Who to watch at the 2017 World Rowing Junior Championships

In 2016, Italy dominated the World Rowing Junior Championships with three gold medals out of a total of seven medals won. Germany also had a strong performance with an overall of ten medals, including two golds. The Czech Republic finished in third position with two gold medals and one bronze medal won.

This year, a number of young athletes will be competing at their second or even third World Rowing Junior Championships. Among those are former medallists who will aim to equal last year’s performance or better it.

The junior men’s single sculls has attracted the largest number of entries, with 39 boats lining up. Jan Schaeuble from Switzerland is the only athlete in this boat class who also competed in the single at last year’s World Rowing Junior Championships, where he finished fifth. Dean Clark from the United States was a bronze medallist in the men’s quadruple sculls at last year’s junior World Championships and is likely to put on a strong performance. Look out too for Kiryl Tsikhanovich from Belarus who was a finalist at last year’s World Rowing Junior Championships and European Rowing Junior Championships, both times in the men’s double sculls. In the junior women’s single sculls, look out especially for French sculler Margaux Bailleul who won bronze in the single at the 2016 European Rowing Junior Championships and then finished fourth at the World Rowing Junior Championships a few weeks later.

In the junior women’s pair keep an eye out for Germany. Stroke seat Marie-Sophie Zeidler was a silver medallist in the women’s eight at last year’s World Rowing Junior Championships and a gold medallist at the 2016 European Rowing Junior Championships. Her partner in the bow seat, Katja Fuhrmann, won bronze at last year’s European junior champs in the pair. Their racing and medalling experience will serve them well. Do not discount the Romanians who both medalled at last year’s European Rowing Junior Championships, Adriana Ailincai in the women’s quad and Maria Tivodariu in the women’s eight. Also in contention will be the Italians with Laura Meriano who took silver in the junior women’s four at the 2016 World Rowing Junior Championships.

The Romanian entry in the junior men’s pair has medal-winning experience with Stefan-Constantin Berariu and Florin-Sorin Lehaci having won silver as part of the junior men’s four at the European Rowing Junior Championships last year. Berariu went on to win gold in the four at the 2016 World Rowing Junior Championships.

 In the junior women’s four, China’s boat will include Lu Shiyu who is a junior World Champion in the women’s quadruple sculls. Poland and the United States are also expected to do well. In the Polish line-up, Sara Bugajska, Barbara Wojtarowicz and Paulina Grzella were all part of the four that took silver at last year’s European Rowing Junior Championships. In the United States crew, Kelsey McGinley won bronze at the junior world champs last year while her teammate Kaitlyn Kynast will be racing at her third World Rowing Junior Championships. Kynast won gold in the four in 2015 and bronze in the pair in 2016.

Watch out for Germany in the junior women’s double sculls. Their bow seat Maren Voelz became a junior European Champion in the quad last year. In the junior men’s double sculls Germany will also be one of the top boats lining up. Jan Berend and Simon Schlott both won silver at last year’s World Rowing Junior Championships and also at the European Rowing Junior Championships as part of the men’s quad.

The Czech line-up in the junior women’s quadruple sculls will include three athletes who claimed gold at last year’s World Rowing Junior Championships in the women’s eight. The United States boat will include Caroline Sharis, who became a junior World Champion in the women’s double sculls last year. Look out too for the Italians: Greta Martinelli in three-seat rowed to bronze at the 2016 World Rowing Junior Championships in the women’s eight. In the junior men’s quadruple sculls, German sculler Malte Engelbracht has known the most success in the field with a silver medal won in the men’s quadruple sculls at the World Rowing Junior Championships and at the European Rowing Junior Championships last year.

In the junior women’s eight, look out for Italy and the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic are the reigning junior World Champions in this event and three of their athletes this year were part of last year’s world champion crew. The Italians won bronze in this event at the junior worlds and half the boat remains from last year. Germany took silver in this event in 2016 and one athlete remains in this year’s line-up – Annabel Oertel.

Germany is the reigning World Champion in the junior men’s eight. Leon Muench, the three-seat, as well as coxswain Max Schwartzkopff will be back this year to defend their title. The silver medallists from last year, the United States, have kept three athletes in the boat for this year’s World Rowing Junior Championships. Great Britain, bronze medallists in the junior men’s eight in 2016, have a new line-up, except for Patrick Adams who was part of last year’s medalling crew.