Photo credit: World Rowing/Benedict Tufnell
Whisper is quietly but the Olympics are nearly here. Away over the channel lies the city of love, teeming with activity ahead of a summer of sport. Mere weeks after England are inevitably crowned European champions in the football, the world will descend on Paris for a month-long festival of sport where rowing will be just one of many jewels in a glistening French crown.
The World Rowing Championships in September left plenty of tales untold and numerous narratives as yet unwritten. Gold in 2023 means nothing in 2024 and fourth in 2023 can become first in 2024 in the flashiest of flashes. With so much to play for, let’s take a look at the male crews that JRN fancy to go really fast in the new year.
Sweep
Great Britain are the obvious choice, biases aside. They won both the eight and the four in Serbia and were silver medalists in a fiercely-contested pairs final. Where the British coaching staff choose to pool their resources is arguably the narrative to watch as the season unfolds. They’re blessed with incredible depth and with the pair – containing two of the squad’s strongest oarsmen – flagging a little in Belgrade, the question will be whether Ollie and Tom are integrated into winning combinations. Add into this calculation the fact that it looks like legendary Croatian duo Valent and Martin Sinkovic have swapped two oars for one and the pair matrix is hotting up. Stepping away from Great Britain, I am very keen to see how New Zealand develop their men’s four. The horsepower on-board combined with an Olympic know-how in Tokyo gold medalists Tom Murray and Matt Macdonald is a tantalising prospect. The USA will come strong in whichever boat class they choose to prioritise whilst Australia will be seeking some solace in the fact that a decidedly poor championships in Belgrade came ten months before showtime. Finally, the Dutch performed so impressively in 2023 that they essentially cannot be excluded in any category they decide to enter. Watch out for their eight and four.
Sculling
The battle for double scull supremacy looked to be hotting up, until it emerged that the Sinkovics have gone back into the pair. This leaves a clearer pathway for the Dutch to claim gold. In the quad, a similar story may emerge unless Poland can find some of that zest that led them to the 2022 world title. Don’t rule out an evolving British quad, fourth in Belgrade, and an Italian outfit that would sooner die that surrender. If the water is flat, Ollie Zeidler should have the best possible chance of taking the Olympic gold he so desperately craves. If not, the bridesmaids lined up behind him include Dutch superstar Simon Van Dorp (as profiled by JRN a few weeks ago), Kiwi Tom Mackintosh and Olympic champion Stefanos Ntouskos.
Lightweight
The Irish pairing of Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy remain the crew to beat in this category. Watch out for the rapidly-developing Swiss double and a very quick Italian duo.
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