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Entries: 24
World Rowing Cup I Winner: Switzerland
After victory in Varese, Switzerland will be welcomed home to the sound of cowbells echoing around the Rotsee. They will be joined by the rest of the world rowing family for a final opportunity to go head-to-head across six lanes before the World Rowing Championships in September. With Mount Pilatus looming in the distance, the stage is set for a thrilling encounter in one of the most fascinating boat classes.
As mentioned, Switzerland stepped up and took gold in Varese, meaning we’ve had different winners at each of the regattas so far. For reference, Poland won gold at the European Rowing Championships in Plovdiv. The Swiss duo of Raphael Ahumada and Kai Schaetzle have formed this new combination, having both raced at the Olympic Games last summer. Schaetzle was ninth overall in the men’s four while Ahumada narrowly missed out on a medal in the lightweight men’s double. Progression has been superb from them this season, going from the back of the A-final at the European Rowing Championships to winning in Varese in just a few short weeks. Just behind the Swiss were the Italians, who won silver at home by an absolute whisker over the New Zealand duo. While the Italians aren’t making the trip north, the Kiwis are. Ben Mason, a member of the Kiwi quad who raced at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta, is still paired with Finn Hamill, whose stocks are certainly going through the roof at the moment. While unlucky to take silver, they will travel to Lucerne confident of a medal.
Poland was briefly mentioned a few sentences ago, but now seems like a good moment to check back in with them. While Miroslaw Zietarski and Mateusz Biskup were crowned European champions earlier this month, they’ve been moved into the quad, which means Jakub Wozniak and Konrad Domanski will represent Poland. Don’t fret Polish fans, this duo will be racing together for the second time this season after placing fifth in Varese, just over four seconds back on New Zealand. Belgium’s Tibo Vyvey and Marlon Colpaert are sandwiched between these two crews. The duo are in their fourth season of racing together, having won an age-group world title in 2022, before attempting to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games. Back for a second Olympic cycle, they opened their campaign by winning the B-final in Plovdiv and made a decent step on in Varese, and they’ll look to carry this momentum to Lucerne.
Rounding out the A-final from the first World Rowing Cup is Australia. Having the first World Rowing Cup in Varese is handy for the men from down under, as the Australian Institute of Sport has a training centre located in Gavirate. You could almost call that a regatta a home event for them. Oscar McGuinness and Mitchell Reinhard are being let loose once again, having stepped up from lightweight to heavyweight in recent months. They’ll also be going up against teammates racing as AUS 2. Tokyo bronze medallist Jack Cleary pairs up with Harrison Fox, a former junior world champion in this boat class, who made his senior debut at the first World Rowing Cup.
Great Britain’s Jamie Gare and Tobias Schröder have been making some positive steps throughout this short and sweet international season. In Bulgaria, they only qualified for the B-final, resulting in a disappointing 12th-place finish, but come Varese, they were at the business end of that B-final and will be hoping that Lucerne is the venue where they can elbow their way into a race for medals.
Prediction
I think the Swiss will continue on their current progression curve and will win on home water this weekend.
