15 Jun 2022
Rowers to watch at the 2022 World Rowing Cup II in Poznan
Rowers are certainly coming out of the woodwork for the 2022 World Rowing Cup II in Poznan, Poland. This includes many athletes from Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada, who haven’t raced at a World Cup in these numbers since 2019.
Women’s single sculls (W1x)
Jeanine Gmelin of Switzerland is back on the international circuit after last racing at the Tokyo Olympics. The former World Champion has had an up-and-down career but has always remained near the top of the field. Gmelin will meet winner of World Cup I and newbee to the senior single sculling circuit, Karolien Florijn of the Netherlands.
Keep an eye too on Germany’s Alexandra Foester. She is the reigning under-23 champion in the single and also a former junior champion. Then there’s the very experienced Lenka Antosova of the Czech Republic. The three-time Olympian has spent more time in the double, but also has single sculling skills.
Men’s single sculls (M1x)
With 23 entries, the men’s single sculls is the biggest boat class here. The top scullers of Oliver Zeidler (Germany), Kjetil Borch (Norway) and Stefanos Ntouskos (Greece) will miss this regatta leaving the race open to Melvin Twellaar of the Netherlands. Twellaar finished second at World Cup I and looks to be on the way up in this boat class.
There’s a few athletes that have come into the single out of success in other boats and their experience may play in their favour. Alexander Hill of Australia who has two Olympic medals from the four. Hugo Boucheron and Matthieu Androdias of France, who are normally seen in a double together and are the reigning Olympic Champions of that boat class, will face off in the single. Benjamin Davison of the United States has come out of the eight and Wiktor Chabel of Poland is in his 15th year of international competition, last racing in the Olympic quad.
Trevor Jones from Canada and Emil Neykov of Bulgaria are both U23 Champions in this boat class.
Lightweight men’s single sculls (LM1x)
Ireland’s Fintan McCarthy and Gary O’Donovan have to be two of the favourites here, but surely with tough competition coming from Poland’s Jerzy Kowalski and New Zealand’s Matt Dunham.
Lightweight women’s single sculls (LW1x)
The gold and silver medallists from the 2022 World Rowing Cup I in this boat class are back. Mary Jones of the USA, and Martine Veldhuis of the Netherlands will both looking to be back on the podium. Germany’s very experience Marie-Louise Draeger is no stranger to the podium either. And back on the World Cup circuit for the first time since 2019, Australia’s Georgia Nesbitt and Canada’s Jill Moffatt, who were both on the podium at the last World Rowing Cup to take place in Poznan, in 2019.
Women’s pair (W2-)
A field of 15 entries is going to make for exciting racing, especially with the number of new combinations who will be trying it out at the international level for the first time. But there’s also huge experience in the mix. There’s the Irish duo of Fiona Murtagh and Emily Hegarty who took bronze in the four in Tokyo, who will be racing another duo from a Tokyo four: Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester, who won Olympic silver. Keep an eye too on the United States. They regularly excel in this boat class and they are trying out two combinations in Poznan.
Men’s pair (M2-)
Now that the Sinkovic brothers have left the pair, a gap opens up for a new front runner. Thibaud Turlan of France joins with Louis Chamorand coming from France’s 2021 under 23 team. Nicolas van Sprang raced at the Tokyo Olympics to win the B-final and is now teamed with Lennart van Lierop, they were a close fourth at World Rowing Cup I. But all eyes must be on Thomas Mackintosh and Matt Macdonald of New Zealand. The duo come out of the Olympic Champion eight and their rowing momentum can not be underestimated. Watch out too for Australia’s Nicholas Lavery and Simon Keenan who come out of their Tokyo Olympic men’s eight.
Women’s double sculls (W2x)
With 17 entries and a whole lot of new combinations, these athletes will be looking left and right to see where they’re placed. The United States has entered two crews, both of which have created a lot of interest. Their top single sculler, Kara Kohler has teamed up with Sophia Vitas, who last raced internationally in 2019. The US have also entered Emily Kallfelz and Emily Delleman. Kallfelz comes from medalling in the single at the under-23 level with Delleman also coming from the US under-23 team.
Shaungmei Shen of China took silver in the quad at World Cup I and now she’s teamed up with Yingying Xu who raced in the double at World Cup I. Another reshuffle as coaches look for their best racing line ups. But the favourites must be Laila Youssifou and Roos de Jong of the Netherlands. The duo won gold in both the double and eight at World Cup I and de Jong medalled in the double at the Tokyo Olympics.
Men’s double sculls (M2x)
Martin and Valent Sinkovic of Croatia switched back to the double this year after winning in pair at Tokyo. The uber-rowing brothers won World Cup I and will be the ones to watch in Poznan. But silver medallists from World Cup I, Fabian Baranski and Miroslaw Zietarski of Poland are racing too and they will be giving the Sinkovics a run for their money.
Then there’s the Dutch partnership of Stefan Broenink and Koen Metsemakers. Both medalled at the Tokyo Olympics, Broenink in the double and Metsemakers in the quad. The won the B-final at World Cup I, and must be on the improvement projectile. Keep an eye too on Estonia’s crew: Stephan Krueger has had a very successful rowing career with Germany and will be teaming up with good friend Kaspar Taimsoo.
Lightweight women’s double sculls (LW2x)
The most experienced partnership in this race has to be Frederique Rol and Patricia Merz of Switzerland. They have been rowing together in the double for a decade now. But the United States duo of Michelle Sechser and Molly Reckford made the Tokyo Olympic A-final and may have improved since.
Watch out too for Olympian Chiaki Tomita of Japan who has teamed up with Kaho Onishi to race in Poznan.
Lightweight men’s double sculls (LM2x)
There will be no looking past the Olympic and World Champion, Fintan McCarthy of Ireland. After a fantastic campaign with Paul O’Donovan, McCarthy is back with Paul’s brother, Gary O’Donovan, on the international circuit. The chasing will come from the rest of the field which is full of new combinations, some of them untried at the international level.
The challenge may come from Jan Schaeuble and Raphael Ahumada of Switzerland who won at World Cup I. There’s also Ukraine’s Stanislav Kovalov and Igor Khmara who raced in the A-final at World Cup I. Keep an eye on New Zealand’s Matthew Dunham and Christopher Stockley. Dunham has been racing internationally since 2014, while Stockley has worked his way up from the under-23 team.
Women’s four (W4-)
This boat class continues grow and with 14 boats entered, the competition will be stiff. There are some familiar names from other boats joining the four. These include Olympic Champions from the eight Sydney Payne and Avalon Wasteneys rowing for Canada.
Olympic Champions from the four, Lucy Stephan and Annabelle McIntyre of Australia are back in the boat for another season and must be the favourites. But Tokyo bronze medallists, Aifric Keogh and Eimear Lambe remain in the Irish boat to stiffen the competition. Watch out too for the Netherlands who medalled in Tokyo, but are boating a new line up here. Also the United States who have proved in the past they have a strong sweep squad.
Men’s four (M4-)
It will be hard to look past the Australian crew as three of their Olympic Champion four have returned for 2022 – Jack Hargreaves, Alexander Purnell and Spencer Turrin. They are joined by Joseph O’Brien. The Aussies will have to keep an eye on China who took bronze at World Cup I. And also in the mix are the Americans who have had good results in the past in this boat class.
The Dutch have entered two crews including one with brothers Rik and Ralf Rienks. Their father, Nico, is considered one of the Netherlands’ most accomplished rowers. Rik and Ralf have a heavy legacy on their shoulders and already have shown results by taking silver in the four and eight at World Cup I.
Women’s quadruple sculls (W4x)
The Olympic bronze medallists, Australia are back, but with two new people in the boat. Rowena Meredith and Harriet Hudson have remained to hold the fort and all eyes will be on how they perform in Poznan. Australia will face Olympic Champions China who have held on to three of their Tokyo boat – Xiaotong Cui, Yang Lyu and Yunxia Chen.
Poland, who won silver in Tokyo, have maintained two of their Tokyo crew including Katarzyna Zillmann and Marta Wieliczko. Watch out too for the Netherlands who took gold last month in World Cup I, just ahead of China.
Men’s quadruple sculls (M4x)
China finished first at World Cup I last month and they are back for another go in Poznan. So are the silver medallists from World Cup I, the Netherlands. They have made one change to the boat with Abe Wiersma coming in. Wiersma is the sole rower from the Dutch Olympic Champion quad and it’s likely he’ll had a new element to the boat.
Welcome back for another season to Tonu Endrekson of Estonia. This is Endrekson’s 26th season of racing internationally and he comes to Poznan after last racing at the Tokyo Olympics where his quad finished sixth. Keep an eye too on Poland who regularly make the A-final and at World Cup I they were fifth.
Lightweight men’s quadruple sculls (LW4x)
It will be a three-boat race between Denmark, Thailand and Ukraine. Denmark is returning the same lineup that won the B-Final at the 2021 World Rowing Under 23 Championships and will have the upper-hand against Ukraine – who finished second in the same race – and a brand-new combination from Thailand.
Men’s eight (M8+)
It is not easy to put an eight together as a rowing programme needs real depth of talent to fill such a boat. But India has done it and will be lining up against six other crews. Also in the mix is Ukraine who have managed to keep training by living outside of their nation with the help of the world wide rowing community.
The Germans are stepping out for the first time internationally since the Tokyo Games where they took silver. They have six new members including a new coxswain following the retirement of long-time coxswain Martin Sauer. Australia and Canada have rebuilt their crews and have made the trip to Europe to test their strength. Both of these nations will put up a challenge to the ever-strong Germany.
Women’s eight (W8+)
A solid five boats have entered and it will be anyone’s guess who will come out on top. Of the line up Australia may have the upper edge being the only boat to have raced in the Olympic final. Australia finished fifth in Tokyo but only two athletes remain from that boat – Giorgia Patten and Georgina Rowe. Then there’s the Netherlands. They did not make the Olympics but have had a lot of success in the eight in the past. They have a couple of experienced names in the boat – Ymkje Clevering, Veronique Meester, Benthe Boonstra. Keep an eye out too for Germany who must have the depth of talent to pick a great crew.
Para rowers to watch
There’ll be no looking past Erik Horrie in the PR1 men’s single sculls (PR1 M1x). The Australian has been rowing internationally for more than a decade and always amongst the top boats. Last month Horrie won at World Cup I and he’s back for more medals. For the PR1 women’s single sculls (PR1 W1x) Paralympic Champion Birgit Skarstein of Norway gets her 2022 season underway in Poznan. Skarstein, though, will have some tough competition as Paralympic bronze medallist Nathalie Benoit (France) is competing along with Ukraine’s Anna Sheremet. In Tokyo Sheremet finished fourth and as one of the younger contenders, she is improving with every race.
The PR2 men’s single sculls (PR2 M1x) has attracted the largest para field. This could be Corne de Koning’s race for the taking. The Dutch sculler most recently took silver in the double at the Paralympic Games. De Koning’s doubles partner has now retired but he has a new partner and will be racing in the double. He will have to keep an eye on Gian Filippo Mirabile of Italy who also comes out of the Paralympic double. The PR2 women’s single sculls (PR2 W1x) just has three competitors – two from Ukraine – with Svitlana Bohuslavska looking to be the most experienced.
For the PR2 mixed double sculls (PR2 Mix2x) de Koning features for a second time, this time with Chantal Haenen. This new combination will be testing the Poznan racing waters. They will need to watch out for the very experienced Stephane Tardieu and Perle Bouge of France. Without Paralympic Champions, Great Britain racing in the PR3 mixed coxed four (PR3 Mix4+), the field is wide open. The Germans look to have the upper hand in terms of experience, but with Italy racing, the Germans will need to be on their toes.
The PR3 men’s pair (PR3 M2-) has the bronze medallist from the 2019 World Rowing Championships racing. Jerome Hamelin of France is partnered with Laurent Cadot and they may be the ones to beat. For the women it’s a two-boat race between France and Italy. France has a Paralympic medallist on board and this may give them an advantage.
The 2022 World Rowing Cup II off on 16 June. For more information, visit the event page.