Who to Watch at BearingPoint Rowing World Cup II

Munich’s Olympia Regattaverein

The second BearingPoint Rowing World Cup heads back to Munich, Germany for the eighth time since the World Cup series began in 1997. Starting with heats on Friday 17 June the racing will concluding with 18 finals events on Sunday 19 June.

Munich’s Olympic Regatta Course, which dates back to the 1972 Olympics, is known for its fairness across lanes, plenty of seating and good viewing for coaches on bikes. The forecast looks to be cloudy with the chance of showers for the 37 countries competing.

Women’s Single Scull (W1x)

They went one, two at the first Rowing World Cup in Eton, Great Britain and they’re back for another go. Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus did just enough to win over the Czech Rebublic’s Mirka Knapkova and the two are likely to be medal favourites again in Munich.

But new to the single sculling scene and fresh from an Olympic gold medal in the double, New Zealanders Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell are going solo and will be giving Karsten and Knapkova something to think about. There’s also Yulya Levina of Russia who has a number of Rowing World Cup medals under her belt as well as the experience of two Olympic Games. Levina finished unlucky fourth at Eton and will be hoping to step up her game.

Synek won gold last month at Eton
© Jamie McDonald / Getty Images

Men’s Single Scull (M1x)

The results at Eton showed that nothing is ever certain especially in early season racing and dodgy weather. Favourite Olaf Tufte of Norway did not even feature in the final while Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic proved himself in the single by winning.

Both Synek and Tufte are back with the addition of Athens Olympics fourth place finisher Santiago Fernandez of Argentina and Czech Republic’s second entry, Vaclav Chalupa who comes to Munich for his seventeenth international season.

But it could be Germany’s Marcel Hacker that does it for the home crowd. Munich is Hacker’s stomping ground and after finishing second at Eton he could be back on a medal winning binge after missing out on 2004 Olympic success.

Women’s Pair (W2-) 

Australia’s women’s eight, divided into pairs, dominated at Eton taking a clean sweep of the medals and with four entries at Munich it could  be all green and gold on the medal podium.

The Australians, led by Eton winners Sarah Outhwaite and Natalie Bale, have already beaten Germany’s number one crew and Romania are absent. So this leaves it up to sporting rivals from down under, New Zealand. Nicky Coles and Juliette Haigh arrive back in Europe from the New Zealand winter with a sixth place finish at Athens under their belts and it could be up to them to break the Australian stronghold.

Men’s Pair (M2-)

In their fourth year of pairing together brothers Sinisa and Niksa Skelin of Croatia dominated at Eton and must be the favourites again in at Munich. As Croatia’s flagship boat the Skelin brothers are making Munich another stop along the way in their long-term goal of gold at Beijing.

Great Britain’s Josh West and Kieran West are the new combination that finished fourth at Eton. With more time together they will continue to make improvements but they must be wary of the arrival of the new Italian combination of Luca Agamennoni and Dario Lari. Agamennoni is better known for his bronze medal win in the four at Athens and he joins pair stalwart, Lari who can be credited with beating the Skelin’s last year at Lucerne and also being the Munich defending champion from 2004.

Women’s Double Scull (W2x)

Top single sculler Rumyana Neykova of Bulgaria paired up with Miglena Markova at Eton and easily won over the new German combination of Britta Oppelt and Christiane Huth. Behind them Australia’s Amber Bradley and Sally Kehoe gained a tight third.

These three crews will meet again at Munich and it will definitely be a tough call for any other crews to break into the medal positions. But the order of winners could be challenged. Both Huth and Oppelt are experienced rowers and will have the home crowd advantage while Bradley and Kehoe have now had more time to settle into the European summer and they come to Munich after winning in the quad at the Versailles Regatta.

Men’s Double Scull (M2x)

The Norwegians appear to be growing in strength. Olympic finalists Nils-Trolv Simonsen and Morten Adamsen finished second at Eton and could be set to move up the medal table.

However challenges will be coming from the Germans. Christian Schreiber and Rene Burmeister finished a disappointing ninth at Athens and with the Schreiber fan club in operation, they won’t be holding back. There is also Florian Stofer and Olivier Gremaud of Switzerland who finished a bow ball out of the medals in fourth at Eton and are definitely in striking distance of challenging Norway. 

Great Britain’s four arrive as favourites
© Jamie McDonald / Getty Images

Men’s Coxless Four (M4-)

British rowing fans went wild last month when their new line-up looked to be continuing the Athens legacy with a win at Eton. Has coach Jurgen Grobler found the latest winning combination?

At Munich, however, the depth of talent has increased with Germany boating three crews including Michael Ruhe stroking the number one boat. Ruhe is known for his rhythm-setting skills having stroked the German eight at Athens and he will lead a crew that includes four regular Sebastian Thromann, four newcomer Hanno Wienhausen and four spare Matthias Flach.

Italy will also be debuting new line-ups with two entries that are bound to cause a stir. However with much of their talent siphoned off into the eight the Italian sweep pool may be spread a little thin. Keep an eye out also for the Czechs who finished third at Eton and were within calling distance of the British. Then there’s New Zealand who have crossed hemispheres with three of the same crew that finished fifth at Athens. The one change is Steve Cottle replacing the now single sculler Mahe Drysdale.

Women’s Lightweight Double Scull (LW2x)

This event may be Germany’s sure bet for a gold medal. Daniela Reimer and Marie-Louise Draeger are both experienced rowers both in the double and in singles and they proved that their combination works by taking gold in the rough conditions at Eton.

Interestingly, Reimer and Draeger’s biggest challenge could come from their compatriots. Berit Carow and Laura Tasch raced to bronze at Eton and will want to stamp their mark on this event if they are to be the crew chosen for the Gifu World Rowing Champs. Poland’s Magdalena Kemnitz and Ilona Mokronowska will also be pushing to get in the medals after finishing just outside, in fourth place, last month at Eton.  

Men’s Lightweight Double Scull (LM2x)

France’s main competition from Eton, Hungary and Japan, are not racing at Munich but the French bronze medallists from last month, Frederic Dufour and Arnaud Pornin, will face a new challenge.
 
Italy’s fiery passion has been ignited and they come to battle it out on the international stage. But the fire is not aimed at other countries. Three-time World Champions Leonardo Pettinari and Elia Luini have split and taken on new partners and will be racing against each other. Pettinari has teamed up with former lightweight single World Champion Stefano Basalini while Athens bronze medallist from the four, Bruno Mascarenhas joins Luini.

The score so far is one-nil to Pettinari and Basalini who took line honours at the Italian trials last month.

Men’s Lightweight Four (LM4-)

There is no doubt about it, France won fair and square at Eton finishing six seconds ahead of nearest rival Spain. Jeremy Pouge, Franck Solforosi and stroke Fabien Tilliet come from last year’s World Champion lightweight eight while Jean-Christophe Bette has spent most of his rowing career in the four.

The French will face the arrival of a strong Italian contingent although neither of the two Italian crews racing include any of the rowers that won bronze at Athens.

If the French retain their form though, they will be hard to beat.

Women’s Quad Scull (W4x)

Great Britain came out on top at Eton but their status took a slight beating when a throw together Australian crew and a young French line-up defeated them at the Versailles Regatta. Rebecca Romero, Sarah Winckless, Frances Houghton and Katherine Grainger are the flagship crew for British women’s rowing and they will not want to let their side down.

However at Munich Great Britain will have to face two German boats both fighting it out to be the chosen crew for their country. The quad has been Germany’s golden baby for quite some time and under the guidance of coach Jutta Lau this is unlikely to change.

Keep an eye out also for the United States. Coach Tom Terhaar has got his powerful sweep programme into sculling boats and this quad includes Anna Mickelson who won silver at Athens in the women’s eight.

Men’s Quad Scull (M4x)

There is going to be nothing slow about this event. Slovenia has two-time Olympic medallists Luka Spik and Iztok Cop in the crew that already proved themselves by winning at the Essen Regatta in May.

Slovenia though will face a field thick with experience. The Czech Republic finished second at Athens and the only change to the crew is the addition of double sculler Milan Dolecek Jr. who will definitely add strength to the boat. Then there’s Poland who finished just outside the medals at Athens and picked up bronze last month at Eton as well as a first at the Versailles Regatta.

Keep an eye out also for the light blue azzurro. Tucked inside the Italian crew are Sydney Olympic Champions from the quad Alessio Sartori and Simone Raineri.

Women’s Eight (W8+)

Munich will see a fleet of new entries. Australia is the only crew that remains from those that raced at Eton so the Aussies will get to welcome a whole new set of challenges. Athens silver medallists, the United States and bronze medallists, the Netherlands have arrived to try out new post-Athens line-ups and at this stage the edge could be with the Dutch. They have retained six of their athletes that medalled at Athes including coxswain Ester Workel.

But the United States are able to call on a huge pool of top collegiate rowers to make up their eight and riding on a silver from Athens must mean that their confidence is high.

Men’s Eights (M8+)

It’s a full house in this event with eight entries on the scene. But favourite status must be resting firmly on the shoulders of the Germans. Germany comes to Munich off an unbeaten season with wins from the Essen Regatta, Eton and Versailles. They are on a roll.

However Italy should not be far behind. The Italians finished a close second at Eton and have stacked the boat with their top sweep rowers and the pride of their country.

France could push into the picture as well but will have Poland to contend with if they want to make a medal impact.