World and Olympic Champions in action in Milan

Three of Italy’s Olympic champion men’s quadruple sculls will be back in the same boat again at the Italian National Championships in Milan this weekend.

Agostino Abbagnale, Simone Raineri and Alessio Sartori took gold in Sydney last year but only Raineri remained in this year’s World Championships bronze medal Italian quad. They will be joined in Milan by up and coming sculler Nicolo Bo.

Italy finished second in the team cup at the World Championships in Lucerne last month, netting two gold, three silver and three bronze medals in its second best World Champs performance ever.

The Sydney quadruple scullers join several of the rowers who medalled in Lucerne to showcase their talents in front of their home crowd.

The fourth member of the Sydney quad, Rossano Galtorossa has opted to row in the single in Milan to defend his national title.

He took bronze in the double in Lucerne and is likely to find his biggest challenge in the single from this year’s world quad sculls bronze medallist Mattia Rigetti.

World lightweight double sculls champion Leonardo Pettinari will line up in a star-studded lightweight men’s eight with world lightweight quad champion Filippo Mannucci, lightweight single silver medallist Stefano Basalini and Paolo Pittono.

Coxed pair silver medallist Lorenzo Carboncini will be back in the coxless four again with Marco Penna, Salvatore Messina and Salvatore Amitrano.

Racing begins on Saturday and concludes Sunday. Worldrowing.com will feature news from the regatta on Monday.

More information is available in Italian on www.canottaggio.org .