Image Credit: World Rowing
2024 Champion: Ionela-Livia Cozmiuc (Romania)
Entries: 20
Regarding the quality of the field, the lightweight women’s single is much stronger than their male counterparts, with many world and Olympic medallists on show.
One of the most remarkable athletes in all of World Rowing is Dimitra Kontou of Greece. Despite still being a teenager (she’ll celebrate her 20th birthday during the championships), she already has an Olympic bronze medal to her credit, making the podium in the lightweight women’s double in Paris. She’s also a rare breed of athlete who is comfortable racing sweep and sculling, and also lightweight and open-weight. She was European U23 women’s double champion back in 2022 and senior European silver medallist in the lightweight women’s double in 2023. Last season was outstanding for Kontou, winning another senior European silver medal before winning U23 lightweight women’s double gold and then bronze at the Olympic Games. This season, she won her third European silver medal, this time in the open weight women’s double and then at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup, finished ninth in the women’s pair. She won her second U23 World title earlier this season, this time in the BW2X, and earlier this month won European U23 lightweight single gold.
Siobhan McCrohan of Ireland will be at the event’s other end of the age range. The 38-year-old is the 2023 world champion in this boat class and also took the bronze in 2024. She made her international debut in 2007, but an injury in 2016 forced an extended period away from the sport, only returning in 2023. She’s made one appearance this season, finishing fifth at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup.
The oldest competitor in the field is two-time Olympian Michelle Sechser of the USA. The 38-year-old (who’s four months older than McCrohan) raced in the lightweight women’s double at both the Tokyo and Paris Olympic Games, making the A-final on both occasions. At a World Rowing Championship level, she finished runner-up to the legendary British crew of Grant/Craig in both 2022 and 2023 and also took World Rowing Championship bronze in the lightweight women’s double in 2017. Shanghai will be her first international race of the 2025 season.
So far this season, one of the standout performers has been Kenia Lechuga Alanis of Mexico. She won World Rowing Championship silver behind McCrohan in 2023 and in 2024 finished fourth at the World Rowing Championships and 16th in the women’s single at the Paris Olympic Games (she finished in the same spot at the Tokyo Games). This season, she’s stamped her authority on the lightweight women’s single by winning both the Varese and Lucerne World Rowing Cups.
Runner-up to the Mexican at both of this season’s World Rowing Cups has been Lara Tiefenthaler of Austria. She started the season by winning the lightweight women’s single European title. In 2024, she raced at both the Olympics and World Rowing Championships, placing tenth in the lightweight women’s double in Paris and sixth in the lightweight women’s single at the Worlds.
Another sculler who is having a standout season is Maia Emile Lund of Norway. She was runner-up to Tiefenthaler at the European Rowing Championships and also took bronze at the Varese World Rowing Cup. Lucerne was a bit of a hiccup for the Norwegian when she could only manage 12th. She’s raced at the World Rowing Championships in 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024, with her best performance coming last year, where she finished 10th. Her early-season form from this year shows she’s in the fight for the A-final.
Home interest will be focused on Dandan Pan. She makes her return to international competition for the first time since 2021. She’s a former world champion, having won gold in the lightweight women’s quad back in 2018. She also has a World Rowing Championship bronze medal in the lightweight women’s quad from 2017 and another bronze from the lightweight women’s double from 2014. It’ll be interesting to see what sort of form she has after being away from the international stage for over four years.
Bronze medallist at the European Rowing Championships this season was Mariia Zhovner, a Russian racing under the Neutral athlete flag. She also took bronze at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup and in 2024 was European U23 lightweight women’s single champion.
Another athlete having a good season so far is Nicole Yarzon of Uruguay. In her first full season as a senior international, she had two A-final placings at the World Rowing Cups, but she missed the podium in Varese. As a U23, she raced at the last three World Rowing Championships, with a best finish of eighth in 2024.
Among the other entries to watch include Canada’s Karissa Riley, U23 bronze medallist in 2023 and 13th at the senior World Rowing Championships last year, and Hungary’s Eszter Fehervari, fifth at the European Rowing Championships this year and eighth in Lucerne.
Prediction
This should be a great contest for the medals with Kontou, Sechser, McCrohan, Tiefenthaler and Alanis all with a shout for the gold. I’m going for Kontou in gold with McCrohan in silver and Alanis just pipping Sechser for the bronze (and I’ll go for Zhovner and Tiefenthaler to round out the top six).
