Image credit: World Rowing
Entries: Eight
As is often the case in both age- and weight-restricted categories, there is a lot of turnover in the athletes participating. As such, the only returners from the 2024 U23 World Rowing Championships in St Catherine’s are the Austrian combination of Mathias Mair and Elias Hautsch. This duo has been developing for several years, making their debut together at the 2023 championships, moving on to finish fifth in 2024, and making their senior international debut at the European Rowing Championships this spring. Back in the U23 ranks, the selectors have stuck with this crew, as Mair is entering his final year of eligibility, hoping for a medal in Poznan.
Another crew with returners from the 2024 championships is Germany, as Maximillian Ruehling won the two-boat race for gold in the lightweight quadruple sculls. Now that the boat class has been discontinued from the championships, the Mainz sculler has teamed up with Naveen Shah of Kassel in the lightweight double. This double was selected for their spot in Poznan against a strong domestic field by more than five seconds, earning Shah his first international vest, and they will be hoping to win another medal for the lightweight squad in black, red and gold.
Italy, another nation with a strong history in lightweight boats, has entered the Torino-based crew of Tito Christoforakis and Giacomo Matteucci. This duo, who train within a few kilometres of each other on the Po, will both make their U23 debut in Poznan, having earned junior international vests in 2023. Since those championships, the two athletes have developed, earning regional and national titles and will now reemerge on the international stage in search of medals.
The Serbian crew of Ratko Bundalo and Nemanja Kesic is another well-practised duo, with both enrolled at the University of Novi Sad in the north of the country. Two years ago, they made their international debuts in the U23 lightweight quad, finishing sixth in Plovdiv’s six-boat field. Not making the trip to Canada, they embraced the double last season, finishing sixth at the European University Championships. Re-entering the premier venue for age group rowing, they must take a step forward if they want to impress in Poznan.
The home crew of Kacper Mickiewicz and Martin Weichhaus are donning the Polish colours for the second time this season. When they raced together at Ratzeburg, they finished seven and ten seconds off the pace of the German winners across Saturday and Sunday’s racing, respectively. Getting the rare opportunity to race the best in the world on their home water, this is the first U23 World Rowing Championships for both athletes. However, if they want to show their best, they will need to have improved since late May.
The Norwegian entry in this event is one of just two in the whole regatta, with Mads Reite joining with Valentin Wang-Norderud. Reite has burst onto the scene as the 19-year-old made his senior international debut this spring, racing as the lightweight single sculler at the European Rowing Championships and the World Rowing Cup Varese. This spring, Wang-Norderud was still in the United States, racing as part of Dartmouth’s first varsity group, which won silver at the collegiate National Championships. Despite this experience racing across the Atlantic, this event will mark Wang-Norderud’s debut on the international scene, and the crew will look to come together and show what they are capable of.
Another crew with an understandable influence from the IRA championship field is that of the United States. Their crew consists of two athletes from different universities, who came together in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, to train for this crew. Ian Holly finished his junior year with a fourth-place finish in the top Penn lightweight boat, while partner Will Konopka finished sixth with the Yale second lightweight crew. After sweeping all year, sculling may be a tough transition as they measure themselves against the world’s best young lightweight rowers.
Rounding out the field is another duo of debutants: France’s Leon Pignot and Leo Desmolles. Based within the Arrondissement of Lyon, this combination finished second and third at the senior national championships in the lightweight single, representing the best of young French lightweight rowing to the world. This being the first major international race for either of them, the expectations will be unclear, but they would not be making the trip to Poznan if they weren’t expecting to perform well.
Prediction
With U23 national crews, lineups are often made very late in the season. As such, the Austrian pair has a distinct advantage, having raced together at this level for some time, and is my pick for the gold medal.
