Prechamps Preview - 2003 World Championships Milan, Italy

Will they break the World Record? Pettinari and Luini of Italy could be the ones.
© Getty Images

The Idroscalo opens its gates to international rowers for the second time this season. Milan started the World Cup season for 2003 in May and a greater number will be racing at this month's World Championships. Already nations have begun to arrive, hoping to familiarise themselves with the course and the climate. This year the World Champs doubles as an Olympic Qualifying Regatta and crews will not only aspire to become World Champions but also aim to secure a 2004 Olympic berth for their boat by finishing within the allocated quota.

Women's Single

The big names meet again. Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus, Rumyana Neykova of Bulgaria and Germany's Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski all have World Champion and Olympic medals to their name and, at different times, they have beaten each other. Rutschow-Stomporowski is currently looking the best having won every race she entered this season, but with Olympic Champion Karsten back in the single and Neykova on form, the winner will be hard to pick.

Also in the top pack is Russia's Yulya Levina who continues to chip away at the seconds between her and the leading boats and in hot pursuit will be Xiuyan Zhang of China and Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic. Also keep an eye out for Italy's Elisabetta Brugo who may surprise in front of her home crowd and the return of Sonia Waddell of New Zealand who is back after taking a break to have a baby last year.

Men's Single

Will Germany's Marcel Hacker maintain his winning streak or can Iztok Cop of Slovenia find the extra push to overtake the German? These guys have been going one ? two all season and it could well end up a race to place third. In the running is stalwart Vaclave Chalupa of the Czech Republic, and 2001 World Champion Olaf Tufte of Norway.

From there the event opens up into one of the biggest fields at the regatta. New rowing names like Yong Yi Jong of Singapore and Amine Graf Zerdali of Morocco join the promising challengers of Australia's Duncan Free and Dirk Lippits of the Netherlands.

Women's Pair

This event has remained clear-cut over the last couple of years, Romanian World Champions Viorica Susanu and Georgeta Andrunache lead the way and everyone else races for second. But with the Olympic Games just around the corner and Susanu and Andrunache missing the final World Cup in Lucerne due to health problems a challenge may be on the horizon.

 

Katherine Grainger and Cath Bishop of Great Britain won the yellow jersey this year and have been improving throughout the season pacing last year's bronze medallists, Yuliya Bichyk and Natallia Helakh of Belarus. But it's Jacqui Cook and Karen Clark of Canada that won in their 2003 debut at Lucerne and could pose the biggest threat to Susanu and Andrunache when they meet for the first time this season in Milan.

South Africa and France also missed Lucerne for medical reasons but have both have shown their potential this season.

Men's Pair

Some races are clear-cut, there is a favourite and everyone else chases them. In the pair, clear-cut used to be the case with World Champions, James Cracknell and Matthew Pinsent of Great Britain dominating the event. That domination has been resolutely tested this year. First Cracknell and Pinsent were beaten by Giuseppe De Vita and Dario Lari of Italy and the Skelin brothers of Croatia at the World Cup in Milan, but then came back to win the second World Cup and the Henley Royal Regatta.

However the real showdown is still an open slate. Australia's Drew Ginn and James Tomkins have a year old point to prove. Olympic champions, Ginn and Tomkins finished a disappointing fourth at last year's World Champs after storming onto the scene earlier in the season and breaking the 25-race winning streak Pinsent and Cracknell. These crews will meet for the first time at Milan since that fateful day.

But there is more. "You could pick seven or eight crews who fancy their chances of a medal in Milan", says Pinsent. "In previous years there were perhaps four or five." Last year's silver medal winners, Ramon Di Clemente and Don Cech of South Africa are in the mix as well as the ever improving Adam Michalek and Petr Imre of the Czech Republic and Lucerne bronze medallists, Rob Hellstrom and Nathan Twaddle of New Zealand.

Women's Double

When an eight-time World Champion and three-time Olympian turns up in the next lane you know the pressure is on. It came in the form of Kathrin Boron of Germany who returns to rowing after the birth of her child. Teamed up with Britta Oppelt the duo medalled at all three World Cups. However gold at the World Champs may elude them. They finished third at Lucerne behind Russia's Larisa Merk and Irina Fedotova and World Champions, Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell of New Zealand. But the final was tight and only a second separates these top three boats.

However, the Evers-Swindells are the current World Record holders and have another year of experience behind them and a very firm eye on the Olympics. They will be hard to beat. Keep an eye out also for the British duo of Rebecca Romero and Deborah Flood.

Men's Double

Nail-bitingly close finishes have been the theme this season. At both Munich and Lucerne the photo finish was used to determine the top three spots and going into the World Championships no single boat dominates with the list of contenders overflowing the six-lane final.

At the end of the World Cups, Milan Dolecek and Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic hold a tenuous upper hand with two of their wins determined only in the last stroke. Australia's new combination of David Crawshay and Peter Hardcastle stormed onto the international scene at Lucerne and finished a mere one-one hundredth of a second behind the Czechs.

Adrien Hardy and Sebastian Vieilledent of France are back in contention after only average performances in 2002 and Great Britain will be looking for a World Champ medal despite withdrawing from Lucerne due to illness. Ukraine and Cuba are also on the pace and the two-time World Champions Hungary cannot be dismissed. Akos Haller and Tibor Peto have been plagued by injury this season but they still may have time to get back to fitness. Then there's Olympic Champions Rossano Galtarossa and Alessio Sartori of Italy who have left the quad after a disappointing fifth in Lucerne. Simply making the A-final in this event will be an accomplishment.

Men's Four

Two boats have tussled for the last three season ? Germany and Great Britain have been fighting it out to close finishes since 2001 ? with Germany retaining the upper hand. But these two crews are no longer alone. Added into that tussle since 2002 are the ever-improving Italians. They were sitting firmly in third until the final World Cup in Lucerne when they finished ahead of the Germans in second.

But just to upset this threesome, Canada took gold and in the process broke Germany's winning streak. Keep an eye out also for Slovenia who have been hovering just off the medal podium in fourth all season.

Germany and the Netherlands, neck and neck all season
© Getty Images

Lightweight Women's Double Scull

All of the top lightweight women rowers have scrambled to find a partner and crowded into this Olympic qualifying event. With that 23 crews line up to aim for one of the top nine spots that will help them on their way to qualification. But within this mix only first place will be satisfying for some. World Champions Sally Causby and Amber Halliday called it a ?learning experience? when they were challenged and beaten by Kirsten van der Kolk and Marit van Eupen of the Netherlands at the World Cup in Lucerne.

Van der Kolk and van Eupen had waited a long time for this win as they have spent the season sitting in Germany's shadow. But when injury kept the Germans away from Lucerne the Dutch decided this was their opportunity. British duo of Tracy Langlands and Helen Casey will also be aiming for the medals in their second season together and Claudia Blasberg and Marie-Louise Draeger will be back to go for the top.

Lightweight Men's Double Scull

Hold onto your oar handles, if records are to be broken, this will be the one. After World Champions Italy won in Lucerne, stroke Leonardo Pettinari declared that, with partner Elia Luini, they would break their own World Record. The duo has dominated this event for the last two years.

Following the Italians the fleet of talent extends into a veritable who's who of champion single scullers who have partnered up for this Olympic class event. Ireland's World Champion Sam Lynch has made the move as well as Olympian Daisaku Takeda of Japan and Steve Tucker of the United States. There is also Hungary's Tamas Varga and Ingo Euler of Germany joining the doubles ranks.

This event also boasts an array of up-and-coming rowing nations with new names like India and Algeria, Armenia and Guatemala all looking to be in a top 11 qualifying position for next year's Olympics.

Lightweight Men's Four

Could this be the year Italy overcomes the Danish domination? Lorenzo Bertini, Catello Amarante, Salvatore Amitrano and Bruno Mascarenhas finished second in 2002 and at Lucerne they inched out Canada and Denmark to win gold. But a mere bow ball is the only difference between these three crews and with Eskild Ebbeson back in the stroke seat and steering the Danish boat it is anyone's guess who will manage to be first at Milan. One thing however is for certain, the Dutch and Germans will want to break in on this threesome and Australia will not be far away.

Women's Quad

The quad has long been a German institution, but it was well and truly challenged this season when a full assortment of countries shared the gold medal position. First Ukraine won at Milan, then the United States dominated at Munich and finally Australia pulled it off at Lucerne despite missing their top sculler, Amber Bradley.

World Champions Germany however did remain consistent throughout the season, and even though gold eluded them, they captured a steady flow of silvers. But at the World Champs positions may change again. Now that Bradley is back in the Aussie stroke seat and Germany has finalised their line up to include Marita Scholz in two seat and the United States and Ukraine are back racing after missing Lucerne, the heat will be on for the top spot.

Men's Quad

Look into the rowing crystal ball then take a guess. Nothing is certain in the quad. Poland was humming along at the head of the field for most of the season until illness kept them away from Lucerne. This brought the 2002 World Champion Germans back into the picture and out in front.

Also on the pace this season is the Czech Republic who beat Germany at the Munich World Cup. And don't dismiss the Dutch. They have been improving with every race, going from third in Milan to second at Lucerne.

The US women's eight won both of their international races this season.
© Getty Images

Women's Eight

As reigning World Champions, the United States are in the unenviable position of crew to beat. They raced at Milan and Munich and reestablished this spot before going back to the United States for final line-up decisions. But their dominance may be under threat. Romania has been the bane of the Americans for several years and with Elisabeta Lipa back in the fray and out of post-2000 Olympic retirement, a US gold could be under threat. And Lipa is not the only addition to the boat. The Romanians are laying all of their cards on the table and have added World Champion pair Susanu and Andrunache to the eight.

But keep an eye out for Germany. In the absence of the United States Germany took silver at Lucerne. Canada and Australia debuted at Lucerne but were off the pace. They will need to have made some big changes since the final World Cup to make an imprint on the three leading boats.

Men's Eight

Germany was sitting comfortably this season having won the first two World Cups until World Champions Canada arrived on the scene at Lucerne and grabbed back the gold medal spot. Australia also turned up at Lucerne and the new-look line-up showed they meant business nipping at Germany's heels and heralding the comeback of the Aussie male.

Also in contention are the Netherlands who appeared only once this season with a young, newly formed crew. They signaled their intentions when they pushed the two powerful crews of Croatia and Italy back a notch.

Great Britain continues to press from the edges of the A-final. After winning gold at the Olympics the eight became a priority boat for the British, yet medals still elude them. The eight is also a priority boat for the United States who have brought their successful pair duo of Bryan Volpenhein and Jason Read back into the boat to try and improve on their disappointing bronze in 2002. This line up will race the first time internationally this year at the World Championships.