LW4X

9 crews

Australia, Canada, China, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Thailand, USA, Vietnam

There’s only been one LW4X race this season and that was at the final World Cup in Lucerne but only consisted of three boats, Australia, GB and Japan. It was Australia, with their crew of Amy James, Alice Arch, Georgia Miansarrow and Georgia Nesbitt that took the gold ahead of GB. At the Poznan World Cup they split into doubles finishing 6th and 8th. Miansarrow has experience of racing this event at the World Championships finishing just outside of the medals in 2015.

Great Britain will be one of the favourites for gold in Sarasota, despite finishing runners-up to the Aussies in Lucerne they are, on paper, a stronger and more experienced crew. Ellie Piggott won this event in 2016 and was silver medallist in 2015. She and Gemma Hall also raced in the LW2X in Poznan finishing 7th.Maddie Arlett made her senior debut this season having raced the light quad at U23 level last year. At the 2nd World Cup she raced in the LW2X with Emily Craig picking up a bronze medal. Robyn Hart-Winks of the University of London is the least experienced member of the crew having made her debut in Lucerne. This is a combination with a huge amount of potential and will be battling for the win.

China have picked a mix of youth and experience. Dandan Pan (who has a frankly horrible bent-arm technique!) and Fang Chen raced in the LW2X in Lucerne taking the gold. Pan was 5th in the LW4X in 2015 and won bronze in the LW2X in 2014. They are joined by teenager Xulian Xuan who finished 3rd in this event last year and international debutant Ling Shen. You never quite know what you’ll get with Chinese crews, but this looks like it will be quick and could be pushing for a medal.

Italy have selected a young crew with 3 of the boat that won gold at the U23 World Championships (Asja Maregotto, Paola Piazzolla and Giovanna Cersarini). The 4th member of the crew is another U23 medallist, Federica Cesarini who took silver in the U23 light double. It remains to be seen how well this crew can make the step-up from U23 to senior racing. It’ll be exciting to watch.

Canada finished 4th in this event last season but only have one of that crew, Jill Moffatt, returning. Moffatt raced with Ellen Gleadow in the LW2X in Lucerne finishing 7th. They are joined in the quad by U23 international Jennifer Casson and international newcomer Patricia Mara. I’m not sure they have the speed to challenge for the medals but a solid A-Final finish will be a good result.

The USA have a very inexperienced crew with only one crew member, Jennifer Sager, having any international experience (racing at the U23 World Championship in 2015). She’s joined by Cara Stawicki, Kathryn Schiro and Jilian Zieff. Although this crew has little international experience, they all have a wealth of experience racing domestically in North America. It’ll be interesting to see them make the step up to the International stage.

Vietnam are an interesting crew, Huyen Ta Thanh and Ly Ho Thi raced in the LW2X at the Rio Olympics finishing 18th. In Sarasota they are joined by two teenagers both making their international debuts, 19 year old Thi Hao Dinh and 17 year old Thi Giang Nguyen. If they could make the A-final that would be a major achievement for Vietnamese Rowing.

The other boats racing are the Japanese – 3rd of 3 in Lucerne and a crew from Thailand (who’ll be having a great battle with the Vietnamese to be the best of South East Asia).

My picks: I reckon the British will take the win ahead of the Australians with the Chinese in bronze.

LM4X

17 crews

Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, The Czech Republic, France, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Nigeria, Norway, Switzerland, The USA.

A huge field (2 more than in the heavyweight division) with the gradual demise of lightweight sweep rowing the future, it would appear, is the quad.

Greece are the holders of the World Best Time (5:42.75) set at the World Championships in 2014. 3 years on they have 3 of that crew racing in Florida, Panagiotis Magdanis, Spyridion Giannaros and Eleftherios Konsolas. The 4th member of the crew is 2016 JM2- world champion Ninos Nikoladis. They haven’t raced as a quad so far this season but Giannaros and Magdanis raced in the LM2X at the Europeans finishing 8th with Konsolas finishing 13th in the LM1X. It remains to be seen if they can recapture the gold medal winning form in the bigger boat. But, with a pedigree like theirs they will start as one of the favourites for a medal.

Winners in Lucerne were the Italians, Matteo Mulas, Catello Amarante, Martino Goretti and andrea Micheletti. Goretti and Micheletti both have Olympic experience with the former racing in the LM4- and the latter in the LM2X. Mulas has experience of racing in this event having won bronze in 2013, 4th in 2014 and 6th in 2015 and also won gold at U23 level in 2012 and 2013. Amarante was member of the LM8 that won gold in 2015. The will probably start as marginal favourites in Sarasota.

The French finished runners-up to the Italians in Lucerne and have three of the crew that won silver at the Worlds last year – Francois Teroin, Damien Piqueros and Maxime Demontfaucon. Piqueras and Demontfaucon also raced in this event in 2015 winning the gold. Teroin raced in the U23 version in 2015 also winning the gold. The 4th member of the crew is Stany Delayre, world champion in the LM2X in 2015. So with a full crew of World Champions it’s an impressive line-up and it’s going to be really interesting to see them go head to head with the Italians and Greeks.

Bronze medallists in Lucerne were the Czechs, Jiri Kopac, Milan Viktora, Jan Vestenik, Jan Hajek. They raced in the light 4 at the Europeans winning the bronze and taking 10th in the open-weight 4- in Belgrade. Kopac and Vetesnik were members of the LM4- that finished 12th in Rio. They may struggle to get among the medals but will be strong contenders for the A-Final.

Switzerland have a young crew, all of whom are U23 World Champions. Matthias Fernandez, Andri Struzina and Pascal Ryser won the BLM4X earlier this season with Fiorin Rueedi winning the gold in the U23 BLM2- last year. This is a really exciting line up and part of an outstanding Swiss sculling squad. They may not challenge for the top honours this year but will be keen to test themselves against more senior opposition.

Others crews of note are the Germans, with one returner from the 2016 World Champion crew (Johannes Ursprung). They were 4th in Lucerne. Also watch out for the British with Rio Olympian Pete Chambers and U23 medallists Gavin Horsburgh and Ed Fisher along with Zak Lee-Green who raced in this boat class in 2015 and 2016. Also watch out for Austria, with Olympians Paul and Bernhard Seiber and U23 silver medallists Julian Schoebrl and Rainer Kepplinger.

My picks…it’s going to be really tight between the Italians, French and Greeks. I’m going to go for that to be a 1,2,3.

W4X

9 crews

Australia, China, France, Great Britain, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Ukraine, The USA

Poland are the form crew of the season so far, Agnieszka Kobus, Marta Wielczko, Maria Springwald and Katarzyna Zillmann won all three World Cups but suffered a blip when finishing 4th at the Europeans. Kobus and Springwald were members of the W4X that won bronze in Rio and Zillmann and Wielczko have made the step up to the senior ranks this season following gold in the U23 BW4x last year. They will start as clear favourites in Sarasota.

The Dutch and Poles have been battling each other for the past few years. In Rio the Dutch got the edge and took silver. They have a crew full of Olympic talent, with Inge Janssen and Nicole Beukers from the quad and Olivia Van Rooijen and Sophie Souwer from the Olympic W8. So far this season they have 3 silver medals at the 2nd and 3rd World Cups finishing behind the Poles and at the European’s where they finished 2nd to the Germans. The question is, who will come out on top when it really matters?

Germany have had a mixed season. For the German men the M8 is the be all and end all, for the women it’s the quad. Since 1990 a German W4X has finished on top of the podium at the World Championships no fewer than 12 times (if you include the GDR in 1990) and they also have won 5 of the last 7 Olympic titles and have never failed to make the podium. That’s an impressive record in anyone’s book and in fact is unmatched by any other nation in any other Olympic boat class. The question is, can they deliver in Sarasota? As mentioned above, they’ve had a tricky season, and have been mixing their line-ups at the World Cups. The highlight of their season so far was victory at the European Championships, the same line-up (Daniela Schultze, Charlotte Reinhardt, Frauke Hundeling and Frieda Haemmerling) then raced in Lucerne but were comprehensively beaten, missing the medals entirely and finishing 8 seconds behind the winners from Poland. So there is a huge amount of expectation and pressure on this German boat to deliver a big medal. The Europeans showed they have the capability to win gold, the question is, can they deliver?

The British are another nation with a strong history in this boat class, dominating the event in the 2nd half of the 00’s with 4 World titles in 5 years. But since that victory at Karapiro in 2010 they’ve failed to make the A-Final at the World Championships. The British have struggled to find a combination that “clicked”, it’s certainly not for the want of talent but no matter what they tried it hasn’t paid off. But, this season there are encouraging signs that finally they have a combination that is beginning to look competitive. The crew of Beth Bryan, Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne, Jess Leyden and Holly Nixon won bronze at the first World Cup (albeit in a field of only 3 boats) which was their first medal since the Munich World Cup of 2012. They followed this up with perhaps their best performance for 5 years when they won bronze at the Europeans which included the scalp of the Polish Olympic bronze medallists. Their final race at Lucerne was a little disappointing where they finished 5th of 6 boats (only managing to beat the Australian LW4X). If they can bring the sort of performance they showed in Racice then they stand a good chance of reaching their first World Championship A-Final since 2010.

Australia have had a good season racing in Europe. They took 2nd in Poznan and followed that up with a bronze in Lucerne. Three of the crew (Genevieve Horton, Rowena Meredith, Caitlin Cronin) went on to race at the U23 World Championships winning a silver medal in the BW4X (as an aside, they were beaten in Plovdiv by Great Britain – a crew containing Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne’s younger sister Charlotte – so it shows that there is a strong pipeline for the British and if the senior boat is unconvincing in Florida we could see more changes for 2018….). The 4th member of the Aussie crew is Leah Saunders who is herself an U23 medallist having won silver in 2015.

Ukraine are another crew that can blow hot and cold. They have three of the crew that finished 4th in Rio (Daryna Verkhogliad, Ievgeniia Nimchenko and Anastasiia Kozhenkova). They have only raced once as a quad this season finishing a disappointing 9th at the European Championships (although that crew only contained 2 of the boat that will race in Florida). The fourth member of the crew is Diana Dymchenko who spent the season racing in the W1X finishing 6th at both the first and second World Cup and then 7th in Lucerne. We’ll have to wait and see what sort of speed they have as a unit.

China finished 6th at the Rio Olympics and have three of that crew back for 2017 (Yan Jiang, Ling Zhang and Xinyue Zhang). The fourth member of the crew is Jingjing Li. This quartet raced as two W2X in Poznan with the Zhang’s finishing 2nd and Li and Jiang 7th. As with the Ukrainians it’s going to be a case of wait and see how they race when they come together as a quad. But with Olympic A-Final experience under their belts they must be considered a threat.

The final two crews to mention are the French and Americans. The French have the highly experienced pairing of Noemie Kober and Marie Le Nepvou in the stern. They finished 12th in the W2- at the Rio Olympics and this season took bronze in the W2X in Lucerne. It’s a bit of surprise therefore to see them move back into the quad in which they finished 5th at the Europeans. They are joined by two talented youngsters, Junior world medallist Margaux Bailleul and U23 international Julie Voirin. An A final finish would be a good performance for this boat. The Americans are the reigning World Champions in this boat class but none of that crew remain in the quad for 2017. This year’s crew includes 2013 W4- World Champion Emily Huelskamp, and 2012 Olympic W4X bronze medallist Kara Kohler. They are joined by Elizabeth Sonshine and Maureen McAuliffe, both of whom are making their senior international debuts.

My picks…this has the makings of a classic contest between the Polish, Dutch and Germans for the medals with the Chinese and Ukrainians as outside bets to get among the medals. I’m going to pick the Poles to just pip the Germans with the Netherlands in bronze.

M4X

15 crews

China, Cuba, Estonia, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, The USA.

This looks to be a showdown between the Lithuanians and the British for the gold medal. Lithuania have 3 of the crew that finished 9th in Rio, Dovydas Nemeravicius, Martynas Dziaugys and Aurimas Adomavicius. The 4th member of the crew is the highly talented Rolandas Mascinskas, world silver medallist in the M2X in 2015 (who missed the Olympics through injury). So far this season they are unbeaten with wins at both the Belgrade and Lucerne World Cups and at the European Championships (although the crew in Lucerne had Saulius Ritter in for Nemeravicius). They are an outstanding unit and would’ve been favourites for a medal in Rio had they not had to make a last minute change of crew.

The same could also be said for Great Britain. Injury to Greame Thomas meant that Jack Beaumont came into the crew and produced a strong performance to take 5th. Beaumont has now moved from “Super-sub” to a key member of the crew. He is joined by 3 fellow Rio Olympians, Pete Lambert from the M4X and John Collins and Jonno Walton who spent the Rio Olympiad in the M2X ending up 5th. As a quad they have shown great potential, 3rd at the first World Cup and 4th at the Europeans (when Toma Barras subbed in for an injured Pete Lambert). When Lambert returned to the boat for Poznan they won gold and then followed that up with a silver medal behind the Lithuanians at Lucerne. So far this season the Lithuanians are the only crew to have beaten a full strength British crew. But, the British beat them in Rio and according to John Collins “The Lithuanian quad is going be a very, very difficult boat to overturn. But not impossible. They are just four blokes and I’ve seen videos of them rowing and I’ve picked a lot of holes in it. I know they could very easily do the same to us, but I do think that we can compete. We had a lot to work on prior to the training camps that’s for absolutely certain but training has gone really well so now it’s down to mindset.”

Behind these two boats the battle for bronze is likely to be between Poland, Russia and The Netherlands.

Poland have two returners from the 4th place Olympic quad, Dariusz Radosz and Wiktor Chabel. They are joined by Dominik Czaja and Adam Wicenciak. They took silver behind the Lithuanians at the Europeans and bronze behind the British in Lucerne. Poland have a strong record in this event winning all 3 World Championships and the Olympics of the Beijing Olympiad. But, since 2009 Poland have only made the World Championship final once – finishing 4th in 2011. But this year’s line-up should repeat that A-Final appearance and will be serious contenders for a medal.

Russia won the silver medal at this year’s U23 World Championships and the same line-up is stepping up to the senior worlds. Andrey Potapkin and Pavel Sorin raced in the M4X at the Europeans finishing 10th having raced in the M2X to a 4th place at the Belgrade World Cup. It remains to be seen how competitive this young crew will be against senior opposition but they will be looking to lay down a marker for the start of the Olympiad.

The Netherlands are also a young outfit, Abe Wiersma and Amos Keijser won bronze in the U23 BM2X last season. They are joined by Freek Robbers and Koen Metsemakers. As a quad they finished 2nd to the British in Poznan and 6th in Lucerne (with Nikki Van Sprang replacing Wiersma).

Other crews to mention are the Estonians, with 3 Rio bronze medallists on board (Allar Rajar, Tonu Endrekson and Kaspar Taimsoo) with Kaspar Kuslap filling the 4th seat. So far this season they’ve not really shone with a 7th place at the Europeans and 10th in Lucerne but they are seasoned campaigners and cannot be discounted. Germany include Philipp Syring and Max Appel who won gold at the U23 World Championships in 2016. They join Timo Piontek and Tim Grohmann finishing 6th in Poznan and 9th in Lucerne. Norway finished 5th at the Europeans and took bronze in Poznan before slipping to 8th place in Lucerne. Also racing are the USA who finished 11th in Lucerne, New Zealand (7th in Poznan and 4th in Lucerne) China (9th in Poznan) France (with U23 silver medallists Bastian Quiqueret and Maxime Ducret) and a crew from Cuba.

My picks…it should be a fantastic contest between the British and the Lithuanians and I think the Brits may just edge it. Bronze to go to the Poles.