Image Credit: World Rowing
Entries: 14
Great Britain has won this event every year since 2019, and their crew aims to extend that run, which includes three of the victorious 2024 crew: Gabe Obholzer, Cameron Beyki, and coxswain Tom Bryce. Obholzer, from Harvard, was also in the GB U23 eight that won gold in 2023. The crew also includes Josh Brangan and Harry Geffen, who won U23 world gold in the four. In 2024, Geffen became a two-time U23 world champion, having won the pair in 2023. At two is Richard Hawes from Brookes, who finished seventh in the pair last year, and won The Prince Albert Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. He and Bryce are the only members of the crew not studying in the USA. Stroking the boat is 2022 U19 world champion, Cameron Tasker, who has just finished his junior year at the University of Washington. The other members of the crew are Ben Mead from Yale and Tristan Wenger from Princeton. Wenger, Beyki and Geffen won The Visitors’ Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta this year (with Calvin Tarczy).
The biggest challenge to GB may well come from Australia. They were bronze medallists last year, and they come to Poznan with six of that 2024 crew: James Frederikson, Jeremy Beale, Andrew Weightman, Ed Nutt, Ben Scott and coxswain Jonathan Cooke. The remaining crew members are Darcy Watter (fourth in the coxed four last year) and the Cashman twins, Daniel and Matthew. The Cashmans and Nutt are currently at Princeton, and the twins raced in the 2V that won silver at the Eastern Sprints, whilst Nutt was in the 1V that took bronze at the Sprints.
In terms of senior international experience, Italy are the crew to beat. The middle four of their crew, Emilio Pappalettera, Simone Pappalepore, Andrea Licatalosi and Guglielmo Melegari, raced as a four at the Varese World Rowing Cup this season (finishing 11th) and were also the male members of the inaugural mixed eight at the Varese World Rowing Cup. Pappalettera, Licatalosi and Melegari also raced in the eight at the opening World Rowing Cup of the 2024 season and Pappalettera and Pappalepore were part of the U23 coxed four that won gold in 2023. The stern pair is made up of two U19 medallists stepping up to the U23 team in Luca Cassina (gold in the coxless four at the 2024 U19 European Rowing Championships) and Giulio Zuccala (silver in the coxed four at the 2022 U19 World Rowing Championships). In the bows are Virgilio Sorrentino (fifth in the coxless four last year) and Filippo Angelina (third in the eight at the 2023 U19 European Rowing Championships).
Canada placed fourth in this event last year, and returns with four of that crew: Payton Gauthier, Rob Walsh, Adrian Breen and cox Oscar Wostenholme. They are joined by Antony Klar and Matteo Banducci, both of whom are currently students at Cornell. Banducci and Connor Bohlmann from Princeton are doubling up in the pair. The remaining members of the crew are Daniel Mielecki from the University of Victoria and Adam Griesbach from Western University.
Germany’s U23 eight is built around a core of three athletes from Cal, Berkeley: Johannes Benien, Noah Anger and Max Pfautsch, all of whom have won U23 medals over the last couple of seasons. Benien took silver in the pair last year, Anger bronze in the 2023 eight and Pfautsch gold in the 2023 quad. Other members of the 2023 bronze medal-winning crew are Paul Martin and stroke-man Ole Bartenbach. Bartenbach, Pfautsch, Martin, and Sven Achterfeld were all members of the eight that finished sixth last season. The remaining crew members are U19 medallists Leon Gronbach at bow, Sadeep Jagoda in the coxswain’s seat, and Lino Zastrow at three.
The USA were the last crew to beat Great Britain in the U23 eight, which they did back in 2018. This year, they hope to repeat that feat with a relatively inexperienced crew. Only Braden Porterfield in the five-seat, from Northeastern University and Kian Aminian in the two-seat from Princeton have competed at the U23 World Rowing Championships before. Porterfield won bronze in the coxed four in 2023 and gold in the same boat class last season, and Aminian was in the silver medal eight last season. They are joined by Declan Fry and Beck Honebein from Syracuse, Louis Gagnon from Cal, Finn Griskauskas from UW and Matt Lexa from Navy.
This year sees the first-ever entry of an U23 eight from Denmark. Their crew includes European U23 silver medallists Tobias Bosnes and Elias Ellehammer. Bosnes is doubling up in the pair with Simon Madsen (one of three members of the eight that finished fifth at the U19 European Rowing Championships last season). Ellehammer is also doubling up with crewmates Tobias Poulsen, Esben Thanning and Nikolaj Simonsen in the coxless four (Simonsen and Thanning were also part of the eight at the U19 European Rowing Championships last year). The remaining crew members are the bow pair of Joshua Mingo and Leander Kaliszan. They raced together at the U19 World Rowing Championships in 2021, and this year raced in the coxless four at the Holland Beker, picking up a silver medal. Kaliszan spent the first part of this year in New Zealand, racing for Waikato, picking up a bronze medal in the U22 double at the NZ Rowing Championships.
France has a crew which includes four of their bronze medal-winning coxed four from 2024: Louis Descot-Vigouroux, Awen Thomas, Lucas Fauche and cox Lucie Mercier. Odysseas Tubidis and Arthur Duret join them from the fifth-placed U19 eight from 2024. Stroking the boat is 2023 U19 coxless four bronze medallist Alexandre Jolard, and the remaining members of the crew are Victor Martin, a European U19 medallist from 2023 and bowman Ywan Faye, who just missed the podium in the double at the 2024 U19 World Rowing Championships.
New Zealand’s boat includes two of the victorious University of Washington crew from this year’s IRA Championships, Harry Fitzpatrick and Ben Shortt. Shortt was in the U23 coxless four along with bowman Ed Lopas (Northeastern) that won bronze last year. Somewhat unusually for NZ, their crew contains four locally-based athletes: Henry Kirk and cox Oliver Duncan from Lincoln University, Cody Jonson from Avon Rowing Club and Fred Vavasour from Wairau Rowing Club. Sitting in the seven-seat is Matt Waddell from Cal Berkeley; he rowed with Ben Shortt in the coxed four at the 2023 U23 World Rowing Championships, finishing fifth. The final member of the crew is Nick Bryan; he’s currently studying at Syracuse and has also raced for Leander Club in The Thames Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in 2024.
The Netherlands always produces fast eights and won this event back in 2017, but their crew for this year looks relatively inexperienced. Only stroke-man Beer Florijn and three-seat Bas van den Ven have raced at the U23s before, finishing ninth in the coxless four last year. Florijn (younger brother of Olympic champions Finn and Karolien) is the only member of the crew that has senior international experience, having raced at the opening World Rowing Cup this season (a fact which raised a few eyebrows when he raced for Nereus in The Temple Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta this year – the rules of which forbid any senior national team member). In the five-seat is Finn Berkout, the only crew member studying in the USA (at Boston). The bow pair is Maarten Lagrand from Laga and Edward Den Beer Poortugael (who raced in the single at the Holland Beker this season, finishing fourth). Also in the crew is Gertjan Bruins from Delft and junior internationals Zeno van Rijn and Gunnar van den Hoogen.
Romania has three athletes who have competed on the senior stage: Marian Dunca, Costi-Daniel Neagoe and Cosmin Plesecu raced in the coxless four and the eight at the final World Rowing Cup of the 2024 season. Their boat includes a number of U19 world medallists stepping up an age group. Fabrizio-Alexandru Scripcariu won gold in the pair and Nicolae Stoian, Sebastian Tasca, Antonel Avacaritei and Stefan Moales all have U19 bronze medals.
Also racing are boats from Czechia, Poland and Ukraine. The Czech boat includes Jan Koska, who raced for Boston University’s first Varsity this season. Poland’s crew includes European U23 silver medallist Mateusz Koslowski, and the Ukrainians have six of the crew who finished fourth at the U23 European Rowing Championships last year.
Prediction
I think GB will make it six wins in a row, but they will be pushed hard by the Aussies in silver and the USA in bronze.
