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: 6
The top two crews from 2023 start the 2024 with unchanged line-ups. Great Britain won gold at the 2023 World Championships (GB’s first win in this event since 2010). Their line-up is Lauren Henry, Hannah Scott, Lola Anderson and Georgie Brayshaw.
The British had an epic battle in the World Championship final with the Dutch, with the lead swapping at each marker. In the end the British won the sprint for the line by just over a second. The Dutch silver medalists, Roos De Jong, Tessa Dullemans, Laila Youssifou and Bente Paulis, beat the British at the European Championships and the Lucerne World Cup and will be looking to get revenge for their defeat in Belgrade.
Switzerland were fourth in 2023 and make one change to that boat for 2024. Sofia Meakin comes in to replace Pascale Walker. Meakin raced in the W2X last season, placing 16th. She joins Fabienne Schweizer, Celia Dupre and Lisa Loetscher. Their fourth place last year secured Switzerland’s first ever Olympic qualification in this boat class.
Germany’s seventh place at the 2023 World Championships grabbed the final Olympic qualification spot although they only have one of that crew racing in Varese in Tabea Schendekehl. She’s joined by Pia Greiten (sixth in the W2X in 2022), along with last year’s 14th-placed W2X of Leonie Menzel and Maren Voelz. As with the men’s quad, the women have struggled somewhat since winning the Olympic title in Rio, only once making the World Championship podium (in 2017) in an event they used to dominate (they made the podium at every World and Olympics from 1985 to 2016.
Italy, somewhat surprisingly, has never won a medal at World or Olympic level in this boat class. Their 2023 crew missed Olympic qualification after finishing in ninth place. Their crew for their home World Cup contains two of that crew, Valentina Iseppi and Laura Meriano. They are joined by Gaia Colasante and Kiri English-Hawke. Both raced at the 2022 European Championships, Colasante in the W1X (failing to progress beyond the reps) and English-Hawke taking bronze in the W2X.
The final crew in the event is Ukraine. They have the same line up that finished one place of the Olympic qualification at the World Championships last year, Nataliya Dovgodko, Kateryna Dudchenko, Daryna Verkhogliad and Anastasiia Kozhenkova. They will be matching themselves against the Italians as they two crews head to the FOQR next month.
Prediction
My heart says GB, my head says the Netherlands……I’m going to listen to my head and go with the Dutch in gold with GB in silver and the Swiss in bronze.
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