Entries announced for 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup III

Nearly 650 athletes from 43 countries will compete on Lucerne's Rotsee ("Red Lake"), a beautiful, natural lake renowned amongst elite rowers worldwide.

Germany will come with the largest team, a total of 24 crews, followed by Great Britain with 18 crews. New Zealand and Italy have both entered 17 boats. The two boat classes attracting the most entries are the men's single sculls (24 boats) and the men's pair (21). In the women's events, the largest entries are in the single sculls with 19 boats lining up and the lightweight women's double sculls with 15.

In the men's single sculls, the top four competitors from Eton Dorney will be racing each other again in Lucerne. Ondrej Synek, the 2012 Olympic silver medallist from the Czech Republic and Alan Campbell, the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist from Great Britain, finished first and second respectively at Eton Dorney and are expected to put on another thrilling final in Lucerne. Close challengers will likely be, once again, Marcel Hacker of Germany and Georgi Bozhilov of Bulgaria.

New Zealand wonder crew Hamish Bond and Eric Murray have been unbeaten in the men's pair since 2009 and set a new World Cup Best Time at Eton Dorney last month. Rivals from France, Germain Chardin and Dorian Mortelette, the London Olympic silver medallists, will fight for a spot on the podium. But Germany, Italy and Poland have medal prospects as well.

The London 2012 Olympic Champion in the women's single sculls, Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic, made her debut this season at the European Rowing Championships where she took gold. Knapkova will be facing for the first time this season Kim Crow of Australia who won bronze in this event at the 2012 Olympics, and Emma Twigg of New Zealand who finished fourth in London last year and won gold at Eton Dorney a few weeks ago.

In the lightweight women's double sculls, it has been Germany's Lena Mueller and Anja Noske who have been at the forefront of the field so far this year, with a silver from the Europeans in Seville and a gold from the Eton Dorney World Cup. For the first time this season they will be facing New Zealand's Julia Edward and Lucy Strack – Edward was part of the crew that set a World Best Time last year in this event in Lucerne. Great Britain's Kathryn Twyman and Imogen Walsh will also present serious competition, having won bronze in Sydney and silver at Eton Dorney.

The World Rowing Cup series was launched in 1997 and includes all 14 Olympic boat classes. The overall World Rowing Cup winners are determined after a series of three regattas. Following the two initial stages of the 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup held in Sydney (AUS) and at Eton Dorney (GBR), it is Great Britain leading the overall World Cup standings with 140 points. Australia currently ranks second with 99 points and New Zealand has 97 points.

A full Samsung World Rowing Cup event by event preview will be available on www.worldrowing.com on Wednesday 10 July.

Entries and the provisional timetable are available on the homepage of www.worldrowing.com.

The World Cup finals will be video-streamed live on Sunday 14 July. You will find direct links to the video streaming platform at www.worldrowing.com/video.

During the regatta, race reports, live results and a dedicated photo gallery will be provided on www.worldrowing.com. Stay tuned!