Find the full announcement on the British contingent contesting this weekend’s event here.
It’s the European Championships!
Just six months after the last ones! For those athletes who won in 2020, their reigns as European Champions will be the shortest in history; but, it’s fantastic to see a championship regatta taking place. For many nations (especially the British), it’s the first chance to have some serious side-by-side racing since the World Championships back in September 2019 – a full nineteen months ago. The 2021 European Championships are being staged in Varese, Italy, 45km north of Milan. The last time the senior rowing circuit visited this course was for the 1st World Cup back in 2016. For crews already qualified for Tokyo, these championships offer a chance to blow away the cobwebs and get some racing under their belts. For those who are still hoping to book their Olympic ticket, they provide a vital early-season warm-up for the final qualification regatta in Lucerne next month. So, with international racing about to happen, it’s time for me to do one of my “little” previews. With so little racing form to go on, this will be more about the crew’s rowing pedigree than current state. So here goes…
Men’s Singles Sculls
26 Entries
2020 European Champion: Sverri Nielsen (Denmark)
The 2019 World Championship final was one of the closest races the men’s single has seen for many years – the top five finishers separated by less than one second. It was Ollie Zeidler of Germany who took gold just 3/100th ahead of Denmark’s Sverri Nielsen.
2019 was something of a breakthrough year for the 27-year-old Faroese. His silver medal in Linz was the first M1X medal by a Dane. Then, at the 2020 Europeans, he went one better, winning Denmark’s first-ever M1X Championship gold medal. Zeidler also had a great 2019, winning Germany’s first M1X World Championship gold since Marcel Hacker in 2002. Seeing these two go head to head again will be one of the highlights of the Championships.
But, it’s not just about these two. The 2018 World Champion, Kjetil Borch of Norway, was just 3/10th behind Nielsen in Linz, and at the 2020 Europeans, he won another bronze.
The silver medallist at the 2020 European’s was Poland’s Natan Wegrzycki-Szymczyk. He’s been a regular on the international circuit for the last five years. He has the distinction of both an IRA Championship win (with the University of California) and a Boat Race win (with Cambridge University). His silver medal was his first senior championship medal (and the first by a Polish M1X since Kajetan Broniewski took bronze at the Barcelona Olympics!)
Damir Martin of Croatia is perhaps one of the “old guard” of the field these days. Who can forget his incredible race against Mahe Drysdale at the Rio Olympics? But, since those heady days in Rio, he’s struggled a bit to recapture that form with an 8th place at the 2019 Worlds and 14th at last year’s Europeans. The question is, can he regain his co-dominance of 2016 in time for Tokyo?
British hopes lie on the shoulders of Matt Haywood from Nottingham Rowing Club. Varese sees him make his senior international debut and will be using these Championships to gain experience ahead of the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta in Lucerne next month. He’s an exciting young talent on the British sculling team, having won gold at U23 level in both 2018 and 2019. An ‘A’ final appearance in Varese would be a significant step forward in his career and stand him in good stead to qualify the boat for Tokyo.
Other names to watch out for include Ireland’s Daire Lynch, who won bronze in the M2X at the 2020 Europeans, Italy’s young superstar Mauro Di Gennaro (holder of the Junior 2K erg record – a frankly mind-boggling 5:45.5) and also Philip Pavukou of Belarus, who won bronze at the 2019 Europeans.
Women’s Single Sculls
17 Entries
2020 European Champion: Sanita Pušpure (Ireland)
Ireland’s Sanita Puspure has chosen not to defend her title in Varese, instead deciding to focus on her training. She’s dominated the event for the last couple of years, winning the World Championships in 2018 and 2019. In her absence, it becomes a relatively open field.
Switzerland’s Jeannine Gmelin was World Champion in 2017 and took silver behind Pušpure at the 2018 Worlds and 2019 European’s. She had a disappointing end to the 2019 season, missing out on the podium in Linz finishing 5th. At last year’s Europeans, she raced but again failed to take to the podium, with solid opposition forcing her to settle once more for 5th place.
The 2019 World Championship final was the last time Vicky Thornley of Great Britain raced. The Rio silver medallist finished 4th, ending up as the 2nd fastest European athlete. Puspure’s absence from Varese puts Thornley in a strong position to medal, maybe even repeating her gold from the 2017 Europeans. She said she has a good winter’s training under her belt; it’s going to be fascinating to see what sort of form she’s in.
One of the most consistent and well-established athletes in the field is Magdalena Lobnig of Austria. She finished 6th at the Rio Olympics and was European Champion the same year. 2019 saw her miss out on a World Championship ‘A’ Final for only the second time in her career, but she bounced back in 2020, taking silver at the European Championships.
Another well-established member of the field is Denmark’s Fie Udby Erichsen. She won silver back at the London Olympics, followed by a 9th place finish at Rio. At the 2019 World Championships, she missed out on the ‘A’ Final to finish 10th overall, but she only narrowly missed the podium at the European’s last year, ending up 4th.
Sophie Souwer of The Netherlands is more familiar with racing in big crew boats rather than the single. She raced in the W8 in Rio and won bronze in the W4X in both 2018 and 2019. Varese sees her first international race in the single scull.
Other names to watch include Germany’s Junior World Champion Alexandra Foester making her senior international debut, and Greta Jaanson of Estonia (daughter of the legendary Juri), a Youth Olympic medallist.
Men’s Pairs
14 Entries
2020 European Champions: Romania
The win by Romania’s Marius-Vasile Cozmuic and Ciprian Tudosa at last year’s European’s came as something of a shock. Croatia’s Martin and Valent Sinkovic dominated the event for the previous two years, winning the World and European titles in 2018 and 2019. The Croatians are vying to become the first men to win Olympic gold in the M2X and M2-. But, the Romanian duo has form. They were silver medallists behind the Croatians in 2018, and Cozmuic raced at both the London and Rio Olympics.
Third at last year’s European’s were the Italians, Matteo Lodo and Giuseppe Vicino. These are two of the most experienced Italian team members and were both members of the M4- that won gold at the World Championships in 2015 and bronze at the Rio Olympics. As a pair, they took 4th at the 2019 Worlds along with their European bronze last year.
Spain has been going through something of a renaissance in pairs rowing for both their men and women. The men’s pairing of Jaime Canalejo Pazos and Javier Garcia Ordonez were bronze medallists at the 2019 European Championship (the first championship medal for Spain’s men since the 2012 Europeans). Their 5th place finish at the World Championships secured their qualification for Tokyo, and they also placed 5th at last year’s Europeans.
France is another country that has qualified this boat for Tokyo. However, the crew racing in Varese is not the one that took that qualifying spot. The Onfroy brothers finished 6th in Linz, but in Varese, another pair of brothers, Thibaud and Guillaume Turlan, fill the seats. This duo raced in the M4X that finished 16th in 2019, and as a pair, they finished 5th at the U23 World Championships in 2018.
One of the most intriguing battles in this event will be between three powerhouse nations who have yet to qualify their boats for Tokyo: Great Britain, Germany and The Netherlands. GB finished one place out of automatic qualification in 2019. They have made one change to that crew, with Harry Glenister replacing Tom Jeffery and joining Morgan Bolding. Glenister was the spare for the GB team in Linz, and he holds the distinction of being the first man to win all three quadruple sculls events at Henley Royal Regatta. Bolding made his senior debut in 2019 and is a former U23 medallist. The Europeans will be a good test of this pair’s potential and guide their Olympic qualification hopes.
Also testing their speed ahead of the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta are the Dutch, Niki Van Sprang and Guillaume Krommenhoek. They came together as a pairing last year and took a firm 4th place at the European Championships. Van Sprang is another University of California graduate and, during his time at Cal, won a silver medal in the Varsity 8 at the IRA Championships. He raced in the M2X in 2019, finishing 7th. Krommenhoek was The Netherlands’ representative in the M1X at the 2019 World Cups and reached the final of the Diamond Sculls at Henley.
Germany has double Olympian Anton Braun in the stroke seat, joined by Rene Schmela at bow. Braun raced at both the London and Rio Olympics and is a two-time European champion in the M8. Schmela is a two-time Junior World Champion and made his senior debut at the 1st World Cup in 2018. As a pair, they raced at the 2020 European Championships, finishing 8th.
Other crews to watch are Belarus and Serbia, both of whom have qualified for Tokyo. Dzmitry Furman and Siarhei Valadzko secured the final qualifying spot in 2019 when they finished 11th. They both raced in the M4- at last year’s Europeans finishing 12th. Martin Mackovic and Milos Vasic of Serbia won the B Final at the 2019 Worlds – Vasic is also a two-time Olympian, finishing 10th in the M2- in Rio.
Women’s Pairs
11 Entries
2020 European Champions: Romania
The big news story of these championships is the return to competition of Helen Glover. The London and Rio Olympic champion took time away from the sport after Rio to raise a family. Now, as a mother of three young children, she has set herself the challenge of becoming the first mother to row for GB at an Olympic Games, hoping to show that motherhood is no barrier to success at elite sport. She’s joined in the pair by Dr Polly Swann. Swann was a member of the Olympic silver medal W8 in Rio and also took time off after the Games to recover from injury and complete her medical studies. As a pair, this duo were World Champions in 2013 and European Champions in 2014. Some would argue that Glover and Swann’s pairing is actually a technically better boat than that of Glover and Stanning; it’s exhilarating to see them pair up again. Word coming out of the GB camp is that this pair is very, very quick.
The British have picked a good regatta for Glover to make her return as the field isn’t especially intense. The biggest challenge is likely to come from the Romanians Adriana Ailincai and Iuliana Buhus. This duo are the defending champions but only came together as a pair last season. In 2019 Ailincai raced in the W8 with Buhus racing as a 3rd pair at the 1st World Cup.
Runners-up to the Romanians at last season’s Europeans were the Spanish, Aina Cid and Virginia Diaz Rivas. Cid was part of an outstanding W2- with Anna Boada Piero that won Spain’s first World Championship medal in this boat class. But, Boada Piero retired at the start of the 2019 season due to depression. Cid and Diaz Rivas’s new pairing picked up where the previous left off, winning a superb gold at the 2019 Europeans and securing Olympic qualification with 5th place at the World Championships.
Greece has a talented young pairing racing in Varese. Maria Kyridou and Christina Bourmpou were U23 World Champions in 2019 and finished the season qualifying the boat for the Olympics with 11th place in Linz.
Ireland has been going through a purple patch in the last few years; their pairing for Varese, Aileen Crowley and Monika Dukarska qualified the pair when they finished 8th in 2019. In 2020 Crowley rowed in the W4- that won bronze at the European Championships (the first open-weight championship medal for an Irish women’s crew boat).
Another crew to watch are the Danes, Trine Dahl Pedersen and Ida Jacobsen. Jacobsen won bronze in the W4- in 2019, and Dahl Pedersen finished 4th in the pair at the 2020 Europeans (partnered by Nina Hollensen).
Men’s Double Sculls
25 Entries
2020 European Champions: The Netherlands
One of the big stories from the 2019 World Championships was the Irish team’s performance, especially that of the men’s double of Philip Doyle and Ronan Byrne. They won silver behind the Chinese in Linz, winning Ireland’s first heavyweight men’s World Championship medal since 1975. As a qualified Doctor, Doyle has spent most of the pandemic fitting his training around working at Belfast City Hospital. Despite this, he and Byrne returned to racing in Poznan last year and came away with a bronze medal.
Winners at the 2020 European’s in Poznan were the Dutch, Melvin Twellaar and Stef Broenink. Twellaar is a former U23 medallist who made his senior debut at the final World Cup in 2018. His partner, Broenink, is far more experienced, having made his senior international debut back in 2014. They came together as a double in 2020 and made an immediate impact.
Great Britain has always been “there or thereabouts” in this boat class, finishing 4th at the last two World Championships and the 2019 Europeans. Indeed they’ve not won a championship medal in this event since 2010, and you have to go back to 1977 for a gold medal. But, the crew of John Collins and Graeme Thomas are highly experienced and have the potential to get GB back on the podium for the first time in 11 years. Collins, partnered by Jonny Walton, finished 5th at the Rio Olympics. He then raced in the M4X for a few years, winning silver in 2017. Now back in the double, he’s partnered by Welshman Graeme Thomas. Thomas missed out on the Rio Olympics due to a back injury but returned in 2017 as a member of the quad that won silver.
Silver medallists at last year’s European Championships were the Swiss duo of Barnabe Delarze and Roman Roeoesli. This duo has been racing together since their U23 days when they won gold in the BM4X back in 2013. They finished 7th in the quad in Rio, formed a double in 2017, and won a world championship silver medal in 2018. A 5th place last year saw them qualify the boat for Tokyo. One person who’ll be watching their performance closely will be Sean Bowden, head coach at Oxford University, as Delarze is due to start an MBA degree at Oxford in September and will undoubtedly form part of Bowden’s plans for the 2022 Boat Race.
Germany has a double combining youth and experience. The experience is in the form of triple Olympian Stephan Krueger, a member of the 6th place German quad in Beijing and who raced the double at both the London and Rio Olympic Games. He qualified the double with partner Tim Ole Naske after finishing 10th in 2019. Krueger was joined by a new partner in 2020, the 2019 U23 BM1X World Champion Marc Weber, who made his senior debut at the European Championships, where he and Krueger finished 7th.
Lithuania is another country with a highly experienced duo. Mindaugas Griskonis and Saulius Ritter won silver together at the Rio Olympics. Griskonis moved to the single scull after Rio picking up a World Championship bronze medal in 2018 and 4th in 2019. Ritter formed a new double with Dovydas Nemeravicius that took the final Olympic qualifying spot in 2019. They came back together as a double last year and reached the A Final of the European Championships.
The French double of Hugo Boucheron and Matthieu Androdias have been a crew together since 2014. They finished 6th in Rio and then took gold at the 2018 World Championships. 2019 was a less successful year for them, with B Final places at the World Cups and World Championships and a 6th at the Europeans. Their 9th place at the Worlds was, however, enough to book their slot for Tokyo.
Bronze medallists at the 2019 World Championships were Poland. Miroslaw Zietarski and Mateusz Biskup raced together in the M4X at the Rio Olympics and then took silver as a double at the 2017 World and European Championships. At the European’s last year, they just missed out on a podium, finishing 4th.
The entry list for this event has some intriguing entries. Racing for the Czech Republic is one of the most decorated athletes in World Rowing, Ondrej Synek. He has no fewer than 12 World Championship medals (5 of them gold), 7 European medal (5 gold) and 3 Olympic medals. The 38-year-old is, arguably, the best men’s single sculler in the world, never to win an Olympic Gold. He’s been a regular on the international rowing scene for the last 20 years, and he’s decided to have one more shot at that elusive Olympic gold. But, crucially, a 6th place at the 2019 Worlds appears to have made him decide his best chance to achieve that gold will be in the double. To help him achieve that ambition, he’s joined by Jakub Podrazil. Podrazil is a two-time Olympian, having raced in the M4- in London and then the M2- in Rio (winning the B Final). It’s going to be fascinating to see how this double performs; it’ll be the first time Synek has raced a crew boat since the Athens Olympics. Although it’s entirely possible that if the double isn’t quick enough, Synek will return to the single for Tokyo, as they are yet to qualify the boat for Tokyo. We shall have to wait and see!
Another intriguing entry is from Croatia. Goran Muhmutovic is making his senior international debut in Varese, but he’s joined double World Champion and Olympic silver medallist David Sain. Sain was part of the outstanding Croatian M4X along with the Sinkovic brothers and Damir Martin. A severe back injury looked to have ended his career in 2014. He made a brief comeback at the 2nd World Cup in 2018, but Varese marks his first serious return to international competition, and it’s great to see him back.
Other exciting entries are the Norwegians, Kristoffer Brun and Are Strand. This duo are Olympic bronze medallists from the lightweight double and finished 4th in the LM2X at the 2019 World Championships. An entry in the heavyweight double may point to an issue with hitting weight this early in the season, but if they do race, they will certainly be giving some of the heavyweight boats cause for concern.
Women’s Double Sculls
10 Entries
2020 European Champions: Romania
Romania’s Nicoleta-Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Geanina Radis were dominant at the 2020 European’s, winning the gold by 6 seconds. They were the fastest European boat at the 2019 World Championships and took the silver medal behind the Kiwis. They are an exciting young pairing – Bodnar is 22, Radis turned 23 earlier this month.
2nd to the Romanians last season were the Dutch pairing of Roos de Jong and Lisa Scheenaard. They also finished one place behind the Romanians at the 2019 World Championships and took a European silver in their first season together as a double in 2018.
Racing together for the first time since winning bronze at the Rio Olympics are the Lithuanian pairing of Milda Valciukaite and Donata Karaliene (nee Vistartaite). They were World and European champions way back in 2013. In 2018 Valciukaite won the World title for a second time partnered by Ieva Adomaviciute. Karaliene raced in the single scull at the London Olympics and took some time away from the sport after Rio. Seeing this duo, who used to dominate this boat class, back together is very exciting.
France qualified the women’s double for Tokyo by finishing 6th at the 2019 World Championships. But they have made one change to that crew, with Margaux Bailleul moving out of the W4X to join Helene Lefebvre. Lefebvre finished 5th in this boat class at the Rio Olympics partnered by Elodie Avera-Scaramozzino (who moves to the quad). This duo raced together at the 2020 Europeans taking bronze. But, for 2021, Bailleul is in the boat; she made her senior debut in 2019 and raced the quad at both the 2019 World and European Championships and also placed 7th in that boat at the 2020 Europeans.
Italy is another country that has changed its crew’s line up from that which gained Olympic qualification at the 2019 World Championships. Stefania Gobbi moves to the W4X with Valentina Iseppa, swapping seats with her. She joins Stefania Buttignon, a former U23 BLW2X World Champion, who made her senior debut in 2019, winning a European bronze medal and gaining automatic qualification for the Olympics.
Neither Great Britain nor Germany qualified this boat for Tokyo in 2019, so both will be looking to test their speed in Varese.
Germany has strengthened their boat with Annekaterin Thiele coming in to attempt to qualify for her 4th Olympics. She was Olympic champion in the W4X in Rio and raced the single scull in 2019. Leonie Menzel joins her. She made her senior debut in 2019, winning gold at the European Championships with Carlotta Nwajide. Injury forced a change to the crew for the 2019 Worlds, and that pairing finished well outside of Olympic qualification in 19th. As a duo, Thiele and Menzel have made a solid start, finishing 5th at the 2020 Europeans.
Great Britain is the Olympic silver medallist in this event, but with Katherine Grainger long since retired and Vicky Thornley now in the single, the mantel for qualifying this boat passes to Holly Nixon and Saskia Budgett. Nixon was world champion in the W4- back in 2016 before moving to the quad in 2017, taking bronze at the World Championships. 2021 sees her return to international competition for the first time since that 2017 season. Her partner in Varese will be Saskia Budgett, daughter of the 1984 Olympic Champion and Medical Director of the IOC. She was U23 World Champion in 2017 and was selected as the spare for the 2019 GB team. An A-Final finish for this new pairing will be a good step towards their goal of qualifying for Tokyo.
Men’s Coxless Fours
14 Entries
2020 European Champions: The Netherlands
This has the makings of the best event of the Championships. The top four crews from the 2019 World Championships are racing, and 15/16 of the same athletes are on board.
Poland was the surprise package of 2019. Their gold medal was the first by a Polish men’s heavyweight crew since 2009 and the first-ever in a heavyweight men’s sweep boat. They have made one change to that crew, with Lucasz Posylajka replacing Marcin Brzezinski. The Polish team are very experienced; they have been racing on the international circuit for several years, mainly in the M8, where they were solid, if unspectacular performers. 2020 saw them finish 3rd at the Europeans.
One country that is no stranger to Olympic gold in the men’s 4 is Great Britain. They have won Olympic gold in this boat class for the last five Olympics (a feat only surpassed by the US winning the Men’s eight at eight Olympics from 1920-1956). But, assuming the GB crew remains in the same line-up for Tokyo, it’ll be the first time since 1992 that the crew doesn’t include an Olympic gold medallist and the first since 1988 with no Olympic medallist on board. But, in their first year together, the crew of Sholto Carnegie, Ollie Cook, Matt Rossiter and Rory Gibbs showed a lot of potential when securing a World Championship bronze medal (the 4th consecutive World Championship bronze medal for a GB M4-).
Silver medallists in 2019 were Romania. Three of the crew were U23 World Champions in 2018 and won the Senior European Championships that year.
Italy were World Champions in this boat class back in 2015 and runners-up in 2017 and 2018. They have a very experienced crew, with three Olympic bronze medallists Giovanni Abagnale, Marco di Costanzo and Matteo Castaldo. At the 2019 World Championships, they finished 4th, the first time an Italian crew hadn’t made the podium at a World Championships since 2014. This crew also raced in 2020, finishing 2nd to the Dutch.
The Netherlands are the reigning European Champions, their first European title in this boat class since 2013. They have three of the crew that finished 7th in 2019 (Jan van der Bij, Boudewijn Roell & Nelson Ritsma). Roell was a member of the Dutch M8 that won bronze in Rio. The 4th member of the crew is Sander de Graaf, who raced in the M2- in 2019, finishing 19th.
Germany has yet to qualify this boat for Tokyo. They raced at the European Championships last year, finishing 6th. They have a couple of highly experienced rowers on board, Felix Wimberger and Max Planer, who have won world titles in the M8. They will be confident of gaining one of the two available slots at the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta next month and will be using Varese as a good test of their potential.
Other crews to watch out for are France (stroked by London Olympic silver medallist Dorian Mortelette), Belarus (with four-time Olympian Stanislau Shcharbachenia), Lithuania (with three Stankunas brothers onboard) and a young Ireland crew. All of them are making their senior international debuts.
Women’s Coxless Fours
12 Entries
2020 European Champions: The Netherlands
The Netherlands has been the top European boat in this class for the last couple of years. They finished 2nd to the Australians at the 2019 World Championships and have won the European title in both 2019 and 2020. They have kept with the same line-up since 2019, which includes two-time Olympian Ellen Hoogerwerf.
Great Britain was the last European nation to win the W4- World title back in 2016. This year’s crew is an entirely different line-up to that which qualified the boat to finish 7th in 2019. They have four athletes who all finished 5th in the W8 in 2019 (Karen Bennett, Rowan McKellar, Harriet Taylor & Rebecca Shorten). Bennett was a member of the W8 that won silver in Rio. Word coming out of the GB camp says that this new combination is very fast and the British have high hopes that this crew can deliver a medal at these championships.
Denmark were bronze medallists in 2019 (Denmark’s 2nd ever open-weight women’s sweep World Championship medal), and their crew includes Rio bronze medallist Hedvig Rasmussen and fellow Olympian Nina Hollensen. They raced at the 2020 European Championships (with Ida Jacobsen in place of Hollensen) and finished in 4th.
Italy finished runners-up at the 2020 European Championships, and their crew includes Aisha Rock and Kiri Tontodonati, who raced in the W2- in 2019, finishing 6th. Also in the boat is Alessandra Patelli, who competed in the W2- at the Rio Olympics and Chiara Ondoli, a member of the women’s quad in 2019.
Ireland won their first-ever women’s sweep championship medal at last season European’s when they won bronze. Three of that crew return for 2021 (Aifric Keogh, Eimar Lambe & Fiona Murtagh). The fourth member of the crew is Emily Hegarty, who raced in the W2- at the Europeans, finishing 5th.
Keogh, Hegarty and Lambe were in the W4- in 2019 that finished 10th. If they can reproduce the form that won them a medal last season, they should do well in Varese and stand a strong chance of qualifying the boat for Tokyo next month.
Poland has been consistently strong in this event since 2017 and has kept virtually the same line-up throughout the Olympiad. They won silver at the 2017 World Championships, followed by 5th the following year. 2019 saw them take bronze at the Europeans and 4th at the Worlds. At last year’s Europeans they had one change to their standard line-up with Paulina Grzella replacing Joanna Dittmann. This combination finished 7th in Poznan. For Varese, Dittmann is back, and they will be solid contenders for a podium place.
Other crews to watch include Ukraine (with former 2K world record holder Olena Buryak) and Spain (with three of the 5th placed U23 W4- 2019).
Men’s Quadruple Sculls
13 Entries
2020 European Champions: The Netherlands
This year, I was asked on Twitter to name my “all-star” scullers men’s eight. Without hesitation, the first names on the crew list were Dirk Uittenbogaard, Abe Wiersma, Tone Weiten and Koen Metsemakers – the four members of The Netherlands men’s quad. Theirs was the standout performance of 2019 and are arguably the best technical men’s quad ever. They took both European and World titles in 2019. Their sculling is simply incredible to watch and should be compulsory viewing for all scullers and coaches. They picked up in 2020 where they left off in 2019 with a convincing 4-second win at the European Championships. Their victory at the 2019 World Championships was the first by a Dutch men’s quad since 1989 (and their first M4X World Championship medal since 2001). It’s going to take something extraordinary indeed to prevent the Dutch from recording a hattrick of European titles.
Runners-up to the Dutch at the 2019 World Championships were Poland. The Poles have a strong history in this boat class; they won back-to-back World titles from 2005 – 2009 and took gold in Beijing in 2008. They’ve struggled to match that tradition in recent years, but their silver medal in 2019 was their first at a World Championships since that win in 2009. At last year’s Europeans, they finished back in 5th, some 13 seconds behind the Dutch.
Italy dominated this boat class in 2018, winning both European and World titles. They have three of their 2018 World Champion crew racing in Varese and the 4th member, Simone Venier, who won silver at the Beijing Olympics and aims to compete at his 4th Games. At the 2020 Europeans, they again were bested by the Netherlands.
Great Britain has been frustrating to watch over the last few years. They have a tremendous amount of talent in their sculling squad but haven’t yet been able to find the right combination for the quad. They came close in 2017, just missing out on gold at the World Championships. Bronze at the 2019 European Championships gave rise to the hope that they could deliver a medal at the World Championships. But a disappointing regatta saw them fighting to hold off New Zealand to secure the 8th and final Olympic qualification spot. For 2020 they’ve made two changes to that 8th place crew, with Harry Leask and Tom Barras joining Jack Beaumont and Angus Groom. Barras was a world M1X bronze medallist in 2017, and Leask just missed the podium in the single in 2018. Both Beaumont and Groom were in the M4X that finished 5th in Rio. On paper, this looks like an exciting combination, and the GB team will be looking for them to challenge for a podium place.
Norway finished one place ahead of Great Britain at the 2019 World Championships in 7th. They are led by the legendary Olaf Tufte. Tokyo will be the great man’s 7th Olympic Games, and he’s won medals at four of them (including two M1X golds). He’s joined by Martin Helseth, Erik Solbakken and Jan Oscar Helvig.
Tufte is not alone in having multiple Olympic appearances to his credit. The four members of Estonia’s quad have a total of 8 between them. Tonu Edrekson is gunning for his 5th Olympic appearance and already has two Olympic medals to his name. Raja Allar is looking for his 4th Olympics with Kaspar Taimsoo after his 2nd. This quartet finished outside of the Olympic qualification at the 2019 World Championships, but a solid 4th place at last year’s Europeans shows they are in with a shout at qualifying next month.
Another crew testing their speed ahead of Olympic qualification are Lithuania. World and European champions in 2017 they’ve struggled to find the podium at the World Championships in the last few years and finished a very disappointing 15th in 2019. Bronze at last year’s Europeans shows they are beginning to get back to the speed they need to qualify for Tokyo.
Other crews to watch are Romania (10th at the 2020 Europeans – but with a much-changed crew this year), Russia (8th last season) and Ukraine (7th in 2020).
Women’s Quadruple Sculls
11 Entries
2020 European Champions: The Netherlands
Three countries have dominated the W4X from a European perspective for the last decade, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands. You have to go back to the European Championships in 2009 to find a Championship regatta where one or more of these three failed to make the podium, and between then, they shared 13 of the last 18 World, European and Olympic titles.
The Netherlands were the ones to beat at the European’s last season, winning the title by one second over Germany. Three of the crew (Inge Janssen, Olivia van Rooijen and Nicole Beukers) finished in bronze position at the 2019 World Championships.
Poland finished one place ahead of the Dutch in 2019, and like the Dutch, they have three of that crew racing in Varese (Marta Wieliczko, Maria Sajdak & Agnieszka Kobus-Zawoska). The fourth member of the crew is Katarzyna Boruch. Poland also raced at the 2020 European’s taking the bronze medal.
Germany just missed out on the podium in 2019 but made one change to that crew for the 2020 Europeans. In Poznan, they took silver behind the Dutch.
These three crews are interchangeable for the podium, and it seems to be all about who gets it right on the day as to which team gets which medal,
But either other entries hoping to break up this little triumvirate. Leading the charge will be Ukraine. They have three of the crew that finished 4th at the 2020 Europeans, along with Nataliya Dovgodko, who raced the W2- in Poznan.
Romania finished in the B final at the 2020 European’s, but for 2021 they have a completely different crew. The crew that raced the W4- to 5th in 2020 have swapped one oar for two as they move en-masse to the quad. Three crew members (Cristina-Georgiana Popescu, Roxana-Iuliana Anghel and Beatrice-Madalina Pascari) were members of the Romanian W8 that won gold in the 2019 European Championships.
Great Britain were the world champions in this event back in 2010, but they won a medal in 2017, winning bronze at both World and European Championships. 6th place at the 2019 World Championships saw them secure Olympic qualification (something GB failed to achieve for the Rio Olympics). But, the GB’s coach, Lauren Fisher, has made two changes to the 2019 crew. The Hodgkins-Byrne sisters Charlotte and Mathilda retain their seats, but Jess Leyden and Melissa Wilson make way for two exciting young athletes making their senior international debuts; Hannah Scott and Lucy Glover. Scott raced in the GB U23 team in 2018 and 2019, winning silver both years. Glover, from Edinburgh University, is a two-time U23 World Champion, having won gold in the BW4X in 2017 and 2019. In 2017 she won British Rowing’s Mark Lees Foundation award for being Britain’s most promising female rower. Now, making her senior debut, we have a chance to see some of that promise fulfilled. Scott, a Princeton University student, hails from the Baan Club in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, home to Olympians Richard and Pete Chambers and Alan Campbell. Perhaps not too much should be expected of this crew this year, but they will be names to watch for the Paris Olympiad.
Other crews to watch are Switzerland, 6th at the 2020 Europeans, and France with a crew that includes Elodie Ravera-Scaramozzino, who finished 5th in the W2X at the Rio Olympics.
Men’s Eights
5 Entries
2020 European Champions: Germany
A small but highly talented field for the 2021 European Championships.
Germany has remained unbeaten throughout the Tokyo Olympiad so far and will want, and expect, to reach the Tokyo start line remaining unbeaten. For the 2020 European’s last October, they made one change to the crew that won the world title in 2019 with Olaf Roggensack, making his senior international debut, replacing Christopher Reinhardt. They are sticking with the same line-up in Varese as in 2020.
Great Britain has been Germany’s main rival, and occasionally their nemesis, for the last nine years. GB went undefeated throughout the Rio Olympiad, and Germany is aiming to return the favour for the Tokyo one. GB didn’t attend the 2020 Europeans and will be itching to have another crack at the German’s after being disappointed to be pushed down to 3rd the last time the crews met at the 2019 World Champions. GB has made one change to their 2019 crew, with two-time World Champion Matt Tarrant making way for Yale graduate Charlie Elwes.
Silver medallists in 2019 were The Netherlands. The Dutch have a robust social media presence, and it’s been fascinating watching some of the videos they post on Instagram. One of the most intriguing is as a result of working with their new sponsors Red Bull. They fitted small motors to their shell, which, supposedly, enabled them to train for long distances at high rates and with the boat moving at race speeds…hmmm…remains to be seen how effective that is. They have the same line-up racing in Varese that won silver in 2019.
Romania were runners-up to the Germans at the 2020 Europeans, pushing the Dutch into bronze, and they’ve kept faith with that line-up for 2021. That silver medal was their best championship performance since winning World Championship gold in 2001.
Italy is the fifth and final entry in the event. They have already found themselves in hot water, having received an official warning for breaches of the Covid protocols during training. They have seven of the crew that finished 4th at last year’s Europeans. Joining the crew is Vincenzo Abagnale, a somewhat controversial figure having served an 18-month ban for doping violations in 2016. The Italians will be looking to test their speed in Varese, especially against the Romanians, as both crews will be battling at the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta for one of the two remaining Olympic spots.
Women’s Eights
6 Entries
2020 European Champions: Romania
Great Britain is the only crew in the field who have already qualified the boat for Tokyo and were the top European boat at the 2019 World Championships; thus, their approach to the regatta will be somewhat different to the rest of the field. The British have made wholesale changes to the crew from 2019, with only Fi Gammond and cox, Mathilda Horn returning. This is a new look GB W8, and it’ll be fascinating to see how they fare against their European rivals. It also perhaps indicates that the GB team thinks the W4 is a better medal potential event than the W8?
Romania just missed out on Olympic qualification when they finished one place behind the British in Linz. They also made wholesale changes to their crew after 2019, swapping out six of the crew. This proved effective last year as they took a comfortable victory at the European championships.
Germany finished runners-up to the Romanians in 2020, their first medal in this boat since 2014. They also made several changes to the 2019 crew that finished 10th. And with silver last year, it looks as though those changes have paid off.
The Netherlands has consistently been amongst the medals at the European Championship (making the podium at 5 of the last 6 European Championships). Still, it hasn’t been able to repeat the feat at a World level since taking bronze at the 2012 Olympics. In 2019 they finished 9th, but like several other crews, they made significant changes to the line-up for the 2020 Europeans, where they took bronze behind the Romanians and Germans. They have seven of that crew racing in 2021.
The last time Italy entered a W8 at a European Championships was in 2013 in Seville, where they finished 5th out of the five entries. Their crew for 2021 is a mixture of youth and experience and includes members of their 2019 W4- and W4X and several athletes making their senior international debuts.
The final entry is from Russia. They finished 4th out of 4 crews in 2020 and were 8th in 2019. They have 5 of the 2020 crew returning, along with three from the 2019 crew. As with the Romanians, Dutch and Germans, they will be using these championships to test their speed ahead of the all-important Final Olympic Qualifying next month.
Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls
Editors note: the Belgian entry for this event has been withdrawn due to illness on the part of Tim Brys
18 Entries
2020 European Champions: Italy
The Tokyo Olympics were to be the swansong for lightweights at the Olympics. The COVID pandemic has altered plans slightly, and the men’s and women’s light doubles have been kept on the programme through to 2024. This has reinvigorated the event, and it’ll be fascinating to see what the next Olympic cycle looks like. The Great Britain lightweight men’s programme, for example, consists of just two athletes, and other nations will have been in the process of winding down their programmes when the announcement was made.
So, back to 2021. Italy is the reigning European champion with Steffano Oppo and Petro Ruta. This duo has won silver at the last three World Championships, missing out to the French in 2017 and Ireland in 2018 and 2019.
Ireland set the rowing world on fire at the 2016 Olympics and has become a significant force on the event. The O’Donovan brothers followed up their Rio silver with gold in 2018. In 2019 Gary O’Donovan suffered an early-season injury meaning Fintan McCarthy stepped into his seat and won another gold for Ireland. The Irish didn’t race in 2020, but McCarthy retains his heart with Paul O’Donovan in 2021, and they will be the crew to beat again this season.
Germany was the dominant crew for most of the 2019 season, winning two World Cups and the European Championships, but they fell short at the World Championships ending up with bronze. They are a quick crew, and Jason Osborne was World Champion in the LM1X in 2018.
Spain produced a firm performance at the 2019 World Championships, Caetano Horta Pombo, and Manel Balastegui finished 5th (the best performance by a Spanish LM2X at a World Championships since 1994). They raced at the 2020 Europeans but couldn’t reproduce their form of 2019 and ended up in the C Final.
Poland finished one place behind the Spanish in 2019. Their crew of Jerzy Kowalski and Artur Mikolajczewski finished 4th at the 2020 Europeans.
Belgium’s Tim Brys and Nils Van Zandweghe won many admirers in 2016 when the complicated Olympic qualification rules meant they had to sacrifice their place in Rio despite winning the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta. Since then, they have shown their worth by winning World Championship bronze in 2018 and European bronze in 2019 and 2020. They secured direct qualification for Tokyo with 7th place at the 2019 World Championships.
France used to be the dominant force in this boat class, winning World Championship gold in 2015 and 2017 and Olympic gold in 2016. But since Jeremie Azou announced his retirement in 2018, the French have struggled to find a suitable replacement to join Pierre Houin. In 2019 they selected Hugo Beurey. This duo missed Olympic qualification in 2019, only reaching the C Final. At the 2020 Europeans, they finished 7th overall.
Great Britain is another nation that needs to secure Olympic qualification next month. The crew is Jamie Copus and Sam Mottram, who have raced together since winning silver at U23 level back in 2015. Their last outing was a disappointing C final appearance in 2019. They will be hoping for a much stronger Varese performance as they prepare for the Olympic qualifying in Lucerne next month.
Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls
16 Entries
2020 European Champions: The Netherlands
The LW2X was an incredible seven gold medals that the Netherlands won at the 2020 European Championships (the most ever by a single nation). Marieke Keijser and Ilse Paulis added the European title to their 2019 World Championship silver. They will be looking to confirm their status as the top European lightweight double, and the surprise retirement of New Zealand’s World Champion Zoe McBride puts the Dutch in the prime position for gold in Tokyo.
Great Britain were Olympic champions in this event in 2012, but since then have struggled to find a combination that could consistently challenge the world’s best. However, in 2019 they put together a new variety of Emily Craig and Imogen Grant. They immediately showed great potential and took the bronze medal at the World Championships behind New Zealand and The Netherlands. Grant is an outstanding athlete. Having only started rowing in 2014, she’s already a double Cambridge Blue, U23 World Champion and a two-time World Championship bronze medallist. Craig’s rowing CV is no less impressive; World Champion in the LW4X in 2016, along with two other World Championship medals.
Italy has a solid tradition in lightweight rowing, and they’ve won the European title three times, the last being in 2015. At the 2020 Championships, their crew of Valentina Rodini and Frederica Cesarini finished as runners-up to the Netherlands. In 2019 this pairing narrowly missed reaching the A Final of the World championships ending up 7th; still good enough to qualify their boat for Tokyo.
Romania was 4th at the 2019 World Championships and bronze medallists at last year’s Europeans. However, they have changed the line-up for 2021, with Gianina-Elena Beleaga making way for Elena-Iuliana Mihai. Mihai is completing her senior international debut, and she joins Ionela-Livia Cozmuic in the double in Varese. Cozmuic is a two-time World Champion in this boat class with golds in 2017 and 2018.
Poland finished 6th at the 2020 European Championships, and they have made one change to their line-up for 2021. Wiktoria Kalinowska makes her senior international debut, having raced in the Polish junior team in 2019. She joins Jaclyn Stelmaszyk, a World Champion in the LW4X back in 2012.
Switzerland’s pairing of Frederique Rol and Patricia Merz can challenge the best in Europe for the medals when they are on form. They took bronze at the 2018 and 2019 European championships and finished 4th in the world in 2018. However, the 2019 World Championships saw them slip back to 11th, and at last year’s Europeans, they missed the A Final taking 7th overall. Their focus will be Olympic qualification, and they will be one of the favourites to secure one of the last two remaining places for Tokyo.
Germany has an entirely new line-up for 2021 of Marie-Louise Draeger and Katrin Volk. Draeger is one of the most experienced athletes in the field and one of the most successful female lightweight scullers globally. She’s raced at three Olympics and has five World Championship titles to her name (the first back in 2003). In 2019 she won her 5th World Championship gold, winning the LW1X title. Volk’s experience is at the other end of the scale to Draeger’s; she made her senior debut at last year’s Europeans, finishing 2nd in a two-boat LW4X final. This will be an exciting new combination to watch.
Other crews to watch include Ireland (Aoife Casey and Margaret Cremen – 8th at the 2020 Europeans) and Russia (Anastasia Lebedeva and Maria Botalova).
So that’s it, I can’t wait to watch some live international racing again. It’s been a while!
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