Image Credit: World Rowing
Entries: 14
Denmark come into Poznan with the most experienced crew in the event. Clara Hornnaess and Frida Werner Foldager were part of the Danish eight that made history by qualifying for the Paris Olympic Games after finishing second at the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta. They also raced in the eight at the opening World Rowing Cup of the 2024 season. At age-group level, Hornnaess raced in the women’s single at the 2023 U23 World Rowing Championships, placing 17th; Foldager was 11th in the women’s double at the 2023 U19 European Rowing Championships. This season, they won gold in the pair at the Ratzeburg International Regatta. They are also doubling up in the U23 women’s eight.
Another crew with senior international experience is Austria. Lisa Zehetmair and Laura Swoboda were 13th in the pair at World Rowing Cup Varese this season and were 11th at the European Rowing Championships. Last season, they won bronze in the women’s pair at the U23 European Rowing Championships, and then, at the U23 World Rowing Championships, they were sixth in the four. In 2023, Zehetmair won gold at the European University Championships, and she and Swoboda were fourth in the pair at the U23 World Rowing Championships.
Great Britain are the defending champions in this event, and have selected Rhiannon Luke and Chloe Sheppard to defend that title. Both make their debuts in the U23 team after winning medals on the U19 team in 2022 and 2023. Luke won silver in the four in 2022, and Sheppard took bronze in the quad in 2023. Both studying in the USA, Luke was in the Texas second varsity eight that finished fourth at the NCAA’s, and Sheppard made the University of Washington first varsity eight as a Freshman, finishing fifth at the NCAA’s.
Another pair of students at Texas are Liva Boone and Marg Van Der Wal of the Netherlands. They were both in the Texas first varsity eight, which won bronze at the NCAAs. This season, they took gold in the women’s pair at the Holland Beker.
Romania come to Poznan with two European U23 gold medallists: Beatrice Piseru and Georgiana Blanariu. Piseru was gold in the women’s four, and Blanariu took gold in the women’s eight and the women’s pair.
Lithuania is another nation with European U23 medallists – Ula Jonusaite and Ugne Rudaitye. Jonusaite won gold in the women’s quad in 2023, and Rudaitye won bronze in the quad in 2024. Jonusaite raced in the University of Tennessee’s second varsity eight that won the petite final at the NCAAs, and Rudaitye is at Michigan and helped the Wolverines 1V to a fifth-place finish at the Big-10 Championships.
Another crew with a student from the University of Tennessee is Canada. Maylie Valiquette raced in first varsity eight, finishing fourth at the NCAAs. She’s joined in the pair by Cait Whittard, who won gold at the Big-10 in the varsity coxed four with the University of Washington. She’s also represented Canada at the 2024 U23 World Rowing Championships in the women’s eight. This duo is also racing in the eight.
Australia’s Sophie Barr and Isabella Scammell will be strong contenders for a medal. Barr, sister of senior international Paige, is at Harvard, and Scammell, a student at UTS Sydney, is the reigning U23 world champion in the women’s coxed four.
Spain were runners-up in this boat class last year and return with one of that crew, Naroa Zubimendi. She’s joined by Amanda Gil Camacho, who won gold in the championship mixed doubles at the World Rowing Coastal Championships last year and raced in the senior women’s four at the European Rowing Championships. Zubimendi is a student at the University of Miami and rowed in their varsity eight at the ACC Championships.
France’s Leontine Fouquet and Jeanne Sellier raced in the senior four at the final World Rowing Cup of the 2024 season, placing sixth. They went on to race in the women’s four at the World Rowing Championships, just missing out on a podium place.
Italy’s crew includes Marta Orefice, the reigning U19 women’s coxed four world champion. She’s joined by Sofia Ascalone, a World University Games medallist. Orefice also won medals at the 2023 European and World U19 Rowing Championships, and Ascalone raced at the World U23’s in 2023, making the A-final in the women’s eight. As with a number of other pairs, they are also doubling up in the eight.
Germany’s Malou Wollenhaupt and Antonia Labonde have been racing together for the last four years. They were fifth in the junior women’s four back in 2021 and then were part of the U23 four, which finished sixth in 2023. This season, they made their senior debut,s placing 16th in the pair at World Rowing Cup Varese.
The final two pairs racing are from Switzerland and Ukraine.
The Swiss are represented by Lena Schwab and Maria Wicki. Schwab makes her international debut in Poznan, while Wicki returns for her second U23 World Rowing Championships after finishing fifth in the four last season.
Ukraine’s crew is Tuanna Shenen and Andriana Varvaryn. They both raced in the U23 women’s eight at the 2024 U23 European Rowing Championships, finishing second in a two-boat final. They also raced in the senior eight at the European Rowing Championships, but failed to progress beyond the heats.
My picks:
I think there could be as many as ten pairs who are in with a shout of a medal, and this has the makings of a really good contest. The Danes have the experience and were good winners in Ratzeburg, but the Austrians also have a lot of experience and medals in this boat class. Add in the Dutch, who were winners at the Beker, the Aussies, Brits, French, Lithuanians, and Romanians, and it’ll be a major achievement to make the A-final.
But, if I have to pick the medals, I’m going with Denmark in gold, Australia in silver and Great Britain in bronze.
