Rowers to Watch at the 2023 World Rowing Cup I in Zagreb

Updated following the draw on Thursday 4 May 2023.

The 2023 international rowing season will kick off this weekend in Zagreb, Croatia as the first event of this year’s World Rowing Cup Series takes place on Lake Jarun. It’s Olympic and Paralympic Qualification year, and it’s all to play for. Thirty nations will send crews to the regatta with large entries from Spain, Switzerland, and host nation, Croatia.

Women’s Pair (W2-)

Can anyone beat the Jurkovic sisters on home waters? Spain’s entry includes Aina Cid who made the final in the Women’s Pair at the most recent Olympic Games in Tokyo. She is joined by 4-time coastal rowing champion, Esther Briz Zamorano. While Josipa and Ivana Jurkovic came sixth at last year’s World Rowing Championships. The Czechs, Radka Novotnikova and Pavlina Flamikova, posted a faster time when they won the B-Final, taking seventh place overall. Who will come out on top in Zagreb?

Men’s Pair (M2-)

Ten boats will line up for the Men’s Pair including the silver medallists from last year’s World Rowing Championships, Jaime Canalejo Pazos and Javier Garcia Ordonez of Spain. Watch out too for the boat from Denmark, which features Joachim Sutton and Frederic Vystavel, who took bronze in this boat class in Tokyo and are back on the scene after a year out. Hong Kong’s Lam and Wong are the reigning Asian Champions in this boat class, and will be looking to test that speed internationally. The Loncaric brothers will be racing on home waters, where they won bronze at the 2021 World Rowing Cup I, and hoping to better that result.

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x)

A field of just six crews, but packed with experience with the majority of the athletes having raced at last year’s World Rowing Championships in various boat classes. Austria’s Lobnig sisters are probably the favourites with Olympic bronze medal winning Magdalena joining forces once again this season with Katharina. They just missed out on a podium place in Racice last season, which they will be hoping to step on this year. Switzerland will field two crews in this boat class; all four scullers with a wealth of international experience, and doubling up in the Women’s Quadruple Sculls. The unknown quantity in this field is the boat from South Africa. Twenty-two year-old Katherine Williams will join forces with 24 year-old Paige Badenhorst, who won the Women’s Boat Race with Cambridge in 2022. It will be interesting to see how they get on.

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x)

There is absolutely no doubt that Croatia’s heroes Martin and Valent Sinkovic will be looking to stamp their authority on home waters. It was surprising to see the two-time Olympic champions miss out on a medal at last year’s World Rowing Championships, but they will be looking to make amends this season, especially with Olympic qualification on the horizon. If they finish on the podium in Zagreb, it will be their 50th international (World, European, and Olympic) medal. However, they’ll need to watch out for Rodrigo Conde Romero and Aleix Garcia Pujolar of Spain who took silver in Racice and will be keen to beat the Sinkovics again. The young crews from Argentina, Serbia, and Ukraine will certainly be duos to keep an eye on at this early stage in the new season.

Women’s Four (W4-)

Just three crews will contest this boat class; Chile, Spain and Hong Kong. The Chilean crew features the two of the Abraham quadruplets, Antonia and Melita, who have nine years of international racing experience. They recently qualified this boat, as well as the Women’s Quad, Women’s Single, and Women’s Double, for the 2023 Pan American Games, which will take place later in 2023. The crew from Hong Kong are the bronze medallists from the 2022 Asian Rowing Championships back in December of last year. All four members of the crew from Spain will also race in the women’s pair.

Men’s Four (M4-)

Similar to the Women’s Four, a relatively unknown line-up in this boat class which features two boats from India, as well as crews from Hong Kong, and South Africa. The boat from Ukraine is perhaps the favourite here with the full crew returning from last season. They made the A-Final at the 2022 World Rowing Championships and will be hoping to work their way up the rankings this season. It’s a young crew racing from Austria which includes two members of their U23 four from last season. Switzerland will also field a young crew which interestingly has three members of their quadruple sculls from last season, and one member of their four. We look forward to seeing how they have made the transition from sculling to sweep.

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x)

This boat class could be one of the most interesting of the World Rowing Cup, it is wide open! Five of the twelve scullers raced in the single sculls at last year’s World Rowing Championships, but only one of them made the A-Final; Virginia Diaz Rivas of Spain. However, while Switzerland’s Aurelia-Maxima Janzen wasn’t at the senior World Rowing Championships last year, she did pick up silver in the boat class at the World Rowing U23 Championships. The 19-year-old already has many titles to her name, and is Switzerland’s second entry in this boat class. Pascale Walker will also represent Switzerland, she was in the quadruple sculls last season. Watch out too for Diana Dymchenko of Azerbaijan; Dymchenko competed in many coastal rowing events last season, but has a previous World Rowing Cup gold medal to her name. Another young competitor to keep an eye on is Czech sculler Anna Santruckova, who took silver in this boat class at the 2022 European Rowing U23 Championships. It’s all to play for in Zagreb!

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x)

The biggest boat class of World Rowing Cup I, the Men’s Single Sculls has 25 entries. With five Olympians and last year’s World Champion, it’s certain to be an exciting one to watch unfold. After a mixed season, Germany’s Oliver Zeidler took gold at last year’s World Rowing Championships so will be keen to start this season the same way. However, he’s going to face some strong opposition. Olympic bronze medallist Damir Martin is back on the scene and will race on home waters; he is the first of three entries from Croatia. Denmark’s Sverri Nielsen is also making a return, having not raced internationally since his fourth place in Tokyo. There’s a couple of youngsters to keep an eye on too. Bulgaria’s Emil Neykov claimed bronze in the single sculls at the 2022 World Rowing U23 Championships. Neykov is one of three scullers entered from Bulgaria. Also watch out for Ivan Corsunov of Moldova. Corsunov had a successful season in the double sculls last year, finishing 5th at the World Rowing Championships.

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x)

The Swiss duo that raced in Tokyo is back again; Patricia Merz and Frederique Rol made several finals last year, but never quite made the podium. Frederique’s younger cousin, Eline Rol, will race in Switzerland’s second boat, alongside Olivia Nacht. The boat from Austria is to watch. Olympian in this boat class, Louisa Altenhuber will join forces with former European U23 lightweight single sculls champion Lara Tiefenthaler in the double sculls this season. The crews from Chile and Argentina both finished on the podium at the recent Pan American Qualification Regatta, and will be battling it out once again.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x)

Ten entries in this boat class, and a wealth of Olympians! Jiri Simanek and Miroslav Vrastil made the final in Tokyo, and narrowly missed the podium. They took bronze at World Rowing Cup I last season but were outside the medal zone for the rest of the season, so will be looking to step on this year. They’ll need to keep an eye out for Spain1, Caetano Horta Pombo and Manel Balastegui, another boat unchanged from Tokyo. The two doubles met on several occasions last year, and will come up against each other again in Zagreb. They’ll both face strong opposition from Switzerland’s Jan Schaeuble and Raphael Ahumada Ireland. The duo took gold at the first World Rowing Cup last year, as well as the overall World Rowing Cup in this boat class, and will be keen to defend their title. Chile’s Cesar Abaroa and Eber Sanhueza won gold at the 2023 Pan American Qualification Regatta in April of this year.

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x)

Only two crews will contest the Women’s Quadruple Sculls; Switzerland and Ukraine. Switzerland finished fifth at last year’s World Rowing Championships and has two returning members whereas Ukraine finished fourth and has three returning members. The Swiss scullers will all also race in the Women’s Double Sculls.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x)

In a relatively young field, the crew from Ukraine is the oldest of the four entries, and the three returners from their crew at last year’s World Rowing Championships will be looking to improve on their seventh-place finish. The Czech Republic have put together a strong looking crew which includes Dalibor Nedela and Filip Zima who were World and European Champions in this boat class in 2021. Don’t discount the home nation either. Despite an average age of just over 20, they all have international experience, so will be one to keep an eye on.

Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (LW1x)

Five scullers will line up for the Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls, including the youngster Rawiwan Sukkaew from Thailand. The 19-year-old sculler will make her international debut at World Rowing Cup I, and we’re looking forward to seeing how she performs. She will line up against four scullers who all have varying levels of international experience, but we don’t have any previous medallists in the field, so it is wide open.

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x)

The second most popular boat class with Ten entries sees scullers from eight nations; Austria has three scullers entered. Hong Kong’s Hin Chun Chiu is the reigning Asian Champion in this boat class. Olympian Sid Ali Boudina from Algeria just missed out on the A-Final at last year’s World Rowing Championships and will be hoping to make it this year where he is likely to meet last year’s bronze medalist Rajko Hrvat of Slovenia and Switzerland’s Andri Struzina.

 

 

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The 2023 World Rowing Cup I takes place 5-7 May, in Zagreb, Croatia. Find the full programme, entries, and more on worldrowing.com

 

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