The 2022 World Rowing Cup Series got underway this morning in fine conditions on Belgrade’s Sava Lake. With lots of new faces and formations, racing was unpredictable and the heats gave us an idea of who to watch out for in the later stages of the competition.

Test Races for Para Boats

The racing session began with test races for the Para-Rowing boat classes. First to race was the mixed coxed four and there was a display of solidarity when British cox Alex Wenyon was substituted in to steer the Australian crew as their own cox was unable to travel to Belgrade. The new British line-up took the win on this occasion and they will race each other again in the final on Sunday.

Five scullers lined up for the PR1 men’s single sculls where last year’s Paralympic silver medallist, Erik Horrie of Australia, won ahead of Great Britain’s Benjamin Pritchard.

Meanwhile, in the PR2 women’s single sculls, Australia’s Kathryn Ross chose not to take part in the test race so Great Britain’s Lauren Rowles raced alone.

Great Britain Impress in Men’s Pair

Great Britain stamped their authority in the men’s pair, taking first and second place in Heat 1 with their third pair coming second in Heat 4. GBR2, featuring Oliver Wynne-Griffith and Tom George posted the fastest time across the heats, finishing in 6:46.44. Serbia won the second heat, Spain Heat 3, and Netherlands1 took the honours in the fourth and final heat.

Double Win for GB in Women’s Double Sculls

The two British women’s doubles both won their respective heats in the women’s double sculls, finishing ahead of strong Dutch crews in both cases. The British athletes joined forces just over 2 hours later in the women’s quad, where they finished fifth behind strong opposition.

Sinkovic Brothers Transfer to Sculling

All eyes were on the Sinkovic brothers in the men’s double as they switched boat following a long reign of success in the pair. It was the Netherlands that took the early lead, but 1400m in, Martin and Valent changed gear and took the lead. There was a surprise in Heat 3 when the Dutch Olympic combination of Koen Metsemakers and Stef Broenink missed out on direct qualification to the semifinal and will have to contest the repechage later in the day.

Four Dutch Men’s Fours

The Netherlands had four men’s fours entered and three of them qualified comfortably for the semifinals. Netherlands3 won the first heat ahead of Poland. In Heat 2, China2 took the honours with Netherlands1 in second place. In the third heat, the new-look Great Britain men’s four finished ahead of the Netherlands crew which contained three returners from last year’s Olympic four. Great Britain’s time of 6:09.47 was the fastest across the three heats, so they will definitely be a crew to watch throughout the regatta.

Women’s Single Scullers Make First Impressions

With only one sculler from each of the four heats of the women’s single sculls progressing straight to the semifinals, it was all to play for. Great Britain’s Hannah Scott, who was in the British women’s quad in Tokyo, won the first head ahead of local Olympian Jovana Arsic. Shiyu Lu, who was in the China women’s four in Tokyo, won the second heat, ahead of Lisa Scheenaard of the Netherlands, whilst fellow Dutch Olympian Karolien Florijn took the single qualification place in the third heat. The final heat saw a win for China’s second sculler, Yunxia Chen, who won gold in the women’s quad at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

First Men’s Single Scullers Eliminated

With 25 entries in the men’s single sculls, a brutal progression system saw the first athletes eliminated. Unfortunately, Olympic Champion in this boat class, Stefanos Ntouskos from Greece had withdrawn before the regatta due to illness. John Collins, who finished fourth in the British men’s double in Tokyo has stepped into the single sculls for this regatta, and was the fastest across the six heats with a time of 7:17.46. Fellow Brit Graeme Thomas won Heat three, while reigning World and European Champion, Oliver Zeidler from Germany won the second heat. The sixth and final heat was won by Dutchman Melvin Twellaar, who won silver in the double sculls at last year’s Olympic Games.

Fast & Furious Racing in Lightweight Doubles

In the lightweight women’s doubles, the young China1 crew comfortably won Heat 1. In the second heat, Great Britain went even faster than China, finishing in a time of 7:13.80. Emily Craig from the British crew that finished fourth in Tokyo was joined by Maddie Arlett this time round. In the lightweight men’s doubles, Heat 1 was won by Ukraine. Igor Khmara and Stanislav Kovalov have been training in Bulgaria since the war broke out in Ukraine, and have been supported by the Bulgarian Federation. Switzerland’s Jan Schaeuble and Raphael Ahumada Ireland won the second heat in a time of 6:30.96.

Valentina Cavallar (b), Lara Tiefenthaler (s), Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls, Austria, 2022 World Rowing Cup I, Belgrade, Serbia / Detlev Seyb/MyRowingPhoto.com

Netherlands Pip China in Women’s Quad Test Race

China has dominated this boat class for many years, and led the test race until the fourth quarter when the Netherlands moved into the lead. Meanwhile, the crew from Ukraine was less than a second behind, so we will look forward to an exciting final on Sunday.

Eights Test Races

The final races of the morning session were optional test races for the eights. The Netherlands elected not to race either their women’s or their men’s eight. For the women, this meant a race between the two China crews and for the men, Great Britain showed their strength ahead of the China crew.

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Day One Daily Digest – 2022 World Rowing Cup series gets underway

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