Who to Watch at the 2009 World Rowing Championships

The best rowers in the world have started to arrive in Poland and the waters of Malta Lake again get to witness the best rowing in the world from 23 to 30 August.

Women’s Pair (W2-)

Emma Feathery and Rebecca Scown of New Zealand are currently at the head of this field after winning both stages of the Rowing World Cups that they entered this season. Will they have improved during their Swiss training camp leading up to Poznan? The New Zealanders will again face Germany (Kerstin Hartmann and Marlene Sinnig) and Great Britain (Olivia Whitlam and Louisa Reeve) who have both medalled during the 2009 Rowing World Cup series.

Australia always loves to give New Zealand a good run for their money so keep an eye out for the continuation of their 2008 Olympic duo of Kim Crow and Sarah Cook. Poznan will be their first international race since Beijing and they will be the unknown variable in this event.

Watch out too for the Americans. 2008 Olympic Champions in the women’s eight Susan Francia and Erin Cafaro are the top pair in the USA and double up in their country’s prestigious eight.

Men’s Pair (M2-)

Eric Murray and Hamish Bond (NZL) scored two resounding Rowing World Cup wins and will be racing as the favourites at Poznan. Great Britain’s flagship boat of Andrew Triggs Hodge and Peter Reed have vowed to come back stronger after being beaten this season by the New Zealanders. David Banks and Charles Cole of the United States have medalled this season and indicated that they can do better. The duo will be targeting the colour gold.

Huge amounts of history surround this event, all the more so due to the participation of Vaclav Chalupa of the Czech Republic. Chalupa, 41, has a career that spans six Olympic Games and, although the majority has been in sculling, he is a regular finalist in this event with partner Jakub Makovicka.

The Gkountoulas twins from Greece are A-final contenders and, on a good day, will be pushing into medal positions. Keep an eye out too for Shaun Keeling and Ramon Di Clemente of South Africa. Although they did not make it to the podium at the final stage of the Rowing World Cup, they have shown their potential over the last two seasons.

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x)

Following post-Olympic retirements, this event appears to have gotten even more competitive. So far the 2009 season has seen the development of a whole new bunch of potential podium finishers with Megan Kalmoe and Ellen Tomek of the United States possibly the front runners. Kalmoe and Tomek raced last year in the Beijing Olympic final and have remained together this season with a World Championship title on their mind.

But watch out for the Poles. Magdalena Fularczyk and Julia Michalska are racing in front of their home crowd and at the final stage of the Rowing World Cup were virtually on top of the Americans at the finish. Bulgaria’s Rumyana Neykova and Miglena Markova are back together after achieving a World Championship title in 2005 – the three-year hiatus has done nothing to slow them down.

Medical reasons kept Annabel Vernon from racing with Anna Bebington in Lucerne, but the British duo who medalled in Banyoles will be back together in Poznan.

The Australians also appear for the first time this season. Phillipa Savage and Sally Kehoe are both proven talents in the single although they remain untried internationally as a double.

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x)

These crews last met at the third stage of the Rowing World Cup six weeks ago and the margins were so tight that a photo finish was needed. On the day it went Eric Knittel and Stephan Krueger’s way (GER). On any other day it could have been Estonia, France or New Zealand.

New Zealand’s Matthew Trott and Nathan Cohen perhaps have the highest expectations. They won the Rowing World Cup in Munich and finishing outside the medals in fourth in Lucerne will no doubt bring them back stronger. Estonia has Allar Raja and Kaspar Taimsoo from their nation’s 2008 Olympic quad who are more than holding their own in the double. Meanwhile France’s Julien Bahain and Cedric Berrest say they are in this boat for the long term and, as their nation’s top two scullers, they continue to prove themselves in this event.

Watch out too for the British 2008 Olympic medallists Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham who had to pull out of the A-final in Lucerne for medical reasons. They will be back in full strength for Poznan.

Men’s Four (M4-)

After Lucerne, Great Britain got a huge confidence boost. Their new 2009 line-up of Alex Partridge, Richard Egington, Alex Gregory and Matthew Langridge dominated the race and they go to Poznan with six weeks of hard training added to their repertoire.

But there is new blood at Poznan. The Australian silver medal Beijing Olympic boat is back. Australia chose to miss this year’s Rowing World Cup season and come to Europe only for the World Rowing Championships. This calculated plan will mean all eyes will be on Australia’s boat speed in the early rounds of the World Rowing Championships.

If the Australian plan does not go quite right, the four will find themselves behind other potential finalists, and the list is hefty. Germany took all season to select their crew with the aim to get it just right. The United States have stuck with their bronze medal crew from the Rowing World Cup in Lucerne. Watch out too for Slovenia who are getting better at stepping up for finals day.

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x)

This is the season of Mirka Knapkova. The Czech single sculler has blossomed and become the domineering leader of the pack. This has, however, been in the absence of reigning World Champion Ekaterina Karsten-Khodotovitch of Belarus. Karsten has not yet raced internationally this season due to injury so a question mark still remains in her ability to front up at Poznan.

The only one to get close to Knapkova has been New Zealander Emma Twigg. Twigg finished second to Knapkova at the third stage of the Rowing World Cup and under her country’s strong coaching regime, Twigg will no doubt improve her race plan.

One of only two Chinese crews at Poznan, Xiuyun Zhang is a steadfast participant in this event. Zhang has been racing internationally since 1993 and is one of the most accomplished Chinese rowers.

Keep an eye out too for Katherine Grainger of Great Britain. This is three-time Olympic medallist Grainger’s first season in a single and she is still on the steep learning curve of this solo event.

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x)

Tufte, Drysdale, Campbell, Synek – these are the names that have been hammering away at the top of this event in recent years. They are strong individuals, relentless fighters on the water, but have forged friendships off the water.

Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand is the punters’ favourite. He goes to Poznan unbeaten this season with two Rowing World Cup wins, a Holland Beker win and a win at the Henley Royal Regatta. Drysdale knows, however, that Norway’s Olympic Champion Olaf Tufte knows how to pull it off when it really matters.

Then there’s Great Britain’s Alan Campbell who is yet to win a World Championship title but has the belief to do it. And, not to mention the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Synek: the 2008 silver medallist has had a sub-par season, so the medals podium will be the only direction to head in.

Also for close watching will be Sweden’s Lassi Karonen who started off the season injured and is rebuilding, as well as Jueri Jaanson of Estonia with his uncountable years of experience.

For a wildcard selection, have a look at Angel Fournier Rodriguez of Cuba. Fournier, 21, has a background in basketball and at 100kg and nearly 2m tall has the reach and potential speed.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x)

Great Britain seems to have found a golden combination. Hester Goodsell and Sophie Hosking are unbeaten this season and with this have forged new ground for British women lightweights. The duo have every intention of finishing off the season in style and will leave it to other crews to do what they can.

The big challenges to the British are likely to be in the form of Canada. Lindsay Jennerich and Sheryl Preston have two bronze medals from this season which puts them in a little ahead of Germany (Marie-Louise Draeger and Anja Noske) on the points table of the 2009 Rowing World Cup series.

In the untried-but-potential-to-do-damage category are the Australians (Alice McNamara and Bronwen Watson) and the United States (Kristin Hedstrom and Michelle Trannel).

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x)

A range of 22 countries are entered in this event with the top contender likely to be Storm Uru and Peter Taylor of New Zealand. Uru and Taylor go to Poznan with two Rowing World Cup medals under their belt. This event, however, is open to surprises especially as these rowers have the added detail of getting their weight and, thus, their eating exactly right. This means that established partnerships sometimes hold the advantage. Uru and Taylor are in their second year together.

Canada’s Douglas Vandor and Cameron Sylvester have also shared two seasons and were right behind the New Zealanders at the final stage of the Rowing World Cup. The Italians, though, take the cake. Elia Luini and Marcello Miani began as a unit in 2006 and although they were out of the medals at the Rowing World Cup in Lucerne, when they come together, they come together well.

Watch out also for France. Jeremie Azou and Frederic Dufour are using a positive blend of experience and freshness to get them to the head of the field.

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-)

Olympic Champion and only remaining member of the 2008 Danish boat, Morten Joergensen believes this year’s crew is faster than last year’s. Joergensen has a considerable amount of evidence to back it up. The four, which also includes Christian Pedersen, Jens Vilhelmsen and Kasper Winther, have three Rowing World Cup golds this year.

Hoping to break into the Danish gold stronghold are the French. France has consistently remained at the medal end of races but look to need just a bit more boat speed for them to take gold. The Germans and the Czech Republic also need to analyse their tactics for taking on the Danes. Look out too for the Italians: when they pace their race well, a medal is theirs.

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x)

Although Germany won at the final Rowing World Cup it was not without a huge fight from the Americans. But the United States have changed their line-up taking out their top double to race solely in the double. This means the new US line-up is untried internationally. Who will be able to catch the Germans now?

The Germans are also boating a new line-up. They have brought their Olympic silver medallists into the boat. Annekatrin Thiele and Christiane Huth now sit in the centre with Stephanie Schiller and Peggy Waleska taking bow and stroke. This strategic decision means a new double for the Germans in Poznan, but it also means the German quad has gotten stronger.

It will take a major increase in speed for bronze medallists at the final Rowing World Cup, New Zealand, to close the gap on the Germans. Keep an eye out also for Belarus. They are hosting the European Rowing Championships later this season and have been building as a nation in rowing in the last couple of years.  

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x)

This is shaping up to be one of the most exciting events of the regatta. The stakes are high, the characters are real and the passion is alive. Olympic Champions Poland, as a crew, came back specifically this year to race in front of their home crowd. They will hope to race the final like a victory lap.

But Croatia have other ideas. The Croatians have an average age of 20, an attitude to win and a long-term outlook of being at the top not just at the 2012 Olympics, but through to 2016. And Croatia have beaten Poland at the second stage of the Rowing World Cup in Munich.

Neither Croatia nor Poland raced in Lucerne. This gave a chance for Germany to take over. Germany’s quad includes top single sculler Marcel Hacker and the crew seem to get better as they spend more time together. Great Britain is also coming along. This young British crew came into the 2009 season with low expectations, but they have already medalled with silver in Banyoles and in Lucerne.

Keep an eye out also for the United States and Slovenia. Both of these crews finished just a fraction off silver last month.

Women’s Eight (W8+)

The stability of the United States women’s sweep squad is relatively unusual for this country with athletes often doing just short international rowing careers. But these women are different. Under Coach Tom Terhaar they keep coming back and over half the boat are the same as the 2008 Olympic Champion crew. Despite this, America’s perennial rivals Romania managed to beat them at last month’s Rowing World Cup. This will not hinder the Americans. There is every reason to believe that they will come back stronger.

Watch out too for the Dutch. They don’t always have a very good start, but with stroke Femke Dekker, they have worked out how to push through at the end. This is something that Germany will be fully aware of and hoping to counter to get into the medals.

Men’s Eight (M8+)

There is no denying the joy and relief on the face of the Germans when they won this event at the final stage of the 2009 Rowing World Cup series. In second, Canada looked quite pleased as well. The Canadians are the Olympic Champions but have almost an entirely new line-up this year. Only Andrew Byrnes and Malcolm Howard remain from the Beijing eight. Germany is piecing together a plan that is aimed at medalling four years from now at the Olympics. This is stage one of their plan.

Germany and Canada will meet again in Poznan and will be up against the other heavyweights in the men’s eights. The Netherlands will be in the picture, so will Poland with the added bonus of rowing in familiar territory.