Who to Watch: 2014 World Rowing Cup I

The regatta begins on Friday 28 March at the Sydney International Regatta course in Penrith with the first round of racing taking place in 16 boat classes. Racing continues on 29 March with repechages and B-finals followed by finals on Sunday 30 March.

Women’s Pair (W2-)

Australia has packed this field with talent and chosen Charlotte Sutherland and Lucy Stephan as their number one crew. Sutherland and Stephan come from the under-23 World Champion women's four. The United States has entered two new combinations with Agatha Nowinski and Kara Kohler the crew to watch. Nowinski has moved up from the under-23 team while Olympic medallist Kohler has been a regular on the US national team since 2010.

Canada's Christine Roper and Ashley Brzozowicz have both had success in their country's eight so the pair will be a smooth transition for them. The main contender for the gold medal, however, is likely to be the New Zealand boat of Rebecca Scown and Louise Trappitt. Scown won bronze in this event at the London 2012 Olympics and bronze again at last year's World Rowing Championships. Olympian from the quad, Trappitt earned her seat in the pair with Scown after having a notable team trial earlier this month.

Men’s Pair (M2-)

It will be hard to look past Rogier Blink and Mitchel Steenman of the Netherlands in the pair. Blink and Steenman took the bronze at last year's World Rowing Championships and their smooth, relaxed rowing style is likely to set them in good stead when they compete in Sydney.

In the absence of World and Olympic Champions, Hamish Bond and Eric Murray of New Zealand, the New Zealand crew has been made up of Thomas Murray and Alex Kennedy. The pair raced to gold in the men's eight at last year's World Rowing Under 23 Championships. The duo will also be racing in the eight at this regatta.

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x)

The Maria Sharapova and Anna Kournikova of the rowing world, Lithuania's Donata Vistartaite and Milda Valciukaite spent the 2013 season winning gold and charming their followers. They became World Champions at Chungju and also picked up gold at the European Rowing Championships. In Sydney the duo will come in as hot favourites.

Vistartaite and Valciukaite, however, will not have an easy ride as they face a pool of talent. Poland is sending Magdalena Fularczyk and Natalia Madaj. Fularczyk picked up bronze in the double at the London 2012 Olympics and is now partnered with Madaj, a former junior champion in the women's single. The duo started last season by finishing second at the European Rowing Championships. They then joined their country's quadruple sculls to win bronze at the World Rowing Championships in Chungju.

World Champions from the quad, Julia Richter and Annekatrin Thiele, are racing for Germany and there is no denying Thiele's sculling talent. Keep an eye out too for Canada. Carling Zeeman and Antje Von Seydlitz-Kurzbach won silver last year in the quad. Then there is the Australian double of Sally Kehoe and Olympia Aldersey. Also up there is two-time Olympian Kehoe has teamed up with 2012 under-23 champion Aldersey.

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x)

Rolandas Mascinskas and Saulius Ritter of Lithuania have been together since under-23 days and right from the beginning of their partnership they have struck success. Mascinskas and Ritter made it into the final at the London 2012 Olympics and then last year secured a well-deserved silver medal at the World Rowing Championships. This is Mascinskas and Ritter's first trip to Sydney and they will sit in the starting blocks as the favourites.

The Lithuanian's, however, had better watch out for Italy. Francseco Fossi and Romano Battisti took bronze last year finishing just over a second behind Mascinskas and Ritter at the World Rowing Championships. Both boats will be ready to test their winter training improvements.

Men’s Four (M4-)

A steady progression by the Netherlands in 2013 saw them strike gold at the World Rowing Championships in Chungju. In Chungju in a race that came down to a fiercely fought battle with the Australians. For Sydney, the Dutch have arrived with their same World Champion line up of Meylink, Hendriks, Versluis and Luecken to again go up against Australia, but this time on Australia's home water.

Since last season Australia has been doing some mixing and matching with their four. For Sydney they have spread their 2013 silver medal crew over two boats. These two boats will not only be there to challenge the Dutch but also to prove their worth in making the 2014 Australian national team. Also tucked into the Australian contingent is 2008 Olympic Champion from the men's double sculls David Crawshay. This race will definitely be a highlight for the local crowds.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x)

Crossing the Tasman Sea to take on the contestants in the lightweight women's double are Julia Edward and Lucy Strack of New Zealand. The duo won this race in Sydney a year ago and then went on to finish fifth at the 2013 World Rowing Championships. Edward is also one half of the crew that currently owns the World Best Time in this boat class.

New Zealand's stiffest competition is likely to come from Australia. The Australians have entered two boats with one including the very accomplished Hannah Every-Hall. The 36-year-old mother last raced internationally in the final of the London Olympic Games. She is back and teamed up with Maia Simmonds who was second in this event at Sydney last year before competing for Australia in the lightweight double at the World Rowing Championships.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x)

The global financial crisis made rowing in Greece challenging but it doesn't seem to have slowed down Spyridon Giannaros and Eleftherios Konsolas. The duo became World Champions in the lightweight men's quadruple sculls at last year's World Rowing Championships in Chungju after a season that had them also performing well in the double. Giannaros and Konsolas will be aiming to hoist the Greek flag in the boat class that saw Greece gain Olympic success for the first time in Athens. Their main competition is likely to come from Australia and China.

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x)

Germany has retained a strong position in the women's quadruple sculls for a number of years and they keep it as their priority women's sculling boat. At the London 2012 Olympics they finished second and at the World Rowing Championships in Chungju they took gold. This puts the crew easily in the spot of the favourites at this regatta. The crew has just one change from the 2013 boat with Lisa Schmidla joining Julia Richter, Annekatrin Thiele and Britta Oppelt.

The main competition for Germany is likely to come from Poland. The Poles finished third at last year's World Rowing Championships and it looks like the quad has become one of Poland's priority boats.  

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x)

A real mixture of youth and talent make up the crews in this boat class. All are new line ups and the feel is one of team testing with coaches working out their best combinations. Australia has entered two crews who will no doubt take advantage of their local knowledge. Alexander Belonogoff is stroking the boat and comes from racing the double in 2013.

Russia and China will be aiming to challenge the Australians and make the most of this early season international race environment.

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x)

Perhaps the most anticipated boat class of the regatta, the women's single sculls features all three medallists from the 2013 World Rowing Championships. World Champion Kim Crow will have the upper edge as she comes into the 2014 season unbeaten from 2013 and, on top of that, Crow has the home advantage. Emma Twigg of New Zealand took silver last year after finishing fourth at the London Olympics. Twigg is aiming to continue this upward advance.  

Then there is Olympic Champion and 2013 bronze medallist Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic. Knapkova is known for changing her game plan and surprising her competition and this will play well for her in Sydney. The race will act as a sneak preview to the 2014 season.

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x)

Among Lithuania's small but exceedingly successful group of elite rowers is Mindaugas Griskonis. Griskonis has been his nation's main single sculler ever since his junior days a decade ago. At the London Olympics, he finished eighth and last year at the World Rowing Championships Griskonis was in the A-final. The main competition for Griskonis may come from China's Liang Zhang. Two-time Olympian Zhang last raced internationally at the London Olympics and all eyes will be on his progress over this past year.

Keep an eye out too for Australia's Nicholas Purnell. Purnell has been a regular on the Australian national team since 2009 and last year he moved to the single to race at the World Rowing Championships.

Men’s Eight (M8+)

Australia is boating an eight chock-full of talent including members of last year's silver medal men's four. It is a very different crew to the one that finished seventh at last year's World Rowing Championships and in front of a home crowd, against another Australian eight, this crew will want to have a strong showing. But New Zealand and the Netherlands will not make it easy for Australia. The Netherlands were fifth last year while New Zealand is lining up their under-23 World Champion boat. There is no doubt the outcome of this race will be debated.