Who to Watch in Munich ? BearingPoint Rowing World Cup

Munich’s Olympia Regattaverein
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The pre-Olympic crew shuffle must be the dance of the season as crews get ready to race in Munich, Germany starting 27 May. Many of the crews that raced earlier this month at the first 2004 BearingPoint Rowing World Cup in Poznan have been reorganised. Then the domination of Canada at last week’s Wedau Regatta in Duisburg sent Germany’s head men’s sweep coach Dieter Grahn scuttling back to the drawing board to reassess his squad.

There is no doubt about it, this season will be one surprise after another as uncertainty and risk play a greater role as coaches continue to determine the best way to win Olympic medals. Munich becomes another testing ground on the path to the Olympics.

Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus
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Women’s Single Sculls

It’s slim pickings for stars this time around as both World Champion Rumyana Neykova of Bulgaria and first World Cup winner Germany’s Kathrin Rutschow-Stomporowski will not be racing as their coaches have both chosen the less-racing-is-better approach.

However, this opens up the game in the battle for podium positions and the heat will still be on as Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic returns to the venue where she won her first ever World Cup gold medal last year. But it definitely won’t be a walk in the park for Knapkova. Two-time Olympic Champion, Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus is back in the single and after showing mixed ? but always medal ? results over the last couple of years she is now focusing on this event in her quest for another Olympic gold.

Men’s Single Scull

There are big guns plus a plethora of new blood and recent Olympic qualifiers from the continental qualification regattas making the men?s single easily the biggest event of the regatta with 31 crews entered. But there’s little doubt who will be at the top of the pile by finals day. World Champion Olaf Tufte of Norway was not happy with his fourth place finish at Poznan and in the absence of Germany’s king of the single, Marcel Hacker (out due to illness), Tufte’s desire will be to dominate.

Rowing stalwart Valclav Chalupa of the Czech Republic is also in the running. Chalupa’s international racing goes back 16 years without a break and this experience will put him in good stead against some of the less seasoned racers.

Building up their experience before the Olympics are recent continental Olympic qualifiers Aly Aly Ibrahim of Egypt and Hui Fung Law of Hong Kong who will face the perennial name of Italian rowing Agostino Abbagnale ? taking a break from team boat rowing for some solo action. Notable for their absence are Slovenia’s Iztok Cop who returns to the double in his Olympic quest and first World Cup winner, Jueri Jaanson of Estonia.   

Women’s Pair

Winners of the first World Cup, Romania, have left the door open with their absence which may leave World Champions Cath Bishop and Katherine Grainger of Great Britain with some room to breathe. But Bishop and Grainger will still be challenged. The British duo felt the strength of Germany’s new combination of Maren Derlien and Sandra Goldbach who led the top contenders at Poznan for over three quarters of the race. Both Derlien and Goldbach are experienced rowers, Derlien a World Champion from 1999 and Goldbach having competed at a number of World Championships.

But look out for the onslaught of the United States. With three entries, made up of the best of their country’s eight, coach Tom Terhaar will be testing the depth of his programme and looking for the fastest crew. Also arriving from North America, head coach Al Morrow has placed Canada’s top two sweep trialists in this event. Buffy Williams and Darcy Marquardt ? both from last year’s bronze medal winning eight ? will be a crew to watch and come into Munich with the confidence of their win at Duisburg.

Men’s Pair

After winning at the first World Cup Niksa and Sinisa Skelin have chosen training over racing and will remain in their hometown of Split, Croatia. This leaves last year’s bronze medallists Ramon Di Clemente and Donovan Cech of South Africa to open their international season as the favourites.

However, Cech and Di Clemente cannot be complacent. Great Britain’s new pair of Toby Garbett and a back to health Rick Dunn are untried and ready to show what the winter of training and trials has produced. Also a new combination, the Canadians shook off winter training and won last weekend at Duisburg and with David Calder in stroke seat this will be another crew to watch. Adding further depth in this event is Nikola Stojic and Mladen Stegic of Serbia & Montenegro who were hot on the Croatian’s heels in Poznan.

Keep an eye out also for Italy’s Giuseppe De Vita and Dario Lari who currently hold fifth spot in the world and Germany’s Jan Herzog and Tobias Kuehne who started off the season with a bang already possessing a bronze medal from Poznan as proof.

Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell of New Zealand are back
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Women’s Double Sculls

The German sculling shuffle and reshuffle continues. Top contender for the double Kathrin Boron is not yet back to full health so coach Jutta Lau will be shuffling her squad once again. After German domination in the double at Poznan, Lau has placed three-time World Champion Kerstin El Qalqili with Poznan winner Christiane Huth. They will face the arrival of two-time World Champions, Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell of New Zealand. The Kiwis leave the southern hemisphere winter behind to launch their Olympic assault at Munich.

Great Britain tested a new double combination at Poznan and with a fifth place finish decided they liked what they saw. Sarah Winkless and Elise Laverick move from last year’s quad and with more time rowing together they must only be improving.

Men’s Double Sculls

Current World Champions, Sebastien Vieilledent and Adrien Hardy of France played around in singles in Poznan but they are back to business in the double in time to meet the Italian force of two-time Olympian Alessio Sartori and three-time Olympian Rossano Galtarossa. Sartori and Galtarossa won silver at last year’s World Championships and this is the first time these two crews will meet each other this season.

But watch out for the very consistent Milan Dolecek and Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic. They have seen a quick rise to the top after coming third last year even though they were still racing as juniors in 2000.

As the build up to the Olympics continues, current World Record holders and Olympic Champions Iztok Cop and Luka Spik have united again. Spik finished fourth last year in the double with partner Matej Prelog while Cop took third in the single. Spik returns from an injury that kept him from racing at Poznan and they will now be able to test their boat speed with the best at Munich.

Keep an eye out also for Poznan’s winners, Rene Bertram and Christian Schreiber of Germany, who will have the confidence and the crowd support to boost them along.

Men’s Four

German men’s four hoping for better results. Mike Finn-Kelcey/Getty Images
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Hold onto your oar handles, this event is turning into a veritable commotion as countries scramble to work out their best Olympic medal chances. Croatia has split up its eight, mixed it around with last year’s four, and entered three boats in this event, in the process leaving coxswain Silvigo Petrisko jobless. Great Britain has added a second four that is still in the mix for their country’s eight. But it is the number one British crew that will be turning heads. A back-to-health James Cracknell, who has recovered from a stress fracture, will add force to the crew that finished first at Poznan. Then there’s the Italians playing two entries off against each other as they look to find their fastest four.

Favourites, however, must be the World Champion Canadian four. Coach Mike Spracklen has kept the 2003 line-up intact and after last weekend’s resounding win over Germany at Duisburg, it looks like their winter training has paid off. This has sent German coach Dieter Grahn scuttling back to the decision-making room. Grahn has added a second four and is looking at mixing his number one four in with the eight.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls

Daniela Reimer and Claudia Blasberg kept Germany in first place at Poznan, but whether this combination remains will depend on a back-to-health Marie-Louise Draeger who is recovering from a shoulder injury. Reimer and Blasberg will face a whole new swag of challengers as Munich sees the arrival of Ireland and New Zealand who are back on the scene and warming up towards the Olympic qualification regatta in June.

Also very much in the mix are the Canadians who have arrived at Munich with a new 2004 combination which includes single sculling World Champion Fiona Milne in stroke seat. Milne, along with partner Mara Jones, finished first in the open double last weekend at Duisburg and will move on to Munich with confidence. Keep an eye out also for Great Britain. Tracy Langlands and Helen Casey will want to reverse their poor opening season performance at Poznan when they found themselves relegated to B-final status.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls

Winter has been good for three-time World Champion Elia Luini of Italy. In February Luini set a new world record on the indoor rowing machine and with partner Leonardo Pettinari early season racing indicates that they are stronger than in 2003.

However the challenges will continue to come thick and fast in an event where attention to weight and diet plays such an important role. This has led last year’s silver and bronze medallists, Poland and Ireland respectively to hedge their bets and enter in the open double as well. Only on the day will the final line up be revealed.

The Italians will also have to keep a careful eye on Denmark, France and Germany. Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist of Denmark won at the first World Cup in an extremely tight race where they were followed closely by France and Germany.

This event is shaping up to be one of the most competitive of the regatta and as there are 21 boats entered; just making the final will be a huge challenge. 

Lightweight Men’s Four

The Netherlands came into this season as world silver medallists but a disappointing seventh at Poznan must have sent warning bells through the boat. They return to Munich looking for better results. Accomplishing these results has the added pressure of the arrival to Europe of Canada and the return of last year’s bronze medallists, Italy. Canada has made one change to its 2003 line-up with Iain Brambell taking over bow seat while the Italians remain in their 2003 formation of Lorenzo Bertini, Catello Amarante, Salvatore Amitrano and Bruno Mascarenhas.

These crews will go up against World Champions Denmark who have more to prove than simply winning. They won in Poznan but as coach Bent Jensen is using this race to finalise the crew line-up for the Olympic Games, each member will feel an added pressure to perform.

Women’s Quadruple Sculls

Mystery abounds in this event as change seems to be the order of the day. Number two in the world Belarus have only retained Volha Berazniova from the 2003 crew and last year’s bronze medallists, Germany are testing a new combination that includes two changes from last year’s bronze medal crew.

The British are fresh from their win at Poznan but Germany is used to owning this race and in front of the home crowd will pull out all the stops. The German line-up will also be proving their boat speed for final Olympic crew selection.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls

There’s no doubt about where Germany plans to be at the end of this regatta. As current World Champions and winners of the first World Cup, Germany will be hoping the battle is all about second place.

But Belarus was hot on Germany’s toes at Poznan with a crew line-up that has only one change to the boat that finished at the back of the B-final at last year’s World Championships. So it looks like the addition of Stanislau Shtcharbachenia in stroke seat has ignited the crew.

The Czech Republic opens its international season at Munich with one change to last year’s silver medal crew. Tomas Karas moves from the 2003 eight into two-seat of the quad.

Italy is boating a new line-up that is likely to change as the season progresses. Although competing in the single at this regatta, it is likely that the experienced Agostino Abbagnale and Simone Raineri will be contenders for the final Olympic roll call in their country’s quad. But for Munich the young talents of Matteo Stefanini and Simone Venier will be given a chance to try their hand at senior level rowing. 

Eights racing at Munich
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Women’s Eight

It’s always a mystery as to what Canada will do when they emerge from the North American winter and Germany got a taste of it last weekend at Duisburg. The Germans stayed firmly in front of the Canadians and now move on to their home country course in Munich with confidence. But Germany still has the United States to contend with. Last year the US struck misfortune in the final at the World Championships and ended in fifth position from being 2002 World Champions. This year they will be leaving nothing to chance as they open their international season in Munich.

With five boats entered in this event crews will race as a straight final which adds to the anticipation as each country’s boat speed will only be recognized during the race. 

Men’s Eight

Two-time World Champions Canada opened their 2004 international season last weekend at Duisburg with boat speed that sent waves of bewilderment through the competitors camps. Beating Germany’s top crew by clear water sent out a signal to the eights of the world that this race is going to be fast.

Following the Duisburg result 2001 ? 03 stroke Michael Ruhe has been brought back into the German boat along with Jan-Martin Broeer and they will face the Canadians again at Munich with the hope of closing the gap. Great Britain continues to hunt for its best line-up with Ed Coode moving from the four to come in at seven-seat.