s the British. Similar to the aforementioned Romanians, this combination is unchanged from last year’s bronze medal-winning crew. Katherine George and Vwairé Obukohwo have been on fire after winning at Henley Women’s and reaching the final of the Stonor two weeks later at Henley Royal.

One of the dark horses of this event will be Greece. Sofia Dalidou and Gavriela Lioliou may only be 17 years old but they took silver at the U19 Euros a few weeks ago. They are an incredibly impressive outfit but if they win they will not be able to buy a beer to celebrate…

Across the senior regattas, the Chinese crews can be ferocious with a blade in each hand and I’m expecting something similar from the combination of Ying Liu and Qian Tang. Liu has raced once at a World Championships, however, that was back in 2018 but she did walk away with the gold medal in the double.

Speaking of success at the junior level, enter Chloe Raymond and Milla Massemin. The latter is only 19 but came fifth in this category at the Junior World Champs last year for France. In the same breath, Germany finds themselves in a similar position, teetering on the edge of some impressive results. Harriett Wappler-Niemeyer links up with Charlotte Luster, the latter having raced at the Junior World Champs twice, winning silver in the quad last year.

Any Dutch sculling boat is a sight for sore eyes and I’m sure Lotte Jansen and Isabel van Opzeeland will be no different. The Netherlands have an enviable talent for producing scullers that can row effortlessly and carve their way through the field. This particular pairing has significantly more experience in sweep boats as Jansen comes from the eight that finished fourth last year, less than a second from the podium. Her crewmate, van Opzeeland, has been racing for the Netherlands since 2017. She has raced in the four and twice in the single at the Junior World Champs, before making her U23 debut in 2021 picking up silver in the Eight.

Predictions: Romania will win this; I’ll be shocked if they don’t but I hope Britain can upgrade their bronze from last year.

Women’s Quad

Entries: 12

Current U23 World Champion: The Netherlands (Lisa Bruijnincx, Vera Sneijders, Willemijn Mulder, Femke Paulis)

We’ll start with The Netherlands as it would be wrong to begin anywhere else other than with the defending Champions. However, it only features one returner from last year’s golden quartet. Sneijders not only brings bags of experience in the quad, but she also picked up a silver medal in the eight the year before. The rest of the quad have all raced internationally with Phaedra Van Der Molen reaching the A Final of last year’s Lightweight Single, Claire de Kok racing in the double and Jente Jongsma racing the quad twice at the Junior World Champs.

We’ve mentioned how strong Romania will be in the double and I think we’re going to see an equally impressive performance from their quad. Last year, they missed out on gold by half a second but what’s important is that all of them are back to go one better in 2023. The other crew bringing everyone back is the Czech Republic. Last year they were fourth, three-tenths of a second behind Germany.

Germany are another exciting crew. As previously mentioned, they are the bronze medalist from last year and were within two seconds of a silver medal and two and a half seconds of gold. That showdown with Romania is going to be mouth-watering and the latest addition to the quad is no slouch. Judith Guhse has been racing for her country since 2019 where she finished fourth in the double at the Junior World Champs. Since then, she’s won silver at the U23s, reached a World Cup A Final, and raced at the 2022 European Championships.

Great Britain are bringing together a kaleidoscope of talent for this boat. Stroked by Rachel Bradley of Newcastle University, this crew raced at Henley Royal Regatta and beat Notts County in the first round before being dismantled by the senior women’s quad in their next race. The rest of the crew features Hannah Supple of Edinburgh, Ellie Cooke of Reading and Molly Curry from Queen’s University Belfast. Curry and Bradley have both previously raced for Ireland as Juniors. Bradley won bronze at the 2021 World Champs in the double while Molly Curry came fifth in the same boat class back in 2019, just a few months after winning Championship Singles at the National Schools’ Regatta. Most recently, the Northern Irish duo came fifth in the quad at the 2022 U23 European Champs.

Italy were one of the other finalists last year. They came fifth, a couple of lengths off the podium but their stern pair from that crew, Susanna Pedrola and Alice Gnatta, have teamed up with Vittoria Tonoli and Giulia Bosio to try and climb the rankings in Plovdiv.

Finally, the United States of America. Sixth place in Varese for them and Lauren Benedict is the sole returner in 2023.  She’s joined by UCLA’s Rosemary Varney who has spent most of the last season stroking the Bruins’ second Varsity Eight. The two of them are joined by Rhode Island’s Cathleen Castle and Harvard’s Meena Baher. Baher last raced for the US at the 2021 Junior World Championships where she placed sixth in the quad.

Predictions: It’ll be a showdown between Romania, the Czech Republic, and Germany for the top spot.

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