Pundits’ picks at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia

A team of top rowing experts will bring you commentary from every race at the 2023 World Rowing Championships. Find out which crews they are looking forward to watching most.

Martin Cross, World Rowing TV commentator:

“I’m really looking forward to seeing how Kjetil Borch gets on in his men’s singles heat. The Norwegian has had a nightmare season after contracting over-training syndrome but the good news is the last six weeks have gone well. He’s said this will be his last World Championships – at least in rowing.”

Greg Searle, World Rowing TV commentator:

“I’m looking forward to seeing if Australia’s men’s eight can repeat the standout performance from Lucerne. Or if the Netherlands will get another combination flying, or if Germany can come back to their form of years gone by. Or will it be Britain, who can make it a clean sweep of men’s gold medal eights at junior, U23 and senior world level?”

Camilla Hadland-Horrocks, World Rowing course commentator:

“All of the men’s ‘two person’ small boats scheduled on the draw for tomorrow (double sculls, lightweight double sculls and pair) are going to kick things off with a bang. Despite there being four crews to progress through from each heat, there are some particularly interesting match ups, especially in the heats of the men’s pairs.”

Sarah Cook, World Rowing TV commentator:

“The PR3 mixed double sculls is a fantastic addition to the Paralympic programme, and Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager of Australia have been the breakthrough crew. At World Rowing Cup II in Varese, Ayers and Altschwager took the gold medal ahead of Brazil and Ukraine, and broke the World Best Time not once but twice. France were the European Champions and will give the Aussies a good contest.”

Viktor Pivac, Serbian commentator:

“I am really excited to see what Serbia’s Jovana Arsic in the women’s single sculls has in store for us. She had a rocky road behind her, looking back at the Olympics, misfortune with Covid and other issues. She finished third at the European Championships this year which was amazing to watch. I am truly hoping that we are going to see her qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and maybe even medal in front of the home crowd! Go Serbia!

“The Greek men’s and women’s lightweight double sculls crews are my favourite crews outside Serbia.”

Tim van  Vliet, World Rowing race commentator:

“I’m looking forward to the men’s and women’s quadruple sculls. It’s going to be great to see the defending champions Poland go toe to toe with the Dutch, Great Britain, and Italy. I’m curious to see the new Irish combination, with two U23 world champions (Brian Colsh and Konan Pazzaia) and a U23 silver medallist Brian Sheehan from Plovdiv in that crew with Ronan Byrne. For the women’s quad, the Dutch are my favourite for the gold medal. The Chinese, Swiss and GB crews will be hot on their heels.”

Peter O’Hanlon, World Rowing tower announcer:

“Looking to this week my mind keeps wandering to the men’s four and the differences we’ve been seeing in the Australian boat as they have fine tuned through the season with a very different approach to Varese versus Lucerne. They’re the Olympic champions and will find tough competition from the GB boat, undefeated since the start of the 2022 season, as well as the New Zealand boat which includes a couple from the gold medal-winning men’s eight at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Heats on Monday will be a key indicator.”

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