Star gazing at the Munich World Rowing Championships

There will be over 1,200 spandex-clad rowers. There will be flags from 68 nations flying. This is the 2007 World Rowing Championships and they start this Sunday in Munich, Germany. Read on to learn about the top medal contenders.

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x)

Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus first, then Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic second. This has remained undisputed for more than two years with no other sculler able to shake it up. Will 2007 be any different? If Xiuyun Zhang of China has it her way, yes. Zhang is riding the wave of a 2007 awakening in Chinese rowing as one of the senior members of the national team. Over a decade ago Zhang was part of the women’s quad that won one of China’s only Olympic medals. Medical problems kept her out of the game in recent years but her comeback this year has so far been successful.

Rumyana Neykova of Bulgaria has also come back and will be aiming to do much better than just qualify for the Beijing Olympics. With World Champion and Olympic medal status behind her, Neykova has the pedigree to break into the top ranks.

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x)

This event is regularly the biggest event on the World Championship schedule and this year is no exception. Amongst those predicted to make the final, all six have the capability for a shot at the top medal – if it’s their day. There’s Olympic Champion Olaf Tufte of Norway who sometimes slips and sometimes surprises. There is Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic coming to the World Rowing Championships on the back of a very successful season which includes two out of three Rowing World Cup gold medals.

Then there’s Germany’s showman himself, Marcel Hacker. Former World Champion, Hacker finished second last year and this year is aiming for the surprise factor. He stayed away from the final Rowing World Cup to concentrate on perfecting his World Championship preparation and will be taking full advantage of his home course in Munich. There is also 2005 and 2006 World Champion Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand. Drysdale’s current record must give him the edge, but even Drysdale admits on any given day his competition has the capability of pulling out the big one. There is also Great Britain’s darling Alan Campbell. Campbell managed to beat Drysdale at the Henley Royal Regatta this year before pulling off a stunning second behind Drysdale at the final Rowing World Cup.

Sitting on the edge of the A Final are Sweden’s Lassi Karonen of Sweden, Belgium’s Tim Maeyens and Sjoerd Hamburger of the Netherlands. All have a chance of breaking into the top ranks, on their day.

Women’s Pair (W2-)

This event could bring about surprises. With a mixture of new-to-the-scene intermingled with some old favourites it will come down to a battle of wits as these crews make their way through to the final. Lining up as relative newcomers will be one piece of the Chinese onslaught in the form of Yage Zhang and Yulan Gao. The duo won at the second Rowing World Cup and look to have the form to repeat that performance. Also showing their new-found talent is Australia. Kim Crow and Sarah Cook came through hefty Australian trials to be named the top two women and they have already shown their boat speed at the first Rowing World Cup.

Back to re-stamp their authority will be Juliette Haigh and Nicky Coles of New Zealand and Darcy Marquardt and Jane Rumball of Canada. Haigh and Coles were the 2005 World Champions while Marquardt and Rumball took the title in 2006. Keep an eye out also for the return from retirement of Olympic Champions Georgeta Damian-Andrunache and Viorica Susanu of Romania. Suddenly this event has stepped up in strength.

Men’s Pair (M2-)

Can anyone topple the style and sophistication of current World Champions and Australia’s flagship crew of Drew Ginn and Duncan Free? To watch them at the final Rowing World Cup in Lucerne where in the close of the race they lengthened their stroke, dropped their rating and moved away from nearest threat Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater of New Zealand, was pure rowing talent.

But Twaddle and Bridgewater have the guts and drive to dethrone their Tasman Sea neighbours. And the threats to Ginn and Free don’t end there. France’s Erwan Peron and Laurent Cadot are playing out raw ambition as they continue to improve together. The Skelin brothers of Croatia are demonstrating seasoned skills. Matthew Langridge and Colin Smith of Great Britain are part of the powerful British men’s sweep stable and already have Rowing World Cup gold in their first season together. Then the longevity of the best from South Africa, Ramon Di Clemente and Donovan Cech, cannot be overlooked.

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x)

A dance of perfect synchronisation was demonstrated by China’s Qin Li and Liang Tian when they won at the second Rowing World Cup this season. This Chinese synchronisation pushed Olympic Champions, Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell of New Zealand into second. At Munich they will face off again after a gap of almost two months in which the Evers-Swindells, along with their coach Dick Tonks, would have been strategising on the best way to stay ahead of Li and Tian.

Despite their youth Jitka Antosova and Gabriela Varekova of the Czech Republic have shown that they can still foot it with their more experienced counterparts. Varekova and Antosova recently took gold at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships and are already known to be able to foot it with their more seasoned competition.

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x)

Can France’s Adrien Hardy and Jean-Baptiste Macquet pull themselves out of their 2007 slump and regain the World Champion title? Estonia’s Tonu Endrekson and Jueri Jaanson will be hoping “no”. Endrekson and Jaanson earned two Rowing World Cup gold titles in their first season together and are making the most of their blend of spirit combined with experience.

Many of these athletes have competed against each other for over a decade. The Czech Vaclav Chalupa was formerly better known as a single sculler but in recent times has dabbled in the quad and now the double. With partner Milan Dolecek they will be aiming for the top. Iztok Cop of Slovenia also knows the top well and with partner of eight years, Luka Spik, all Slovenian expectations will be on this duo to lead the way. Keep an eye out also for Great Britain’s Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham as well as the ever improving new duo of David Crawshay and Scott Brennan of Australia.

Men’s Four (M4-)

The British line-up of Andy Hodge, Alex Partridge, Steve Williams and Peter Reed has not lost a race since they united in 2005. But a hiccup when Partridge was out due to injury showed that the four is not infallible. Coming down from their customary altitude training and back together as a four, Great Britain will face very tough racing in the form of the Netherlands and New Zealand. Both boats have shown the skill to push to the line and both boats have tasted gold already this season.

There’s no doubt that Canada, featuring Olympic medallist Barney Williams in stroke, and Germany, will not just be fighting for a spot in the final, but looking to their medal prospects. Appearing for the first time internationally this season is the United States men’s sweep team. Between their men’s pair, four and eight it will be hard to tell which crew has been chosen as the priority boat by Coach Mike Teti. With names like Olympic gold medallists Beau Hoopman and Bryan Volpenhein in this event it could be that the very tactical Teti has chosen to put the four above the eight.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x)

To have all the ducks lined up and get it perfect in this event means balancing a careful training plan with just the right amount of calorie intake to energy output and ensure the required 57kg average weight is not exceeded. This has led to a mixture of medallists so far this year. Reigning World Champion from China Dongxiang Xu has a new partner, Haixia Chen. Chen and Xu raced against each other at two Rowing World Cups with Chen being the more successful boat.

But this could be the season of Denmark’s Katrin Olsen and Juliane Rasmussen. The duo raced together at two Rowing World Cups and won gold both times. Rasmussen already has the 2004 Olympics under her belt, while Olsen is aiming for her first.

Also very capable of success are the Canadian duo of Lindsay Jennerich and Tracy Cameron who have the power and the belief to do well. Sanna Sten and Minna Nieminen of Finland and last year’s silver medallists Amber Halliday and Marguerite Houston of Australia are also medal contenders.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x)

Like the men’s single event a spot in the final will be no easy feat to achieve. Unlike the men’s single one crew has been dominating lately. Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist of Denmark have shown they can win from leading as well as come back from behind. They are the only crew this season to break the World Best Time and their confidence continues to grow.

Up-and-comers Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter of Great Britain are keeping tabs on the Danes and arrive in Munich with first-year-together enthusiasm that is hard to squash. Hungary’s Zsolt Hirling and Tamas Varga have been keeping a reasonably low profile ever since becoming World Champions in 2005, but appearing at the third Rowing World Cup this season earned them silver and renewed respect. The Poles never fail to surprise. Tomasz Kucharski and Robert Sycz are the back-to-back Olympic Champions in this event but often struggle at regattas in between the Olympic years. Earlier this season, though, they picked up a Rowing World Cup bronze.

Keep an eye out for Germany. Manuel Brehmer and Joerg Lehnigk used a new strategy this season – only racing heavyweight. At Munich they will come down to weight for the first time to show the home crowd what they have in store. Watch out also for France, Italy and Greece who always challenge strongly.

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-)

World Champions China took an international break and didn’t race at the final Rowing World Cup. This opened the door up to Great Britain who have been improving at every race they enter this season. They took gold. It also reopened the door to 2005 World Champions France, who have been stumbling a little recently, to earn a medal.

The Dutch spent the season tweaking their line-up and if they have it right they will be a definite force in Munich along with the very solid Canadian crew. The two-year medal winning run by Ireland came to a screeching halt this season and without Gearoid Towey in the boat the crew appear to be struggling. Watch out also for Italy and Germany – both very strong lightweight nations.

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x)

All indicators point to a showdown between China and Great Britain. Great Britain come to Munich as back-to-back World Champions and a winning consistency that has made them the flagship crew for British women’s rowing. But China left Great Britain standing still at the second Rowing World Cup and are back with the same line-up of Bin Tang, Aihua Xi, Ziwei Jin, Guixin Feng.

There will also be challenges coming from Germany and Romania. German coach Jutta Lau has loaded her top scullers into this event including the most medalled woman in rowing history, Kathrin Boron. Romania has picked up a World Cup medal this season and look to be gelling well as a crew.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x)

Russia won at the 2004 Olympics but have barely registered since – that is until they put together the crew of Nikael Bikua-Mfantse, Alexander Kornilov, Nikita Morgachev and the only remaining member from 2004, Alexey Svirin. At the final Rowing World Cup this season Russia won gold. But back-to-back World Champions Poland were absent. Munich will become the showdown between these two crews. Russia will have a tough challenge. Poland have not lost a race since 2005 and have also secured the World Best Time for their own.

Meanwhile Italy have been tweaking their line-up in the hope of reliving their 2000 Olympic glory complete with Rossano Galtarossa and Simone Raineri back in the boat. But watch out also for France and the Czech Republic. Both of these boats medalled at the final Rowing World Cup and with specific knowledge of their rivals they will have been working on strategies in the lead up to Munich. The Germans have mixed young talent with experience to come up with their final four and, if this combination gels, there is every expectation that they will medal in front of the home crowd.

Women’s Eight (W8+)

The most consistent crew this season is Germany and they would like nothing more than to flex their muscle on their own Olympic rowing course. Germany, under the pace of lively stroke Elke Hipler, has picked up two silvers and a gold this season. One of this season’s golds went to the reigning World Champions the United States. The US are bound to be at the top of their game coming into this competition, lining up with eight of the nine 2006 World Champions making them the most stable and consistent crew to come out of the US squad.

But watch out for Romania. They have performed averagely since their 2004 Olympic win partly due to a number of post-Olympic retirements. But coming back into the fold to help the young crew are Romania’s formidable stroke, 38-year-old Doina Ignat plus multiple Olympic gold medallists Georgeta Damian-Andrunache and Viorica Susanu.

The challenge for the top spot goes deeper. The Netherlands have held their own against the competition all season with two bronze and a gold while China, Great Britain and Australia are regular finalists.

Men’s Eight (M8+)

The United States men’s sweep squad like to limit their trips to international regattas so it is always a surprise when they show up at the World Rowing Championships to show what coach Mike Teti has created. This year Teti has a mixture of mainly young players, but with a couple of experienced names like Olympic Champion Wyatt Allen and 2005 World Champions Steve Coppola and Josh Inman. But Canada’s coach Mike Spracklen has been doing his homework and already has two Rowing World Cup golds out of two appearances. China is also coming up through the ranks with two medals this season.

This means that World Champions Germany will have a fight on their hands to retain the title. They have made only one change from their World Champion crew. Keep an eye out also for Australia. Their season has not been on fire, but perhaps the tactical move of bringing rowing legend James Tomkins into stroke seat will give them the necessary edge.

INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

The lightweight men’s single sculls see a plethora of developing nations including Iran and Iraq. There is no doubt that New Zealand’s Duncan Grant will be leading the way. He’s gone unbeaten so far this season. The hot under 23 duo of Andrea Caianiello and Armando Dell’Aquila from Italy will be hard to beat in the lightweight men’s pair. With the under 23 title as well as two Rowing World Cup golds already in their hands from this season, they will be the crew to watch at Munich.

The Italians have claimed practical full ownership of the lightweight men’s quadruple sculls in recent years and with Olympic medallist and World Champion Leonardo Pettinari in the boat they are bound to be putting fire into the event. Italy is likely to shine again in the lightweight men’s eight. They are the defending champions after beating Germany last year. But the Germans will be on their home turf and are likely to put up a strong battle to be at the top.

It will be a big surprise if anyone can beat Marit van Eupen of the Netherlands. She has dominated the lightweight women’s single sculls in the same manner that Ekaterina Karsten has the women’s single. Van Eupen goes to Munich as two-time defending World Champion. Austria’s Michaela Taupe has been having a great 2007 season and is likely to be the one to push van Eupen.

China are defending champions in the lightweight women’s quadruple sculls and their recent success in lightweight events indicate they have the depth to do it again. They are up against a bunch of new quad line ups. It will be hard to beat Australia in the women’s four. Like the Chinese, Australia has the depth to put their best sweep rowers into the women’s eight and still have the strength to field a quality four.

The men’s coxed four could go Germany’s way as defending champions on their home course, but the experience sitting in the United States entry will not make it easy for them. This race could be a close call. The big men of rowing, the men’s coxed pair sees the return of defending champions Serbia. Goran Jagar and Nikola Stojic have entered both the pair and the coxed pair to perhaps hedge their bets. They will face tough competition from Italy and Canada.

ADAPTIVE EVENTS

Adaptive rowing enters the Paralympic Games for the first time in 2008 making these World Rowing Championships a Paralympic qualification event for the athletes. Numbers have swelled this year to 62 entries – a 50 per cent increase on last year.

It will be hard to beat Australia’s Dominic Monypenny in the arm’s men’s single. Despite being in a large 18 boat field, Monypenny is used to leading the way and will want to defend his title. For the arm’s women’s single Great Britain’s Helene Raynsford will be after a second World Champion title. Her biggest threat may come from Poland’s Martyna Snopek.

Great Britain’s athletes are already full time as they aim for next year’s Paralympic Games and this should give them the edge in the legs, trunk and arms mixed coxed four. They won last year and will be wanting to hold off Canada and the Netherlands to do it again.

Try stopping Angela Madsen and Scott Brown of the United States in the trunk, arms mixed double. This duo practically own the event. But last year Poland’s Piotr Majka and Yolanta Pawlak gave the Americans a real run for their money and the same is bound to happen this year.