The World Rowing Cup series makes its annual stop in Lucerne, Switzerland

The 2024 World Rowing Cup II is set to be staged from 24 to 26 May on the iconic Rotsee in Lucerne, Switzerland. A total of 234 crews from 43 nations will compete in 23 boat classes, in the hopes of earning points that will contribute to their countries overall standing in the series.

The men’s single sculls has 29 entries, with World Rowing Cup leader Oliver Zeidler being the standout name. Zeidler completed the World Rowing Cup hat-trick last year – winning all three World Rowing Cup events in the same boat class in the same year – and seems well on his way to repeat on his performance. He will face tough competition, with the likes of Simon Van Dorp of the Netherlands, Stefanos Ntouskos of Greece, Tom Mackintosh of New Zealand, and Sverri Nielsen of Denmark.

The men’s double sculls will see the return of the reigning Olympic Champions of France, Matthieu Androdias and Hugo Boucheron, for their first international race together again time since last year’s European Rowing Championships – a good marker two months ahead of the Olympics on home waters, especially facing the reigning World Champions of the Netherlands, Stef Broenink and Melvin Twellaar.

The women’s single sculls will see five out of the six women in last year’s A-Final at the World Rowing Championships racing. While Karolien Florijn of the Netherlands still hasn’t lost a race in two years, she will face tough competition with the reigning Olympic Champion, Emma Twigg of New Zealand, but also World medallist Tara Rigney of Australia, and former Lucerne World Cup winner, Alexandra Foester of Germany.

The women’s double sculls will see Norway’s surprise European gold medallists, Thea Helseth and Inga Marie Kavlie, looking to test themselves against a wider field that includes boats from Lithuania and the USA that medalled at last years’ World Rowing Championships.

For the first-time ever, Para-Rowing will be contested at a World Rowing Cup in Lucerne. The top names in the sport – Birgit Skartstein and Moran Samuel in the PR1 women’s single, Roman Polianskyi and Giacomo Perini in the PR1 men’s single, or the Dutch, Irish, and Polish combinations in the PR2 mixed double sculls are set to compete for the first time on the Rotsee.

The 2024 World Rowing Cup II will be the first time seeing USA, Canada, New Zealand, as well as many South American and Asian countries racing internationally this season – and perhaps the only time before the Olympic and Paralympic Games later this summer in Paris. The USA has entered both men and women’s eights, their men’s eight hoping to qualify for the Games at the Final Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta just days prior to the 2024 World Rowing Cup II.

The Netherlands are currently in the lead of the 2024 World Rowing Cup points, with 68. They are followed by Great Britain with 63, and Italy with 58.

Find the full entry list on the event page.

Find the current World Rowing Cup standings here.

What is the World Rowing Cup?

The World Rowing Cup is an annual series of three regattas that, traditionally, act as a lead-up to the World Rowing Championships. This year, the World Rowing Cup series, after its first stop in Varese, Italy, will travel to Lucerne, Switzerland, and Poznan, Poland. World Rowing Cups are held over three days with a progression system from heats through to finals. Racing at the World Rowing Cup includes the 14 Olympic boat classes and a selection of International boat classes. Para-rowing is contested at some World Cups. Each Olympic boat class earns points based on the finishing order. The highest placing boat from a country is awarded the following points:

1^st = 8 points, 2^nd = 6 points, 3^rd = 5 points, 4^th = 4 points, 5^th = 3 points, 6^th = 2 points, 7^th = 1 point.