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 my look at who to watch out for in each event and also perhaps a few names to watch for the LA Olympic cycle.
Entries: 4
Two boats from Australia face off against development crews from Romania and the Netherlands.
The Australia no.1 boat is their “official” women’s eight that will be racing in Paris. The bulk of this crew won bronze at the 2023 world championships, but just like their male counterparts, they came a bit unstuck at Lucerne with a lacklustre performance that saw them trail in last of the four crews and four seconds behind the USA in bronze. A gold medal in Poznan “should” be a relatively straightforward task for the only Olympic-bound crew in the event and give a much-needed morale boost. The second Aussie boat is basically the rest of their women’s squad doubling-up (or in the case of Eliza Gaffney and Lily Alton Triggs, trebling-up – they are entered in all three women’s sweep events – doubling-up is pretty common, but I’ve not come across too many athletes racing in 3 events!). With their world championship silver medal pair in the stern it should be a great battle between the two Aussie boats.
The Netherlands are boating their development eight. The bow four all raced in the quad at the European championships, finishing eighth. Three of the stern four also raced at the Europeans with Maartje Damen and Linn Van Aanholt winning bronze in the four and Vera Sneijders finishing seventh in the pair. This crew raced at the Holland Beker last week and will have been a bit surprised to have been beaten by two Oxford Brookes crews.
The stern four of the Romanian crew raced at the first World Rowing Cup, winning bronze. The bow four contains three of the U23 BW8 that raced at the U23 world championships last season (not progressing beyond the repechage). The final member of the crew is also the youngest, 18-year-old U19 medallist Andreea Nicoleta Dinu.
Prediction
Australia 1 ahead of Australia 2 with these boats some way ahead of the Romanians in bronze and the Netherlands in fourth.
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