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.
Romania
Romania are one of nine crews racing out in Ontario and are the team to beat having won gold last year. Two of that golden quartet, Emanuela Ioana Ciotau and Patricia Cires, are back for another dance and are joined by Mariana-Laura Dumitru and Manuela-Gabriela Lungu. Dumitru has already raced on the senior stage a couple of times, most recently in the quad at this year’s European championships. She is a former lightweight and won a bronze medal in the double at last year’s U23s. Lungu has also raced at senior level. After being eliminated in the repechage of the U23 women’s eights, she was part of the crew that placed fourth at this year’s World Rowing Cup III.
Great Britain
Of the British crew that placed eighth at last year’s championships, only one has returned to the lineup. Ellie Cooke of Reading University picked up a silver medal in championship singles at BUCS Regatta and she’s also joined by clubmate Finnola Stratton who makes her international debut. Speaking of international debuts, Lily Abbott wears the red, white and blue for the first time after a cracking season with Molesey, reaching the semi-finals of championship quads at Henley Women’s Regatta and the Princess Grace Challenge Cup. Finally, there’s Meg Knight. The former Trentham rower is ever so familiar with quads, having won silver at the U19 world championships in this boat class back in 2022.
Czechia
Czechia beat The Netherlands by 0.5s to leave Plovdiv with the silver medal at last year’s championships. Like the Brits, only one athlete is returning. Alzbeta Zavadilova moves from two to three but arguably the most exciting addition to this year’s crew is stroke Veronika Cinkova. Having last raced internationally at the 2023 Beach Sprint Finals, the former lightweight has raced at senior level on numerous occasions, including having a stab at Olympic qualification back in 2021.
Italy
Italy are another crew from last year’s A-Final. They were sixth, a couple of lengths off the back of Lithuania who finished fifth. Irene Gattiglia and Susanna Pedrola are back, forming a familiar bow pair. Much like their male counterparts, the Italians have raced at senior level this season. At Varese, Gattliglia and Pedrola teamed up with six others including Aurora Spirito to place fifth in the A-Final of the women’s eight. It’s a fantastic idea to bleed new talent onto the international stage, especially in front of a home crowd and I expect it to pay dividends in St Catharines. Giulia Bosio is the fourth and final addition to the Italian outfit and she brings a wealth of quad experience, having placed fifth in this event back in 2022 and winning a silver medal at the 2021 U19 world championships.
China
Much like Great Britain, China found themselves in the B-Final last year but placed one higher than the Brits to finish seventh overall. This crew is a fresh lineup for the Chinese. So fresh in fact that only Yahui Li has raced internationally. Back in 2022 she placed third in the B-Final of women’s quads at World Rowing Cup III and won the C-Final of the same boat class at the U19 world championships
Prediction
I think this will come down to Italy and Romania with the Italians perhaps edging ahead in the final.
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