Rowers to Watch: 2021 World Rowing Final Olympic Qualification Regatta

The excitement is growing and the tension is mounting as teams head to Lucerne, Switzerland for the final opportunity to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games. With just two Olympic spots available in every boat class – except for the lightweight women’s double sculls with three spots – the racing will be fierce as record numbers are registered for this final chance.

Here’s the rowers to watch at the 2021 World Rowing Final Olympic Qualification Regatta.

 Women’s pair (W2-)

There are eight boats entered and just two spots are available for Tokyo. Frontrunners might just be the crew from Chile. The Abraham sisters – Melita and Antonia – have been competing together since 2014 and have accrued a stack of medals. Watch out too for the new combination from Denmark, which includes the Olympic silver medallist in the women’s single sculls, Fie Udby Erichsen and Olympic bronze medallist in the pair, Hedvig Rasmussen. And keep an eye too on the young Jurkovic sisters from Croatia. They have had a promising season so far in 2021.

Men’s pair (M2-)

With 14 crews entered in the men’s pair, it’s going to be an absolute nail-biter of a field. This is intensified by the fact that some of the bigger rowing nations have not yet qualified including Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and the United States. They have all entered new combinations in their last-ditch attempt to grab a qualification spot and there will be no lack of talent in these boats.

Keep an eye on the crew from Denmark. Frederic Vystavel and Joachim Sutton finished sixth at the 2020 European Rowing Championships and raced together again at the 2021 European Champs. Also in the mix are Sensen Chen and Jingbin Zhao from China. This new combination may surprise.

Women’s double sculls (W2x)

Great Britain’s Holly Nixon and Saskia Budgett surprised the world by winning a bronze medal at the 2021 European Rowing Championships in April. This new and young, combination seemed to use the 2020 coronavirus year to their advantage. Nixon and Budgett are looking very good to snag one of the two qualification spots. But, of course, keep an eye on Germany with the experienced Olympic Champion Annekatrin Thiele rowing together with the young Leonie Menzel. And don’t forget about both Belarus and Ukraine. They have put together strong line-ups as well.

Men’s double sculls (M2x)

This field is already tight with talent and one that will be difficult to break into. A huge 18 nations have put together line-ups in search of qualification and there are just two spots available. Most of the combinations are new with a couple of interesting duos. Keep an eye on the new Italian crew of Niels Torre and Luca Chiumento. Torre is the European silver medallist in the lightweight men’s single sculls and Chiumento comes out of the silver-medal winning men’s quad.

Australia has entered David and Campbell Watts out of their men’s quad that finished fourth at the 2019 World Rowing Championships. And watch out too for the Czech Republic who have put together a new line-up of the very experienced Jakub Podrazil rowing with Jan Cincibuch. They finished fifth at the first World Rowing Cup two weeks ago.

Women’s four (W4-)

Ireland comes to Lucerne with their young women’s four line-up. They finished with a silver medal at the 2021 European Rowing Championships and have had even more time to train. With this result they are hot favourites to qualify. But the Irish will have to contend with a fast Italian line-up, as well as top crews from Germany and Ukraine with top indoor rower Olena Buryak sitting in the Ukrainian boat.

Don’t forget about China. The Chinese have been working on developing their programme under the influence of five-time Olympic Champion Steve Redgrave and former top British coach Paul Thompson.

Men’s four (M4-)

The crew to beat is probably France. The French have put together a new-look crew after the 2019 World Rowing Championships and seen early-season success with the very experienced Dorian Mortelette in stroke seat. They finished seventh at the European Rowing Championships, then won gold a few weeks ago at the first World Rowing Cup. Keep an eye too on Canada. They’ve made a new line-up out of their men’s eight and are set on qualifying the boat for Tokyo. And don’t rule out Russia who finished sixth at the 2021 European Rowing Championships.

Women’s single sculls (W1x)

On paper the top women’s single sculler is probably Tatsiana Klimovic of Belarus. Klimovic finished fourth at the 2021 European Rowing Championships a few weeks ago. But the eleven-sculler field is quite young, meaning it is difficult to predict what will happen.

Anneta Kyridou of Greece was having a fantastic series of regattas, until she flipped at the European Qualification Regatta last month and has struggled in the rankings ever since. If she finds her footing, Kyridou is definitely one to watch out for. Keep an eye too on Alexandra Foester of Germany. Foester is stepping up from the junior level and has already shown incredible power on the indoor rowing machine. And don’t forget about Diana Dymchenko of Ukraine. She was in the A-final at the 2021 European Rowing Championships and is one of the most experienced scullers in the field with championship coastal rowing medals also in her possession.

Men’s single sculls (M1x)

There is probably one name that stands out above the rest in the men’s single sculls: Natan Wegrzycki-Szymczyk from Poland. Wegrzycki-Szymczyk competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio where he came 7^th. Since then he has posted mixed results, but in 2020 he finished second at the European Rowing Championships and followed that up with a bronze medal at the 2021 European Champs.

The rest of the field is difficult to predict. Keep an eye on Kristian Vasilev of Bulgaria as well as Pilip Pavukou of Belarus. Both have had good results in recent years. And don’t rule out Robert Ven of Finland or Mihai Chiruta of Romania.

Lightweight women’s double sculls (LW2x)
This is the only event in Lucerne offering three qualification spots to the Tokyo Olympic Games. The extra spot occurred due to the qualification system in place at the Final Americas Qualification Regatta that left one spot unfilled. But with 16 crews competing, it will still be hard to qualify.

All eyes will be on the home favourites from Switzerland, Frederique Rol and Patricia Mertz. Rol and Mertz had a fantastic 2019 season, until the World Rowing Championships which doubled as the Tokyo Olympic qualification regatta. They finished eleventh and outside a qualification spot. But Rol and Mertz will not have it easy.

Watch out for the combination from South Africa – Nicole van Wyk and Kirsten McCann. The duo train together but not always in the same boat.  And don’t count out Ireland. They finished fifth at the European Rowing Championships and are looking very fast in this 2021 season. There’s no doubt about it, the lightweight women’s double sculls is one to watch.

Lightweight men’s double sculls (LM2x)

The Swiss will be hoping to get lucky in both the women’s and the men’s lightweight double sculls. In 2020, they put together a new line-up for the men of Jan Schaeuble and Andri Struzina. Together the duo finished fifth at both the 2020 and 2021 European Rowing Championships, topping it off with a silver medal at the World Rowing Cup I two weeks ago.

But Switzerland will face strong competition from both Austria and the Czech Republic. They are both coming to Lucerne with 2021 success. Austria’s Sieber and Schoeberl were third at World Rowing Cup I and the Czech’s Simanek and Vrastil finished fourth at the European Champs.

Watch out too for the new line-up from Australia of Sean Murphy and Hamish Parry. Murphy has had tremendous success in the lightweight men’s single and the Australians are giving this line-up a shot to qualify for Tokyo.

Women’s quadruple sculls (W4x)

This boat class is difficult to predict due to the coronavirus year and crew changes since rowing’s last major races in 2019. Australia has boated an entirely new line-up and we can only guess their boat speed. One thing is for sure, they would not have come all of this way to Switzerland if they weren’t up to speed. On paper France might have the best shot. They’ve had good performances so far this season and look to have found their fastest combination.

Men’s quadruple sculls (M4x)

It is looking really good for the Estonians coming into this race. They finished third at the European Rowing Championships and won a tough final at the first World Rowing Cup in Zagreb, Croatia. Sitting in three seat is Olympic medallist Tonu Endrekson, 41, who brings loads of experience to the boat.  Keep an eye too on Lithuania and the United States. Lithuania finished third at the 2020 European Rowing Championships, but have not managed to repeat that performance so far in 2021.

The United States came fourth by a fraction of a second at the World Rowing Cup I earlier this month, their first international race. If they have been able to pick up a bit more speed in the last few weeks, they might just snag one of the two qualifying spots. Watch out too for Ukraine and Russia who have both had quad success over the years.

Women’s eight (W8+)

There are five boats entered in the women’s eight and it is going to be an intense final. The Romanians spent the 1990s and early 2000s dominating this boat class and they must be considered as favourites. They won both the 2020 and 2021 European Rowing Championships ahead of a very similar field.

Then it will be tight between the Netherlands and Germany. The Dutch got the better of the Germans at the 2021 European Championships just a few weeks ago, but can they do it again? And both China and Russia are definitely also in contention. It will be a final to watch.

Men’s eight (M8+)

The men’s eight sees just four boats competing – including the only crew from New Zealand. After missing qualification at the 2019 World Rowing Championships, New Zealand went back to work on their men’s eight, including throwing their silver-medal winning men’s pair into the bow and keeping two-time Olympic Champion Hamish Bond in the mix. They might just stand a chance of qualifying.

But New Zealand will have to contend with the very fast crew from Romania, who finished with silver at both the 2020 and 2021 European Rowing Championships. And, of course, don’t forget about the Italian effort. They have put together a new line-up, but there are a few big names in the mix.