Tuesday debrief: Amazement on the Rotsee

The final stage of the 2023 World Rowing Cup series will be one to remember. From upsets and wild finishes, to celebrations and World Rowing Cup winners, Lucerne had it all this year. Here’s the debrief of the 2023 World Rowing Cup III.

Beurey and Ludwig, against all odds

We were expecting a showdown between the Swiss and the Irish in the lightweight men’s double sculls. Like a good movie, the script looked perfect – the Swiss, on home waters, winners of all international competitions so far, versus the reigning Olympic and World Champions of Ireland, unbeaten since… the 2019 World Cup III in Lucerne, where they fell short to Germany by 0.03 seconds. There was little doubt that one of these two crews would stand atop the podium on Sunday. Except that we quickly forgot about the French duo of Hugo Beurey and Ferdinand Ludwig.

While it wasn’t a surprise to see them in the Final – after all, Beurey was crowned European Champion in the lightweight mens’ single sculls in Bled, and together with Ludwig, they did beat the Swiss in the Semifinal in Varese, setting a new World Cup Best Time in the process – few people on the Rotsee had bet on them to win. Against all odds, despite the loud cowbells and the pressure applied by McCarthy and O’Donovan, the French pulled out a fantastic sprint to edge the Irish by 0.09 seconds over the line, and win their very first World Cup together. Probably not the last one either.

Olé, Mexico!

The density in the lightweight double sculls categories is truly remarkable. In Lucerne, there was a new crew in contention for the podium- the combination of Miguel Angel Carballo Nieto and Alexis Bladimir Lopez Garcia of Mexico.

When they entered the event, they surely weren’t the favorites to progress through to the A-Final. After winning comfortably their repechage ahead of a quite experienced New Zealand crew, their performance started to get some attention. But it was their performance in the Semifinal on Saturday, when they won their race ahead of France and Greece, pushing the Czechs out of the A-Final, which was hard to believe – it was the first A-Final for Mexico in that boat class since 2010. And talk about an A-Final – Lopez Garcia and Carballo Nieto stayed close to the leading group, and finished fourth, only three seconds outside of the podium.

China and GBR unbeaten… no more

Amongst all the crews that were unbeaten since the beginning of the Paris Olympiad, two of them saw their streaks come to an end. The British men’s eight, who has been head and shoulders above the rest of the field since their very first event together last year in Belgrade, had to settle for silver on the Rotsee after losing a great battle with Australia – who won an A-Final in the men’s eight for the first time since World Cup I in 2014. While the British almost lost in Bled too, it was the first time they didn’t stand atop the podium in almost two years – not a huge concern as they only lost by 0.6 seconds on a race that went bowball-to-bowball from start to finish.

The performance of the reigning Olympic and World Champions of China in the women’s quadruple sculls, was somehow more concerning. The combination of Cui, Lyu, Zhang and Chen had been unbeaten since the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv. But Sunday on the Rotsee, it wasn’t the traditional display of power and technique that we usually see from this crew. They never managed to get their bowball ahead of the Dutch, and were swallowed by the British and the Swiss in the last 150m. But do not underestimate the heart of a champion – it’s certain that the Chinese will regroup and rethink their plan of attack before Belgrade.

Zeidler completes the Hat-Trick… in style

Yes, his performance in Bled on rough waters might have raised some concerns. But there was just no stopping Olli Zeidler at any of the World Rowing Cups this year. And if he needed to prove again that he was the best men’s single sculler in the world today, his performance in Lucerne was just another pure display of power from the big German. His start was very quick, his middle part consistent in execution, but what really did it was his acceleration in the last 300 meters, in front of a packed grandstand, to win the A-Final by 8 seconds over Sverri Nielsen.

Zeidler joins elite company of athletes that won all three World Rowing Cups the same year, in the same boat class – Martin and Valent Sinkovic in 2022, the German Men’s Eight and Jeannine Gmelin in the women’s single sculls in 2018, to name a few. Another step towards his major goal – redemption from Tokyo 2020 and a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. When the conditions are the ones of the Rotsee this past Sunday, there’s no beating the reigning World Champion in the men’s single.

The flying Dutch scullers

Great Britain won the overall World Rowing Cup series trophy, and sat at the top of the medal table on Sunday. But the other squad “on fire” in Lucerne was definitely the Dutch rowing team, who returns to the Netherlands with four gold medals, all of them in sculling events, and all of them in dominating fashion.

After a successful year in the single, Melvin Twellaar was back with his Olympic partner, Stef Broenink, in the double. Both said “something clicked” in training lately, and Lucerne was a good reminder of the potential of this crew, that missed out. The two quads were brand new combinations, and both rowed superbly to a gold medal – on the men’s die, Olympic champs Koen Metsemakers and Tone Wieten were paired with with recent European champion Lenny Van Lierop and Finn Florijn, while the women’s had World silver medallists, Laila Youssifou and Roos de Jong.

We’re also at a loss for words to describe Karolien Florijn’s performance. Since moving in the single, she hasn’t lost a single race. And yesterday, she proved again to be dominant, beating Twigg, Rigney, Foester, Prakaten – all the top names in the single. What a day for the Florijn family!

Para rowing passes successful test

For the first time, Lucerne hosted international para-rowing races on the Rotsee. So far, the “Lake of the Gods” had never seen any – and Sunday, this “anomaly” was repaired. As a preparation for the Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta, which will be hosted in Lucerne next year, two exhibition races took place on Sunday. While only an exhibition race, we saw Birgit Skarstein winning once again in the PR1 women’s single sculls – and hoping to see Para rowing back at a World Cup in Lucerne in the future. Shmuel Daniel of Israel dominated his race in the PR1 men’s single. We certainly heard a huge cheer from the fans, proving that para-races can be as popular as any other race on the Rotsee. The first test is certainly successful.

Jeannine does it for Robin

If there’s one thing to highlight from this year in Lucerne, that would be the courage, the dedication, and the smile on Jeannine Gmelin’s face. One of the most successful Swiss sculler to ever wear the “Nati” colors, Gmelin retired after the tragic and sudden passing of her longtime coach and partner Robin Dowell last winter. Robin had two passions : rowing, and coffee. Jeannine honoured Robin’s memory by combining both in Lucerne with “Rob’s Hood Coffee Lounge”, a coffee lounge located in the boat house.

Hundreds of athletes, coaches, and officials stopped by Rob’s Hood Coffee Lounge and had a word for Jeannine. She was also honored by the Lucerne Regatta association for her exceptional career. More than an athlete, Jeannine is an inspiration for all of us – and surely, made Robin very proud yet again.