Image Credit: World Rowing
With the Olympics done and dusted, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the international rowing season is done and dusted. But no, there’s still one more outing; the World Rowing Championships. This isn’t a full programme World Rowing Championships however – it’s just for lightweight and para-rowing events that weren’t included in the Olympic/Paralympic programmes. For the first time since 2016, these are being combined with a full programme age group world championships at both U19 and U23 levels – the so-called “Mega Worlds”.
The 2024 World Rowing Championships are being hosted by St. Catharines, Canada, the venue for the annual Royal Canadian Henley, who are hosting a senior World Rowing event for the first time since the 1999 World Rowing Championships.
The senior worlds offered events in the Lwt1X, Lwt2-, Lwt4X, PR2 1X and PR3 2- for both men and women, however there were no entries for the LW4X and only two entries for the PR3 M2-.
So, without further ado here’s a look at those crews who have entered.
Entries: 25
2023 Champion: Siobhan McCrohan (Ireland)
This has the makings of a very competitive event, with the reigning gold and silver medalists from last year, the reigning European champion and a couple of Olympic medalists all entered.
Back to defend her world title is Siobhan McCrohan of Ireland. Her win last year was Ireland’s first World Rowing Championship medal in this event. The 37-year-old made her senior debut in 2007 and raced on the Irish team until 2016 before taking a break from the sport. She returned to the international team in 2023, placing fourth at the European championships and won her first international medal at the final World Rowing Cup before going on to take the world title. She’s made one appearance so far this season, winning gold at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup.
Silver medallist in 2023 was Kenia Lechuga Alanis of Mexico. Her medal also made history for her country, becoming the first Mexican to win a World Rowing Championship medal. She’s a three-time Olympian racing in the open-weight single, finishing 12th in Rio then 16th in Tokyo and again in Paris. In the lightweight event this season, she raced at the Lucerne and Varese World Rowing Cups, making the A-Final in Switzerland and taking bronze in Italy.
Ionela Livia Cozmiuc of Romania is one of the most experienced athletes in the event. She started her senior career back in 2014 and raced in the LW2X at the Rio Olympics, finishing eighth. She won both the U23 and Senior LW2X world titles in 2017 before going on to retain her LW2X title in 2018. She continued in the LW2X, making the A-Final at the Tokyo Olympics and then in 2022 switched to the LW1X, winning the European and world titles. She retained her European title in 2023 before moving back to the LW2X, winning bronze at the World Championships. This season, she won her third European title and in Paris finished as runner up to the dominant British in the LW2X.
Another Paris medallist racing in Canada is Zoi Fitsiou of Greece. She was runner-up to Cozmiuc at the Europeans in 2022 and made the A-Final at the worlds that season. In 2023 she moved to the LW2X, winning another European silver, a feat she repeated this season. A poor result at the 2023 worlds meant that she and partner Dimitra Kontou had to go to the FOQR to secure a spot in Paris, which they accomplished and then at the Games themselves they had a great regatta, ending with the bronze medal.
Racing as a “Neutral Athlete” is Belarusian Alena Furman. She’s one of the most experienced athletes on the circuit, having made her senior debut in 2010. She won her first championship medal in 2012, taking bronze in the LW1X at the World Rowing Championships (having just missed out on qualification for the London Olympics in the LW2X). For the Rio Olympiad she switched to the open-weight sweep team, qualifying for the W2- and finishing 15th. She moved back to the lightweight division in 2018, winning the European LW1X title. She followed that up with LW2X European gold in 2019. 2021 saw her win her third European title, her second in the LW1X, and at the Tokyo Olympics placed 11th in the LW2X. With no “independent Athlete” crew boats allowed in Paris, she missed the chance of competing at her third Olympics. She raced in the LW1X at the Europeans this season, taking her fourth title.
Another athlete with World Rowing Championship gold to her credit is Silvia Crosio of Italy. She was a member of the LW4X crew that won the world titles in 2019 and 2022 (in between winning the BLW1X in 2021). She raced in the open-weight W2X in 2023, winning the B-Final, and despite qualifying the boat for Paris, she missed out on selection and so she raced in the LW2X this season, winning bronze at the opening World Rowing Cup and also at the Europeans. She finished the World Rowing Cup series back in the W2X, taking ninth in Lucerne.
Spare for the Great Britain Olympic team was Olivia Bates. The 23-year-old made her senior debut last season, winning bronze medals at both the second and third World Rowing Cups. This season she took gold at the opening World Rowing Cup and bronze in Lucerne. With British Rowing unlikely to run a lightweight team after the end of this season, Bates will be hoping to sign-off with a World Rowing Championship medal.
Another Paris Olympian competing is Martyna Radosz of Poland. She finished ninth in the LW2X with partner Katarzyna Welna. Paris was Radosz’s second Olympics, having finished seventh in Rio. She won the European LW2X title in 2017 before switching to the W2X for the 2018-2019 seasons, ending with a 13th place at the 2019 World Rowing Championships. After taking a break for a few years, she returned to competition as a lightweight last year taking fourth at the Europeans and eighth in the LW2X at the World Rowing Championships. She and Welna qualified the boat for Paris by winning the FOQR and headed into the Games on the back of a bronze medal performance in Poznan.
Gold medalist in the LW1X at the Varese World Rowing Cup this season was France’s Aurelie Morizot. She is a former U23 medalist and made her senior debut in 2021. Her breakthrough came at the start of the 2023 season, winning LW1X gold at the second World Rowing Cup and reaching the A-Final of the World Rowing Championships. This season she’s put together a strong run of performances, just missing the medals at the Europeans and in Lucerne and then gold at the closing World Rowing Cup.
Amongst the other scullers competing are Lara Tiefenthaler of Austria and Beatriz Cardoso of Brazil, both of whom competed at the Paris Olympics (the Austrian placing tenth in the LW2X and the Brazilian 15th in the W1X). Joan Poh of Singapore is also an Olympian, having finished 28th in the W1x in Tokyo. The final scullers to highlight are Maia Emile Lund of Norway, 11th in the world last year and silver medalist at the opening World Rowing Cup this season, and Audrianna Boersen of the USA, fifth in Lucerne and silver medalist in Varese.
Prediction
This could be really tight, but I’m going for Romania in gold with Ireland in silver and Greece in bronze.
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