From Tokyo 2020, looking forward: The lightweight double sculls

The lightweight double sculls has an added element of complexity – before any race the crew has to get themselves weighed and must weigh in under a specified amount. For women the crew average must be 57kg or less and for the men 70kg or less. With all crews being so similar in weight, the competition is heightened, and leads to very tight race finishes.

The 2022 World Rowing season is coming closer and we highlight the men’s and women’s lightweight double sculls with all that went on and all that might happen.

What went on in 2021?

European Rowing Championships

Valentina Rodini and Federica Cesarini teamed up together as Italy’s lightweight women’s double in 2018, and by 2020 they had earned the European Championships silver medal. The duo took this one step further becoming European Champions in 2021 by using a superior sprint over Great Britain who took silver.

For the men, Ireland’s Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy showed why they are the reigning World Champions, by coming through in a devastating sprint. Germany’s Jason Osborne and Jonathan Rommelmann gave it their all to keep up, but it was Ireland that took the gold with O’Donovan also claiming the final word after the race; “We need bigger biceps. We’re going to work on some curls which will see us through to the end of the summer.”

World Rowing Cup Series

World Rowing Cup I in Zagreb saw Osborne and Rommelmann come out on top to take the first World Cup points of the season. The German duo led for the entire race leaving Switzerland and Austria in their wake. World Cup II didn’t play out so well for Osborne and Rommelmann. They were pushed into the bronze spot with the return to racing by Ireland’s O’Donovan and McCarthy who won and Norway’s Brun and Strandli who were the silver medallists. Brun and Strandli then went on to World Cup III, this time taking on the Italians. In a rather smaller field the Norwegians had a huge battle with Pietro Ruta and Stefano Oppo of Italy which saw Brun and Strandli win in a photo finish.

The pairing of Claire Bove and Laura Tarantola of France looked promising as they took out the gold in World Rowing Cup I for the lightweight women. By the finish of the race their lead was large over Belarus in second. France then slipped back into third at World Cup II with Great Britain instead taking line honours and Romania snatching silver. Then for World Cup III the Netherlands came through with flying colours. Not only did Ilse Paulis and Marieke Keijser win, but they also set a new World Best Time in the process. Their time was a whopping four seconds faster than the previous World Best Time. Italy (with an injured Rodini not in the boat) had to settle for second with Switzerland in third.

The Olympic Games

The final for the men was touted as a showdown between Germany and Ireland. Osborne and Rommelmann of Germany had raced with a steadfast determination throughout the Olympic regatta. O’Donovan and McCarthy would have to match it. The Germans went out hard and took the lead with Italy and Ireland in hot pursuit. Coming into the final 500m O’Donovan and McCarthy had got their nose in front. The Germans kept pushing. Ireland, known for their phenomenal sprint, stayed just ahead. Full credit to Osborne and Rommelmann who kept up with the Irish closing pace to take silver. A very happy Ruta and Oppo took bronze.

Results: IRL, GER, ITA, CZE, BEL, URU

The Olympics often throw up unexpected results and this happened for the women when Italy’s Rodini and Cesarini won the gold. It didn’t come easy for the duo. With 500m left to row the field remained incredibly tight. In the flurry to the line the Dutch crew of Paulis and Keijser had a small lead. But with everyone flying for the line, they caught a slight crab. It was a photo finish, and a tense moment as crews waited before Rodini and Cesarini were announced as the winners. Tarantola and Bove of France took silver with the Netherlands taking bronze. Great Britain, in fourth, had missed out on a medal by just 0.01 of a second.

Results: ITA, FRA, NED, GBR, USA, ROU

Now that’s noteworthy

• The Top 10 men for 2021 included Irish rowing heroes Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy in fifth and sixth spot respectively.
• Ireland’s win at the Olympics in the lightweight men’s double was the first gold ever for Ireland in rowing at an Olympic Games.
• After racing in the final at the Tokyo Olympics, Great Britain’s Emily Craig joined her country’s coastal team and competed in the mixed quad sculls as the coxswain.
• The Uruguay double of Bruno Cetraro Berriolo and Felipe Kluver Ferreira was the first time for Uruguay in an Olympic rowing final.
• Belgium’s Tim Brys has made the switch. He’s now rowing as a heavyweight, and has just become the Belgian National Champion.
• Jerzy Kowalski of Poland has kept busy. Following the Tokyo Olympics, Kowalski became a father.
• Jennifer Casson of Canada holds the World Record on the indoor rower for lightweight women 2000m with a time of 6:53. She set it three years ago as a 22-year-old. Casson raced at the Tokyo Olympics and since then has undergone two hip surgeries.
• Bove and Tarantola recently finished 1st and 2nd, respectively, at the French Small Boat Championships in Cazaubon
• Imogen Grant competed in the 2022 Boat Race, stroking the Cambridge Women’s Boat to a victory.
• Igor Khmara and Stanislav Kovalov, the Ukrainian lightweight men duo, were on a training camp when the war in their home country broke out. They are now being hosted in Bulgaria, and able to continue their training.
• The Olympic Gold and Silver medallists in the Lightweight women’s double sculls teamed up later in the season for the European Coastal Challenge in Donoratico, Italy.

We say good bye to…

• Jason Osborne. He’s already proved himself as a cyclist and will now pursue it as his main sport with Deceuninck-QuickStep.
• Olympic medallist Marieke Keijser (NED) is retiring.

Crystal ball gazing

Looking at the women in the Olympic finals this year could well be a battle between Italy and France. Both crews must be looking towards Paris in just two years time and definitely for Bove and Tarantola, they will be wanting to make their mark in the lead up to a French Olympics. The Netherlands will be boating a new crew and the same is very likely for Great Britain and the United States. But what about New Zealand? They were the reigning World Champions heading into the Tokyo Olympics. A retirement meant they didn’t race in Tokyo. Will they be back with a new line-up?

For the men the Germans will have to reconfigure their boat as Osborne has decided to race facing forwards and has gone to cycling. It’s always exciting to see who’s coming out of the small Irish town of Skibbereen. The town’s strength in lightweight rowing is unprecedented and they are bound to be boating a fabulous crew. The Italians are always strong in the lightweight double and if it’s not Oppo and Ruta, it will be another combination that is bound to do well.

This crystal ball gazing can be a bit of a tease and definitely in the lightweight men’s double there is bound to be some crew arriving virtually unannounced to shake things up.

On the 2022 Calendar:

2022 World Rowing Cup I – Belgrade, Serbia, 27-29 May
2022 World Rowing Cup II – Poznan, Poland, 17-19 June
2022 World Rowing Cup III – Lucerne, Switzerland, 8-10 July
2022 European Rowing Championships – Munich, Germany, 11-14 August
2022 World Rowing Championships – Racice, Czech Republic, 18-25 September