Image credit: World Rowing
The first World Cup of any new season is often a bit of a tepid affair, with lots of straight finals or no races in some boat classes at all. But, this year, in Varese, it’s a different matter. Being Olympic year, and with the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta just five weeks away, Varese has drawn a huge and high quality field.
So, as always, I’ll look at each boat class and pick out the main contenders.
Entries: 30
Starting as favourite will be Ollie Zeidler of Germany. He’s the reigning world champion and won the opening World Cup in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Whilst not unstoppable (he “only” managed third at the 2023 Europeans) he is the dominant athlete in the event and just seems to be getting better and better each year. He will be going into the start of Olympic year as the favourite to deliver Germany its first M1X Olympic title since 1992.
The main challenger to Zeidler will most likely come from Simon Van Dorp of the Netherlands. Van Dorp’s performance was one of the surprises, and highlights, of the 2023 World Championships. He hadn’t previously raced in the single but produced an outstanding race to push Zeidler all the way to the line and came away with a silver medal. He was educated at the University of Washington, and spent most of his international career in the M8, finishing fifth in Tokyo. He then switched to the M4X, winning silver at the 2023 Europeans, before moving to the single. It’s going to be interesting to see how Van Dorp progresses with more time racing the single.
Norway’s Kjetil Borch is one of the most experienced athletes in the field. He started his international career back in 2010 and was M2x World Champion in 2013 and Olympic bronze medallist in 2016. He switched to the single in 2018, winning the World Championships and took silver at the Tokyo Olympics. Injury at the end of the 2022 season effectively meant that the 2023 season was one of rebuilding and he struggled with the few races he was able to do. Hopefully he’s fully recovered for 2024 and will be able to show the sort of form that took him to World and Olympic podiums.
Another “old-stager” is Damir Martin of Croatia. He’s the oldest sculler in the field, having started his senior career back in 2007. He’s probably best remembered for one of the greatest Olympic M1X races of all time when he and Mahe Drysdale went bowball to bowball in Rio, ending with the Kiwi winning gold by a matter of inches. Martin won his third Olympic medal in Tokyo when he took bronze in the M1X. He is also someone who has struggled with injury and consistency. Since Tokyo his World Cup performances haven’t been too much to get excited about, finishing in the B Finals each time, but he produced the best performance of the season at the World Championships to reach the A Final and qualify for his fourth Olympic Games.
The early World Cups are also fascinating as some nations use it as a way of testing athletes against each other. It looks like the home nation, Italy, are doing just that. They have three scullers entered, U23 bronze medallist Marco Prati (ITA3) and senior athletes Gennaro Di Mauro (ITA2) and Davide Mumolo (ITA1). These three finished first, second and third on the Sunday of the Memorial Paola D’Aloja last month, with Mumolo taking the win and Di Mauro silver. Mumolo was Italy’s representative in the single last season, finishing seventh at the Europeans and 11th at the World Championships. Di Mauro raced for Italy in the single at the Tokyo Olympics whilst still a teenager and finished eighth (Italy’s best result in the M1X at an Olympics since 1960). He switched to the M8 for the 2023 season and it’ll be interesting to see which boat class he ends up in (if any!).
Another nation with multiple entries is Ireland. They have Brian Colsh and Konan Pazzaia. These two raced together in the BM2X, winning the U23 World title in 2023. They went on to race in the quad at the senior World Championships, placing 13th. With the Irish quad project having finished, it looks like these two former crew mates are facing off against each other for the right to represent Ireland in the single and try and qualify the boat at the FOQR.
Great Britain also still need to qualify the M1X for Paris, and it looks as though that task will fall to George Bourne. The 2019 U23 BM4X World Champion has spent the last couple of seasons racing in the M4X, winning silver at the 2022 World Championships and just missing the podium last season. This season he is replaced in the quad by the experienced Graeme Thomas (returning from injury). Bourne has raced the single just once on the World Cup circuit, finishing eighth back in 2021. Whilst he may not have the speed to challenge for a podium place at this point in the season, a good A Final finish will put him in a great position heading into the FOQR.
The America’s and Africa have already held their Continental Olympic Qualifying Regattas, and several of those who have progressed to Paris will be racing in Varese. The pick of these is Lucas Verthein Ferreira of Brazil. He won the America’s Qualifying Regatta last month to qualify for his second Olympics. In Tokyo he placed 12th (the first time Brazil had qualified a M1X at the Olympics). Last season he placed 14th at the World Championships. Egypt’s Abdelkhalek Elbana won the African Olympic Qualifying Regatta to qualify for his third Olympics; in Rio he finished tenth and in Tokyo 14th.
Switzerland’s LM1X World Champion, Andri Struzina is entered in both the M1X and LM1X events in Varese which suggests that he’s not certain about making weight at this point in the season, so we’ll have to wait and see which event he does race in.
Other scullers to watch include Tim Brys of Belgium, 13th at the World Championships last year and fifth in the LM2X at the Tokyo Olympics, and Monaco’s Quentin Antognelli, 15th at the Tokyo Olympics and 16th at the 2023 Worlds.
Prediction
I think Zeidler and Van Dorp will be clear of the rest of the field in gold and silver, but behind them I think it should be a real bunfight for the bronze. I’d love to see Borch back on the podium but he’ll have his work cut-out with challenges from Martin and Bourne.
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