2024 World Rowing Under 23 Championships – Review

Image Credit: World Rowing

With three championships in contention this week in Canada, the first champions crowned were in the U23 events. With strong conditions across both days of finals, there were plenty of records to fall in St Catharine’s as well as several close finishes. 

Under 23 Women’s Pair

JRN Prediction: Netherlands, France, Chile

Actual Result: Great Britain, Spain, France

Off the start, it was the British pair of Holly Youd and Anna Grace who had the best of the starts, pulling away quickly and establishing the best part of a length on the field by 500m into the race, holding that lead through to the halfway mark ahead of a tight battle for the minor medals between Spain, the Netherlands and Germany. It was the Spanish who elevated themselves from that group, making inroads into the Brits through the third quarter of the race, but the North of England-based pair held them off with a killer sprint to the finish line. However, the fastest crew on the water at the end of the race were the French, who came from near the back of the pack to claim the bronze medal narrowly behind the Spanish duo.

Under 23 Men’s Pair

JRN Prediction: Romania, New Zealand, Germany

Actual Result: New Zealand, Germany, Italy

Off the start, this race quickly split into two groups. The crews from New Zealand, Germany and Slovenia remained within three tenths of a second at the first timing point and were notably ahead of the three boats behind who were also closely matched. Through the middle of the race, the experienced Kiwis and younger Germans pulled away as they fought for gold and silver. It was the experience of last year’s fourth-placed crew that paid off as the Germans fell back and the Kiwis claimed an impressive gold, setting a new fastest time for the U23 world championships. The Germans withheld a late charge from Italy and managed to replicate the silver medal they won in the U19 equivalent twelve months ago, while a strong surge from the Romanian crew came just too late and they had to settle for fourth. In the B-Final, the British crew of Richard Hawes and Mack Carr lead from post to post to claim seventh place overall.

Under 23 Women’s Quadruple Scull

JRN Prediction: Italy, Romania

Actual Result: Romania, Poland, Great Britain

It was the crew from Poland who got the best of the starts, taking a one-second lead over the Romanians after 500m, who in turn maintained a modest lead over the British. Through the body of the race, the Romanian crew were the class act as they were expected to be given two of the crew raced this event at the Olympics in Paris. They steadily moved through the competition with relative ease, overtaking the Polish at the halfway point and sculling away to claim the gold medal and a new U23 world championship best time. Behind them, the German crew had recovered from an early boat-stopping crab to put pressure on the British crew for bronze by the 1500 metre mark, but instead of folding under the pressure, the Brits moved away from the Germans to compete for the silver medal, ultimately running out of water but claiming an impressive bronze medal.

Under 23 Women’s Double Scull

JRN Prediction: Romania, France, Ireland

Actual Result: Romania, Switzerland, Lithuania

As they did at the last two events, this one was dominated by the Romanian double who won their third successive gold medal in this event, setting the fastest ever U23 time in this category. Behind them, it was a close fight between the remainder of the field, with the Swiss duo taking an early advantage in the fight for silver ahead of a tight grouping behind. As the race went on, the Lithuanians fleetingly took hold of the silver through the 1500 metre mark before a ferocious sprint to the line saw Switzerland secure silver and edge closer to the Romanians, though never putting them in real trouble. Behind them, the Lithuanians held off the French for bronze, while the British crew raced their B-Final in the morning session, finishing eighth overall.

Under 23 Men’s Double Scull

JRN Prediction: Poland, Germany, Great Britain

Actual Result: Poland, Australia, Ireland

After the start phase, it was the Polish crew who got the best of the opening exchanges ahead of a tight pack of crews from Australia, Ireland and Croatia. The field would then begin to spread out, with the Polish breaking overlap at the halfway point as the Australians had in turn built a half-length lead over the Irish. This was not the most exciting race of the day as these positions remained fairly solid and lacked much threat across the last half of the race, as the Poland crew were able to upgrade their silver medals from twelve months ago with the Australians taking silver and the Irish claiming bronze. The British duo placed tenth overall after the morning’s B-Final.

Under 23 Women’s Coxless Four

JRN Prediction: Great Britain, Australia, Poland

Actual Result: Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia

The British crew jumped out to an early lead, building on from their dominant win in the heat, ahead of the New Zealanders, French and Australians who were contested for the minor medals. Through the third quarter of the race, the Kiwis moved ahead of the remainder of the field as they aimed to reel in the British crew, while Australia and France fought for bronze. The efforts of the New Zealanders were too late though as the British secured victory and took more than four seconds off the championship best time in the process while Australia separated themselves from the French in the final stages to claim the bronze medal, completing an all-English-speaking podium. 

Under 23 Men’s Coxless Four

JRN Prediction: Great Britain

Actual Result: Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand

The British crew entered this event with a great deal of expectation on their shoulders, double defending champions in this discipline and boating a crew made up entirely of previous gold medalists in various boat classes at this event. At the start, it was a close affair with less than two seconds splitting the entire field. By halfway though, the British and New Zealanders had elevated themselves, with the Brits squeezing a narrow advantage out to a commanding one throughout the middle kilometre, while the New Zealanders dropped back a little, being reeled in by the Australians before entering the final 500 metres. A ferocious final sprint from the Kiwis was eventually held off by their rivals from across the Tasman in a photo finish. This sprint brought them closer to the leaders but the crew from Harvard, Yale and Oxford Brookes lived up to their lofty expectations, taking this gold medal back to Caversham for the third successive year.

Under 23 Men’s Quadruple Scull

JRN Prediction: Germany, Italy

Actual Result: Poland, Czechia, Italy

Through the opening half of the race, it was the Polish who established themselves with a half-length lead over Czechia and Italy at the halfway mark, as the three medalists took control of proceedings. In the critical third quarter, things began to change as the Czech crew began to move away from the Italians, closing in on the Polish crew. What no-one expected though were the phenomenal sprints that followed in the closing stages as all three crews closed up, with each medal up for grabs in the final 100m. Ultimately, the Polish held on to the victory, 0.37 seconds ahead of the Czechs who in turn had an even smaller margin back to the Italian crew. The British crew placed sixth in this final, an impressive performance to qualify given they were missing Josh Matthews through injury in the heats just a few days previously.

Under 23 Women’s Eight

JRN Prediction: USA, Germany, Great Britain

Actual Result: Great Britain, USA, Germany

Off the start, it was a clear division of the field as Great Britain, Germany and the United States quickly demonstrated the superior power in their boats, accelerating their shells off the standing start, with the Brits getting the best of the three. Through the body of the race, the British reliably underrated their opponents but moved away from them, inch-by-inch until their lead was infallible. Behind them, the Germans and the United States were locked in battle, with the latter trading places with the Europeans before gradually moving away. An early sprint from the Australians behind brought them to within a couple of seats of the US crew, briefly threatening their medal but the Americans pushed off them with a final sprint which reclaimed the silver medal from the Germans. The British women won gold in this event, their first in fifteen years, which completed their grand slam of the three Olympic sweep events at this championship – a feat their men achieved twelve months ago.

Under 23 Men’s Single Scull

JRN Prediction: Ireland, Belgium

Actual Result: Germany, Sweden, Belgium

Through the start of the race it was a tight battle for the gold between Timo Strache of Germany and Oscar Ruston of New Zealand, two nations with a strong history in this boat class. In the second quarter of the race, it was the German who had pulled out to a convincing lead with Ruston being drawn back into the battle involving Sweden’s Erik Kallstrom and Belgium’s Aaron Andries. In the final 500 metres, this was the race to watch as Andries drew first blood to charge ahead for silver but was overturned in the closing stages as Kallstrom would take silver behind the imperious Timo Strache who set a new Worlds Best Time in favourable conditions. For all his early speed, Oscar Ruston would have to settle for fourth, narrowly missing a medal in his first international championships.

Under 23 Women’s Single Scull

JRN Prediction: Germany, Switzerland, Greece

Actual Result: Germany, Switzerland, Belgium

Billed as a rematch of the Olympic B-Final just a few weeks ago, 2022 world champion Alexandra Foester of Germany and 2023 champion Aurelia-Maxima Katharina Jansen of Switzerland enjoyed their second showdown in four weeks, having finished seventh and ninth respectively in Paris. Off the start, the advantage went to the German with the Swiss sculler responding to a slower start to be within a second at the halfway mark. Behind them, the Belgian Mazarine Guilbert was the best of the rest ahead of Greece’s Evangelia Fragkou. In the second half, the German began to press her advantage, establishing open water and breaking the world best time from silver. Ultimately, this was not enough to overturn the imperious German who secured her third U23 world title and improved her own world record by almost six seconds. Guilbert sculled to a commendable bronze.

Under 23 Men’s Eight

JRN Prediction: Great Britain, USA, Germany

Actual Result: Great Britain, USA, Australia

In the final race of the U23 championships, it was the fastest boats on the starting blocks. Off the start, it was the United States and Great Britain who led the field, with precious little to choose between them; at the first marker, the Americans held the lead by just a seat over the British with the Australians, Germans and Canadians fighting for bronze. In the second 500 metres, each boat made moves and counter moves, but all was neutralised as the margin between the two leaders remained exactly the same with the Australians putting their own stamp on bronze ahead of Canada. Just after the midway point though, the British made their move, unveiling a turn of speed that the Americans couldn’t live with. Such was their gear change that the British ended up securing the win by a length, giving the federation their fifth gold medal in a row in this event and the top spot on the medal table. The United States would extend their equal run of silvers with the Australians taking bronze, leaving the home nation without a medal in this age category. 

Under 23 Lightweight Events

On Thursday, the finals in the lightweight events were held. In the men’s pairs, it was a tug-of-war all the way down the course in this all-Americas event with the Chileans coming out on top in front of the crew from the United States after the two boats had traded the lead several times. 

For both lightweight quad events, there was the same start list as Germany and Canada were the only entries in both events, with the Germans claiming the only medal on offer on both sides. In the women’s equivalent, it was sheer domination from the Europeans, but for the men, the home crew made a far better shot of it, maintaining overlap all the way down the course on Martindale Pond.

Friday’s lightweight finals were far better represented, with the singles appearing as the first medals to be awarded across the championships. On the women’s side, the Australian Grace Sypher took gold after two consecutive A-Final appearances at this event in Varese and Plovdiv. For the men, it was the Spanish double Olympian Caetano Xose Hotra Pompo who won gold in his first time racing as an U23, ahead of the defending champion from Italy.

The women again went first in the lightweight doubles, and it was the reigning champions from Greece who were a step above the rest as the two Paris Olympians sculled away from a world-class field in their US-branded Filippi. Italy took the silver and France won a close-fought battle for bronze after a late mishap for the German crew. For the men, there was early hope from the Canadian crew who lead through the first half of the race as they aimed to win the first medal for the host nation at these championships, but it was not to be as an open-water lead was rowed down in the third quarter. The Irish were chief beneficiaries, coming through for gold, holding off the challenge of Italy and France who claimed silver and bronze respectively.

Under 23 Coxed Fours

In the highest level of coxed four racing, it was the women who went first, ensuing a tight battle between the crews from New Zealand and the United States all the way down the course, but a strong final push from the Kiwis allowed them to take the gold. The bronze medal went to the Italians, who finished well ahead of the Canadians on home water in this four-boat event.

On the men’s side, there was not going to be any disappointment for the United States this time as they were a cut above their opposition, winning the gold medal by open water. For the minor medals the race was far tighter, but a late surge from the French secured them bronze but wasn’t quite enough to pass the Italians for silver. It was the Australians who missed out as they finished agonisingly close to the podium. 

About The Author