World Rowing Championships 2022 – Fours Preview

Photo Credit: World Rowing / Benedict Tufnell

Men’s Fours

2019 Champions: Poland (Mateusz Wilangowski, Mikolaj Burda, Marcin Brzezinski, Michal Szpakowski)

Entries: 19

This event was dominated by two nations, Great Britain and Australia. Since 1990 there have only been three years where one or both of these nations haven’t been on the podium at the World Championships. This year looks no different, with the two leading protagonists being Britain and Australia.

Australia is the reigning Olympic champion in this event, and 2022 sees three gold medal crew racing in Racice, Alex Purnell, Spencer Turrin and Jack Hargreaves. Turrin and Hargreaves were also members of the crew that won the World Championships in 2017 and 2018. The 4th member of the crew is Joseph O’Brien. He rowed in the M8 in Tokyo and was part of the M4- boat that finished a disappointing 6th in 2019. This season they opened their campaign with a win at the Poznan World Cup and then a narrow victory over the British at Henley. However, the British got their revenge at Lucerne and rowed through the Aussies in the final 500 to take the gold. One fascinating thing about the contest between these two crews is their different race styles. Australia (along with nations like Italy and Romania) has adopted a very high rate of striking for their racing. In contrast, the British tend to be lower and have a longer stroke (for example, in the final in Lucerne, the Australians didn’t drop below 41 spm, whereas GB rarely went above 38).

For their part, Great Britain is significantly less experienced than their Australian counterparts. For all four of the crew (Will Stewart, Sam Nunn, Matt Aldridge and Freddie Davidson), 2022 is their 1st full season on the senior team. All four are former U23 medallists, and whilst the GB management is quick to stress there are no rankings for the men’s boats, this crew is, in effect, the 3rd ranked men’s sweep boat on the British team. But if they are the lowest ranked sweep boat, their results this season show what strength in depth the British now have. Stewart and Davidson raced with Morgan Bolding and Lennie Jenkins to take gold at the 1st World Cup, with (Aldridge racing as GB’s 3rd M2- with Josh Bugjaski). After narrowly losing to Australia at Henley (the official verdict was 1 foot), the British (now in their finalised line-up) won in Lucerne and then went on to win the European title. Racice sees round three between Australia and Great Britain; what will concern the Aussies is that they were leading the British by a full second with 500 to go, only to see them row through and win by over 2 seconds (whilst rating 5 strokes a minute less).

But, 17 other crews are racing in Racice, with at least four other nations expecting to be able to challenge the British and Australians for the gold. Leading the charge will most likely be the Netherlands. Their crew of Ralf Rienks, Ruben Knab, Sander de Graaf and Rik Rienks were runners-up to the British at the Europeans and also runners-up to the Australians in Poznan. At the first World Cup, the Dutch split their squad across multiple 4’s with the Rienks brothers in the boat that finished 2nd, de Graaf, and Knab 4th. Both Rienks brothers made their senior debuts last season, but Knab and de Graaf were in the Olympic team in Tokyo (de Graaf in the 4- that finished 6th and Knab the 5th placed M8).

Romania is another young crew with hopes of a significant medal in Racice. They have three crew that won bronze at the 2019 worlds and silver in Tokyo, Mihaita Tiganescu, Mugurel Semciuc & Stefan Berariu. The 4th member of the crew is also a Tokyo Olympian, Florian Lehaci; he was a member of the M8 that finished 7th. This season they have raced at the Lucerne World Cup and the European Championships, picking up a bronze medal on both occasions.

Poland are the reigning World Champions (probably the most significant surprise result of those championships – not only was that Poland’s first ever World Championship M4- title, but it was also the first time they’d medalled or even made the A-Final in this event since 1995). This year they have two of that gold medal boat racing; Mikolaj Burda and Mataeusz Wilangowski. They also raced in the M4- in Tokyo but couldn’t repeat their heroics of 2019 and ended up 7th. They are joined this season by Lukasz Posylajka and Piotr Juszczak. So far, they have competed at the Poznan and Lucerne World Cups and the European Championships, with their best result coming in Munich, where they placed 4th.

5th at the European Championships was Switzerland. Their line-up includes Tokyo Olympians Roman Roeoesli, Joel Schuerch and Andrin Gulich. Roeoesli was 5th in the M2X in Tokyo, with Schuerch and Gulich finishing 9th in the M4-. The 4th member of the crew is Tim Roth; he won bronze in the BM2x at the 2021 U23 World Championships.

Ireland has a young crew racing in Racice, all making their senior debuts and all U23 medallists. Jack Dorney, Ross Corrigan and John Kearney were all members of the bronze medal BM4- in 2021, and Nathan Timoney won bronze in the same boat class (along with Kearney) in 2022. Racing in Racice will be an excellent experience for this young Irish crew, and an A-Final place is not beyond them.

The USA has selected a predominantly young crew, with three of the athletes, Henry Hollingsworth, Gus Rodriguez and Rhett Burns, all making their senior debuts. The 4th, more experienced crew member is Nick Meads. He was a member of the M8 that raced in Tokyo and won silver in the M8 in 2017. Hollingsworth and Rodriguez were members of the Brown University varsity crew that finished 3rd at the IRA’s. Rodriguez and Burns were also members of the US U23 BM8 that won silver in 2021.

China has been mix-and-matching its crews during the summer World Cup series. They had two fours racing in Belgrade, with Xianfeng Chen and Pengpeng Cai in the boat that won bronze, and Lu Sun and Jie Wei, the one that finished 7th. At the Poznan World Cup Chen and Cai also finished 4th with Sun and Wei racing in two different m2- that finished 8th and 13th respectively.

Other crews are Germany (Theis Hagermeister, Malte Grossmann, Max John & Marc Kammann), 7th in Poznan, 4th in Lucerne and 7th at the Europeans. Ukraine (Maksym Boklazhenko, Mykola Mazur, Sergii Gryn & Oleksii Selivanov) 6th in Munich, and South Africa (Luc Daffarn, jake Green, Damien Bonhage-Koen & Chris Baxter) Daffarn and Green were the RSA M2- in Tokyo, and Bonhage-Koen and Baxter are the reigning U23 BM2- World Champions.

My picks: pedigree would suggest Australia (they are the reigning Olympic Champions), but the form book would suggest Great Britain (they are unbeaten this season). I’m going to go for a GB win, mainly because I think they are just rowing better at the moment than Australia. As for the bronze, that will be a good tussle between the Netherlands and Romania. I’m plumping for the men in orange to get the nod.

Women’s Fours 

2019 champions: Australia (Olympia Aldersey, Katrina Werry, Sarah Hawe & Lucy Stephan)

Entries: 13

This has the makings of another epic Australia v Great Britain battle. The Aussies are the reigning world and Olympic champions, and their crew for 2022 contains three of the crew who either won world or Olympic gold (or both), Lucy Stephan and Katrina Werry won gold in 2019. Stephan and Annabelle McIntyre were in the Olympic gold medal boat. Werry raced in Tokyo in the W8 along with the 4th member of this year’s crew, Bronwyn Cox. They’ve made one appearance this season, winning at the Poznan World Cup.

For their part, Great Britain, like their male counterparts, is unbeaten so far this season. They have two of the crew that narrowly missed the podium in Tokyo, Rebecca Shorten and Rowan McKellar. They are joined by Heidi Long and Sam Redgrave, both relative newcomers to the senior GB team. What’s been most impressive about this crew is not just that they have gone unbeaten, winning in Belgrade, Lucerne and Munich; it’s been the margin of their victories that has been so impressive, 8 seconds in Poznan, 6 seconds in Lucerne and over 2 seconds in Munich. The British and Australians are yet to face each other this season, but when they do meet, it promises to be one of the races of the regatta.

The crew that has got closest to the British this season in Ireland. They have the same line-up that won the bronze medal in Tokyo, Emily Hegarty, Fiona Murtagh, Aifric Keogh and Eimear Lambe. Interestingly Racice will be the first time this season that this line-up has raced together. Hegarty and Murtagh raced in the W2- in Poznan and Munich, taking a bronze at the World Cup and 4th at the Europeans. Keogh and Lambe raced in the 4- with Natalie Long and Tara Hanlon taking bronze in Poznan and silver in Munich. So now the full, Olympic medal-winning boat is back together; it’s going to be interesting to see if they can get the better of both the British and the Australians.

Another crew hoping to muscle in on the medals is Romania, Madalina Beres, Iuliana Buhus, Magdalena Rusu and Amalia Beres. All four of these athletes raced at the Tokyo Olympics, all but Buhus in the 6th placed w8. Buhus raced the W2- in Tokyo, placing 9th. This season they’ve run twice, taking silver in Lucerne and bronze at the Europeans.

A crew on the fringes of medal contention is the Netherlands. Marloes Oldenburg, Benthe Boonstra, Hermine Drenth and Tina Offereins were runners-up to the Australians in Poznan and then had a slightly disappointing 5th at the Europeans. Offereins, Drenth and Oldenburg were all part of the W8 that missed qualification for Tokyo after finishing 4th at the FOQR.

Denmark won bronze in this event at the 2019 Worlds; however, only Frida Sanggaard Nielsen remains from that crew. She’s joined by Julie Poulsen, Marie Johannesen and Astrid Steenburg. They won silver behind Great Britain at the Belgrade World Cup and were only 0.5 seconds behind the Romanians’ bronze medal at the Europeans. At their best, this crew is well capable of making the podium.

Other crews to highlight include New Zealand (Catherine Layburn, Davina Waddy, Beth Ross and Phoebe Spoors) 5th in Poznan and bronze medallists in Lucerne. The USA, with a crew that includes 2018 World Champions Erin Boxberger and Victoria Opitz, along with U23 World Champion Teal Cohen and Allyson Baker.

My picks: should be an absolute corker between GB and Australia. My heart says GB, but my head says Australia. The Aussies take gold with the British in silver, and Ireland takes bronze.

PR3 Mixed Four 

2019 Champions: Great Britain (Ellen Buttrick, Giedre Rakauskaite, James Fox, Ollie Stanhope, Erin Kennedy).

Entries: 9

They say in life there are only two certainties: death and taxes. Well, in the para-rowing world, you can add a third….the British will win the mixed 4+. You have to go back to 2010 for the last time Great Britain lost a mixed 4+ race, the longest winning streak in rowing (and possibly in world sport). This season the crew of Francesca Allen, Giedre Rakauskaite, Ollie Stanhope, Ed Fuller and cox Morgan Baynham-Williams will be overwhelming favourites to continue that winning streak. The crew also has extra motivation, as their usual cox, Erin Kennedy, was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier in the season and misses the trip to Racice to receive treatment. So far this season, the British have victories at the Gavirate Para Regatta, Poznan and the Europeans. Such is their dominance that their margin of victory so far this season has been over 20 seconds. All four are doubling up in the para pairs as well, and I have them favourites for gold in those events.

If the British are nailed on favourites for the gold, then the battle for silver and bronze is anything but. France finished runners-up to the British at the European Championships. Their crew of Margot Boulet, Erika Sauzeau, Jerome Hamelin, Laurent Cadot and Emilie Acquistapace includes two of the crew that won bronze at the Paralympics in Tokyo. They also raced in Gavirate, finishing in bronze medal position.

The USA will fancy their chances of taking the silver medal. They were the runners-up to the British in Tokyo; however, for Racice, they have a completely different line-up, Saige Harper, Andrew Wigren, Alex Flynn, Molly Moore and Emelie Eldracher. They are a mix of youth and experience, Harper is 20 years old, and Wigren is just 18, both make their international debuts in Racice. Flynn is the oldest in the boat at 48; he raced in the PR3 M2- at the 2019 World Championships, finishing 6th. Moore also raced in the PR3 pairs in 2019; in her case, she won the gold (in a 2-boat final against Italy).

Australia has raced against the British several times this season. They were runners-up to them in Gavirate and then raced them in Belgrade. Australia’s cox, Teesan Koo, went down with COVID just before the World Cup, but rather than scratch, they could borrow a cox from Great Britain, enabling the two crews to race. The crew includes Alex Viney, Jessica Gallagher, James Talbot and Thomas Birtwhistle. Both Birtwhistle and Viney are doubling-up in their respective PR3 pairs.

Germany were bronze medallists at the European Championships just ahead of the Italians (who had beaten the Germans on both days at Gavirate). They have Susanne Lackner, Jan Helmich, Marc Lembeck, Kathrin Marchand and Inga Thoene. Marchand raced for Germany at the London and Rio Olympics, mainly in the W8 and W2- and is a former U23 World Champion. 

She turned to Para-rowing after suffering a stroke. Helmich is a former Cambridge oarsman and was spare for the Lightweight Boat race in 2019. He raced at the 2018 World Championships in the PR3 Mix2x and 2019 in the mixed 4+. Lackner has been on the German para-rowing team since 2007 and won the World Championships that year; she also raced at the Beijing and Rio Paralympics. This crew raced at the Poznan World Cup and, in the absence of the British, came away with gold.

Italy and Germany have been having great races all season. Italy came out on top at Gavirate with Germany getting the better in Poznan and Munich. The Italians have made one change to the line-up that finished 4th at the Europeans, Carolina Foresti replaces Greta Muti. She joins Luca Conti, Tommaso Schettino, Ludovica Tramontin and Raissa Scionico.

My picks: Great Britain in gold (obviously) with France in silver and Germany in bronze

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