Monday debrief: Getting hot, hot, hot in Varese

With two World Rowing Cups this season in quick succession, and the first coming just a fortnight after the European Rowing Championships, a big turnout of rowers from around the world rocked up in Varese, Italy at the weekend to test their speed.

And under hazy, humid skies the competitors showed that the standard this year – featuring many new faces and new combinations – looks hotter than ever.

Rising temperatures

Let’s start with the weather, because it was toasty. The forecast threatened thunder and, for the first two days of competition, the snow-capped peaks at the end of the Lago di Varese were invisible behind the haze.

That meant ice packs were in demand, with rowers coming off the water absolutely drenched in sweat before being soaked in ice water, vests and towels to cool them down. Plenty opted for land-based cooldowns on bikes or ergos in the shade instead of staying on the water. Men’s single sculls gold medallist Simon van Dorp even took a paddle in the shallows as he got out of his boat after the final.

Times on the water were still fairly quick, although not quite world-beating, apart from the French PR3 men’s pair. Laurent Cadot and Gregoire Bireau broke Cadot’s own world best time in the final, lowering the marker by three seconds.

Latin America on a high

Varese was a historic regatta for the Latin American nations. Fielding small teams, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay all went home with medals, while Chilean sisters Melita and Antonia Abraham made the women’s pair final.

At 30 years old Kenia Lechuga is now a veteran of the lightweight women’s single sculls field – as well as a three-time Olympian in the women’s single sculls. But she had never won a gold medal before this weekend. After her strong victory in the final, Lechuga said she felt stronger than ever, and went on to share her triumph with her 346,000 Instagram followers.

Mexico had more to celebrate on Sunday, after PR1 men’s single sculler Michel Munoz picked up a bronze medal. Munoz, whose legs failed to develop after he was born, took up rowing after initially getting into sport through powerlifting, and has become a popular sight around the boatpark whizzing around on his skateboard, usually with a big grin on his face. He was elated when he crossed the line, raising his hands in the air in glee.

Felipe Kluver made history winning Uruguay’s first World Rowing Cup medal, three years and on the same course after he won their first under 23 gold medal in the lightweight men’s single sculls. Only just 25 years old, Kluver looks like he has a bright future ahead.

Not to be outdone, Brazil shone in the para-rowing events, particularly with their confident win over the USA in the PR3 mixed coxed four – a big step on from eighth at the Paralympic Games.

A home from home

“It’s like our second home,” said several athletes after winning medals. Because Varese is a popular training venue for non-Italian countries. After all, it has consistently good water, not one but two 2000m courses – the other up the lake in Gavirate.

Australia have been at their training base in Gavirate for the last few weeks, and rowed their boats back there after racing finished; China have also been training in Varese, getting used to a fleet of shiny new Filippi shells; and other countries including Great Britain have had camps on the lake in the run-up to the season starting.

But it’s mostly home for Italy, making wins for the likes of local rower Alice Codato in the women’s pair just that bit more special.

Thank you, Dr Hannafin

There are hundreds of people behind the scenes who make a World Rowing Cup happen: from the coaches and boatmen working with the teams, to the broadcast technicians beaming the action around the world, and the fantastic volunteers helping out spectators, manning the athlete bag drop, and more.

One of the unsung heroes has been World Rowing doctor Jo Hannafin. Hannafin began her career as a rower, winning lightweight double sculls silver at the 1984 World Rowing Championships, and also being a founder member of the women’s crew at Brown University in the US. She was World Rowing’s first female doctor and the first woman to hold a raft of other positions in the USA, including becoming the first female president of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine in 2013.

Hannafin received a send-off in Varese from friends and colleagues she has been working with, but will leave a big legacy. Luckily, there are plenty of medics and doctors-in-training among the current cohort of rowers: maybe one of them will follow in her footsteps.

Mixing it up

Para-rowing has shown the success of mixed-gender events for some time, but Varese was the first time that the mixed eight has been run at an official World Rowing event (it had already been contested continentally at the 2023 Pan American Games).

In Varese, a three-boat test event proved a great success, with the USA and Germany bowball to bowball throughout the 2000m race. The athletes, who had all doubled up from other boat classes, landed for a celebratory photo beaming and laughing.

The mixed eight is due to make its World Rowing Championship debut in Shanghai later this year, giving time for nations to start trying to work out where to put their male and female athletes in the boat, and whether you double up scullers, sweepers or a mixture of both. We can’t wait to see what combinations they come up with!