Who to Watch at the Rowing World Cup in Munich

China is back with re-vamped combinations on the back of their results at the first Rowing World Cup in Bled, Slovenia. Germany is there in force including three entries in the men’s four. And a confident Great Britain is hoping to ride on their success last month in Bled.

Racing begins on Friday 18 June at 9:00 (CET) and goes through to semifinals and also A-finals in the three International Events on Saturday, 19 June. World Cup finals will conclude the regatta on Sunday 20 June beginning at 9:48 (CET).

Women’s Pair (W2-)

China may have found the winning formula by pairing up twins. Tong and Meng Li finished second at last month’s Rowing World Cup when they just beat the reigning World Champions, the United States, in a photo finish. At 185cm tall the Li sisters are one of China’s strongest women combinations and without USA and Canada (winners at the first stage of the Rowing World Cup) in Munich, this could be the Lis’ chance for a win.

Australia’s Sarah Tait and Sarah Cook may be a new combination but between them they have a world of experience that can only look favourably upon them. New Zealand also line up with a new grouping. Beijing Olympian Juliette Haigh returns to international competition at Munich, racing with Rebecca Scown.

This leaves home favourites Kerstin Hartmann and Marlene Sinnig of Germany to build on their fourth place in Bled and also the two crews of Romania’s top sweep rowers. Eniko Barabas and Camelia Lupascu are in boat one and Adelina Cojocariu and Nicoleta Albu make up boat two, to round out some anticipated fierce competition. The Romanians will be competing in two events as they also make up the stern four of their country’s eight.

Men’s Pair (M2-)

New Zealand’s Eric Murray and Hamish Bond have not lost a race since they left the four behind and formed a pair last year. This has meant that Great Britain’s two top sweep rowers, Peter Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge now treat themselves as a ‘project’ stating that their day will come. New Zealand and Great Britain will meet for the second time this season in Munich. It will take a huge effort for any other country to catch these two leading boats.

In amongst the entries are some established names like South African regulars Ramon Di Clemente and Shaun Keeling. This duo came together in 2008 competing in the final of the Beijing Olympics. Since then they have had mixed results. Serbia’s rowing stalwart Nikola Stojic is competing with Marko Marjanovic representing a combination of experience and rising talent. Their results have also been mixed but there’s no doubting their potential.

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x)

It is going to be hard to look past Anna Watkins (nee Bebington) and Katherine Grainger of Great Britain. The duo looked awfully comfortable during their race in Bled last month, doing just enough to hold off the second-place getters, Liang Tian and Yangyang Zhang of China. As in Bled, Watkins and Grainger will be aiming for a double-header, racing in the women’s quadruple sculls as well. It brought the British duo double gold. Can they pull off the same feat in Munich where the depth of talent is considerably greater?

Top German sculler Annekatrin Thiele with new crewmate in the double Julia Richter will be after Watkins and Grainger as will the Chinese who will hope to better their Bled placing. Keep an eye out too for Czech sisters, Jitka and Lenka Antosova. Both have been successful in their age groups in 2009, Jitka winning the under-23 single and Lenka second in the junior double.

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x)

Last month at the first stage of the Rowing World Cup, Marcus Bateman and Matthew Wells (GBR) were the winners, but the duo will face much stiffer competition in Munich. France’s top two scullers, Cedric Berrest and Julien Bahain who were last year’s world silver medallists are back together. Bahain is currently World Rowing’s Athlete of the Month and he showed his single sculling prowess in Bled when he finished fourth in the A-final.

An injury for 2009 World Champion Eric Knittel means that the German double will not be competing. Knittel’s partner, Stephan Krueger, will still race but in the men’s quad. Wells and Bateman will still face loads of competition as they will be challenged by Allar Raja and Kaspar Taimsoo of Estonia who finished third at Bled. Then there’s the ever improving Swiss duo of Andre Vonarburg and Florian Stofer to contend with, as well as New Zealand’s new combination which includes Olympian Nathan Cohen, and under-23 world champion, Joseph Sullivan.

There is no doubt that the final of the men’s double on Sunday will be a top race to watch with potential for close finishes.

Men’s Four (M4-)

Current World Champions Great Britain love to leap off the line in first position and in Bled they showed that they had lost no speed over the off-season training period. They will be back to go for a second win for the World Cup season, but this time against a much stronger field.

The Australians have arrived with the same crew that won silver at the Beijing Olympics and world silver last year behind the British. Francis Hegerty, Cameron McKenzie McHarg, James Marburg and Matthew Ryan are an ever-growing force for the British to contend with.

After the final in Bled, there is no doubt that a new bunch of challengers are coming up through the ranks. Serbia finished second last month giving them a huge confidence boost and the Czech Republic was not far behind. One has to also keep an eye out for the United States. Josh Inman has returned to international competition after winning Olympic bronze in the eight in Beijing, and he will lead the crew from stroke seat.

The Germans will also be looking to get into the lead. They have three entries and have been known to get all three boats into the final at their home course venue. The three-boat entries indicate an element of seat racing by coach Hartmut Buschbacher and there is little doubt that the number one boat (Urs Kaeufer, Rene Bertram, Florian Eichner and Jochen Urban) will be out to prove their top boat status.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x)

A small but powerful field is lining up in this event and in the absence of winners from Bled, Ursula Grobler and Abelyn Broughton of the USA, it is likely that Hester Goodsell and Sophie Hosking of Great Britain will be the frontrunners. Goodsell and Hosking came together in 2009 to set a new standard for women’s lightweight rowing in Great Britain. They finished second in Bled and they will be hoping to go one better in Munich to claim the leaders’ yellow bib.

Since Rowing World Cup I, China has done some fine-tuning and paired up Jing Liu, 22, and 19 year old Wenyi Huang. If the coaches have got it right this combination will be a definite A-final contender. Watch out too for Switzerland and Austria. Both countries have pulled their top, and very experienced, single scullers into the boat – Pamela Weisshaupt, 31, for Switzerland and Michaela Taupe-Traer, 35, for Austria. Both crews raced at Bled with the Swiss finishing just outside of the medals in fourth.

The Belgian duo of Jo Hammond and Evi Geentjens have not raced internationally since the Rowing World Cup in Lucerne last year, where they reached silver – they may have some surprises in store but at present they are working on making it to the correct lightweight weight, so the Belgians may have to race in the open double.

Watch out also for Daniela Reimer and Anja Noske of Germany. They are part of a strong group of lightweight women scullers in their home country who all aim to be part of this prestigious event.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x)

There is every indication that this event is likely to come down to a very close battle between New Zealand and Great Britain. New Zealand’s Storm Uru and Peter Taylor are the current World Champions but Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter (GBR) are the reigning Olympic Champions back racing together for the first time since their Beijing win. Purchase and Hunter both took time off after the 2008 Olympics and they will be anxious to see how their 2010 boat speed matches up to Uru and Taylor’s. The same thoughts will be in the New Zealander’s heads as well.

Keep an eye out for Germany’s new combination. Lars Hartig and Linus Lichtschlag are both accomplished at the under-23 level and they will be looking to make it to the senior team. The door is wide open for challengers.

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-)

There was visible disappointment by Great Britain when they came second to Denmark at the first Rowing World Cup. The two teams will front up again in Munich with only first place being the satisfactory outcome for either team.

But Denmark and Great Britain should make sure that they are looking beyond each other to the rest of the field. The 2009 World Champions, Germany, did not perform up to expectations in Bled and they will be looking to improve their standings. Poland is also back on the scene with only one change from their 2009 World Championship bronze medal crew.

Then there’s the new Australian line-up to add to the mix with two members of the 2008 Olympic crew returning to the international scene. Keep an eye out also for the Czech Republic and Serbia who are known for their boat speed when everything goes right.

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x)

As at the first Rowing World Cup, Great Britain’s Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins are doubling up in the quad and double. After earning two golds last month Grainger and Watkins will be hoping to pull off the same feat in Munich. Can current World Champions Ukraine close in on the British crew?

Ukraine finished second in Bled with Switzerland being the surprise bronze medallists. Both of these crews are fronting up again in Munich. They will also have to face the Germans. Germany has dominated this event until very recently and since coming third at the Beijing Olympics they have been looking for the magic line-up that will put them back on top. The Germans have entered two boats with their number one crew of Tina Manker, Britta Oppelt, Carina Baer and Stephanie Schiller looking to be made up of a good blend of youth and experience.

Keep an eye out too for China. They won their first ever Olympic gold medal in rowing in this event and they have two boats racing at Munich as they head towards choosing their boat for the 2010 World Rowing Championships.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x)

This event has seen a blossoming of crews since the first Rowing World Cup last month and a number of new line-ups with well-known names included in the crews could cause some surprises.

The 2008 Olympic Champion of the men’s double sculls, David Crawshay, is now in the Australian boat. New Zealand’s entry includes the return of 2008 Olympic medallist from the pair, Nathan Twaddle. Russia’s entry is stroked by 2004 Olympic Champion, Sergey Fedorovtsev and this crew has already made headway this year when they finished fourth at Bled.

Then the Belgian entry includes top single sculler Tim Maeyens while Germany fronts up with a new line up. Olympian Hans Gruhne is injured so 2009 World Champion (men’s double), Stephan Krueger will join the German boat. Great Britain has Olympic bronze medallist (men’s double) Stephen Rowbotham back from injury and in the bow of their boat.

But the talent does not end there. Moving on to the rest of the field, Croatia and Poland will be the crews to watch. Olympic and World Champions Poland were beaten into third at Bled with Under-23 Champions Croatia finishing first. Depending on where they are in their training cycle, Poland could come back into the leading position with Croatia always ready to put up a good fight.

Women’s Eight (W8+)

Can Great Britain keep the momentum going following their win at Rowing World Cup I? The British eight has been building up in recent years and the team appears to be working nicely together. But in Munich, Great Britain will have to face the Romanians.

Romania has held the women’s eight as their flagship boat for a number of years and this crew is identical to the one that raced to a silver at last year’s World Rowing Championships.
Germany and China (who finished with bronze in Bled with a slightly different line-up) also place great importance on their women’s eight. Great Britain will have their work cut out for themselves with these powerful crews competing.

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x)

Who can beat Karsten? Ekaterina Karsten-Khodotovitch of Belarus has been racing almost exclusively in her single for the last 20 years. She is a career rower and a national icon in her home country. Karsten alone has been a big part of the Belarus government’s recent support for rowing. Karsten is known for her incredibly controlled racing strategy. She doesn’t always lead at the start but there are very few that have ever beaten her through the third quarter of the race.

Mirka Knapkova (CZE) and Emma Twigg (NZL) have led Karsten for parts of races but never beaten the Belarusian at the finish. Knapkova missed the first stage of the Rowing World Cup due to illness and this regatta will be her 2010 international debut. Twigg finished second in Bled and will be a favourite to medal at Munich.

Keep an eye out for Russia’s rowing stalwart Julia Levina and China’s Bin Tang. Both showed in Bled that they have medal potential with Tang (2008 Olympic Champion in the quadruple sculls) picking up bronze.

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x)

Olympic silver medallist Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic rowed a very controlled and confident race at the first Rowing World Cup last month and won. Synek’s racing maturity looks to have really come to the fore this year and his competitors know that when Synek’s on top of his game he is very, very good.

This means that Great Britain’s Alan Campbell will have to dig deep in the middle section of the race if he wants to be in the lead at the finish. It also means that Marcel Hacker of Germany will have to lift up his game in the first 500m of the race. It means too that Olympic Champion Olaf Tufte of Norway, who raced in the double at Bled, will have to display his off-season training improvements. There is no doubt the race for the medals will be brutal.

Current World Champion, Mahe Drysdale (NZL), who missed racing in Bled due to an ongoing injury, is still to decide if he will compete in Munich.

Men’s Eight (M8+)

Great Britain pulled off a season opening win at the first Rowing World Cup and they will be looking to keep up the pace at Munich. But the field has swelled for the second stage of the 2010 Rowing World Cup with a total of 10 nations competing. Germany is lining up with nearly an identical crew to the one that won gold at last year’s World Rowing Championships. The only change is the swapping in of Maximilian Reinelt and Lukas Mueller.

Poland, who were not happy with their third place finish in Bled, are back to put things right in Munich, and China will be aiming to lift their game into a medal spot. Have a look out too for the Americans. Their crew is made up of the quad and four that are racing at this regatta. If all goes to plan, these rowers will have a busy time on Sunday finals day.