Varese turned on glorious sunny Italian weather and calm conditions for the first day of the 2024 World Rowing Cup I, with a strong entry producing some great racing to start the Olympic year.

Swiss best the Sinkovics

The big question before the regatta was what sort of form Martin and Valent Sinkovic of Croatia could find in their return to sweep rowing after two seasons back in the double scull. The brothers looked good, but Swiss world champions Andrin Gulich and Roman Roeoesli had more finishing speed and took the win in their heat of the men’s pair. Tom George and Ollie Wynne-Griffith of Great Britain were the other direct qualifiers for the final from heat 1.

Martin Sinkovic said: “It’s good. It’s better flowing than before, I think we are more stable in the boat so we have a good feeling. We’ll improve through the season and we’ll see how it goes.”

Dutch remain dominant

World champions Melvin Twellaar and Stef Broenink continued their winning streak in the men’s double sculls by crossing first in heat 1, but they were pushed in the closing stages by a great second half from Germany’s Jonas Gelsen and Marc Weber. In heat 2, a familiar rivalry between Italy and Ireland was rekindled with Italy’s Luca Rambaldi and Matteo Sartori taking the direct A-final place, after leading from the start.

Twellaar said: “There are some things we could improve but it’s OK for now. Tomorrow we have an easy day, then come back for the final. Curious to know what’s in it.”

Fighting Irish sprint to the win

For most of the first heat of the women’s four it looked like reigning world champions the Netherlands would chalk up another win – but Ireland, sitting in third behind Denmark at the 1500m mark, saw an opportunity to grab one of the two places in the final and their finishing sprint took them through the Dutch to win by 0.1 seconds. In heat 2, the rankings proved correct for Great Britain, whose top boat won the heat ahead of GBR2 and GBR3, both of the latter crews doubling up in the women’s eight.

Ireland’s Eimear Lambe said: “It was actually our first race together in this combination, so it was really good to get out, get the cobwebs off, and start up the platform. It’s something to build off, definitely. We were really good in the middle and we just knew that we had something left in us, and we knew that second wasn’t too far away, so from 500m we just went heads in, and just emptied it out.”

Britain knocked off top spot

The surprise in heat 2 of the men’s four was that reigning world champions Great Britain were beaten, by a stunning race from a new-look Italian crew. In fact the British had to battle back from fourth at 500m to claim the second qualifying spot for the final. In heat 1, it was Switzerland who took victory, 0.1 seconds over Germany, showing that hard winter miles have paid off for a crew that were only eighth at the 2023 World Rowing Championships.

Florijn cruises as Puspure returns

Dutch world champion Karolien Florijn again set the standard in the women’s single sculls, posting the fastest time of the three heats (7:37.12). But former world champion Sanita Puspure is back in the women’s single sculls and the 42-year-old Irishwoman looked very good in winning her heat too. Virginia Diaz Rivas of Spain was the third heat winner. Reigning and former under-23 world champions Aurelia-Maxima Janzen of Switzerland and Germany’s Alexandra Foester had to race the afternoon’s repechages, but both made it through safely to Saturday’s semifinals.

Zeidler sets the mark

Men’s single sculls world champion Oliver Zeidler of Germany looked strong in both heats and quarterfinals on Friday, winning the heat in the fastest time of the round and leading out his quarterfinal over lightweight world champion Andri Struzina of Switzerland. World silver medallist Simon van Dorp of the Netherlands also progressed safely to the semifinal, but was beaten in the quarterfinals by Croatia’s three-time Olympic medallist Damir Martin who seems to be in excellent form. However, Norwegian Olympic silver medallist Kjetil Borch misses out on the semifinals after finishing fifth in his quarterfinal.

Craig and Grant in control

World champions and world best time holders Emily Craig and Imogen Grant of Great Britain were six seconds faster than any other crew in the lightweight women’s double sculls heat, their time of 6:52.58 putting them in pole position for the final. Olympic champions Valentina Rodini and Federica Cesarini of Italy were second behind the Britons in heat 1, while Canada’s Jill Moffatt and Jennifer Casson pipped Australia’s Anneka Reardon and Georgia Miansarow on the line for first in heat 2, in 6:58.47.

Italy’s lightweights in fine form

Italy have two crews qualified for the final of the lightweight men’s double sculls, with Stefano Oppo and Gabriel Soares winning heat 2, and Niels Torre and Giovanni Borgonovo coming in second in heat 1 behind world silver medallists Jan Schaueble and Raphael Ahumada Ireland of Switzerland. Germany’s Jonathan Rommelmann and Paul Leerkamp were second in heat 2 and also have a spot in Sunday’s final.

Dutch sculling still rules

The superb Dutch men’s quadruple sculls crew, who won last year’s World Rowing Championships ahead of Italy, took a commanding lead in heat 1 of their event to secure top spot and a place in the final, alongside Switzerland. Italy led out heat 2 but Great Britain – who have put the experienced Graeme Thomas into the stroke seat this season – stayed calm and took a clear water victory, with Italy in second.

Double the fun

Both Great Britain and Australia had doubled up in the women’s eight and women’s fours, but they had different outcomes in the women’s eight heats. While Great Britain were able to paddle across the line in first place in heat 2, Australia were fourth in heat 1. That was won by Italy 1, ahead of Romania.

World champions still have it

Great Britain’s world champion men’s eight made no mistakes in winning their heat as Friday morning’s racing came to a close. In heat 2, it was all about a new-look Dutch eight, who earned a place in Sunday’s final with a good win over Germany.

Ukraine surprise in women’s quads

The five preliminary races of the day were generally quiet affairs, but Ukraine sprung a surprise in the women’s quadruple sculls by beating world champions Great Britain and silver medallists the Netherlands. Ukraine are yet to qualify this boat for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and have clearly put in the work over the winter.

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How to follow the 2024 World Rowing Cup I in Varese, Italy

2024 World Rowing Cup I kicks off in sunny Varese

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