Image credit: World Rowing
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: 24
The impossibly talented Karolien Florijn returns to action alongside the remainder of the senior Dutch team and will surely be the one to beat, having not lost a race since the Tokyo Olympics. Although the European championships did see dynasties overturned – look no further than the Romanian women’s openweight double – I suspect Florijn will still be the class candidate in a bustling field.
Snapping at her heels is the indomitable Emma Twigg. The Olympic champion is back in the scull for the first time in 2024 and will be desperate to bring the form that has seen her win a hattrick of gold cups onto the senior circuit. She was a silver medalist behind Florijn in Belgrade last September, five seconds back on the destructive Dutchwoman, and will be seeking to close that gap in 2024. Word has it that she is feeling very good coming into the season and, frankly, if anyone knows how to peak at the right time in the pursuit of ultimate glory, Twigg does.
Tara Rigney opens her 2024 account at Lucerne and will be aiming to continue the exceptional form that has established her as one of the fastest female scullers in the world. The Australian was third at the 2023 world championships and also collected two silver medals during the World Cup series. Australia have a proud history of fast female single scullers and Rigney will have that force of will behind her as she approaches Paris.
Australia’s second sculler in the category will be the aptly-named Olympia Aldersey, who steps out of the women’s eight that finished third at the world championships last autumn. Aldersey has a rich history in sculling boats, having collected numerous medals as part of quads and doubles through the first half of the last decade. She also has two Olympics under her belt already – both in the eight – so it will be interesting to see what she can do in the single.
The USA have two scullers entered, including Kara Kohler. The 33-year-old is one of Team USA’s brightest medal prospects in rowing after finishing a tantalising fourth in Belgrade last year. She did race the single in Tokyo, finishing ninth overall, and will certainly want to get her show on the road in 2024 with a performance that attempts to break into the triumvirate of Florijn, Twigg and Rigney.
Alina Hagstrom joins Kohler and is another example of a former sweep athlete stepping into the solo confines of the single. Hagstrom has spent the past two seasons in the women’s eight, finishing fourth in 2022 and winning silver in 2023, and does not feature in Lucerne’s line-up for the eight.
Winner of the 2024 European Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta was Tatsiana Klimovich, who is racing as an ‘Individual Neutral Athlete’. Having now qualified for Paris, she can come to Lucerne with an agenda focused solely on testing her speed against the very best. She was tenth overall at the 2023 world championships and previously finished 13th in Tokyo.
With the current European champion from Serbia absent, Alexandra Foester will step into the breach on behalf of her native Germany. Foester may have been a little disappointed not to have taken the European title in a quiet field after winning silver at the first World Rowing cup but will be determined to bounce back in Lucerne if she harbours serious ambition to finish prominently at the Olympics.
Germany also boat Juliane Faralisch, who was fourth at the first World Rowing Cup a few weeks ago. The 27-year-old’s last international experience before this was back at the 2019 world championships, where she finished 16th overall in the women’s four.
Close behind her might be Czechia’s Alice Prokesova. She was a bronze medal winner in Szeged, which was only her fourth senior appearance (her previous three came in the double last season). She’s already racing at FOQR just a few days prior, so has clearly decided to stick around and show what she’s got.
On the subject of FOQR, Switzerland’s wunderkind, Aurelia-Maxima Janzen, is the reigning U23 world champion and also took the senior circuit by storm in winning silver at the 2023 European championships. This season, she finished eighth in Varese and then won the B-Final at the European championships in Hungary.
Sanita Puspure is one of the most seasoned heads in the field, with over 20 years of international experience. After returning to race in the W2X in 2022, winning bronze and then the W4- in 2023, taking ninth, she’s moved back into the single for 2024. She raced at the first World Cup of the season, placing fifth.
Viktorija Senkute was sixth at the 2023 world championships, securing her seat on the Paris start-line, but had an underwhelming start to 2024, finishing last in the ‘A’ final at the European championships. She’ll be looking to pick herself up and start the fight for Olympic ‘A’ final slots.
Great Britain’s Lucy Glover races for the first time in 2024, after finishing 22nd overall in this category at the 2023 world championships. She’s been a little unfortunate after losing her place in the quad after World Cup III, only for it then to go on and win gold in Belgrade. Their recent European title will do little to re-open the door for Glover so hopefully she’s found some additional speed in the single. She won’t be racing at the Olympics, as GB have not qualified a women’s single and she’s not competing at FOQR.
Olympic silver medalist Anna Prakaten returns in 2024 to improve upon a fairly disappointing 2023 showing. She was 15th overall at the world championships although did place fifth in Lucerne back in July. Her Olympic silver in Tokyo came from almost nowhere, after she won the 2021 European Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta alongside the European championships and second World Cup. She’s a dangerous contender and one to watch out for.
Prediction
I think Florijn almost picks herself as favourite. She’s been untouchable since winning silver in the four in Tokyo and approaches the Paris Olympics as the stand-out sculler. Behind her, I will be very interested to see how Twigg, Rigney and Kohler land after finishing behind Florijn in Belgrade last year. I expect Twigg, an old hand in situations like this, to hit the ground running and win silver and I think Rigney will have enough to secure bronze.
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