Image Credit: World Rowing
After the Olympic Games, the rowing world can take a deep breath. However, it can’t be held for long as the ‘Mega Worlds’ heads to St Catharines, Canada. Between 18th – 23rd August, the U23 Championships will combine with U19s and the senior events not contested in Paris. The eyes of the sport head west to Ontario and amongst the competitors we’ll find the next generation of talent lining up on a start line in Los Angeles and Brisbane.
Great Britain
Five years ago in Sarasota, David Ambler, Tom Digby, Freddie Davidson, and Charlie Elwes obliterated the field to win this title. Since then, GB have won two golds and a bronze medal, very much making this event theirs to win. After watching all four of the aforementioned athletes pick up medals in Paris, it’s time for the next generation. Josh Brangan, Fergus Woolnough, Jake Wincomb and Harry Geffen are a thrilling unit. Wincomb and Woolnough are Grand Challenge Cup winners while Harvard’s Josh Brangan has been an invaluable member of one of college rowing’s most exciting combinations which saw them win numerous duels, including victory at the Harvard-Yale race. Speaking of the Bulldogs, Geffen is a two-time U23 world champion, winning the eight and the pair in 2022 and 2023 respectively. Make no mistake, this is a seriously quick combination.
Australia
Great Britain against Australia. In a coxless four. Few rivalries get better than that in international rowing. Last year, the Aussies were nearly three seconds adrift of the top spot and Nikolas Pender and Austin Reinehr are back for redemption. The athletes selected to join Pender and Reinehr are no slouches. Mitch Salisbury and Jarrod Lord have found some extra friends, having picked up a bronze in the pair at last year’s world championships in Plovdiv and will be hoping to mount a serious charge against the British.
France
Last year’s bronze medallists are back with three of the crew hoping to level up their silverware. Alistair Gicqueau, Nikola Kolarevic and Armand Pfister will be joined by Victor Marcelot and what an addition he is. Having reached the A-Final of the U23s in the quad last year, Marcelot has raced at senior level throughout 2024. After the European championships, he moved from the double to the quad and placed fourth at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta before turning his hand back to sweep and finishing seventh overall at World Rowing Cup III. Anything less than a medal for France will be a disappointment.
Romania
While France only needed to pick up one more athlete, by contrast, Romania are returning Leontin Nutescu. However, what a guy to return to your U23 ranks. Nutescu is only 20 years old and is already an Olympian, having raced to ninth at the Paris Olympics. Andrei Vatamaniuc and Ionut Pavel doubled up at World Rowing Cup III in the eight and the pair while Cristian-Vasile Nicoara gained his senior experience at this year’s Euros, placing fifth in the quad at Varese. After a fourth-placed finish, 0.27s behind the French last year, the Romanians are in with a serious shout of stepping onto the podium.
United States of America
After winning a historic gold medal, the first for 64 years at an Olympic Games, the United States will be looking to see if they can achieve the feat of being champions in every age category at an Olympic year. As gauntlets go, it’s a big one to run and the star-spangled U23s are an untested unit with Lucas Farmer, John O’Brien, Andrew Soman, and William Klipstine all making their international debuts. The four Badgers are the first Wisconsin men to race for the United States since 2021. Klipstine, Soman, and Farmer all raced in the Wisconsin Varsity eight that placed 19th at the IRAs while O’Brien placed the same in the second Varsity Eight. The Americans will likely struggle against the big boys but until racing starts the gauntlet is still alive!
Prediction
Great. Britain.
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