Cover image: World Rowing / Benedict Tufnell
W1X
Entries: 24
World Cup 1 winner: Virginia Diaz Rivas (Spain)
With only two of the top 12 scullers from the European Championships racing in Varese it’s likely that the main contenders for the medals will come from outside of Europe.
Starting as favourite will most likely be Tara Rigney of Australia. The Sydney University student took medals at both the second and third World Cups of 2022 and finished the season with a World Championship bronze medal. She made the Olympic team in her first season as a senior international, finishing seventh in the W2X with Amanda Bateman in Tokyo.
Australia has a second sculler racing, Kathryn Rowan. She’s the reserve for the Aussie sculling squad and raced in the W4X last season, finishing sixth at the World Championships.
Kara Kohler of the USA should also be a strong contender for a medal. She’s been a member of the senior US team since 2011 and was World Champion in the W4- in her first season. She raced at the London Olympics, winning bronze in the W4X and after missing the Rio Olympics switched to the W1X. She finished fourth in 2018 and then took bronze in 2019 (the USA’s first W1X medal since 2007). Tokyo was a disappointing regatta for the American, finishing ninth and that was followed by an even more disappointing 2022 where she struggled with injury, ending up 13th. If she is on form, then she should be a serious contender for the gold.
Spain’s Virginia Diaz Rivas won in Zagreb, Spain’s first ever W1x gold medal. She is one of only two scullers from the top 12 at the Europeans to be racing in Varese, and the only one to have made the A-Final where she finished sixth. She raced in the pair at the Tokyo Olympics before switching to the single last season. She took fifth at the 2022 Europeans and sixth at the Worlds.
One of the most intriguing entries is Anna Prakaten. She is racing under Uzbekistan colours having spent her entire career racing for her native Russia. She raced in the quad in 2019 and 2020 without any particular success, but in 2021 she switched to the W1X and took the field by storm. She won the European Olympic Qualifying Regatta and then went on to win gold at the European Championships and 2nd World Cup. In Tokyo she finished as runner-up to Emma Twigg. She raced earlier in the season at Piediluco winning the bronze medal on both days. What makes her entry interesting is her switch of nationality. World Cups have different eligibility regulations compared to Championship regattas; in order to compete at Worlds (and therefore try and qualify for Paris) she needs to have held a passport for her new country for a minimum of 24 months. As I understand it this won’t be until the beginning of 2024, so she will not be eligible to compete at Worlds this season. However, World Rowing has recently announced that a limited number of Russian (and Belarussian) will be allowed to compete as neutrals this season (if they pass a vetting process). So, it’s going to be very interesting to see if Prakaten takes this route and races as a “neutral Russian Athlete” at the World Championships or continues with her new Uzbek nationality.
Germany is represented by 21-year-old Alexandra Foester. She has won gold at both the U19 and U23 level and made her senior debut whilst still a teenager in 2021 winning the B-Final at the European Championships. She won her first senior medal (and Germany’s first in this boat class since 2017) when taking bronze at the 2022 European’s. She ended the 2022 season with a strong seventh place. An A-Final placing in Varese would be the absolute minimum and a podium place is very possible.
One of the most experienced athletes in the field is Denmark’s Fie Udby Erichsen. She won the B-Final in Bled and the 38-year-old has been racing internationally since 2005. Bled was her first international race since finishing eighth in the W2- at the Tokyo Olympics. She’s no stranger to the W1X having raced in the boat for the majority of her career. The highlight of her career came at the London Olympics where she won silver (which is still the best ever result for Danish women’s rowing at the Olympics). Her results since then haven’t quite reached those heights, but she did take fourth at the 2020 Europeans.
Another highly experienced athlete is Diana Dymchenko of Azerbaijan. The former Ukrainian sculler won World Cup gold in Sabaudia at the end of 2021 and finished fourth at the 2022 Lucerne World Cup. This season she won at Piediluco but withdrew before the B-Final in Zagreb due to injury (which also kept her out of the Europeans).
The Netherlands has been dominating this event for the last couple of seasons, but World and European Champion, Karolien Florijn, isn’t racing in Varese. In her place is Nika Vos. She was a member of the highly successful W4X in 2022 that won medals at both the first and second World Cups and ended the season with World Championship silver.
Other scullers to look out for include Kyra Edwards of Great Britain (eighth in the W2X at the 2022 Worlds) and Marta Wieliczko (silver in the W4X in Tokyo). China has two international debutants racing, including 16-year-old Hong Zhu.
Predictions: Rigney of Australia in gold ahead of Kohler of the USA in silver and Foester in bronze.
W2X
Entries: 14
World Cup 1 winners: Fabienne Schweizer and Lisa Loetscher (Switzerland)
This is another event that is wide open due to the absence of all three of the European Championship podium crews. Starting as marginal favourites will probably be the leading American crew of Sophia Vitas and Kristina Wagner. Wagner raced in the double with Gevvie Stone at the Tokyo Olympics, making the A-Final. She formed a new partnership with Vitas at the start of the 2022 season, winning bronze at the second World Cup and making the A-Final at the World Championships.
The USA has a second boat racing in Varese – Emily Kallfelz and Lauren O’Connor. Kallfelz was U23 silver medallist in 2019 and raced in the W4X at the 2022 World Championships. O’Connor, from the University of Wisconsin, makes her international debut in Varese. O’Connor, Kallfelz, Vitas and Wagner are also the USA W4X and are racing in that boat class in Varese as well.
Australia will also have high hopes of a medal. They have a new combination for this season which is a mix of youth and experience. Amanda Bateman raced in this boat class with Tara Rigney at the Tokyo Olympics, winning the B-Final. She’s joined by 21-year-old Laura Gourley from UTS Haberfield Rowing Club. Varese marks Gourley’s senior international debut after representing Australia in the BW1X at the 2022 U23 World Championships.
The top performing crew from the European Championships that are racing in Varese are the fourth-placed French outfit, Margaux Bailleul and Emma Lunatti. They were both members of the French W4X at the Tokyo Olympics and also raced in that boat class at the 2022 Europeans. For the 2022 World Championships Ballieul raced with Violaine Aernoudts, finishing 13th, and Lunatti raced in the single, placing ninth.
Fifth at the Europeans in Bled was Germany, Leonie Menzel and Maren Voelz. Menzel was 11th in this boat class at the Tokyo Olympics and back in 2019, she and partner Carlotta Nwadjie won European Gold (Germany’s first gold medal in this event since 2010). Voelz made her senior debut in Bled having won U23 silver in 2019.
Great Britain have been playing around with the line-up for both their W4X and W2X (with the quad being the priority boat). For Varese the double features Lucy Glover and Saskia Budgett. Glover is one of the most exciting prospects in the British women’s team; a two-time U23 World Champion, she was a member of the W4X that won European silver in 2021 and took seventh at the Olympics. In 2022 they won gold at the Europeans and bronze at the World Championships. She raced in the quad in Bled and picked up another bronze medal. Budgett is also a former U23 World Champion and has been racing in the W2X for the last couple of seasons, including a European bronze medal in 2021. She raced with Kyra Edwards at the 2022 Worlds finishing eighth and these two also raced in Bled (with Edwards being a late replacement for Margaret Saunders) placing ninth. This is an exciting combination, and whilst a medal might be just out of their reach, a strong A-Final placing will be a positive result.
Winners at the first World Cup were Switzerland, Fabienne Schweizer and Lisa Loetscher. Loetscher was U23 BW1X World Champion in 2021 and she was a member of the quad that finished fith at the World Championships last year. Schweizer raced in the quad in 2021 before moving to the double in 2022 where she partnered Nina Wettstein to tenth place. Their gold in Zagreb was the first medal in this event for Switzerland since 1998. In Bled this double won the B-Final. Both these athletes are doubling-up in the W4X.
Italy’s Clara Guerra and Stefania Buttignon were eighth in Bled. Guerra raced in the W4x last season that also placed eighth. Buttignon is a former lightweight, finishing sixth in the LW1X last season.
Other crews to watch include Canada, Katie Clark and Marilou Duvernay Tardif, and two Chinese crews, Shuangmei Shen (ninth in 2022) and Shiyu Lu (fourth in the W1X last season) as CHN1 and debutants Min Yang and Huiru Li as CHN2.
Predictions: USA1 in gold with France in silver and Australia in bronze (just ahead of GB)
W2-
Entries: 15
World Cup 1 winners: Aina Cid and Esther Briz Zamorano (Spain)
This has the makings of one of the most competitive events in the whole regatta (despite not including either the gold or silver medallists from Bled). Spain were winners in Zagreb and took bronze at the Europeans. Esther Briz Zamorano and Aina Cid. Cid is one of Spain’s most successful oarswomen, with European medals from 2020 and 2021 and an A-final placing at the Tokyo Olympics. Briz Zamorano raced in the BW1X at the U23 World Championships last season winning the B-Final.
Australia has two crews racing, with the pick being Annabelle McIntyre and Jessica Morrison. This duo were silver medallists at the 2019 World Championships and also raced at the Tokyo Olympics winning the B-Final (and then doubling-up in the W4- that won gold). Morrison didn’t race in 2022, but McIntrye raced in the W4- that won bronze at the World Championships. The second Aussie boat is Paige Barr and Georgie Gleeson. They are both doubling-up in the W8 in Varese. Barr won gold in the W8 at the final World Cup of 2022 and went on to win U23 bronze in the BW4-. Last season she raced in the W8 that finished fifth. Gleeson made her international debut in 2022, ending the season with a ninth place in this boat class.
Great Britain also has two boats racing, Esme Booth and Rowan McKellar in GBR1 and Natasha Morrice and Annie Campbell-Orde in GBR2. Booth has been racing in the pair with Emily Ford for the last couple of seasons (as well as doubling-up in the W8). Their best result was silver at the 2022 Europeans, however they haven’t quite matched that potential since, with a fifth-placed finish at the World Championships and another fifth at the Europeans this season. So, for Varese the GB coaches have swapped Ford for Rowan McKellar. She was a member of the W4- that finished fourth in Tokyo and then won European and World gold in 2022. She raced in the W4- in Bled that finished second. They are both doubling-up in the W8 in Varese.
Morrice and Campbell-Orde raced in the W8 in Bled, winning the silver medal, as with their teammates they are also racing in the W8 in Varese.
The USA is another team with two boats racing. USA1 is Megan Musnicki and Alison Rushner with USA2 Jessica Thoennes and Charlotte Buck. Musnicki is one of the legends of the sport. The 40-year-old has raced at three Olympics, winning gold in the W8 at both London and Rio. She also has World Championship gold medals from the W8 in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015. She raced in the W8 in 2019 taking bronze, and at the Tokyo Olympics she was in the W8 that finished fourth. Rushner was U23 bronze medallist in 2018 and also raced in the W8 at the Tokyo Olympics.
Thoennes and Buck were also members of the Tokyo W8 and last season Thoennes finished fourth in the W4- and Buck was in the W8 that also finished fourth.
Germany has the same line-up that finished sixth at the Europeans, Hannah Reif and Lena Sarassa. This duo raced together at the U23 World Championships in 2021, winning a bronze medal. They took seventh at the final World Cup in 2022 and were in the W8 at the 2022 Europeans.
China has two boats entered, including 2019 junior world champions Tingting Wang and Xuan Zhang. The second boat is Lin Gan and 17-year-old Hongshan Zhu, both of whom are making their debuts in Varese.
Also racing are two French crews, Adele Brosse and Josephine Cornut-Danjou in FRA1 and Agathe Oudet and Emma Cornelis in the second boat. All but Cornut-Danjou were in the W4- that finished eighth in the W4-. Cornut-Danjou raced the pair with Pauline Rossignol in Bled that finished tenth.
Predictions: McIntyre/Morrison of Australia in gold with Musnicki/Rushner of USA in silver and Booth/McKellar of GB in bronze.
W4-
Entries: 13
World Cup 1 winners: Magdalena Jesus Nannig Rojas, Victoria Hostetter Wells, Melita Abraham & Antonia Abraham (Chile)
This looks to be a showdown between two Australian boats, two British boats and one from the USA.
Australia’s top boat is made up of three of the 2019 World Championship gold medal crew, Katrina Werry, Lucy Stephan and Sarah Hawe. These three were also in the W4- that won gold in 2017 and were runners-up in 2018. Stephan rowed in the boat that won gold in Tokyo and, along with Werry were bronze medallists in 2022. The fourth member of the crew is Giorgia Patten – she was U23 silver medallist in 2019 and rowed in the W8 in Tokyo (along with Werry and Hawe).
The second Aussie boat are all doubling-up in the W8, Molly Goodman, Georgina Rowe, Bronwyn Cox and Lily Alton-Triggs. Goodman, Rowe and Cox were all in the Tokyo W8 and silver medalists in the eight in 2019. Alton-Triggs makes her senior debut in Varese having raced at the U23 World Championships in 2019.
Great Britain are the reigning World Champions, and went unbeaten throughout 2022. That run was ended in Bled when they were overhauled by Romania. They’ve made one change to the crew that won silver in Bled, with Sam Redgrave returning to the boat to replace Rowan McKellar. Redgrave joins fellow world champions Heidi Long and Rebecca Shorten. The fourth member of the crew is the two-time Olympic gold medalist Helen Glover.
GBR2 are, like the second Australia boat, doubling-up in the W8. The line-up is Karen Bennett, Lauren Irwin, Harriet Taylor and Emily Ford. Bennett finished fourth in the W4- in Tokyo and has been a member of the GB team since 2015. She was part of the W8 that won silver in Rio and has medals from every European Championships since 2016. All four of the crew were in the W8 in Bled that won silver and Taylor was part of the 4 that finished 4th in Tokyo.
The USA has four of the crew that finished fourth in the W8 in 2022, Claire Collins, Maddy Wannamaker, Kelsey Reelick and Molly Bruggemann. Collins and Wannamaker doubled-up in the W2- last year, winning a bronze medal in the pair. They were also in the same boat class that won the B-Final in Tokyo.
Outside of these five crews, the “best of the rest” is likely to be Denmark, Marie Skytte Hauberg Johannesen, Julie Poulsen, Frida Sanggaard Nielsen & Astrid Steensberg. This quartet were fourth in Bled. Poulsen and Johannesen both made their senior debuts in 2022 with Steenberg starting her senior career in 2021. Sanggaard Nielsen is the most experienced of the boat having raced in this boat class in Tokyo (her whole racing career has been spent in the coxless four).
China is another nation with two crews racing. Their top boat is the same line-up that made the A-Final in 2022, Xiaoxin Liu, Zifeng Wang, Xingye Xu and Shuxian Zhang. China Two includes two members of the W8 that finished sixth in 2022, Xiya Dong and Hairong Zhang along with Wen Yu (who won silver in the W8 at the first World Cup last season) and debutant Xiaohan Xie.
Other crews to watch are Poland (Barbara Jechorek, Weronika Kazmierczak, Zuzanna Lesner & Olga Michalkiewicz) 11th in 2022, and Italy (Giorgia Pelacchi, Linda De Filippis, Alice Codato & Veronica Bumbaca) who all raced in the W8 in Bled that won bronze.
Predictions: this should be a cracking race…..I’m going for GBR1 to take gold with AUS1 in silver and GBR2 in bronze (just ahead of the USA).
W4X
Entries: 12
World Cup 1 winners: Daryna Verkhogliad, Nataliya Dovgodko, Anastasiia Kozhenkova & Kateryna Dudchenko (Ukraine)
The top crew in this event are China, Xiaotong Cui, Yang Lyu, Ling Zhang & Yunxia Chen. They are the reigning Olympic and World Champions. They also won gold at the 2019 World Championships, and as a unit they are unbeaten.
Bronze medallists at Tokyo 2021 was Australia – they have the same line-up racing in Varese, Rowena Meredith, Harriet Hudson, Caitlin Cronin & Ria Thompson. Meredith and Hudson raced in the boat in 2022 that finished sixth at the World Championships. For Cronin and Thompson, Varese will be their first international race since the Tokyo Olympics.
Great Britain were bronze medallists in Bled and have made one change to that crew – Lola Anderson comes back into the crew having raced in the quad in 2022, winning gold at the Europeans and bronze at the World Championships. She joins Lauren Henry, Georgie Brayshaw and Hannah Scott. Brayshaw was also a member of the quad last season and Scott was in the quad that raced in Tokyo. Henry made her senior debut this season, having raced at the U23 Worlds last season finishing fourth in the BW1X.
Fourth at the Europeans this season was Italy. They have three of the crew that finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics, Veronica Lisi, Valentina Iseppi and Stefania Gobbi. The fourth member of the crew is Laura Meriano – she was in the W4- last season that finished ninth.
As mentioned above, the USA are doubling-up in the W2X with Sophia Vitas, Lauren O’Connor, Kristina Wagner and Emily Kallfelz.
Fifth at the European Championships was Germany, Frauke Hundeling, Pia Greiten, Sarah Wibberenz & Tabea Schendekehl. Hundeling and Greiten raced in the W2X last season finishing sixth with Wibberenz finishing 12th in this boat class last season.
Romania has two of the crew that finished seventh in Bled, Cristina Druga & Ioana-Madalina Morosan. They are joined by 2022 W8 World Champions Iuliana Buhus and Adriana Adam.
Also racing are France (Helene Lefebvre, Jeanne Roche, Audrey Feutrie & Violaine Aernoudts) who were ninth at the Europeans and winners in Wedau. Norway (Jenny Marie Rorvik, Maia Emilie Lund, Inger Seim Kavlie & Thea Helseth) were eighth at the Europeans. Switzerland (Fabienne Schweizer, Pascale Walker, Salome Ulrich & Lisa Loetscher) were sixth in Bled and second in Zagreb. A second Chinese boat are entered (Youfei Liu, Xiaojiao Du, Yingying Xu & Yan Li).
Predictions: Difficult to see anyone beating China, but silver and bronze should be a good battle. I’m going for Australia in silver and Great Britain in bronze.
W8
Entries: 3
World Cup 1 winners: No event
Just 3 entries….Australia, v Canada v Great Britain.
Canada has all but one of the crew that finished in bronze medal place at the 2022 World Championships, Kirsten Edwards, Alexis Cronk, Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Morgan Rosts, Avalon Wasteneys, Jessica Sevick, Sydney Payne & coxswain Kristen Kit. The new member of the crew is Kristina Walker who raced in the pair last season. Four of the crew (Kit, Gruchella-Wesierski, Wasteneys and Payne) were in the crew that won gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
Australia has six athletes doubling-up in other events, Paige Barr and Georgie Gleeson in the W2- and Molly Goodman, Lily Alton-Triggs, Bronwyn Cox and Georgina Rowe. The two rowers not doubling-up are Jacqueline Swick and Olympia Aldersey. Swick was in the W8 last season that won bronze and Aldersey races for the first time since finishing fifth in the W8 at the Tokyo Olympics. The Aussies are coxed by 20-year-old international debutant Hayley Verbunt.
Great Britain are all doubling-up in other events. Rowan McKellar and Esme Booth along with Annie Campbell-Orde and Natasha Morrice are in the W2- with Karen Bennett, Emily Ford, Lauren Irwin and Harriet Taylor in the W4-. They are coxed by Henry Fieldman, who coxed both the men’s and women’s 8s in Bled (winning gold with the men and silver with the women).
Predictions: with only three entries there will be no bronze medal awarded. Canada must start as favourites with half of their Olympic gold medal crew, behind them I’m going for Great Britain to pip the Aussies for the silver medal.
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