2024 World Rowing Cup II – Review

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The Rotsee in Lucerne is known as “The Lake of the Gods” and it seldom fails to deliver outstanding racing. This year’s second World Rowing Cup was no exception and with a number of Paris-bound crews using it as their last race before starting their final preparations for the Olympics, the racing took on extra meaning across the events.

Men’s Single

Coming into Lucerne the red-hot favourite was Ollie Zeidler of Germany. The world and European champion has looked unstoppable so far this year and he went out in the final looking like he meant to carry on that record. The big German was leading by almost two seconds by the first marker and he took another ½ second off the field in the second quarter. Behind him, Simon Van Dorp of the Netherlands had pulled away from the rest of the field into a clear second place and it looked like these two would hold station and secure the gold and silver in a run-of-the-mill men’s singles race. But, Van Dorp had other ideas. In the second 1000m he began to reel Zeidler in and by the 1500m mark he’d taken almost two seconds out of Zeidler. As they came into the red buoys, the Dutchman kept piling on the pressure and Zeidler suddenly looked vulnerable. In the closing 75 metres Van Dorp got his bows in front, sculling the world champion to a standstill and claiming the gold. Behind this epic battle, the Belarussian, Yauheni Zalaty, racing as a Neutral Athlete, had a nip-and-tuck contest with Denmark’s Sverri Nielsen before pulling away in the final 250 to secure the bronze. Nielsen had to settle for fourth with Kristian Vasilev of Bulgaria in fifth. Tom Mackintosh of New Zealand was forced to withdraw before the final on medical grounds.

Men’s Heavyweight Double

Compared to the fireworks in the M1X, the M2X was a less nail-biting affair. The Dutch world champions, Stefan Broenink and Melvin Twellaar, were the class of the field. Unfazed by a rare false start by the French, the Dutch weathered early attacks by the Italians, Luca Rambaldi and Matteo Sartori, to open up almost a length’s lead by halfway. From there on they could watch the race unfold behind them as they extended their lead to clear water by 1500. Behind them the Italians had a fierce battle with Spain’s Aleix Garcia I Pujolar and Rodrigo Conde Romero before pulling clear in the third 500. For their part, the Spanish also had clear water ahead of New Zealand’s Jordan Parry and Robbie Manson and a below par France (Hugo Boucheron and Matthieu Androdias) with the Norwegians, Ole Storlien and Martin Helseth in sixth.

Men’s Pair

Great Britain’s Ollie Wynne-Griffith and Tom George came into Lucerne unbeaten in 2024 and that’s how they left. The Brits looked unfazed from the off and by the first marker had edged their bows in front of their perennial rivals, Roman Roeoesli and Andrin Gulich of Switzerland. The British built on their lead at every marker, under-rating the rest of the field and building close to a two-second lead by the 1500 mark. The Swiss looked relatively secure in silver, but they had reckoned without a ballistic sprint from the Spanish, Jaime Canalejo Pazos and Javier Garcia Ordonez, who jacked the rate up as if the very devil was pursuing them, topping out at 50 strokes a minute and overhauling first the South Africans (John Smith and Chris Baxter) and then the Swiss to grab the silver medal. The Swiss just held off the South Africans to take the bronze by 11/100^th of a second. In fifth were the Great Britain reserves of Will Stewart and James Robson, who produced an outstanding series of races to make the final, and in sixth were the Irish duo of Ross Corrigan and John Kearney. Great Britain will head off to altitude camp with their unbeaten record intact and no doubt the crews missing from Lucerne – Romania and Croatia – will have been watching with great interest.

Men’s Coxless Four

Great Britain have looked the crew to beat throughout this Olympiad, however that crown was tarnished somewhat at World Rowing Cup I where they were beaten for the first time by Italy. The Italian four weren’t racing in Lucerne (having raced at the FOQR at the beginning of the week). In the absence of the Italians the British would face fierce competition from their nemesis, Australia, as well as the top boats from both the USA and New Zealand. The writing looked to be on the wall with the British losing to the Australians in the heat and both the USA and New Zealand posting significantly faster times in the other heat and so it proved in the final. The British appeared to be focused on staying ahead of a frantic-looking Australia and didn’t appear to respond to a powerful start from the USA. For their part the Americans did to the rest of the field what the British normally do; steadily row away, building on the lead at each marker. It was an impressive performance from Nick Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady and Liam Corrigan, posting the fastest splits at each marker. Behind them the battle for silver and bronze never really got going, with New Zealand breaking clear of the out-of-sorts British to claim silver by over two seconds. This race was the first time since the first World Rowing Cup in 2013 that a New Zealand M4- has gotten the better of a British crew. Australia were never really in the hunt for a medal and took fourth with the French and the Netherlands in fifth and sixth.

Men’s Quad

If anyone wants an instructional video on how to scull a quad then they should just watch the Netherlands M4X – it is a thing of beauty. They led from start to finish and although they never led by more than a length they also never looked hurried or under pressure. Behind the Dutch, the Poles and Italians had a ding-dong battle over the first half of the course before the Poles broke clear of an Italian crew who never dropped below 40 for the whole 2000m. Behind these three, it was a solid performance from Great Britain, with John Collins replacing an injured Matt Haywood, taking fourth well clear of Germany in fifth and Switzerland in sixth. The Netherlands victory in the quad saw the Dutch take all three men’s open-weight gold medals, a feat that hasn’t been achieved since the 1974 world championships!

Men’s Eight

The internet was abuzz after the preliminary race after the USA, fresh from their victory at the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta, handed the British a rare defeat. However, preliminary races are just that – preliminary – and it’s what happens when it matters that counts. The British didn’t allow the USA to get the jump on them off the start as they had in the earlier race, and by the first timing point the British had built a 1/3 length lead. They stretched this to ¾ of a length by the 1500m mark and looked in command; cox Harry Brightmore was able to watch the battle for the minor places going on behind him. However, the Americans weren’t quite ready to roll over and die; they launched a ferocious sprint in the final 250m closing to within 0.2 of a second of the British at the line. Behind these two the battle for the bronze came down to the top Australian boat and the Netherlands with less than 0.3 of a second separating them at 1500. The Aussies appeared to run out of steam in the sprint to the line, allowing the Dutch to break clear and take the bronze almost five seconds ahead of the Australians with the Germans never in the contest, crossing the line nearly seven seconds behind the British. GB will have been delighted to close this part of the season with a win, but the Americans will have given them a bit of a scare. As for the Australians and Germans, there will be a lot of head-scratching at how they can close the quite considerable gap to the rest of the field.

Men’s Lightweight Double

This event delivered one of the biggest surprises of the regatta. The Irish Olympic and world champions, Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy, hadn’t raced together since winning the world title but, even so, expectation was high that they would pick up where they left off. In the final though, it was the Italian duo of Stefano Oppo and Gabriel Soares who took the race by the scruff of the neck and jumped out into the lead, a lead that they built on at every marker. Behind the Italians, the Swiss, Jan Schaeuble and Raphael Ahumada Ireland, also smelled blood and the chance to take the Irish scalp. They moved through the Irish at the 1000m mark and managed to hold off the customary Irish sprint to take the silver. O’Donovan’s bronze matched his lowest finish in the LM2X since the opening World Rowing Cup of the 2018 season. The three medalists were well clear of the rest of the field, with Norway’s Lars Benske and Ask Tjoem getting fourth ahead of Spain in fifth and Belgium sixth.

Women’s Single

This race was one of the most eagerly anticipated across the whole World Rowing Cup with the top three from the 2023 world championships meeting for the first time this season. Karolien Florijn of the Netherlands has been unbeatable for the last couple of seasons and she came into Lucerne as the one to get past. The fact that she led the final at every marker hides what was an epic contest. Australia’s Tara Rigney simply wouldn’t let the Dutchwoman get away. She clung to her coat-tails throughout the first 1500m, not letting the world champion get more than half a second ahead. In the final quarter, Florijn turned the screws and Rigney began to run out of steam with the world champion eventually breaking clear to cross the line 1.5 seconds to the good. Behind these two, New Zealand’s Olympic champion, Emma Twigg, was in a bit of a race of her own; two seconds behind the leading pair and two seconds ahead of the other three scullers. Fourth was Belarussian “Neutral” Tatsiana Klimovich with the talented young German Alexandra Foester in fifth and Lithuania’s Viktorija Senkute in sixth.

Women’s Double

This was a cracking race, with the lead changing hands several times. The Chinese, Shiyu Lu and Shuangmei Shen, decided to be the hare and launched off the line to take an early lead, passing the 500m mark over 1.5 seconds clear of Australia in second. They continued to lead at the 1000m although their lead had been cut to just 0.4 of a second. As the Chinese began to pay the price for their fast start, the Aussies, Amanda Bateman and Harriet Hudson, took over and hoped to deliver Australia’s first gold of the regatta. The Aussies though hadn’t reckoned with the Americans, Sophia Vitas and Kristina Wagner, who had been stalking the Australians through the third 500m. As the crews hit the red buoys the USA pounced, sculling through the Australians to take the gold by 0.7 of a second. Behind the two leading crews, the Norwegian European champions, Thea Helseth and Inge Kavile, held off a fierce sprint from Zoe Hyde and Alison Bergin to take the bronze with New Zealand’s Zoe Hyde and Lucy Spoors in fifth and the Chinese, having paid the price for their fly-and-die start, bringing up the rear.

Women’s Pair

The result of this race never looked in doubt pretty much from the first stroke. The Netherland’s world champion pair of Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester took the lead off the start and steadily pulled away from the rest of the field, taking almost a second at each marker. Behind the Dutch, it was the Australian pairing of Jessica Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre who established themselves as clear silver medalists as the field began to stretch out. The Irish pair of Aifric Keogh and Fiona Murtagh were also in their own little bubble in third place, five seconds behind the Aussies and three seconds ahead of the Greeks in fourth. In the end the best bit of the race was the battle for fourth, fifth and sixth with the Greeks, a second Netherlands pair and the USA all finishing within 0.7 of a second.

Women’s Coxless Four

This was billed as a showdown between the reigning world champions from the Netherlands and the current European champions from Great Britain. The British, with double Olympic champion Helen Glover in the bow seat, just edged their bows in front at the first marker, but in the second 500 their smooth and powerful rowing helped them draw away from the Dutch, leading by one second at the 1000m mark and extending that to over two seconds at 1500m. They crossed the line 2.5 seconds to the good in a very impressive display of controlled rowing, under-rating their opposition throughout the race. Behind the British and Dutch, the Americans pushed on with a decent sprint in the final 500m to take the bronze ahead of New Zealand in fourth, China in fifth and the Australians in sixth.

Women’s Quad

Another GB v Netherlands dual. As with the W4-, the British led at each marker and did their damage to the rest of the field in the first 1000 metres. GB’s Lola Anderson, Lauren Henry, Hanna Scott and Georgie Brayshaw were tracked by the fast-starting Chinese with the Dutch and Germans less than a second behind at 500m. As they went through the second 500m, the British put the hammer down, taking a second off the tiring Chinese. In a display of controlled, aggressive sculling the British moved away from the rest of the field, with the Dutch sculling through the Chinese who in turn were chased to the line by the Germans. At the finish, the British took gold nearly 2.5 seconds ahead of the Dutch with China just clinging onto bronze ahead of Germany with the Swiss in fifth and Australia trailing in nearly 13 seconds behind the British.

Women’s Eight

Another example of how the preliminary races can be misleading. In their first run down the track, the USA won the opening salvo by almost 1.5 seconds ahead of Australia, Canada and Great Britain. However, when it really mattered, it was a different story. The British have put together a really powerful crew, probably their best since the Rio Olympics. They took the race by the scruff of the neck, leading through to the 1500m mark, but were stalked by the reigning Olympic champions from Canada. Despite racing with a substitute onboard, they never allowed the British to get more than a few feet in front. In the final sprint the Olympic champions put the hammer down and rowed through the British to take the gold by just over a second. The USA, who perhaps flattered to deceive in the opening race, were over a length back and Australia were never in the race, finishing over seven seconds behind Canada. Gold for Canada will be a welcome shot in the arm for the Canadian team who are suffering following disappointing results at the FOQR and for the British this was a major step-on (Martin Cross rated them as the “most improved crew” at the regatta). With only the Romanians missing, this result puts the British into strong medal contention for Paris.

Women’s Lightweight Double

Business as usual for the British LW2X of Imogen Grant and Emily Craig. They produced a near-flawless race to take the gold ahead of New Zealand’s Jackie Kittle and Shannon Cox. The British led from the go and were over a second clear through the first 500m. For their part the Kiwis were tenacious, and didn’t allow the British to break free, but the British looked controlled, under-rating the rest of the field and covering the middle thousand at a comparatively pedestrian 36 strokes per minute and pulling clear of the New Zealanders to win by nearly three seconds. Behind the Kiwis, the Americans, Molly Reckford and Michelle Sechser, were comfortable in third but never looked like challenging the top two boats, crossing the line four seconds adrift. Canada’s Jill Moffatt and Jennifer Casson were two seconds further back in fourth with Ireland’s Aoife Casey and Margaret Cremen in fifth and China’s Jiaqi Zou and Xiuping Qiu over 14 seconds behind the winners. Grant and Craig will be delighted with the win in Lucerne, especially after Craig missed the Europeans due to illness, and they will head off to training camp knowing they will be favourites for Paris, the last ever Olympic LW2X competition.

Non-Olympic Events

A quick mention for the LM1X. In one of the performances of the year, Hin Chun Chiu of Hong Kong delivered his nation’s first ever World Rowing Cup gold, winning ahead of rowing powerhouses France, Italy, Belgium, USA and Germany – an outstanding achievement (it’s not, as some have claimed, Hong Kong’s first ever gold medal – that honour goes to the para-rowing ID Mix 4+ who won the world championships in 2009, 2010 and 2011). Chiu’s win also meant that Hong Kong finished above both Australia and New Zealand in the medal table – that definitely hasn’t happened before!

In the LW1X, 2023 world champion Siobhan McCrohan dominated the field with a four-second win over the USA’s Sophia Luwis with GB’s Olivia Bates in bronze.

Comment

So, what to make of the second World Rowing Cup? Both Great Britain and the Netherlands will be pleased with their medal hauls. Between them, they shared ten of the 14 Olympic class gold medals. Each will have their own concerns heading into the Olympic preparation; the British will be scratching their heads over the performance of the men’s coxless four and the Dutch will also want more from their men’s and women’s sweep teams (with the exception of the women’s pair). The Americans will be delighted with how their men’s four and eight raced but will be less happy with their women’s sweep team. Australia’s men pretty much had a World Rowing Cup to forget although the Aussie women had a decent regatta with three silver medals. Some of that can be put down to acclimatising to Europe, but most of their crews looked off the pace and that will be concerning. The country with the most head-scratching to do though will be Germany, with Zeidler losing and no other crew making the podium. They will not be a happy bunch leaving Lucerne on Sunday night.

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