The second World Rowing Cup of the year promises so much. Our European contenders, who we have already seen race on one, if not two, occasions this year meet their rivals from across continents as Australia, New Zealand, the USA and a number of other heavy-hitting global players converge on Lucerne in what will be many crews’ final race before the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. As always, JRN are previewing every single event in-depth as we take another enormous step forward towards the crowning moment of our sport.
Entries: 14
Before the 2024 European championships, Romania could have been one of the safest favourites for a gold medal come Paris. The defending Olympic champions breezed the 2022 and 2023 world championships and the stars were starting to align very nicely. No-one appears to have told the Norwegians this though. Whilst paired up with Jenny Marie Rorvik, Thea Helseth ran the Dutch to within a second at World Rowing Cup I. However, come the European championships, Helseth was partnered with Inger Seim Kavlie and blasted everyone out of the water, including Romania, to win the gold medal.
Lithuania were the silver medallists at the Euros. Dovile Rimkute and Donata Karaliene were also able to upset the Romanians having placed second to them at last year’s world championships. Given the lane seeding and tough winds over in Hungary, I expect to see the Lithuanians fighting for gold rather than hoping for a minor medal.
When looking back at the racing we’ve had this season, World Rowing Cup II is where things start to get tasty. We’ve been teased by Ireland and Italy who finished fourth and seventh respectively at the world championships. The Irish duo of Zoe Hyde and Alison Bergin took to the waters in Szeged but could only manage fifth, while Italy’s Clara Guerra and Stefania Gobbi were fourth at World Rowing Cup I behind the Germans who are racing at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta.
What’s worth noting is that Italy are fielding two crews; ITA 2 is formed of Silvia Crosio and Stefania Gobbi, who qualified this boat last year for the Olympics. Read into that what you will…
Speaking of countries who have multiple entries in this field, we arrive at Switzerland. Their first boat is currently racing at FOQR and at the time of writing this, Nina Wettstein and Jeannine Gmelin are currently prepping for their A-final and a shot of booking a spot in Paris. The second Swiss crew is formed of Sofia Meakin and Pascale Walker. Walker helped qualify the Swiss quad for the Olympics last year but hasn’t raced internationally since that event. Meakin on the other hand has had a busy season so far, racing to fifth at both World Rowing Cup I and the European championships in the quad. Meakin is set to double up in the double and quad at this regatta which would suggest the Swiss perhaps aren’t fully happy with their selections just yet.
Looking at the rest of the A-final from last year’s World Championship, The United States, New Zealand and France are all sending the same crews over to Lucerne. The USA were third, 0.11s behind Lithuania, while the Kiwis and the French were fifth and sixth respectively.
Before we get to the rest of the B-final crews, a word on the Netherlands’ combination of Lisa Scheenaard and Martine Veldhuis. Whilst they came away fifth in the B-final, Scheenaard was a bronze medalist in this boat at the Tokyo Olympics and she’s partnered with Velduis, who seems to fluctuate between racing lightweight and heavyweight, most recently placing fourth in the lightweight single at last year’s world championships. Why is all this important? Well, they’ve raced once this season and won World Rowing Cup I, beating the Norwegians. Expect this Dutch double to feature in the A-final once more.
Looking down the rest of the B-final, it’s interesting to see that Australia have rejigged their sculling group. Harriet Hudson moves from the quad to join Amanda Bateman. Hudson had to go through FOQR last time round and left Tokyo with a bronze medal, while Bateman stays in the same boat that saw her place seventh overall at the last Olympics.
Finally, both China and South Africa are bringing their same crews that raced the world championships to FOQR. They were fourth and sixth respectively and the young South African combination are currently preparing for their final at FOQR and are on the outside looking in for one of those Olympic spots.
Prediction:
Lithuania ahead of Norway and the Netherlands with the United States, Ireland and New Zealand making up the rest of the A-final. Bold call, we know.
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