Olympic Taste for the 2024 World Rowing Coastal Championships and Beach Sprint Finals

The 2024 World Rowing Coastal Championships & Beach Sprint Finals get underway this Friday in Genoa, Italy.

Beach Sprint and Coastal Rowing have both grown in popularity in recent years. It was announced last year that Beach Sprint Rowing will be included in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games programme and as a result, entries for both events have been coming from all over the world – and feature again a good mix of Olympians and experienced coastal rowers.
The World Rowing Coastal Championships will take place from 6 to 8 September in Genoa. The event has attracted a number of 287 crews entered from all over the world.

These entries include gold medallist from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Karolien Florijn of the Netherlands, entered in the women’s double sculls with former bronze medallist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Marieke Keijser. This boat class features some former other Olympic medallists, with Valentina Rodini of Italy or Magdalena Lobnig of Austria, all looking to dethrone the reigning World Champions, Karien Robbers and Janneke Van Der Meulen of the Netherlands.

The Men’s Solo has attracted 54 entries and sees some well-known names on the international scene, such as Joel Naukkarinen of Finland, Davide Mumolo of Italy, or Charles Cousins of Great Britain.

The Men’s Coxed Quadruple Sculls looks like a rematch of the Paris 2024 Olympic final. The Netherlands have put together a Men’s Coxed Quad with a lot of pedigree – with Olympic champions Finn Florijn and Lennart Van Lierop joining forces with silver medallist Jan Van Der Bij and cox Dieuwke Fetter. Facing them on home waters will be the Italians, with Olympic medallists Giacomo Gentili and Pietro Ruta teaming up with Coastal experts Martino Goretti and Simone Martini.

The 2024 World Rowing Coastal Championships will be live streamed on worldrowing.com on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 September.

Following the World Rowing Coastal Championships, the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals will be raced from 12 to 15 September at the same location. With the discipline now being Olympic, the competition has attracted a record number of entries, with 26 Olympians from Paris 2024 competing in Genoa.

All eyes will be on the Mixed Double Sculls, where siblings – and Olympic champions – Karolien and Finn Florijn will be making their much-anticipated Beach Sprint Rowing debut. Competition will be fierce, including the reigning World Champions, Matt Dunham and Jackie Kiddle from New Zealand, and the two-time World Champions from Spain, Ander Martin and Esther Briz Zamorano. Entries also include Olympic gold and silver medallist of Romania, Roxana Anghel, as well as last year’s silver medallists of Great Britain, Laura Mckenzie and Sam Scrimgeour.

The reigning World Champion in the Men’s Solo, Adrian Miramon Quiroga of Spain, will look to defend his 2023 title. Competition will be fierce, with young and hungry rowers such as local favourite and 2021 World Champion Giovanni Ficarra, or Olympic champion Lennart Van Lierop of the Netherlands, looking to leave a mark on the Italian beach.

For the Women’s Solo, Genoa will be rocking for Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion, Federica Cesarini of Italy. But facing another Tokyo Olympic champion, Emma Twigg, and also experienced beach sprinters – Sarah Pidgen of Canada, Christine Cavallo of the USA, or Janneke Van Der Meulen of the Netherlands, will be no easy task.

The Mixed Coxed Quad has 17 entries and watch out for the Australian combination, with four Paris Olympians on board.

Also, after being staged as a test event last year, the Mixed Inclusion Coastal Double Sculls is again being raced at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Genoa, for a second year as a proof of concept before full inclusion into the Rules of Racing. An inclusion double consists of one able bodied rower and one para rower with a valid national or international classification.

The 2024 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals will be live streamed on worldrowing.com on Saturday 14 September and Sunday 15 September.