Junior World Championships Preview

Rowers lining up in the women's coxless pair at the FISA Junior World Rowing Championships in Duisburg, Germany, tomorrow will be facing a young woman who is already a World Cup champion.

Yuliya Bichyk of Belarus won the women's coxless pair in the Zurich Rowing World Cup after a gold-medal performance at the final regatta in Munich. Now the 18-year-old is returning to the juniors to race her peers.

The 18 and under age restriction means the Juniors field varies largely from year to year but there are still several 2000 medallists keen to make their mark against the competition this year.

Bichyk is one of them. She and partner Maryia Varona won the coxless pair last year by a massive 14.58 seconds.

The two will also row in the Belarussian junior women's eight which includes 2000 junior quad gold medallists Natallia Halapiatava and Hanna Nakhayeva (who are also in the coxless four).

They should provide some stiff competition for the eights winners for the last two years, Romania. Three of last year's Romanian crew return in 2001. Germany were the junior women's eight champions from 1992-1998. They had to settle for silver last year but are bound contenders this year.

Only one rower from last year's top three junior men's eight crews returns – RomanVorotnikov from the silver medal Russian eight.

Gold medallists Germany will have last year's junior men's coxed pair gold medallist Jens Robatzek in the crew but the race could really be anyone's.

No 2000 finalists return for the men's single sculls but there is still a top class field in action.

Among them is junior quad 2000 gold medallist Harald Heller of Germany. He will meet Martin Yanakiev, the promising younger brother of Bulgarian single sculler Ivo.

It's a different story in the women's single sculls, with two of last year's medallists returning. Gold medallist Julia Heitmann of Germany will meet bronze medallist Georgeta Craciun of Romania.

More 2000 champions will row in the junior men's coxless pair, with 2000 coxed four gold medallists Germain Rondeau and Benjamin Chardin of France heading the field.

In the junior men's coxed pair Alexei Moukhine and Roman Vesselkine from the 2000 silver medal Russian men's eight will row with cox Evgeny Manushkin. And last year's surprise finalist, Manuel Alcantara of Peru returns with new partner Kensil Grajales and cox Denis Livia.

The junior men's coxed four sees a new German combination lead by Jan-Ole Gehrmann of last year's silver medal crew and Philipp Noerterhauser from last year's gold medal men's eight.

Noertherhauser's champion eight crewmate Holger Brunzlaff will stroke the junior men's coxless four and South Africa returns hoping to improve on its 2000 silver medal success.

In the junior women's coxless four, Deborah Dryer returns from last year's gold medal USA crew. Her 2001 crew will face stiff competition from Belarus's Halapiatava and Nakhayeva. The women will also meet in the eights.

Last year's men's single sculls bronze Domagoj Jelic of Croatia lead's his junior men's quad team while Dorian Morelette returns from the 2000 French silver medal crew. In the junior women's quad Andrea Krueger is back from Germany's 2000 bronze medal crew.

Racing starts tomorrow (Wednesday) and concludes on Saturday. More information is available on the organising committee's official website www.wedau-rowing.com

To qualify to race at the Juniors, rowers must be 18 years or younger and not turn 19 in the same year as the competition.