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: 16
The Netherland’s Karolien Florijn was the outstanding sculler of the 2022 and 2023 seasons. She moved to racing the single in 2022 after winning silver in the W4- at the Tokyo Olympics and is unbeaten ever since. She’s currently on a run of 23 straight victories (second only to the great Ekaterina Karsten who went an astonishing 40 races unbeaten between 2005-2008). She starts the 2024 season as the overwhelming favourite.
One of the most exciting entries in the women’s single is Sanita Puspure of Ireland. The 42-year-old former World Champion returns to the boat class in which she won back-to-back World titles in 2018 and 2019. She came out of retirement after the disappointment of the Tokyo Olympics (where she was forced to withdraw due to illness) to race in the W2X at the 2022 World Championships, winning silver, and then in the W4- at the 2023 Worlds (placing ninth). It’s great to see her back in the single to, hopefully, have another crack at the Olympics (although she’ll need to qualify via the FOQR to do so).
At the other end of the experience scale is Switzerland’s Aurelia-Maxima Janzen, she of the Macon blades. The 20-year-old made a big impact on the world scene in 2021, winning the junior world title and U23 silver in the same season. She followed that up with a second U23 silver medal in 2022 and then a World Cup silver medal in her senior debut in 2023. Last season also saw her win silver at the European Championships and take the U23 World title.. At the senior Worlds she struggled a little (by her own high standards) ending up fifth in the B Final and 11th overall. A prodigious talent, she will, however, have to battle for a spot in Paris at the FOQR. It’s also going to be interesting to see how long she continues to use the Macon, as opposed to Cleaver, blades.
Switzerland has a second sculler entered, Salome Ulrich. The 23-year-old raced in the W2X last season, finishing 16th. She drops out of the double for 2024, her place taken by Jeannine Gmelin. Ulrich was part of the BW4X that won the U23 World Championships in 2021 and was fifth in the W4X at the 2022 Worlds.
Germany also has two scullers racing in Varese. Racing as GER1 is Alexandra Foester. She has been Germany’s representative in the W1X since 2021 and was U23 World Champion in 2021 and 2022. On the senior circuit she has World Cup golds from WC3 in 2022 and WC2 last year. She won bronze at the Europeans and at the Worlds placed eighth overall.
GER2 is Juliane Faralisch. She’s a former Junior World Champion and U23 World medallist. She made her senior debut in 2019 and spent the 2019 season racing in the W4-, finishing 16th at the World Championships. For Varsese she is the spare for the German team and this will be her first international race since 2019.
Spain’s Virginia Diaz Rivas made her senior debut whilst still a teenager back in 2010. She raced in the W1X through to the 2019 season when she switched to the pair, winning the European Championships (Spain’s first in the W2-). She followed that up with W2- medals at both the 2020 and 2021 Europeans and then placed sixth at the Tokyo Olympics. After Tokyo she moved back into the single, making the World Championship A Final in 2022. 2023 was a less successful season for the Spaniard; sixth at the Europeans was followed by 12th at the Worlds. She’s another very talented sculler who will have to qualify for Paris via the FOQR.
Other scullers to watch include Norway’s Inger Seim Kavlie, a former U23 World Medallist and winner of the C-Final at last year’s World Championships.
Prediction
I can’t see anyone stopping Florijn but it should be a good contest for the silver and bronze. I’m going with Foester to take silver and Puspure the bronze.
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