Image credit: World Rowing
Hot on the heels of World Cup 1 comes the European Championships, this year being held at Szeged, Hungary’s third largest city. It’s the first time this course has hosted a major senior championships. The European Olympic Qualifying Regatta is also being held at the same time (for the singles, light doubles and PR1 singles) which has impacted on the entries for the Euro Champs.
So here’s our look at the ones to watch in each of the Olympic-class boats.
Entries: 16
2023 Champions: Martin Sinkovic, Valent Sinkovic (CRO)
With the defending champion Sinkovic brothers moving across to the pair, and the reigning World Champions from the Netherlands not racing in Szeged, the battle for the medals in this event has become a lot more open.
The Italians, Luca Rambaldi and Matteo Sartori, will start as marginal favourites. They took silver in this event last season and at the World Championships they just missed the podium, ending up fourth. Rambaldi has been racing internationally since 2012 and was a member of the Italian M4X that won the World Championships in 2018. After finishing fifth at the Tokyo Olympics, he raced with Davide Mumolo in the M2X but could only manage ninth. In 2023 he and Sartori came together, winning silver at the Europeans and gold at the second World Cup. Sartori was a member of the U23 BM4X that won the World Championships in 2022 and went on to race in the M1X at the Senior Worlds. They started their season with a strong silver behind the Netherlands at the first World Cup in Varese.
The Spanish make their season’s debut in Szeged. Aleix Garcia I Pujolar and Rodrigo Conde Romero had an outstanding season in 2022, winning silver at both the European and World Championships (Spain’s first ever championship medals in the M2X). 2023 couldn’t quite match those levels and they placed fifth at both European and World level. It will be interesting to see if the 2024 boat is closer in performance to the 2022 or 2023 versions.
Germany’s Jonas Gelsen and Marc Weber produced a strong performance in Varese, finishing just off the podium in fourth place. They raced together last season and finished eighth at the World Championships to secure qualification. Gelsen won the BM1X World Championships in 2022 and made his senior debut last season. Weber is also a former U23 BM1X World Champion, having won the title in 2019. He raced at the Tokyo Olympics with Stefan Krueger, finishing 11th.
Norway’s Jonas Juel and Erik Solbakken had a great race in Varese; their fifth place finish was the best by a Norwegian M2X since the 2017 World Championships. They raced in Varese as NOR2 but defeated their compatriots, Jan Helvig and Kristoffer Brun, who ended up ninth. It remains to be seen if this was a contest between the two Norwegian boats for the right to race at the FOQR. Both Juel and Solbakken were members of the M4X that finished tenth last season. Solbakken also raced in the quad in Tokyo and Juel is a former U23 BM1X medallist who made his senior debut in 2022.
John Collins and Seb Devereux of Great Britain will have been disappointed to miss the A-Final at Varese, but their win in the B-Final will give some encouragement that they have the speed to compete for an Olympic spot next month. This combination came together at the start of the 2023 season but were unable to race due to injury to Devereux. Collins is one of the most experienced members of the British team, having been racing on the senior circuit since 2012. He’s aiming for his third Olympics and in Rio he and long-time partner, Jonny Walton, finished fifth. In Tokyo he went one better, this time partnered by Graeme Thomas. Last season, in Devereux’s absence, Collins was partnered by Aidan Thompson but their partnership wasn’t particularly successful and they ended the season in a disappointing 25th. Devereux was U23 World Champion back in 2017, but didn’t make his senior debut until 2022 (racing in the M4X at the second and third World Cups).
Croatia qualified the boat for Paris thanks to the Sinkovic brothers, but with their move to the pair they swap with another set of brothers, Patrik and Anton Loncaric. This pair snatched the last automatic qualifying spot in the M2- after finishing 11th last year, so a straight swap with the Sinkovic’s hasn’t cost either set of brothers a place in Paris. The twins have only ever raced as a pair since winning the junior world title back in 2017. They raced at Varese, placing eighth.
With their top boat having a rest for the week, the Netherlands has sent their U23 double of Jelle Bakker and Lucas Keijzer. The 21-year-olds are both making their senior international debuts and were in the U23 BM4X that won silver at last year’s World Championships.
Another nation with a young pairing racing in Szeged is Belgium. Tristan Vandenbussche and Aaron Andries were U23 World Champions in this boat in 2022 and raced on the senior circuit last season reaching the A-Final at the European Championships. They raced in Piediluco last month, finishing in a strong second to the top Italian boat. Belgium hasn’t qualified this boat for Paris yet, so it will be interesting to see if this crew has a go at the FOQR.
France is another nation that is boating an U23 crew at these championships, Yoann Lamiral and Victor Marcelot. They were both members of the U23 BM4X that finished sixth last season.
Czechia’s Jakub Podrazil and Jan Cincibuch have been racing together in the double for the last few season. They raced at the Tokyo Olympics but failed to progress beyond the repecharge. Last season they ended up 16th at the World Championships.
Greece has the youngest competitor in any of the men’s events, 17-year-old Nikolaos Cholopoulos. He was U19 silver medallist last year and makes his senior debut in Szeged. He’s joined by Ioannis Kalandaridis who raced in the double in the last few seasons, finishing fifth at the 2022 Europeans and 19th at the 2023 Worlds with Athanasios Palaiopanos.
Romania has one of the crew, Marian Enache, that finished ninth at the Tokyo Olympics. He’s joined by Andrei-Sebastian Cornea. They both raced in the M4X last season that finished seventh. They are also probably heading to the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta and will be using Szeged to test their speed.
Lithuania have the same line-up that finished 15th at last year’s Worlds; Zygimantas Galisanskis and Povilas Stankunas.
The final crews racing are Poland, Serbia and Sweden. Both the Poles and Serbians include 20-year-olds in the stroke seat. For Poland it’s Jakub Wozniak, U23 silver medallist last year, joining Krzysztof Kasparek and for Serbia they have U23 lightweight bronze medallist Matija Rajkovic joining the experienced Aleksandar Bedik (14th in this boat class at the 2023 World Championships). Sweden is represented by Eskil Borgh and Hugo Nerud. Borgh raced the M1X in Varese (finishing 21st) and moves into the double replacing Jonas Richter (who withdrew in Varese through injury).
Prediction
This should be a good three-way battle between the Italians, the Spanish and the Germans and I think they will finish in that order. I’d also hope that the British will be snapping at their heels in fourth.
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