The culmination of the 2018 season sees the rowing world descend on Plovdiv in Bulgaria for the senior World Championships. This is the first time that the full senior Worlds have taken place on the purpose built course (the Worlds for non-Olympic events were held here in 2012), with the U23 Worlds were in 2017 and the Junior Worlds in 1999. The World Rowing Media Guide says the Plovdiv course “has a reputation for being a fast course”……the juniors in 1999 will agree with that when there was some very, very strange times set….5:20 in the JM8 and 6:31 in the M1X (both of which were faster than the Senior World Best of the time) funnily enough those times have been excluded from the record books due to “unusually warm water”. With the exceptionally hot weather recently in Europe we could see some quick times this year.

This year’s worlds has attracted nearly 950 athletes from 82 countries with the biggest field competing in the M1X…so let’s have a look at whose racing.

M1X

Defending champion: Ondrej Synek (Czech Republic)

Entries: 34

The M1X event this season has been fascinating to watch, especially the internal selection battles in New Zealand and Germany. Olympic champion, Mahe Drysdale, has lost the single spot (for now) to Robbie Manson. Manson has dominated the M1X event since he started in 2017. He took wins at both 2017 World Cups (setting a new World Best Time in Poznan) before suffering from illness at the World Championships and slipping to 5th. He has another 2 gold medals from the World Cups in 2018 as well, and more importantly a host of wins against Drysdale securing him the berth for Plovdiv. Drysdale hasn’t given up on his hopes of defending his Olympic title in Tokyo, but for the year at the least he’s taken a seat in the M4X (more of that later).

The other internal selection battle was between Tim Ole Naske and Olivier Zeigler of Germany. Naske won the German small Boat Championships, and finished one place ahead of the young Zeidler at the Linz World Cup. But, the 22 year old Zeidler got revenge in Lucerne taking silver behind Manson with Naske back in 6th. That result was enough for the selectors to go with Zeidler, one of the most exciting young scullers on the circuit. For Naske the surprise is he has no seat in any boat in Plovdiv. I believe this is the first time that the German M1X champion isn’t racing in any boat at the World Championships.

Ondrej Synek is the defending World Champion, and compared to Zeidler and Manson, is the “old man” of the circuit. The 35 year-old has been racing in this event since 2005 and has medalled at every World Championships since (including 5 golds). He took gold in the first World Cup of the season, but slipped to 3rd in Lucerne (beaten by Manson and Zeidler). He’s one of the best “big race” scullers and knows how to peak for the big occasions and there’s no-one more experienced in the field.

Another strong medal contender is Norway’s Kjetil Borch. The Rio M2X bronze medallist finished 5th in the double last season partnering Olaf Tufte. This season he moves to the single. He had a slow start to the season, finishing 9th in Belgrade before moving up to 4th in Linz. The highlight of the season for him so far is gold at the European Championships (his first championship M1X gold medal).

2nd to Borch at the European Championships was Mindaugus Griskonis from Lithuania. The 32 year old is chasing a place at his 4th Olympic Games and won silver in Rio in the M2X with Saulius Ritter. Like Borch, he too had a slow start to the season with 20th at the 1st World Cup and 8th in Lucerne. But, his 2nd place at the European’s shows he is competitive and will be in the mix for the medals.

Another exciting young sculler, making his senior World Championship debut, is Canada’s Trevor Jones. 6ft 8 Jones is a 4th year student at Trent University in Ontario. He came to prominence in 2017 winning the U23 BM1X World Championships and then successfully defended his title this year in Poznan and he’s still only 20! It’s going to be really interesting to see how he fares against senior competition. A podium is probably a step too far this year, but a solid A-Final finish will be a great end to the 2018 season for him.

The Swiss coaches have been testing 3 scullers for the single and double (Nico Stahlberg, Roman Roeoseli and Barnabe Delarze). Nico Stahlberg started the season in the M1X finishing 10th in Belgrade, before moving to the M2X for Linz and Lucerne winning a bronze medal each time, before placing 5th at the Europeans. But, for the World Championships he’s back in the M1X, the boat class he raced to a 9th place at the 2017 World Championships.

4th at the European Championships was Poland’s Natan Wegrzycki-Szymczyk. The University of California student finished 7th at the Rio Olympics and then finished 3rd behind Jones at the 2017 U23 Worlds and 7th at the Senior Worlds in Florida.

Denmark’s Sverri Nielsen made the A-final at both the 1st and 2nd World Cups. His 4th place in Belgrade was the best ever by a Danish heavyweight men’s single sculler. He just missed out on the A-Final in Lucerne, but he will be a strong contender for an A-Final placing in Plovdiv.

Other scullers to mention are Serbia’s Marko Marjanovic, 5th at the Europeans, Harry Leask of Great Britain who finished 7th in Linz before subbing into the M2X at the European Championships winning a bronze medal.

Perhaps one of the surprises at the World Championships is who isn’t racing. Neither the Olympic silver medallist, Damir Martin of Croatia, nor World Silver medallist Angel Fournier Rodriguez of Cuba, will be racing in Plovdiv. Martin finished 4th last year but his results so far this season have been disappointing, with 11th in Linz and 15th at the Europeans. Rodriguez made the A-Final at both Belgrade and Linz World Cups. The absence of these two “big” names opens up the field.

My picks….difficult to see anyone beating a fit Robbie Manson. What will be interesting is the contest behind the Kiwi for the silver and bronze. I’m going with Synek to just pip the young German, Zeidler for the silver.

W1X

Defending champion: Jeanine Gmelin (Switzerland)

Entries: 24

Jeanine Gmelin of Switzerland will start as a very strong favourite in Plovdiv. She’s unbeaten in 20 races winning gold at her last 7 regattas. She creating a dominance not seen in this event since the legendary Ekaterina Karsten (who went unbeaten in the W1X between the 1st World Cup of 2005 and the 3rd World Cup of 2008). Gmelin has been winning in style and was named as World Rowing’s Female Crew of the Year in 2017. She’s not the tallest of athletes at just 171cm (compared to the likes of Vicky Thornley at 193cm and Magdalena Lobnig at 180cm), but she is probably one of the most powerful.

Runner-up to Gmelin at the Linz World Cup and the European Championships was Magdalena Lobnig of Austria. She’s one of the most consistent scullers on the circuit having only missed a place in the A-Final twice since 2013 and she’s also a regular on the podium (including gold at the 2016 European Championships and at the 2017 Poznan World Cup – although neither event included Gmelin).

Sanita Puspure of Ireland has had an excellent 2018 taking silver at the Belgrade and Lucerne World Cups (the first time an Irish W1X has won a silver medal). Funding issues meant she was unable to compete at the European Championships so will be throwing everything at it in Plovdiv and could well be the main challenger to Gmelin.

Another strong A-Final contender is Canada’s Carling Zeeman. Coached by Volker Nolte she made her senior debut in 2013 and raced for Canada in the W1X at the Rio Games finishing in the B-Final. She took silver in the final World Cup in 2017 before finishing 6th at the World Championships. In 2018 she made a slowish start to the World Cup series, with a 9th in Poznan. However she showed much better race pace in Lucerne were she finished on the podium in 3rd.

Another sculler who had a slightly sluggish start to their 2018 World Cup season was Kara Kohler of the USA. In Poznan she finished 7th but then at Lucerne she moved up to the A Final and just missed out on the podium. This is her first international season in the single having raced in the W4X in 2017. The USA have a strong reputation in this boat class, with Gevvie Stone having won silver at the Rio Olympics and Kohler is a worthy successor, she may not quite make the podium this season but will definitely be one to watch heading into the crucial 2019 season.

Another nation with a strong reputation in this event is New Zealand. Emma Twigg was World Champion in 2014 and finished 4th in Rio after which she announced her retirement. However, earlier this year she announced her intention to make a comeback for the Tokyo Games. All of this means that the current incumbent in the W1X, Hannah Osborne, will have a fight on her hands to retain her seat. The 24 year old made her senior debut in 2017 filling Twigg’s shoes, and delivered her best performance in her first outing taking 5th at the Poznan World Cup. She’s struggled a little since then having been a solid B-Final finisher ever time she’s raced since.

Germany’s Annekatrin Thiele is one of the most experienced racers on the circuit having made her senior international debut in 2005. She is a three-time Olympic medallist with silvers from Beijing and London and then a gold in the W4X in Rio. She moved to the single after Rio and won bronze at the European Championships in 2017. She’s made the A-Final at all three World Cups but did not race at the Europeans. Having missed the A-Final at the 2017 World Championships she’ll be looking to make the step up to the top 6 in Plovdiv.

Maddy Edmunds of Australia won silver in the W2X at the 2017 World Championships before moving into the W1X for the 2018 season. She finished 5th at the Linz World Cup and was runner-up to Gmelin in the Princess Royal Challenge Cup at Henley. Lucerne was a bit of a step back when she missed the A-Final but has definitely shown the speed to be a strong A-Final contender.

Denmark’s Fie Udby Erichsen has had an up and down season this year, with the highlight being a bronze medal at the Linz World Cup (her first medal since winning silver at the London Olympics). This season also saw her take 6th in Belgrade and 7th in Lucerne. She’s beginning to show the sort of speed that took her to the Olympic podium in 2012.

Other scullers to mention are Ukraine’s Diana Dymchenko (European bronze medallist from Strathclyde) and Sweden’s 2017 U23 World Champion Lovisa Claesson.

It’s also worth mentioning a key absentee from Plovdiv, GB’s Vicky Thornley – silver medallist at last year’s World Championships – announced recently that she won’t be racing as she wasn’t in the right shape physically or emotionally due to overtraining. Her results this season have been disappointing compared to her own high standards with two A Final finishes, but she was unable to defend her European title in Strathclyde and took the decision to end her season early. Fingers crossed she recovers well and is back at her best for 2019.

My picks…Difficult to see anyone beating Gmelin to retain her title. Behind her it should be a great contest for the minor medals between Puspure, Lobnig, Kohler and Zeeman. I’m going for the Irishwoman to take silver and win Irelands first ever World Championship W1X medal with Kohler of the USA to get bronze.