Who to watch – 2021 World Rowing Indoor Championships

The World Rowing Indoor Championships is going virtual for the first time and is about to get underway. With an impressive entry of 935 athletes from 63 nations there will certainly be excellent racing to watch.

Starting in December 2020, the continental qualification events qualified the top athletes in the 2000m and 500m distances – and a round of open qualification added more top names to the list.

The men’s and women’s open 2000m events – rowing’s standard Olympic distance – are surely some of the most hotly contested.

In the women’s open 2000m race Dutch national team rower Sophie Souwer looks to have the fastest qualifying time leading into the championships with 6:48.9. But it will be a close race with challenger Kirsten Kline of the United States who entered with a time of 6:51.0. Watch out too for Marilou Duvernay-Tardif from Canada who qualified in 5:53.0. And don’t rule out Namibia’s national team rower, Maike Diekmann who posted a time of 7:04.1 at the African qualification event.

The under-19 women are also looking to set some impressive times. Meg Knight and Alice Baker of Great Britain qualified in 7:04.2 and 7:06.4 respectively, with an open qualification spot going to Frederike Foster for her time of 7:04.6. For junior rowers, these indoor events are an excellent way to compete during the coronavirus pandemic.

In the men’s open 2000m event all eyes will be on Ward Lemmilijn from Belgium. He qualified for the event by winning the European Qualification in a time of 5:47.6. That is the fastest recorded time of all competitors entered. He will have to watch out for Bartosz Zablocki of Poland who came second at the European Qualification in 5:52.4. Behind these two front-runners there is a handful of athletes clocking in between 5:54.0 and 5:56.0. It will make for a very close race.

The under-19 men are similarly pushing up toward the times seen in the open category. Gabriel Obholzer from Great Britain qualified in 5:54.7. His closest competitor will be Isaiah Harrison, 17, from the United States who entered with a time of 5:58.2 through the open qualification round. When Harrison was 14 he made indoor rowing fame by setting every record in his age group.

The racing was tight in the para rowing qualification as well. In the women’s PR1 we will see two of the world’s best athletes racing. Reigning World Champion Birgit Skarstein from Norway entered through the open qualification in a time of 8:29.8 and Israel’s Moran Samuel qualified with 8:31.8. Samuel finished with silver behind Skarstein at the 2019 World Rowing Championships and the two will now take their close racing to the indoor rowing machines. This will be an excellent battle.

The 500m sprint racing will provide fast-paced entertainment. The times entered have been impressive and we might be expecting some world records to fall. On the men’s side Phil Clapp from Great Britain clocked the fastest qualifying time of 1:11. Clapp holds the world record, in a three-way tie, with the time of 1:10.5. The question will be if he manages to break this threshold come race day.

The fastest entry in the women’s open 500m is from Ana do Carmo Caldas of Portugal. She entered through open qualification with 1:26.1. She’ll have to shave off almost two seconds to beat Olena Buryak’s record of 1:24.5 set back in 2018.

The masters categories has many top entries from ages 30-39 all the way up to 90-94. Keep a look out for potential world records from Andrew Benko of the United States (men’s 50-54), Graham Benton of Great Britain (men’s 40-49), Eileen Ryan, United States, (women’s 70-74) and Mies Bernelot Moens, the Netherlands (women’s 75-79).

The full list of entries can be found here: https://worldrowing.entries.regatta-systems.com/wrich/2021

The schedule of events and more information is available here: https://worldrowing.com/event/2021-world-rowing-indoor-championships/

The final races will take place 23, 24 and 27 February between 12.00-15.00 CET. Racing will be live streamed via www.worldrowing.com.