Image credit: World Rowing
The final World Cup in Olympic year is always a bit of a strange affair. It’s often a mix of Olympic-bound crews looking for some final race practice, and nations looking to give experience to their development boats ahead of the next Olympic cycle. This year’s final World Cup is no different. The host for this World Cup is the Lake Malta course in Poznan, one of the most frequently used courses in all of World Rowing.
So, here’s our look at who to watch out for in each event and also perhaps a few names to watch for the LA Olympic cycle.
Entries: 5
The favourites in this event will be the British combination of Lauren Rowles and Gregg Stevenson. Rowles is unbeaten since 2019 but this is just her second season with partner Stevenson, who joined the crew after missing out on selection a decade earlier. Since coming together, they have set world best times and continued that unbeaten run. It would be a real shock for anyone in this entry to get in front of them.
Their closest challengers may be the home favourites from Poland: Jolanta Majka and Michal Gadowski. Bronze medallists at the 2023 world championships, their form has been lacking so far this season. They opened their season by missing out on the A-Final at the European championships and followed that with a last-placed finish at the World Rowing Cup in Lucerne. However, with their spot at the Games confirmed, they will be looking to rebuild their speed and there is no better place to do this than in front of their home crowd. A medal performance would not be out of the question.
While the crews that have displayed the greatest ability to upset the British this season are skipping this regatta, one crew opening their season here is the Irish duo of Steven McGowan and Katie O’Brien. Last season was a consistent one, as they finished all three World Rowing-run events in fifth place but they will be wanting to push through the tight pack to fight for medals in Paris. McGowan has raced already this season as he lined up in the PR2 Men’s Single in Lucerne, finishing fifth behind two Italians and one of his compatriots. This indicates that they have been focusing on the double in training and may have more significant speed this weekend.
Rounding out the Paralympic qualifiers in the field is the Dutch combination of Gertrudes Bregitta Van Der Loos and Marinus De Koning. This experienced pairing can match almost anyone in the category in terms of experience and pedigree but since Van Der Loos has returned to the sport after seven years out, it just hasn’t quite lived up to expectation. They were in the bottom half of the field at both the European championships and the Lucerne World Rowing Cup but if they can get everything working they could be a contender for the medals both here and in Paris.
The final entry in the draw is the German combination of Paul Umbach and Jessica Bier. This duo was the form crew (GB aside) for the opening part of the season as they won silver at the European championships. However, at the all-important Final Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta, they missed out, with the young crew placing third, less than two seconds away from qualification. While the road to Paris is not completely closed, any path that goes through the opaque bipartite committee process cannot be relied on, so they will be wanting to go as fast as possible in what could be a premature end to their season.
Prediction
The British double are the undoubtable favourites and will be expected to take nothing but gold away this weekend. For silver I would pick the Germans to bounce back from FOPQR disappointment with the Polish to figure it out for bronze on home water.
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