Road to Paris : The Double Sculls

The double sculls is the perfect-sized boat. Not too big that you get lost in the crowd and not too small that there isn’t someone else to help you along. The double is the four-oared, two person craft that takes power and coordination to go fast.

It has featured at the Olympics ever since 1904 for the men, and 1976 for the women, and remains one of the most competitive of the boat classes. The World Best Time for the women has remained with Sally Kehoe and Olympia Aldersey of Australia since 2014 when they hit 6:37.31. The men’s World Best Time was set at the same regatta by Valent and Martin Sinkovic when they became the first crew to go under six minutes. Their time is 5:59.72.

This boat class has served up some classic moments like the furious final sprint from the back of the field for Nathan Cohen and Jo Sullivan at the London Olympics, the recent partnership (and domination) of Simona Radis and Ancuta Bodnar from Romania, or the photo finish tie between Australia and the Netherlands at the 2022 World Rowing Cup II.

We take a look at what may happen during Paris Olympic qualification at this year’s World Rowing Championships and beyond.

Total quota places for Paris : 13 for the men’s double, 13 for the women’s double

Total number of athletes : 26

Qualification pathways:
11 quota places for men and 11 for women at the 2023 World Rowing Championships
2 quota places each at the 2024 Final Olympic Qualification Regatta

Men’s Double Sculls

Reigning Olympic Champions : France
Reigning World Champions : France
World Rowing Cup III winner: The Netherlands

There was nothing easy about the Tokyo Olympic final. This race is renowned for its closeness and it took the French duo of Hugo Boucheron and Matthieu Androdias until about 200m left to row to get into the lead over the Netherlands. Their time of 6:00.33 was just a fraction off the World Best Time. The post-Olympic period proved rocky for Boucheron but the duo came back together just in time to triumph at the 2022 World Rowing Championships.

But the World Champs introduced some up-and-coming challengers. Spain took silver and Australia took bronze. Just out of the medals were Valent and Martin Sinkovic. The Croatian brothers had switched back to the double after winning gold in the pair at Tokyo. The duo already has Olympic gold in the double from the Rio Olympics and they must have been missing the four-oared boat and its symetry.

Anything can change in a season, especially in the double, and leading into this year’s World Rowing Championships the top qualifier could well be winners of World Cup III, the Netherlands. Olympic silver medallists, Melvin Twellaar and Stef Broenink are back in the boat and they won over Croatia at the Lucerne regatta. There’s also the new Irish combination of Daire Lynch and Philip Doyle to keep an eye on and with Spain and Romania very much in the picture. Watch out too for Italy. The Italians have a strong history of double sculling and sitting in the boat is Matteo Sartori, the son of Olympic Champion Alessio Sartori.

Women’s Double Sculls

Reigning Olympic Champions : Romania
Reigning World Champions : Romania
World Rowing Cup III winner: Romania

In Tokyo Romania’s Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis raced to gold like true Olympic Champions. They got into the lead and held off every challenge winning in a Olympic Best Time. Bodnar and Radis were both just 22 years old and this can be seen as just a stepping stone in their rowing careers. Behind them New Zealand and the Netherlands took out the lesser spots.

Bodnar and Radis remained together after the Olympics and went on to win the 2022 World Rowing Championships. The Netherlands was in second and included Roos de Jong who was in the Olympic bronze crew. It looks, though, that the Netherlands are still working out their best mix between the quad and double and crew changes may happen again.

There will be a lot of interest around the Irish combination of veteran single sculler Sanita Puspure and partner Zoe Hyde. The took bronze at last year’s World Champs, but in 2023 their one race, the European Championships, they finished sixth. Another veteran back in the fold is Donata Karaliene of Lithuania. Karaliene is a three-time Olympian and has a bronze medal in the double from Rio. In Tokyo, she finished fourth. With new partner Dovile Rimkute, the duo finished second at World Rowing Cup III.

Although sometimes hampered by changes in their line-up, China can’t be discounted as a medal contender and definite Olympic qualifier. Shiyu Lu and Shuangmei Shen finished third at World Cup III.

As there are 11 Olympic qualification spots going at this year’s World Rowing Championships, the B-final will turn into a race not to come last. This no doubt will see cheering and excitement when least expected.