Time for part 2 and the women’s openweight events…

W1X

16 scullers

A smaller field than at the First World Cup but definitely a high quality one, with all three medallists from the 2017 world Championships and two of the three medallists from Belgrade. The one sculler missing however, is Sanita Puspure of Ireland. Her silver medal at the 1st World Cup was the best ever performance by an Irish W1X. But, funding issues means that the Irish team are unable to attend all the World Cups this season, their absence is a great shame.

Jeanine Gmelin is the stand-out performer in the W1x at the moment. After placing 5th at the Olympics she has dominated the W1X event going unbeaten throughout 2017. She started 2018 just as she left off in 2017 with a gold medal. The question is, can anyone beat the flying Swiss?

The sculler who came closest last year was Vicky Thornley who got within 2 seconds of Gmelin at the World Championships. Thornley’s silver was the first by a British woman since Katherine Grainger in 2009. Thornley didn’t have the best race in Belgrade, finishing off the pace in 5th, but she’s shown she has the ability to push the world Champion and she’ll be expecting to feature on the podium in Linz.

Great Britain have a 2nd sculler entered, Alics Baatz (who is doubling-up in the W2X). She wins her 3rd senior GB vest following a 5th place in the W4x AT Lucerne last year.

One of the most consistent scullers of the last few years is Magdalena Lobnig of Austria. She’s made the podium at ever regatta since Rio including gold in Poznan and bronze at the World Championships. I fully expect her to be in the mix for the podium again, but it’ll be for the lesser medals.

Maddy Edmunds of Australia will be racing the W1X internationally for the first time since finishing 9th at the U23 world Championships in 2011. The Queenslander has spent the majority of her senior career racing in the quad, including at the Rio Olympics. In 2017 she switched to the W2X with Olympia Aldersey winning a bronze medal (her first at a senior World Champs). Time will tell how she gets on in the smallest boat.

Annekathrin Thiele has been Germany’s representative in the W1X throughout 2017 and 2018. The Olympic W4X champion has had some mixed fortunes since switching to the single with only a bronze at the 2017 European Championships (and a win at Henley) to her credit. Sarasota was particularly disappointing for her when she missed the A final and ended up 4th in the B-Final. In Belgrade she finished 4th, 2 seconds off the bronze.

6th in Belgrade was the 2012 silver medallist Fie Udby Erichsen of Denmark. She’s yet to recapture the form that took her to the podium in London and hasn’t yet won a medal since her return to competition in 2014.

New Zealand have struggled somewhat to fill the gap left by Emma Twigg. For 2017 and 2018 that responsibility fell to Hannah Osborne from the Waikato Rowing Club. In 2017 she had a best finish of 5th at the Poznan World Cup, and ended the season finishing 8th at the World Championships. An A-final finish would be a strong result for the Kiwi.

The final sculler to mention is Alena Furman of Belarus. She entered both the open-weight and Lightweight singles in Belgrade but ended up only racing (and winning) the lightweight event. It remains to be seen if she decides to race open-weight in Linz (or if she has a problem making weight the Belarusians have the option to race her in the W1X).

My picks…hard to choose anyone other than Gmelin to continue her winning streak. I think Thornley will be back on form to take the silver with Australia’s Maddy Edmunds in bronze.

W2X

14 Doubles

This isn’t an especially strong field, with only one of the A-Final crews from Sarasota racing. But, that one crew are the new Zealand World Champions, Brook Donohghue and Olivia Loe. They came together as a double last season and are unbeaten so far. It would be a major upset if they didn’t extend that run of victories in Linz.

The crew that will most likely be leading the chase are the Greeks, Anneta Kyridou and Sofia Asoumanaki. Kyridou raced the W1X in Belgrade finishing 15th. Asoumanaki finished 4th at the Rio Olympics and won silver in the U23 W1X in 2016. She has spent the last year rowing sweep at the University Of Washington. It may take time for this combination to gel but it has a lot of potential.

Belarus have two boats racing, with Ekaterina Karsten and Tatsiana Khukta racing as BLR1 and Tatsiana Klimovich & Krystina Staraselets BLR2. These boats finished 5th and 6th in Belgrade and could repeat that this time.

Great Britain have an exciting new combination for 2018 with Lucy Glover and Alice Baatz. Glover won silver in the JW4X in 20116 and then gold in the BW4X last year. Still only 19, Linz marks the senior debut for one of GB’s most talented young scullers. As mentioned above, Baatz is entered in the W1X as well as the W2X.

Germany also have two boats entered, and they look evenly matched on paper. Racing as GER1 are Frauke Hundeling and Julia Leiding. Hundeling was in the W4X in Belgrade that took bronze. She raced in the quad throughout the 2017 season winning the European Championships and placing 4th at the Worlds. Leiding raced in the w2X last year with a best finish of 4th at the European Championships. Germany 2 is Michaela Stahlberg and Carina Baer. Stahlberg was also a member of the W4X in Belgrade and Baer makes her first appearance since winning gold in the W4X in Rio.

The Netherlands should also be in the mix for the medals. They won in Belgrade but have made a change to that line-up with Karolien Florijn joining Roos De Jong in place of Lisa Scheenaard. Florijn was in the W4x that won in Belgrade having been in the W8 for the World Championships and the gold medal U23 W4-.

The Czech Republic, Kristyna Fleissnerova and Lenka Antosova, are one of the longer-established duos. They have been racing together in this boat class since 2015 and finished 10th in Rio and 7th at the 2017 World Championships.

Also racing are two Austrian boats (including Magdalena Lobnig’s sister Katharina), Italy, Poland and Switzerland.

My picks….this should be a comfortable win for the New Zealanders, but silver and bronze are going to be quite tight. I’m going for BLR1 in silver with the Netherlands in bronze.

W2-

17 crews

Another event where I expect the Kiwis to dominate, Kerri Gowler and Grace Prendergast are the reigning World Champions and went unbeaten throughout 2017, setting a new World Best Time in the process (6:49.08). Both were members of the W8 that finished 4th at the Rio Olympics. At the New Zealand championships they faced off against eachother with Prendergast taking the honours on behalf of the Southern Regional Performance Centre (with Emma Dyke) by 4 seconds over Gowler and partner Ella Greenslade for the Central RPC.

The main threat to the Kiwis will come from another pair of reigning World Champions, Madalina Beres and Iuliana Popa of Romania. They won gold in the W8 (breaking the US run of 11 World and Olympic titles). The pair are doubling-up in the W8 which is common practice for the Romanians (although it’ll be a first for this pair). Romania have a 2nd pair racing with Andrea-ioana Budeanu and Amalia Beres (Madalina’s younger sister) both making their senior debuts.

Australia are the third set of World Champions in this event, Sarah Hawe and Lucy Stephan were in the W4- that won last year. They too are doubling-up in Linz, but for them its back to the boat in which they won the World Championships. Stephan was a member of the hastily put together W8 that raced in Rio.

Great Britain could well squeak a medal as well. They have two boats racing with Anastasia Chitty and Rebecca Girling in GBR1 and Rowan McKellar and Harriet Taylor in GBR2. Chitty and Girling finished just outside of the medals in Belgrade. In 2017 Chitty raced in the W8 that finished 5th and Girling was in the W4- that finished 7th. McKellar and Taylor both raced in the W8 in Belgrade winning their first senior medals.

The Italians also have two boats racing, Alessandra Patelli and Sara Bertolasi make their first appearance since finishing 11th at the Rio Olympics. This duo first raced the pair together in 2015 and their best performance was a silver medal at the Varese World Cup in 2016. The 2nd Italian pair are Ilaria Broggini and Veronica Cabrese who finished 7th in Belgrade.

Germany have two young crews, each with an international debutant, Hannah Bornschein in GER1 and Anna Haertl in GER2. Bornschein is partnered by Lea-Kathleen Kuehne who finished 6th in the pair in Sarasota and in GER2 is Alyssa Meyer who spent 2016 and 2017 in the U23 team.

Also racing a two Chinese boats who were both in the B-Final in Belgrade, 2 Hungarian crews, a young Greek crew, Serbia (11th in Belgrade) and Ukraine.

My picks….New Zealand comfortable in gold, Romania in silver and Australia in bronze.

W4-

13 crews

Australia are the reigning World Champions in this event. They have two boats racing with the World Champion crew racing, with one change, as AUS1. Lucy Stephan, Sarah Hawe and Molly Goodman are now partnered by Rosemary Popa. Katrina Werry, who was in the crew in Sarasota, now races in the AUS 2 crew. She’s joined by U23 silver medallist Annabelle McIntyre, 2016 U23 international Jacinta Edmunds and international debutant Ciona Wilson. As mentioned above, Hawe and Stephan are doubling-up in the W2-. The AUS2 crew are all racing in the W8 as well.

The Netherlands took gold and silver in Belgrade and they have two crews racing in Linz as well – but they are two completely different line-ups. NED1 is led by Carline Bouw. She is making her first appearance since winning silver in the W4X in Rio. She’s joined by Elsbeth Beres (bronze medallist in the W2- last year) and Lisanne Brandsma and Hermijntje Drenth (who were in the 3rd W4- in Belgrade that finished 7th).

New Zealand are the current holders of the World Best Time (set back in 2014). None of that crew are in the 2018 boat, instead there is Kirstyn Goodger, Phoebe Spoors, Ruby Tew and Elizabeth Jeurissen. Tew is a bronze medallist in the W8 from 2018 and Goodger was in this boat in 2017 that finished 10th. Phoebe Spoors makes her debut and Jeurissen raced in the U23 team last season.

Poland were runners-up at the World Championships and three of that crew return (Monika Chabel, Joanna Dittmann and Maria Wierzbowska) they are joined by Maria’s sister Anna who should’ve been in the crew in Florida until a serious accident meant she missed out. Chabel and Dittmann raced in the W4- in Belgrade finishing 6th, the Wierzbowska sisters raced the W2- taking 7th.

Great Britain finished 4th in Belgrade and were all members of the W8 that finished 5th last year. Karen Bennett won silver in the W8 in Rio and Fiona Gammond and Holly Norton were both in the W4- that won the World Championships in 2016. They will be looking for a stronger performance than in Belgrade and a medal is a definite possibility.

Russia were bronze medallists in Belgrade and have three of the crew that also won bronze at the World Championships (Ekaterina Potapova, Anastasia Tikhanova and Elena Oriabinskaia) they are joined by Ekaterina Sevostianova who raced in the W8 last year.

Also racing are a young German crew, Italy and two Chinese boats.

My picks…..Australia for the win with Poland in silver and GB in bronze.

W4X

12 crews

Poland v the Netherlands round 4! These two crews have been trading gold and silver at the last three regattas. So far it’s 2:1 to the Dutch. The Dutch have made one change to the crew that won in Belgrade, Lisa Scheenaard comes in in place of Karolien Florijn. The Polish are unchanged from the crew that won silver in Belgrade and Florida. Seeing these two crews go head-to-head again should provide some fireworks.

Great Britain missed the Belgrade world Cup due to illness, but they are all fit for Linz. They surprised a few people (me included) by taking bronze at the World Championships last season. Two of that crew return, Jess Leyden and Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne. They are joined by Rio silver medallist Dr Zoe Lee, in her first race since the Olympics. The 4th member of the crew is Mel Wilson who finished 4th in the W2- last year. This has the makings of a really strong crew, whether they’ve the speed at the moment to get amongst the Dutch and Poles remains to be seen, but they could be really strong contenders for the bronze.

Germany have a new combination for Linz. Franziska Kampmann and Carlotta Nwadje won silver in the W2X in Belgrade and Marie-Catherine Arnold raced the W1X, the 4th member of the crew is the only one who was in the boat in Belgrade, Frieda Haemmerling.

Belarus have the two W2X doubling-up in the W4X – Ekaterina Karsten, Tatsiana Kukhta, Tatsians Klimovich and Krystina Staraselets.

Ukraine have the same line-up that finished 4th in Rio, Daryna Verkhogliad, Olena Buryak, Anastasia Kozhenkova and Ievgeniia Nimchenko. They’ve not produced the sort of form that they showed in Rio and have failed to make the A-Final throughout 2017 and 2018. If they can rediscover their 2016 pace they could be a real handful.

Also racing are a couple of Chinese boats, the Czech Republic, Norway and Romania.

My picks…the Dutch and Poles to go 1,2 again, but behind them….I’m going to stick my Union Jack pants on and go for GB.

W8

6 crews

Romania are the reigning World Champions and have 7 of that crew returning, the new members of the crew are Cristina-Georgina Popescu and Alina Ligia Pop (both of whom raced in the W4- last year).

New Zealand were bronze medallists at the World Championships, but they have made a number of changes to that crew with Elizabeth Ross, Kelsi Parker,Ella Greenslade and Jackie Gowler coming into the crew. Ross and Gowler were in the W4- last season, Greenslade and Parker are both making their senior international debuts.

The Netherlands were gold medallists in Belgrade and are unchanged for Linz and 6 of the crew raced in 2017 reaching the A-Final.

Great Britain are in the process of rebuilding their women’s sweep squad following wholesale retirements after Rio. They won silver behind the Dutch in Belgrade but have a completely different line-up for Linz with Caragh McMurtry, Sara Parfett, Holly Hill, Rebecca Chin, Josephine Wratten, Katherine Douglas, Emily Ford, Emily Ashford and coz Matilda Horn (the sole remaining member of the Belgrade crew). It remains to be seen how this new combination fares in a tough field.

Australia have a new line up for 2018. They’ve struggled to find a competitive crew in the last few years. The last time they made an A-Final was Lucerne 2015 and haven’t won a medal since the Sydney World Cup in 2013. They are a young, and relatively inexperienced crew, six of whom are making their senior debuts. Katrina Werry is the most experienced member of the crew having won gold in the W4- last year.

China are the final crew racing, they finished 3rd in Belgrade over a length behind the British.

My picks…Romania in gold with The Netherlands in silver and the Kiwis in bronze.